Post by Rodney on Oct 23, 2008 16:53:00 GMT -5
An article from the Buddhist Peace Fellowship contains the following advice
With this in mind I’d like to suggest a number of relevant activities to take up as individuals, as chapters, as communities, as a society.
1. Study
Former BPF board member and scholar Ken Kraft suggests that, “We can use this political season as a ‘teaching moment’ for engaged Buddhism.” First, it has to be a learning moment. We have much to learn about the workings of our political system, what the candidates really stand for, how our economy functions. We should also study the role of U.S. military power in the world, the effects of global warming, and the painful realities of racial and ethnic divides here in the U.S. and in other areas of the world. But along with this immersion in the given circumstances, there is much more to do.
• Identify the values, principles, and issues that are priorities to us as people of faith and as Buddhists. Set up study groups. This is an important opportunity to make connections across faith lines. Also across class lines and ethnic lines, listening to the views of communities of color and others who have long been disenfranchised.
• We need for new kinds of social analysis. For example, many fears plague our society and ourselves. Where does this fear come from and how can we face it? What light does the dharma shine on the external supports for our fears?
• Our studies can emphasize the history and techniques of nonviolent social change. How can we bring about change without demonizing or depersonalizing our opponents? This can also be directly linked to issues of race, environment, war, military spending, arms sales abroad, and gun control at home.
• Figure out how candidates stand, in words and actions, on the values, principles, and issues you have identified. Share the results with others so we can make informed decisions about our votes.
2. Act
• Voter registration: there are local organizations you can linkup with. Find out the neighborhoods and communities where people are under-registered and go there. This year voter registration efforts are especially critical in the “swing states,” where numbers may be very close but the electoral vote is winner-takes-all.
• Teach what you have learned. Organize town meetings and teach-ins on issues and on the elections themselves. Invite local and national candidates to share their views. Again this is may be best done as an interfaith activity. We have many allies in communities of faith, although often the Buddhists don’t appear on their radar screens. You may have to reach out to them.
• Show the candidates and your representatives that you are paying attention to issues of campaign finance and voter fraud. When you have done your homework, letters and phone call to them will have a real impact—if not in this election, then in the future. Joanna Macy adds, “Please include the huge and horrendous issue of voting machine technology. The…use and abuse of touch-screen voting could easily control the election.” Sadly this has been a critical fact in the last two national elections.
• Maintain a strong presence and participation in the antiwar movement. This is not a side issue!
• When you have chosen a candidate — ideal or not — go out and work for him or her. Often this is person-to-person work. You can learn a lot going door-to-door.
3. Practice Patience & Compassion
• How we study and how we act also makes a difference in the world. My “Think Sangha” friend Jon Watts points out that, “…the Buddha taught that (sangha) should always gather and recess in harmony — this being one of the keys for political longevity in the face of hostile outside forces.” However carefully we develop views, we recognize that no view provides the last word on a situation. Respectfully, we make room for various positions in a dialogue. That doesn’t mean we have to pussyfoot around each other — you’re nice, I’m nice. We need to test views, premises, and understanding with vigor. Really mix it up with each other. The challenge is to do this in a spirit of connection, non-duality.
• Non-duality, or what Dogen Zenji calls Identity-Action extends to our opponents, whether those be in an everyday discussion, in government, or in a distant nation. The deep truth is there is no separation of self and other. All life is one fabric. All people have the same wish for happiness as you or I; each of us has the same capacity for wrongdoing. This understanding must inform all that we do, down to our bones.
• Finally, we recognize that even our best intentions may fail. We may not stop the war. We may not feed or house all those in need. We may not cross the racial divide. We may not end our own suffering. The key word is “yet.” Take the long view, and be persistent in your practice and in your work for peace. Even as we think we fail, other actions are taking place. But to accept this means practicing patience and equanimity. Surely the universe is realigning itself with what is wholesome. It just seems to move more slowly than we wish.
source:
bpf.org/html/electionsNov.2008.html
With this in mind I’d like to suggest a number of relevant activities to take up as individuals, as chapters, as communities, as a society.
1. Study
Former BPF board member and scholar Ken Kraft suggests that, “We can use this political season as a ‘teaching moment’ for engaged Buddhism.” First, it has to be a learning moment. We have much to learn about the workings of our political system, what the candidates really stand for, how our economy functions. We should also study the role of U.S. military power in the world, the effects of global warming, and the painful realities of racial and ethnic divides here in the U.S. and in other areas of the world. But along with this immersion in the given circumstances, there is much more to do.
• Identify the values, principles, and issues that are priorities to us as people of faith and as Buddhists. Set up study groups. This is an important opportunity to make connections across faith lines. Also across class lines and ethnic lines, listening to the views of communities of color and others who have long been disenfranchised.
• We need for new kinds of social analysis. For example, many fears plague our society and ourselves. Where does this fear come from and how can we face it? What light does the dharma shine on the external supports for our fears?
• Our studies can emphasize the history and techniques of nonviolent social change. How can we bring about change without demonizing or depersonalizing our opponents? This can also be directly linked to issues of race, environment, war, military spending, arms sales abroad, and gun control at home.
• Figure out how candidates stand, in words and actions, on the values, principles, and issues you have identified. Share the results with others so we can make informed decisions about our votes.
2. Act
• Voter registration: there are local organizations you can linkup with. Find out the neighborhoods and communities where people are under-registered and go there. This year voter registration efforts are especially critical in the “swing states,” where numbers may be very close but the electoral vote is winner-takes-all.
• Teach what you have learned. Organize town meetings and teach-ins on issues and on the elections themselves. Invite local and national candidates to share their views. Again this is may be best done as an interfaith activity. We have many allies in communities of faith, although often the Buddhists don’t appear on their radar screens. You may have to reach out to them.
• Show the candidates and your representatives that you are paying attention to issues of campaign finance and voter fraud. When you have done your homework, letters and phone call to them will have a real impact—if not in this election, then in the future. Joanna Macy adds, “Please include the huge and horrendous issue of voting machine technology. The…use and abuse of touch-screen voting could easily control the election.” Sadly this has been a critical fact in the last two national elections.
• Maintain a strong presence and participation in the antiwar movement. This is not a side issue!
• When you have chosen a candidate — ideal or not — go out and work for him or her. Often this is person-to-person work. You can learn a lot going door-to-door.
3. Practice Patience & Compassion
• How we study and how we act also makes a difference in the world. My “Think Sangha” friend Jon Watts points out that, “…the Buddha taught that (sangha) should always gather and recess in harmony — this being one of the keys for political longevity in the face of hostile outside forces.” However carefully we develop views, we recognize that no view provides the last word on a situation. Respectfully, we make room for various positions in a dialogue. That doesn’t mean we have to pussyfoot around each other — you’re nice, I’m nice. We need to test views, premises, and understanding with vigor. Really mix it up with each other. The challenge is to do this in a spirit of connection, non-duality.
• Non-duality, or what Dogen Zenji calls Identity-Action extends to our opponents, whether those be in an everyday discussion, in government, or in a distant nation. The deep truth is there is no separation of self and other. All life is one fabric. All people have the same wish for happiness as you or I; each of us has the same capacity for wrongdoing. This understanding must inform all that we do, down to our bones.
• Finally, we recognize that even our best intentions may fail. We may not stop the war. We may not feed or house all those in need. We may not cross the racial divide. We may not end our own suffering. The key word is “yet.” Take the long view, and be persistent in your practice and in your work for peace. Even as we think we fail, other actions are taking place. But to accept this means practicing patience and equanimity. Surely the universe is realigning itself with what is wholesome. It just seems to move more slowly than we wish.
source:
bpf.org/html/electionsNov.2008.html