How do Buddhists respond to violence?
April 28, 2015 | 8 Comments
I was teaching a workshop in Baltimore this past weekend, just as the rioting and agitation of the protests was ramping up. We all felt frozen. One of the students brought up this question—what are we supposed to do? What, as non-violent people, do we do when faced with violence, including our own? She was enraged at everyone. Enraged at the police for their cruel acts. Enraged at the agitators for inciting violence that would only lead to more violence. She felt that she herself was ready to whack someone. She could imagine wanting to harm those who were harming others.
It is a terrible, terrible trap, this wish to destroy the destroyers. At the same time, it is perfectly understandable. And doing “nothing” does not seem to be an option.
Now what?
Well, I don’t know and I sort of think that is the main point I want to make.
There are a lot of exhortations being made. The Baltimore police are exhorting Baltimoreans to remain calm. Some Baltimoreans are exhorting others to wreak havoc. Some people may exhort you not to do anything beyond feeling the suffering of others within yourself and sending love to all parties. Some want you to march or donate or contribute in any way you can to social justice. Just do something, they say. One essayist in the Atlantic is exhorting you to disrespect the “hollow law and failed order that so regularly disrespects the community.” Social activists blame non-social activists for being a part of the problem. Non social-activists just want to be left alone and hope everything will work out for the best. As we speak, bloggers the world over are lifting their hands to begin typing out Three Suggestions For Combatting Racism, Four Ways to Support Non-Violence, Five Paths to Social Justice.
Here’s my problem. I think that all of these suggestions are insane and stupid. Each one is right and each one is wrong and none of them make any difference whatsoever.
Because we are so bereft, confused, and enraged, we are deeply, unbearably uncomfortable. To regain a sense of balance, we look for someone to offer the single exhortation that feels right, be it a preacher, Buddhist teacher, civic leader, for friend.
Personally, I have no idea what to do. But in the meantime, I do not want to allow my feelings of shock, outrage, sorrow, and anger to do the talking for me. I have no choice but to slow down and, rather than formulate or follow a conceptual response (my own or another’s), walk into my world with open eyes and an open heart, and search for what I can do now, right now, right this second to fight for humanity in a skillful way and to bring some relief to someone, anyone. To know what something is, I have to let go of all I’ve been exhorted to do or not do and simply pay attention. Let down my guard. Cease attempting to sheathe myself in rhetoric, ideas, movements, motions, notions, and all manner of bullshit. Instead, let the situation touch me and see what arises in me as a response.
The problem with most of the exhortations you read or hear is that they are urging you at warp speed to feel what the writer or speaker is feeling, as if that were the solution. It isn’t. Make up your own mind. And, as you do, know this: You can decide anything you want. You can feel whatever you like. You can hate the police. You can hate the agitators. You can blame the victim, the victimizer, the President, the State, capitalism, poor nutrition, and/or the Kardashians. There is only one thing you cannot do because it is the single thing that will only lead to more devastation, no matter whose exhortation you choose to follow, including your own. You cannot imagine that you are any different than any of the people you blame. You are no different than agitators. You are no different than the Baltimore police. You are certainly no different than Freddie Gray. We are all in this together, period, end of story: Know that an eye for an eye means you lose an eye. All of the exhortations, every single last one, has one thing on agenda and one thing only: dividing humanity into us and them. There is no them. There is only us. So don’t be swayed by anyone. Be brave. You can do it. Keep your heart open and respond with fierce grace to who and what you encounter, on the spot. Most of all, don’t believe anything you fucking read. In fact, tear this up.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
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categorized in: dharma, open heart project
8 Comments
Conversation… My dearest friend had an idea that has bloomed into Sacramento Faces Race. A weekend devoted to conversation. She has about 600 congregations and organizations in the city and outlying suburbs on board, along with Community Colleges and politicians. Everyone will be coming together to connect and talk openly about the erosion of social justice… recognizing our part in it, opening our eyes, and opening to positive changes that we can make. It’s solely a platform for open-hearted conversation, connection, and understanding. One person’s heart put into action. It’s HUGE.
This is fantastic…
Oh… and yes, law enforcement is on board, as well!
*singing*
“There’s only us
There’s only this
Forget regret– or life is yours to miss.
No other road
No other way
No day but today
There’s only yes
Only tonight
We must let go
To know what is right
No other course
No other way
No day but today”
Love!
I like what you wrote Susan. It speaks to me. Thank you! Being able to empathize will all roles is key to change.
Here is something that I hope will become a part of our culture:
“In the African tribe there is one other occasion upon which the villagers sing to the child. If at any time during his or her life, the person commits a crime or aberrant social act, the individual is called to the center of the village and the people in the community form a circle around them. Then they sing their song to them.
The tribe recognizes that the correction for antisocial behavior is not punishment; it is love and the remembrance of identity. When you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another.”
This is from: https://darvish.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/life-song-of-the-child-welcoming-spirit-home/
My grandfather, an Irish immigrant from NY was a mounted policeman in Queens.
Perhaps because of this, I see the benefit of and appreciate authority as long as this is wielded beneficially. Growing up in a Catholic, military home, authority was seen as just a normal and positive thing overall. Respect for authority, my own and others, is second nature for me. While I have been the recipient of abuse of authority more than once, overall, authority is a still, overall, a positive word in my life.
Now, re. police authority:
I desire to help bring changes at the policy making level so that cadets attending police academies will learn skills to effectively manage situations non-violently more frequently.
Policy makers for protocols could receive training from persons who have worked directly with homeless, diverse and mentally ill populations who could provide helpful feedback and directly or indirectly influence essential training to cadets and officers .
People need to be taught how to ‘reflexively’ communicate effectively and create safety for all without violence while under high pressure, dangerous circumstances where decisions need to be made in seconds, not minutes .
It is entirely possible to greatly reduce the incidence of violent outcomes.
Having worked in mental health and counseling difficult to serve populations, (I was thrown down a flight of stairs by a psychotic client during my first year as a mental health worker) I rapidly learned, (not having any gun!) to be more observant, and how to communicate more effectively to avoid ‘repeats’ of this!
Any folks who have knowledge, skills and experience in working with ‘difficult-to-serve’ populations ideally would directly provide input and training for policy makers and give specific methods to effectively DE-escalate threatening situations, and create safety.
Watching footage and videos has been especially painful and frustrating for me because for years I also studied processwork (Jungian based psychology) including video case analysis.
We analyzed videos of clients voice and movement patterns in response to therapeutic interventions.
Also, for years I’d trained in observation of subtle and minute changes in people’s bodies and expressions while training in therapeutic bodywork.
From this background as I watched recent footage of police interactions where violence had taken place, studying them in detail, reviewing what took place numerous times.
I kept thinking: “This DOESN’T have to happen.”
Unarmed people are being killed.
For example, in one video a suicidal girl is literally sat on by a much larger male officer. He has her COMPLETELY SUBDUED. Then he walks away from her, right after he had physically engaged in pinning her down, even though she had just very clearly demonstrated she was in the midst of a life or death crisis.
She then lunged towards him in rage and he shot her dead. Tragic.
With different training officers could learn methods for how to assess and respond to danger levels second by second. With sufficient training these responses could become ‘second nature.’ In a flash people’s speech patterns and body language could be closely observed, and assessments made anticipating ‘next moves.’
Really, this is like martial arts in a way..being able to be fully present and anticipate actions.
Such videos, though tragic ideally will be viewed in training sessions. Methods of effectively containing and ‘arresting’ (ie stopping) the potential risk of violence with words and actions that don’t use lethal force need to be demonstrated and learned.
In one video, a black man who is psychotic actually literally took three steps BACK when the officers first arrived. His body language was clearly indicating he wanted to withdraw from any conflicts, not aggress towards the officers.
From what I observed, the officers rapid fire speech and ultimatums serve to increase emotional pressure on this already pressured man. This pressure escalated the situation and heightened danger. This interchange forced an ‘ultimatum’ situation. The guy when pressured then actually told the officers “SHOOT ME.” Sadly, they obliged immediately after this rather than contradicting his request. Ideally, they would have contradicted his stated his wish for them to kill him, and in a calm voice using a slow, non-pressured pace provided him with other options. There is more than one way to ‘take charge’ of a situation.
Sadly, what I see is people being killed because of ‘knee jerk’ split second actions. These are a result of ‘training’ of how to react. These methods are based in ‘protocols.’ When new protocols are put in place, the ‘knee jerk’ reactions can be just as fast, but use different actions, and achieve non-lethal, effective outcomes where no one needs to be physically harmed.
Sorry this is so long…
Using SLOW, CALM speech while visually continuing to be focused and VERY OBSERVANT of the mans body language and speech patterns and content could have brought a non-lethal ‘surrender.’
These words were written by Buffy St Marie 50 years ago (more or less). They are as relevant today as they were then.
IMHO, the responsibility for the behavior of public law enforcement officials basically rests with us, the voters. The responsibility for growing a culture of young people with self respect and hope rests with us too.
Universal Soldier”
He’s five foot-two, and he’s six feet-four,
He fights with missiles and with spears.
He’s all of thirty-one, and he’s only seventeen,
Been a soldier for a thousand years.
He’a a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain,
A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew.
And he knows he shouldn’t kill,
And he knows he always will,
Kill you for me my friend and me for you.
And he’s fighting for Canada,
He’s fighting for France,
He’s fighting for the USA,
And he’s fighting for the Russians,
And he’s fighting for Japan,
And he thinks we’ll put an end to war this way.
And he’s fighting for Democracy,
He’s fighting for the Reds,
He says it’s for the peace of all.
He’s the one who must decide,
Who’s to live and who’s to die,
And he never sees the writing on the wall.
But without him,
How would Hitler have condemned them at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone,
He’s the one who gives his body
As a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can’t go on.
He’s the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame,
His orders come from far away no more,
They come from here and there and you and me,
And brothers can’t you see,
This is not the way we put the end to war.
I can’t believe this girl/woman is so niave. The Tibetians were slave / serf owners before the Chinese invasion and often treated them cruelly. There are photos and if you are really interested in the truth you should visit Tibet and ask some of the older people (ie alive before 1959 invasion) for their version of events – from the Horse’s Mouth – rather than believing Buddhist or Chinese propaganda. Of course if you are scared of the truth then don’t – continue on your path of denial. Every religion has dark and light – to believe Buddhists are all holier than thou is ridiculous. People are people – good and bad and somewhere in between . By the way, Police are there to stop you being attacked and to assist you in emergencies. Give them some credit. The Dalai Larma had guards when he escaped Tibet in 1959 and probably wouldn’t be alive now without them – so don’t knock what you don’t know.