In These Times

A few people from Zen Center have been in touch with me about the possibility of helping with a peace walk next month. I confess that I had not been following the monks who are walking from Fort Worth to Washington DC so I read up on the journey and their practice.

I also read many accounts of the terrible things that are happening in the US at the moment and, as always, wonder about how I can be of benefit to all beings; this video from Lama Rod – who I admire greatly having met him a few times over the years – also prompted some self-inquiry.

Our practice is to model the behaviour that we wish to see in the world, and to articulate, where we are able to, what is that needs to be kept in mind.

For me a walk for peace means embodying peace on the walk: encountering everything along the way with the equanimity that is expected of a Bodhisattva. As as a reminder, equanimity does not mean passivity. It means meeting all conditions equally, doing our best to bear all conditions equally.

So if you are wondering what to do, just remember the example of the Bodhisattvas, modelling particular behaviours. The Bodhisattva archetypes are held up for a reason: Manjushri for wisdom, Samantabhadra for activity, Avalokiteshvara for compassion, Jizo for vow. We can aspire to embody and manifest these qualities ourselves, in our lives, in these current conditions.

How that actually manifests is not set in stone, it is dependent on causes and conditions, and our best discernment as to what we can do to reduce suffering in the world.