KNOCKED TO MY SENSES – A Mugger, An Umbrella and Tough Love

Sharon Salzberg, author of Loving Kindness – The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, tells of having once been assaulted by a stranger while riding in a pedicab in Calcutta. As the man tried to wrestle her out, the driver intervened and they were able to escape unharmed. Later, when she told her venerable meditation teacher about the incident, he exclaimed, “Oh, Sharon, you should have hit the man over the head with your umbrella…with loving kindness.”

With the astounding results of the just-decided U.S. presidential election, I feel as though I'm the pedicab passenger. That modest little rickshaw has been my conveyance toward a simpler, more peaceful, loving and generous life, a future of hope and continuing intellectual and spiritual evolution. The assailant, a vulgar narcissist who's proven to be nothing but the con man of our lifetimes.

IMAGE: The Washington Post

I had believed, by 2016, that I lived in a nation that, after the decade and a half of profound national insecurity since 9/11, was at last on a course back to sanity—one that valued diplomacy over war, openness over isolationism, inclusion over paranoia, individual freedom over narrowly-defined “morality,” opportunity over prohibition, abundance and generosity over scarcity, vision over hindsight, and hope over fear. This had been a direction I felt was true not only to my own values, but to the time-honored values of my country.

But I, and all those standards I hold so dear, were suddenly assaulted, hijacked by a dimwitted, avaricious, kissy-lips reality TV star who, counting on the grievances and gullibility of Joe Sixpack, saw a chance to indulge his enormous appetite for attention.

And now, after just four years of a decent, sensible, well-grounded man working to restore honor and dignity to this country's persona, the dimwit is back. And this time he's promised to be a dictator and that we'll never have to vote again.

           Folks hang their heads and murmur,
           If only we’d known and done something.

A CITIZEN OF ALL CREATION
And thus my dilemma: Do I assume the mindset I believe derives from the core of my being, one of tranquility, kindness and emotional detachment from outcomes? Or do I allow myself to fully appreciate and be moved by the reality that, once again, my homeland is at the beck and call of a monumentally insecure, irrational, ill-prepared charlatan who has promised—and whose admirers expect—that he will dismantle the very framework of values I embrace, and that so many of our ancestors have fought and died for?

As if that weren’t enough, the president-elect’s aggressive denial of most climate scientists’ and world leaders’ calls for urgent action on human-abetted global climate change threatens not just my country, but our planet and every human being on it.

History tells us quite eloquently that despots do exactly what this man is doing. And that, once the true ravages of their misguided power see the light of day, it is most often too late. Decent folks hang their heads and murmur, If only we’d known and done something when we could. And those he's fooled—not once but twice—say What dictatorship? Give the poor man a chance.

Is it not my sacred duty to act on the moral outrage that drives heroes to say something, do something?

IMAGE: Wikipedia

        I aspire to being able to read the sad story
       that’s unfolding before our nation’s eyes,
       and yet...not let it define who I am. 

DOORS OF OPPORTUNITY
So back to the pedicab-and-umbrella metaphor. In the case of our current national crisis, how can I resolve my dilemma? What does smashing the mugger over the head with loving kindness even look like?

That, I’ve decided—after being unable to think about anything else at all since election day—is what I must reconcile. How can I honor both my responsibility as an intelligent, aware—and patriotic—citizen to defend the values upon which my country was founded and has prospered for two and a half centuries, and my duty to all of Creation to inhabit a place of peace and love?

The answer? All I can say right now is that I’m working on it. I aspire to being able to read the sad story that’s unfolding before our nation’s eyes, and yet not become the story, not let it define who I am. 

Still, as Salzberg’s guru suggested, it will serve no one if we fail to deter a thieving bully. So, while being as patient with myself and others as I can, I will be eagerly watching for doors of opportunity to appear.

Whether it's my venting here on Pop This Boil, bumper stickers, lawn signs or joining protest demonstrations, I trust I will find the certainty to take whatever action I am called to pursue. But I must do so only when I’ve also found the generosity of spirit not to act in fear or anger, but in hope and love.

And then I will swing away.