In President Obama's inaugural speech today, he declared, "On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear." Yes we did. Because this is the stand that heroes take.
There's no question that these are scary times. As Americans, we are confronted by two wars, an economic crisis, and a failing health care system. As humans, we are facing a warming planet, terrorism, ethnic violence, an HIV epidemic, and widespread hunger. The challenges arrayed against us seem daunting. But impossible odds are the hero's stock in trade.
I speak of heroes because a hero took office today. America's new leader is a man who chooses hope over fear, taking responsibility over placing blame, and unified action over partisan argument. These are heroic choices.
But our new leader is not the only hero this day. We who elected him made these choices also. We rejected fear, and blame, and partisanship. We chose to elect a man who many said could not be elected, who promised us he would shake up the status quo, who called on us for hard work and personal responsibility.
We chose this path, we elected this man at this time, not because it was easy, but because it was needed. Because we believed, like our new president, "that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task." We made this choice because we, too, have the stuff of heroes.
We are the ones we've been waiting for. We're here.
Labels: heroism, social action
In 8th century India, the prince Shantideva renounced worldly life and composed the Buddhist teachings known as
The Way of the Bodhisattva. Shantideva acknowledged the vast suffering that pervaded his world. People everywhere were afflicted by war, hunger, poverty, disease, and sorrow. As if life itself weren't harsh enough, humans were causing harm to each other daily through aggression, ignorance, and greed. Sound familiar?
Shantideva named just one source as the cause of all this suffering: "All the harm with which this world is rife, all fear and suffering that there is, clinging to the ‘I' has caused it! What am I to do with this great demon?" His solution was simple, although not easy. In
The Way of the Bodhisattva, he advocates a way of life dedicated to serving not ourselves, but our fellow humans.
Writing about Shantideva and the bodhisattva path, Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron says, "When I look at the state of the world today, I know his message could not possibly be more timely." In Chodron's book
No Time to Lose, a modern commentary on Shantideva's text, she defines bodhisattvas as spiritual warriors who long to alleviate not just their own suffering, but that of others. Opening with a chapter titled "People Like Us Can Make a Difference," Chodron writes, "Martin Luther King Jr. exemplified this kind of longing. He knew that happiness depended on healing the whole situation. Taking sides -- black or white, abusers or abused -- only perpetuates the suffering. For me to be healed, everyone has to be healed."
On Monday, January 19, 2009, president-elect Obama has asked that we once again honor the memory of Dr. King with a national
Day of Service. This year's King Day of Service is expected to be the largest ever, and it's not too late to get involved. Visit
USAService.org to find a service event near you.
A day of service is a generous act, and we should all feel proud to participate. But what King, Chodron, and Shantideva propose is a
life of service. Shantideva asks us, "Since I and other beings both, in fleeing suffering are equal and alike, what difference is there to distinguish us, that I should save myself and not the other?"
This is the bodhisattva ideal. The world is a mess. The world has
always been a mess. But there is something we can do to lessen our suffering, and that is to strive to alleviate the suffering of others, whenever and wherever we can. And there's no time to lose. In the words of Dr. King, "Life's most urgent question is: what are you doing for others?"
Labels: buddhism, life purpose, social action, volunteering
