Civility, Modesty, and Buddhism

“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. ... Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.” [Reinhold Niebuhr]

i find this passage interesting, as i find your comments. there is nothing about life on this planet, including the life of a single human that is not the result of causes and conditions arising all the time. what heppened in tucson was only a natural consequence of that which has been happening for years in the u.s.a. and western world: a sense of invincibility and the cult of individualism. what we nurture is what we will get, it really is that simple.

so looking at niebuhr's quote used by the columnist one is truck by the conditioning that is laced throughout the four sentences.

i disagree that nothing worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime. are you kidding me? working at controlling one's own brain activity can be achieved in one's lifetime and the fact that we don't have more of us doing that hard work is exactly why we have views as expressed in this quote. the conclusion that we therefore must be saved by hope presupposes that there is some higher power that will do the saving. indeed the whole meaning of virtue is associated with some 'divine power'. that is nonsense too and is a testament as to how deeply we have embedded within a significant percentage of people the human construct of a god. civility and modesty so not arise from some grace from some god who blesses only christians, muslims, jews, or whatever, but from an individual's hard work, learning and life experiences, little else.

virtuous actions are the domaine of the individual. sure collections of individuals can also accomplish virtuous actions for greater numbers, but it all starts in the heart/mind of an individual who has done the hard work. again, this saving idea comes up and now the idea is that hope is joined by love. love is the universal energy, but how many people understand love. start there and one can get an idea, a very clear idea of what is wrong with the contermporary world. we don't love and we have little idea of love's power. we prefer to judge, criticize, collectively condemn, punish, use violence, and the like to correct non-virtuous actions, and to what end? is niebuhr saying we should keep on with our ignorant conditioned thinking and somehow bring love into that picture to correct mistakes of others? if he is, he is so wrong!

then he concludes his thoughts in this quote by saying: No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness. virtue is associated with some higher way of being, and thus has nothing to do with 'friend or foe'. indeed, each living being on this planet is interconnected and interrelated to all others, there is no separation. within the human being there is a true self or true nature. this true self embodies all that god has to offer humanity. but one cannot hold onto such views or ways of being or ah ha moments. one can only chose to manifest such a way of being in one's daily life. this is worth doing and so doable if only one would give one's head a shake, individually and collectively. so i happen to think that forgiveness is preceded by acceptance, acceptance that one living being isn't at the same place as i am nor are other human beings at this level of consciousness. i accept that and forgiveness follows naturally. i am grateful that we have the capability to rise above the din through our own conscious endeavour. so why don't we? it is precisely the conditioning we don't even understand we are labouring under. so sad.

so let me conclude by saying that it is my view that the columnist and neibuhr are way off course. only human beings apply meaning to things that happen. but everything is balanced and it is only through the applying of meaning to this or that act do we have separation. it is that separation which causes the lack of civility and modesty which exists big time in the modern world. we separate ourselves from each other by numerous means and we separate ourselves from other living beings and life itself without hesitation. that is the source of our ignorance. not the greatest thinker, scientist, politician, athlete, doctor, etcetera is separate from all that went before him or her. they all are the results of countless influences and advances originating perhaps thousands of years before. so, only love and compassion realized fully will bring on the kindness which will bring about civility and modesty. in this person the ego is definitely quietened. that is not understood by the vast majority of persons, but i think that it is clearly by true buddhists who are not burdened by an overworked ego and sense of self-importance.

oh well, that is my rant for right now. .