As Jack Kornfield of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center has written, “Our first task is to make our own heart a zone of peace. We have to face our own sufferings, our own fears, helplessness, and pain in order to transform them into compassion.”
In doing this, we become able to relate to others, regardless of their language, skin colour, gender, sexual orientation and beliefs, and to see others as the Dalai Lama admonishes us to do:
Whether one is rich or poor, educated or illiterate, religious or nonbelieving, man or woman, black, white, or brown, we are all the same. Physically, emotionally, and mentally, we are all equal. We all share basic needs for food, shelter, safety, and love. We all aspire to happiness and we all shun suffering. Each of us has hopes, worries, fears, and dreams. Each of us wants the best for our family and loved ones. We all experience pain when we suffer loss and joy when we achieve what we seek. On this fundamental level, religion, ethnicity, culture, and language make no difference.
As Americans, from the beginning of our existence, our whole way of life has been at odds with these teachings. Our way of life and economy was previously based on the importing of African slaves. These folks were not considered human beings, were treated as property and had no rights. Their families were torn asunder by their ‘masters.’ Children were ripped away from their mothers and fathers, and husbands were separated from their wives.
Immigrants from Europe, who primarily comprised the new ‘American’ settlers and landowners, were fleeing from the religious and economic persecution being carried out by the European ruling classes of those times. Their arrival to this land was a new beginning, and yet, their view of life was predicated on an experience of inequality that was a part of ihre human experience. For them, the owning of slaves was just an aspect of the human condition.
The writing of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution with a Bill of Rights only applied to men who were landowners, and did not apply to slaves. In the more than 240 years that have passed since the founding of the nation, we are still struggling with these same inequalities and ‘injustices’ that were born into our way of life from the beginning of this ‘American Experiment’; an experiment of a democratic society with equal justice under the law for all.
Today, these same injustices are at work in our daily lives, and the opportunities for changing to an improved, aware and compassionate way of viewing one another are cloudy at best.
Our zone of peace
As the Dalai Lama has written, “Interdependence is a fundamental law of nature. Our own survival is so dependent on the help of others that a need for love lies at the very core of our existence. This is why we need to cultivate a genuine sense of responsibility and a sincere concern for the welfare of others.”
By realizing that “interdependence is a fundamental law of nature,” that “our own survival is … dependent on the help of others,” and “a need for love lies at the very core of our existence,” issues like racism and comprehensive equity in all areas of life can be resolved.
Rather than reacting and protecting ourselves from one another, we can instead respond to life with compassion; in other words, if we use Kornfield’s term, from our ‘zone of peace.’ In essence, our need is to treat others as we would want to be treated.
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Bild 1 Syaibatul Hamdi von Pixabay
