Mental formations

A mental formation I can get upset about is the idea that you can be murdered for displaying a flag that signals tolerance for others sexuality.

On August 18th 2023 Laura Ann Carleton, a mother of 9 children, was gunned down for displaying a flag that signaled tolerance and acceptance at her clothing store in Lake Arrowhead California (source). A special flag was created to commemorate her.

Expressing outrage perhaps closes down the space that stochastic terrorism creates. 

To be upset by violence is normal, to be upset by specific hatred in normal. When you're doing the compassion meditation in the Brahma Viharas, a far enemy is horrified anxiety. If you open yourself up to the suffering of others you're going to feel that feeling all the time, and the meditation practice is in a way practice for something you have felt over and over throughout your life.

Of course working for tolerance and whatnot is important, but the larger meditation goal is be able to let go of these fixations when you need to, to function, or go deeper in meditation. Not in a hide your head in the sand way, and not suggesting you don't work towards social justice in your world. 

All the harm done in the world is from a place of confusion and bewilderment, and even eating only plants you're killing bugs in the field, and bugs with the transportation. Modern agriculture is the least harm we can do, as individuals, we have to eat. People who say ha, plants have feelings, don't really care about plant feelings, because if they did, they would connect the dot that animals eat more plants, eating animals is eating more plants, but they're trying to poke logic holes into something they don't want to do. The best argument for carnism is "I want to and I can." It's not illegal yet. My hope for society is that we trend in the more ethical direction for our own sake, moving towards ethical gladdening. 

Meditating, it helps to drop these mental formations, and focus on the object of concentration, in my case the breath, ala anapanasati. Insight into mental formations could be part of a solution for violence. We work best on ourselves. 

We're all bewildered and confused. It's not easy to reduce my bewilderment.