Hope

Dahui Temple, built 1503

"... I do believe quantum revolutionary shifts can happen, though an upsurge of violence often precedes them before the old system gives way. For instance, a dominant narrative of post-apartheid South Africa is that it was a peaceful transition of power. However, as recorded in Gary Kynoch’s book, Township Violence and the End of Apartheid, this was not the case. What unfolded in the four years leading to the first democratic elections in April 1994 was the bloodiest period of the entire Apartheid era, with an estimated 14,000 deaths attributed to political violence." Thanissara in "A Dharma Heart for These Times" in Insight Journal.

Also "If democratic rights are lost, it will have devastating consequences for climate justice, not only here but around the world. What does a battle we can’t afford to lose mean for us?"

Also, "Ajahn Chah distinguished between the peace of meditative calm, or samadhi, which primarily depends on a tranquil environment, and the more profound peace that arises from wisdom."

And, "Even though hope for the future hangs by fraying threads, there is enormous potential in our ability to organize as Dharma practitioners and as citizens. Amid a world on fire, we have the skills to balance between hope and nihilism."

Plus, "As we face wars, flooding, fire, and the old ghosts of fascism, I want to advocate for a deeper inquiry that enables honest conversations about the monsters living beneath this “business-as-usual” and what we want to do about them."

Enough quoting, read the article. I like this engaged Buddhism by the author of Time To Stand Up.

Thanissara quotes the Surangama Sutra.

Lastly, "I feel the determination to break the doom scroll of inevitability by committing fully to a different world. This pledge means releasing social fear, including an internalized quietism that Buddhist culture usually elevates over speaking out, keeping us complicit."




I love dialectical and non dualistic thinking, so I offer this counter quote: "The Buddha taught: begin in hopelessness." She Who Became The Sun a novel by Shelly Parker-Chen set in Medieval China.

Maybe the animals who call themselves human will not transcend the barriers to responding to climate crisis. And we'll get all the kind of consequences that we deserve. Say half the population of the world dies. That leaves a lot of humans left. Humans won't die out. It would be a pretty horrible thing for 50% of the humans to die. Everything as we know it would be changed, from the ability to respond with science, and families would be devastated. The basic structure of society, the family, would be utterly devastated, and humans culture would take a huge toll.

At some point the sun will expand and engulf the earth and even though that's way in the future, and I expect humans will find purchase on other worlds, it's possible we won't get out of our solar system, and we get snuffed out or have a small population through our own misadventures. In the cosmic perspective we are a spec of a spec in a blink of a blink.

Roar by Matteo Pistono

This book is about Sulak Sivaraksa, a Thai, who is among the founders of the INBE established in 1989. He wrote Seeds of Peace (copyright 1992). There are other books. He was given the Right Livelihood Award. I've never even heard of this award, but it seems so awesome that this exists! I'm starting to agree with Stephen Pinker, the world is getting better! And this award has been given out since 1980.

(Robert Bilott is the most recent American to win the Right Livelihood Award in 2019, for his work as a lawyer exposing environmental atrocities by corporations and holding them accountable in the law.)

The forward to Roar is by John Ralston Saul, and reading his wikipedia page I thought I would like to read some of his work. I particularly liked the idea of "the failure of manager-led societies". We are all responsible for what happens in our society, not just the so-called leaders.

Matteo Pistono also wrote In The Shadow of the Buddha, which was about Tibet around 2010 (copyrite 2011). I want to read his book about Nineteenth-century Tibetan mystic Tertön Sogyal.

Not sure how I got a book that isn't published until March 2019, but the copy I have has the copyright 2018, so I'm making it my book of the year. You can preorder it for March 5th 2019.

Wow, learning so much and I'm just starting the book, and I'm blown away.