bodhicitta on the brain

In a recent post, I got a little angry and frustrated with our (p)Resident. Davis, rightly, pointed out that it's easy to use one person as a scapegoat when they might represent the views of many people who are equally ignorant. Nevertheless, these people have a say in governmental policies and their representative owes it to them to understand their ideas.

The past couple of days, I have been examining my anger toward Bush and how it fits in with my buddhist leanings. The idea of bodhicitta, the ultimate in compassion, the very essence of which is needed to attain perfect buddhahood, has come to my mind frequently. With bodhicitta, a bodhisattva (one who is destined to become a Buddha) must look at the world and wish not to achieve enlightenment for his or her own sake, but for the cessation of suffering of all people. The first step to attaining this calling is to begin to see all beings as having been one's mother.

In a buddhist world, we have more past lives than there are grains of sand in the Ganges. Thus, when we look at the people in our lives, hell, even the ants and birds and lemurs, we see souls that have been any myriad of things, the mother of our then-incarnation included. A mother is the ultimate in kindness and unselfishness, and therefore we must love everyone as we love our mother. [Let's ignore for the time being this idealization of motherhood and save the feminist analysis for another time. In cases where one has not known the kindness of a mother, one is encouraged to bring to mind a being who has in some way shown them great compassion and love.]

Simple enough. The trick is in the remaining six steps to Buddhahood. Second, you must find within yourself the urge to repay this kindness your "mother" has bestowed upon you, which is followed by the intense feeling of love, a desire to make that person happy. Happiness, it follows, is freedom from suffering and thus in the fourth step you develop compassion for your subjects. If you have compassion for all beings, you have "intense intention" which leads to bodhicitta, the awakening mind. Step up on up to be the next Buddha. It's all you, baby.

Professor Dunne would share the following story to describe to us the essence of bodhicitta:

The monk Asanga was traveling one day when he came across a worm-ridden dog, still alive, lying on the roadside. Feeling intense compassion for the plight of this dog, he carefully removed the worms and cared for the dog's wounds. As he was doing so, he realized that he must care for the worms as well, whose sustenance had just been removed from them. Therefore, he took a knife and cut from his leg a long strip of flesh and placed the maggots on it so they could eat.

In fact, the dog was a form of the bodhisattva Maitreya, who was putting this challenge to Asanga to demonstrate compassion. Buddhists teachers, the Dalai Lama included, teach that one seeking compassion should treasure those in our lives who make things difficult, because without this struggle we would not truly begin to see all beings with equanimity and love. In other words, it's easy enough to be kind and helpful if everyone you meet is a peach to live with. It is the true troublemakers that will help us attain bodhicitta.

Thus, it is my challenge to find compassion for the people in my life who aggravate me. My father, for one. Is he a bodhisattva in disguise, urging me to find the wellspring of love I desire? Bush, for another, which is hard and complicated, because in his own right he is harming many people. From today's Daily Wisdom by the Dalai Lama:

According to the Latin root of the word, "religion" would mean "to bind again." Now how does the concept of binding or tying up come to be applied as the common term for all our various teachings?

The common enemy of all religious disciplines, the target of all moral precepts laid down by the great teachers of mankind, is selfishness of mind. For it is just this which causes ignorance, anger, and passion--which are at the root of all the troubles of the world."

My attraction for buddhism comes from this simple idea of compassion and the cessation of suffering for all people. If one understands it properly, it is impossible to make an action that is founded on what one sees is best or most fit for other people. Instead, one looks at the consequences of suffering in situations as drastic as war or embargo, as sweeping as intolerance and ignorance, and as mundane as gossip or backstabbing. Thus, Bush's actions are to me rooted in great selfishness parading as unselfishness, the most dangerous kind. I would love to see him awakened and enlightened as to the nature of suffering, surrounding by buddhist monks filled with love and energy. For now, I must work on seeing him as my mother.