It started 28 days ago, with a ragtag group of people who called themselves "Occupy Wall Street" planting themselves at Liberty Square Plaza (aka Zuccotti Park) in New York City, under the shadows of skyscrapers.
They gathered together to call attention to the disproportionate influence that the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans have over our political and economic system. Using the phrase "We are the 99 percent," they drew a circle of inclusion around the myriad forms of structural violence and suffering that so many of us are experiencing these days.
The Buddha would probably agree with their analysis. Numerous Buddhist texts point out that poverty is not any individual's fate or karma, but rather exists in a web of causes and conditions. The Buddha also noted that the way to build a peaceful society is to ensure equitable distribution of resources.
In a more contemporary rendering of Buddhist teachings, Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh offers this precept: "Do not accumulate wealth whilst millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life, fame, profit, wealth or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy and material resources with those who are in need." Bernie Glassman Roshi says: Do not foster a mind of poverty in yourself or others.
In less than a month, this gathering in New York has grown into a worldwide movement that has captured the public imagination and vision. This is a leaderless movement, and one that started without any clear demands, and one that is committed to nonviolence. These are exactly the kinds of movements that those with privilege and power have no idea how to contain.
There is a precedent for this kind of social change. The Civil Rights movement, though now almost exclusively identified with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and to a lesser degree, Rosa Parks, was actually comprised of many leaders in multiple locations who gradually self-organized so that the whole became greater than the sum of its parts. And like Occupy Wall Street, the Civil Rights movement grew in its own power based on a common dedication to justice for all.
Some have criticized or ridiculed Occupy Wall Street because it has not formed a list of clear demands for change. Instead, it has relied on a participatory process, even inviting the public at large to weigh in on what issues are of most importance.
What is really remarkable about this movement is that somehow it has raised the process of "how" change happens to being more important than the "what" of change.
The people on the streets in New York are in the process of being the change they wish to see, to use Gandhi's phrase. They have organized to provide health care for each other, to feed each other, to clean up their space together, to deal with difficult situations using creative solutions. They have intentionally refused alignment with any political party in order to keep their message open to the widest audience. They are taking pains to use a collective decision-making process so that the voices of the marginalized are being heard and considered.
In the context of Buddhist teachings and practice, these are all compassionate actions.
It calls to mind the words that Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy spoke at the 2003 World Social Forum:
Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness -- and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we're being brainwashed to believe. The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling -- their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability.
This piece was co-authored with Maia Duerr, former executive director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and current director of the Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program. See Maia's blog, The Jizo Chronicles, for more Buddhist perspectives on Occupy Wall Street.
Follow Roshi Joan Halifax on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@jhalifax
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If you think that merely by being an activist you are moving closer to enlightenment, you are sorely mistaken. During your protests, you are generating many negative minds! You are becoming enraged, angry, hateful, attached, fantasizing about the future, wishing to take the belongings of others for yourself, generating a strong sense of "I" and "mine," liking, disliking.. etc. How could this have positive results?
If you are an advanced practitioner, it might be possible to have a Buddhist perspective on this subject. But, unless that perspective is "I'm empty, the act is empty, the recipient of the act is empty, therefore Bodhichitta." and you are engaged in the protest without generating negative emotions, then there is nothing positive occurring. All the other methodologies laid down by the Buddha - equanimity, love, compassion, bodhichitta, two types of meditation - were for one purpose: to help you realize emptiness. That is it. That is all. Everything else is delusion.
Although it can be frustrating to watch "the masses" wandering aimlessly at the hands of would-be leaders who merely strive to keep them aimless, there always comes a point when people suddenly do come together, and when they do, they demonstrate themselves to be Wise beyond their leaders' own understanding.
Every generation of man, each in its own way, is forced to confront the reality that Human Greed displaces Wisdom. Even as it greedily professes to be Wise and even All-Knowing, it shows itself to be neither. Greed covets Power, for power's own sake, but in the end demonstrates that it does not have any idea how to wield it. The public believes it has no power at all, until it seizes what has always been at its own hand and none other.
These are ancient parables. "The love of Money IS the root of all evil."
In order to live a middle class existence, it is necessary to accumulate some wealth. One needs to save money so that one is not forced to borrow money in case of an emergency (e.g. the car breaking down), and one needs to save for retirement. And "living simply" means what? If it means spending less than what one makes, I would concur. Too many people live beyond their means and should cut back, but the phrase "living simply" is just too vague to be meaningful.
On the other hand, would we be in this economic depression today if we hadn't misspent over 1 trillion dollars for two useless wars? Would this economic depression have lingered on as it is if the Republicans weren't obstructionists and refuse to lift taxes on the 1% so to pay for a jobs program?
Buddhism and Christianity in agreement: Who would-a thunk it? ;)
I have perceive this coming for a long time. I always knew that it was just a matter of time. For the giant to wake up. It has happen before in the world history and we can make it happen again. Every time a little bit closer to the final goal, taking our civilization to a higher level of humanity and maturity . The system that we allowed to exist must endure drastic changes, we are demanding the change. We , the people,have the tools and the power to accomplish just that in a peaceful and intelligent manner.
The greatest resource on the planet earth, the people, is experiencing a shift and a change. With an new awareness for the world that we have created until now, from a more loving and compassionate perspective.
May the force be with each one of us, wonderful human beings!
This is perhaps the only major demonstration I've been part of (and I've been in dozens, centered on issues like labor rights, ending the war in Iraq, and nuclear disarmament) where our meditation actually felt a bit redundant, because everyone already had tuned in to a vibe of peacefulness, joy, and nonviolence. It became abundantly clear to me that this movement is based in a real honor and respect for kindness and for making sure every voice is heard, and that needs are addressed as best as possible.
I included a quote from Arundhati Roy in our article. The other quote that kept coming to mind today was one from Mother Teresa: "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." This collective of people is remembering that... waking up to it, to use a Buddhist phrase. We are changing the story... we are no longer believing that we are beholden to corporations.
Something magical is happening here... it's impossible to say where this will all lead, but keep an eye on it, for sure. And better yet, get involved.
I spent this morning at Occupy Santa Fe. Among the hundreds of people who were there to march to the Round House (our capital building) and then peacefully assemble on the lawn there, about 15 of us offered a meditative presence. Our banner read, "Occupy the Present Moment." And we had a great time.
Roshi Joan and I ended our above article with this reflection: "Can Occupy Wall Street succeed? It can, if it continues to place generosity and compassion before greed, and to recognize the power of interdependence, causality and selflessness."
Based on everything I saw this morning in Santa Fe and have heard coming out of NYC and other parts of the world (with the exception, perhaps, of Rome where things got violent), chances of success are looking very good. [continued...]
there are no buddha preachers with mega churches.
mega churches do not teach the middle path or compassion for others that do not believe what they believe.
they teach a free pass to heaven; just believe, someone not anyone but god himself had to die to appease an angry god of unconditioÂnal love so they could get that free pass to heaven.
the lack of logic in this previous sentence staggers the logic of even 5 year olds. this I have seen time and time again working with the young.
and we wonder as americans why we are self destructinÂg.
read three sentences back over and over and over. then it will become obvious as to our level of competence as a nation that has 720 foreign military bases and has wars for corp profits and think of ourselves as followers of the prince of peace.