Don't Turn Away

I’ve mostly been numb.

I managed to write some brief thoughts on the place America is at and where I fear it is headed. But that’s about it. I’ve dedicated my entire professional career to the cause of liberty—to bringing more freedom, dignity, and autonomy everyone, and particularly those most suffering from their lack—and soon the country will be ruled by a man, and a movement, dedicated to the opposite. This is defeat, and there’s no way to talk one’s self out of that.

And yet it’s not the end. And so it’s not time to be numb. Rather, even if we can’t bring ourselves to engage right now, and even if the prospect of doing something, anything, in the face of what’s in front of us is overwhelming, we can at least—must at least—be aware.

One of the fundamental ideas of Buddhism, and it’s one I think is both true and beautiful, is that much suffering comes from lack of awareness. We don’t see what’s causing us harm, particularly when what’s causing us harm is our own actions or beliefs. And we are so caught up in our own heads, and in placing ourselves at the center of our every moment, that we don’t see the suffering of others. To help those who suffer, then, including ourselves, begins with noticing. It begins with being aware—and with being mindful, which is just a constant remembering to be aware of that which needs and deserves our awareness.

This matters—right now, in this new moment—because so much of the suffering that is about to come will be out of many people’s awareness. Their privileged positions buffer them from the harms that will come to religious and ethnic minorities, gay and trans people, and those whose lack of power will make them appealing victims for a movement that sees cruelty as the point. We need to see those people, and see what is happening to them, so that we don’t get lost in our own worlds, and so allow the worlds of others to become catastrophically worse.

But it’s not enough to simply notice. Many of the people who are about to take power notice this suffering, and return their attention to it again and again. It’s just that they like it, or aren’t bothered by it, out of cruelty or callousness. So in addition to mindful attention, we need compassionate attention. We need to notice because we care and we want to help. We need empathy and sympathy and the will to act when another is suffering. Maybe we can’t do much, and maybe there are times we can’t do anything at all, but cultivating a capacity for, and perspective of, mindful and compassionate awareness will strengthen our resolve, and ensure we’ll both notice and act in those situations where this is something we can do.

Numbness cannot be the answer, because the answer to this current moment is found in each other: in what we can do and what others can do for us. We need to counter cruelty with compassion. We need to counter ignorance with awareness. We need to stay mindful if we are to see ourselves, and each other, through.