The following is a reposting of a Meanderings I wrote in 2018. The piece I originally intended for this month requires more crafting. Please accept this (slightly edited), not as a rehashing, but as a glimpse of how the events that swirl around us seem to be cyclical and check out next month’s Meanderings.
There are several books I have read recently that come together in a serendipitous fashion. The first is The Trouble With Reality: A Rumination on Moral Panic in Our Time by Brooke Gladstone, 2017, by Workman Publishing. Another book is On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, by Timothy Snyder, 2017, by Tim Duggan Books. Finally, I have been fascinated by Anaximander, by Carlo Rovelli, published in English in 2011 by Westholme Publishing.
The first two books listed above are relatively short and to the point. I read them specifically as a means of better understanding the perplexing nature of our times. The last one, Anaximander, I read for several reasons, the first being that I am interested in the nature of science, its philosophy, and its history. The second reason, is because the person about which the book is written, namely Anaximander, a sixth century Greek philosopher and seminal figure in the development of what we today call science, fascinated me and it provides a greater understanding of the times just previous to Shakyamuni Buddhas life and teachings. It is necessary to understand, as best we can, the social, religious, political, and economic, environment of Shakyamuni Buddha if we are going to better understand his teachings and how to put them into effect.
On the surface these three books seemed to have little in common. It is Rovelli’s book that pulled it all together. That which all three have in common, is the search for truth and reality.
To quote Rovelli, “He [Anaximander] paved the way for physics, geography, meteorology, and biology. Even more important than these contributions he set in motion the process of rethinking our worldview – a search for knowledge based on the rejection of the obvious-seeming “certainty,” which is one of the main roots of scientific thinking.”
How many times have I stated that the basis of Buddhist thought is, “a search for the nature of reality.” Truth is often used in accord to reality or fact. Truth and reality are related ideas.
To understand our times and apply the Buddhist concept of compassion most effectively we must first have a context for the seeming disparate notions of reality that abound in today’s world. Buddhism is a universal religion, meaning, it is a religion that addresses the whole of humankind, not only pertinent to a particular group, but to all humanity.
The issue that binds the three aforementioned books is the dichotomy between those who seek and espouse what they see as certainty (this is the belief in a society, earth, all phenomena are known without exception), and those who recognize uncertainty (ambiguity, evolution of ideas, concepts and phenomena). The later is one of the Three Marks of Existence (anitya – impermanence) in Buddhist teachings, the other two are Dukkha – discontentedness and Anatta – non-self).
There is a great need by many to feel that they ‘know’ and can therefore control the environment around themselves. From a Buddhist perspective we can ‘know’ only what we perceive at this moment, but that perception is likely to change as time goes on. Further, what we think we know we must acknowledge may not be reality, but a filtered, malformed, view of reality. It is at this point that we must be humble in our assertions.
Those who need certainty as a guiding principle become anxious, fearful, and angry, when confronted by ambiguity and change. Further they are likely to lash out at those who challenge their views. Those who are comfortable with ambiguity are cognizant that change is the nature of the cosmos and tend to remain better composed and retain a sense of equanimity.
We should resist unjust policies and actively work to right wrongs, but, during these problematic times keeping in mind the basic Buddhist teaching regarding the Three Marks of Existence can bring about a sense of calm abiding and also assist us in understanding those who oppose our values. Have compassion, rather than disdain, for people who rigidly adhere to certainty – they are suffering, especially so, in our current environment.
Gassho with love . . . Monshin