Post-election Wise Action

A Safety Pin Movement to Shrink "The Divide"
A Dharma talk given November 15, 2016
By Carol Cook

Most of us were here a week ago tonight listening to Mark’s beautiful talk, a talk that gave us some perspective to better go home and face the end of this brutal election cycle. And now I am so grateful that I spent the evening here with Sangha instead of watching the whole gruesome thing on TV.

So, here we are again a week later.  I’m guessing that some of us may have come tonight just to get steeped in the warmth of Sangha.  Maybe still experiencing difficult emotions that have been building up throughout the contest and seemed to explode upon hearing the results.  

And I imagine that there are all sorts of feelings in this room.  Maybe we are feeling the deep loss of not having the outcome we expected or wanted.  Or perhaps feeling fear about what comes next.  Or perhaps feeling the pain of divisiveness in our country right now.  Worried about what all this could mean?  Or maybe feeling exhausted, disgusted with the whole mess, or just numbed out — kind of dead inside.

And we can hold all of that this evening, along with any other concerns we bring into the room. And no matter what you are experiencing right now, no matter who you voted for, or didn’t vote for, you are welcome here.  Let this Sangha be a container that can hold all of our fears, grievances, heartbreak, confusion, uncertainty, anger. And hold them in a way that we are not feeding what is being called “the divide.”

Now, to be honest, most of the folks I spend time with, as well as myself, had hoped the election would have ended differently.  And we continue struggling trying to figure out how to frame the results and where we can go from here.  And it is so easy to get caught in the Dukkha, the suffering of not getting what I wanted.  Not getting what I wanted for my children, grandchildren and their children.  Not getting what I wanted for the millions of disenfranchised that seem to have no voice. Not getting what I wanted for the planet.

All of this is painful, but this pain does not have to result in more suffering.  This pain can be met head on in the present moment, and all of its waves accepted and grieved fully.  And then as each wave resolves, we will gain clarity and the energy to follow up with action.  Wise action, that is, skillful action.  action that helps to close the divide but not feed it.
The “where do I go from here” can be met with a mind/heart that is clear and open for all on both sides of this “divide.”

We come back again to the Buddha’s famous words:    

    Hatred never ends with hatred.
    By non-hate alone does it end.
    This is the ancient truth.

Now a few people I ran into this week had experienced some initial shock and disbelief on election night, but seemed to move almost immediately into a positive outlook.  They framed it with words like, “Well, we will get through this, and there’s always more good things to come.”

Now I am not without a positive outlook.  This election is certainly not indicative of what most people in our country are feeling.  And it may be what is needed to wake us all up. It’s like we have been suffering from a painful abscess swollen with fear, hate and distrust.  And it had to be lanced open to begin healing, and the healing will be slow and not without pain.

And, of course, we’ll get through it (assuming the planet continues to support us).  And the good stuff ahead may seem possible for many of us — especially if we are white, non-muslim, heterosexual, legal U.S. citizens

But we need to remember that black and brown people, immigrants, those of different genders and sexual preferences, and many others—they are feeling very vulnerable right now. Their well-being and safety are being threatened NOW. The rest of us are feeling it too, but we all know where the impact will hit first. It’s already happening.

A day or so ago, I was talking with my daughter — Jeri.
She told me she had been to her dentist this week.  And the receptionist there, who was Hispanic, would not make any eye contact, and spoke only what was necessary to do business. Jeri was very perplexed; because in past visits, the woman had always been very open and friendly, even laughing at her struggling command of English. But now she seemed frozen.

Later Jeri was talking with another office worker near where the receptionist sat.  This woman was also Hispanic but seemed more “Americanized.”  Assimilated, I guess they call it.  So Jeri decided to ask her how she was feeling about the election results. And they talked a while, each sharing their concerns.  By the end of that conversation, the first woman had joined in, making full eye contact, and sharing her own concerns. It seemed that what she had overheard was comforting, and allowed her to feel safe, to put down her fear of one white person — for a while at least.

Later that day Jeri sent me a text with a close-up photo of a safety pin fastened to the front of her shirt.  After the experience in the dentist office, she began looking for a way to show those who were feeling vulnerable that she is a safe and supportive person.  And she came upon the “safety-pin movement.”  It seems to have begun in the U.K. after the Brexit vote, when so many immigrants were feeling threatened.  (And still are.)  It has really caught on in the U.S. since November eighth.  You simply place a large safety pin on your shirt or jacket — to show support for any group or individual who is feeling unsafe due to the consequences of this election.  A very simple, yet powerful symbol.  It’s certainly not all that we can do, but it can get us started.
    
My daughter wrote in her text, “It made me cry to pin it on and to think I find this necessary in our country that I hope aspires to so much more.”

You may have noticed I have a safety pin in my shirt.
I guess I have joined the movement.  I believe the Buddha would see it as wise action.  And wise action is so needed right now by all of us.  We know our political leaders can’t do what we need without us.

And even for our own mental health, action may the best anti-anxiety and anti-depression medication that we will ever find, as long as it’s not used to simply bury our feelings.  As long as it is rooted in a heart that is open to all.  Including the folks who believe they have won.

So, I want to close by sharing a letter that was read in a talk by Dharma teacher Betsy Rose.  The letter was  written the day after the election by Betsy’s son, a 24-year-old  environmental activist.  He had worked very hard and long canvassing in Ohio, and he was now getting ready to leave for North Dakota to stand with the tribes and the water protectors.

Today after the election I walked aimlessly through the chilly, lengthening shadows of towering maples, watching above as the leaves they worked hard to grow floated listlessly down to crunch beneath my feet to become soil once again.

The low winter sunlight strikes me in the eyes, and I almost don’t see the buck, until I am nearly upon him. But strangely he doesn’t run, only saunters off a few steps, stops and looks back at me. We wait for awhile, each wondering what the other is doing here in suburban Ohio, both of us admittedly somewhat out of place.  Then he nods his head down at me, and I swear he is trying to tell me something with his watery brown eyes.  I try my hardest to quiet myself and listen. But it slips past and the moment is gone.  I trust that I will understand when I need to.

I hope that the wild continues to belligerently permeate this silly old world we have built around ourselves.  I hope it’s not because I’m scared of what I might lose, but because I’m deeply in love with what I’ve already found. I hope,  knowing that to be open is to be hurt, to be wracked with sobs and to tremble with the sheer magnitude of what is at stake, knowing that it is simply part of being truly alive. And being truly alive is a blessing, beyond measure.  To hope is to acknowledge responsibility, to realize that things will not get better unless you make them better.  

What a weight!  What a gift!