Ideals

Ideals are reflections of our deeply religious nature. But, as we know, ideals can be poison if we take them in large quantities or if we take them incorrectly; in other words, if we take them not as ideals, but as concrete realities. Ideals should inspire us to surpass ourselves, which we need to aspire to do if we are to be truly human, and which we can never actually do, exactly because we are truly human. Ideals are tools for inspiration, not realities in themselves. The fact that we have so often missed this point accounts for the sorry history of religion in human civilization. If rightly understood, ideals make us light-hearted and give a sense of direction. 

- Norman Fischer

I read this quote today in Jack Kornfield's book, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry. Looking at the international response to the murder of George Floyd, one can't help but feel a kind of tide turning in our collective unconscious. Where many of us failed or refused to grasp the enormity of systemic racism in our culture, there is now a growing realization that the "post-racial" era symbolized by the election of Barack Obama was an illusion. 

It is natural to feel overwhelmed in times of social upheaval. We look to models like Mandela, King, or Gandhi, once in a generation heroes with the right combination of genius, courage, vision, charisma, selflessness, and circumstance to achieve the impossible, and think, “There is no way for me to live into that example.” That is likely true. But what is possible? What is the example we can live into? What is our next move in this moment?

For many of us, it starts with listening - not hearing, but deep, mindful listening. Listen for what to read, what to learn. But, for a bookworm like me, reading and learning can become seductive, and an end in themselves. To be sure, there is value in learning for its own sake. But that is not the thrust of this post.

As I wrote in March, Suzuki-rōshi's famous bodhisattva vow, “Sentient beings are numberless; I vow to save them all,” is often misunderstood. The vow is not that one will “save” every human on earth. As he himself said in 1969:

I vow to save them moment after moment, continuously. But “moment after moment, continuously” is not necessary. “I vow to save them” is strong enough and good enough. “I vow to save them.” If the sentient beings are numberless, we will take this vow numberless times, that’s all.

What are required are simple acts of love, empathy, generosity, and justice - moment after moment, continuously. I am reminded of Bobbie Harro’s “Cycle of Liberation,” which I also wrote about in March. Now, only four months later, this template seems ever more appropriate. I have reposted an excerpt below:

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The Cycle of Liberation

As the problems of our division grow, our commitment to finding solutions must doubly strengthen. What is required is a critical mass of people arriving at the realization that this is not the society we want for ourselves or our children. That sounds great, in theory. But how can this be accomplished? Is there a road map to this kind of realization? There may be: let us start with Bobbie Harro’s Cycle of Liberation.

Bobbie Harro is a former professor of Human Services at Springfield College in Massachussetts. If you, like I, believe that civics should be given higher priority in K12 curricula, then you may agree that her Cycle of Liberation should be required reading for every high school social studies student. Even a cursory glance at her diagram reveals a possible template for a life of significance.

The Cycle of Liberation begins with Waking Up, which “is marked by an intrapersonal change: a change in the core of someone about what s/he believes about her/himself.” Harro observes that this can be a result of either some kind of epiphanous event or a gradual process of realization. 

The next phase, Getting Ready, “is composed of dismantling our wrong or diminishing beliefs (stereotypes, ignorance or misinformation), our discriminatory or privileged attitudes (superiority or inferiority), and behaviors that limit ourselves or others (collusion, oppressive language, or resignation).”

The next two phases of the Cycle are where we begin the real and vital work of bridging difference. Reaching Out involves seeking “experiences outside ourselves in order to check our reality and expose ourselves to a wider range of difference than we had before.” Building Community “consists of two steps: dialoguing with people like us for support... and dialoguing with people who are different from us for gaining understanding and building coalitions.”

The next three phases are where the rubber meets the road. After Coalescing, or moving “into action,” we can Create Change by “creating a new culture that reflects our coalition’s collective identity.” Then we we collectively build systems to Maintain that culture.

According to Harro, the Core of the Cycle is the "development of competence" to make meaningful change, the "belief that we can succeed," and the "commitment" to see it through. More than anything, it is the "practice of love:" love of self, balance, joy, and a strong spiritual base. It is this Core that gives us the strength, resolve, values, and principles to live into the Cycle of Liberation consistently and effectively despite the inevitable challenges and resistance.

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Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions. 

Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.  The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”

The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!” 

- adapted by Peter Straube from Loren Eiseley's The Star Thrower

References 

Harro, B. (2000). The Cycle of Liberation. In Working for Social Justice: Visions and Strategies for Change (pp. 463–469). New York and London: Routledge.

Kornfield, J. (2008). After The Ecstasy, the Laundry. London: Ebury Digital.

Straube, P. (2011, June 06). The Starfish Story: One step towards changing the world. Retrieved June, from https://eventsforchange.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/the-starfish-story-one-step-towards-changing-the-world/