Friends, we want you to know that we’re here with you in these truly unprecedented times of upheaval in our country. Many of our sangha members, especially those in our DC area home, are facing the loss of not just their family’s livelihood, but of the decades of hard work and dedication to improving access for all people to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We think especially of the beloved trans and immigrant members of our community, and pray for their safety and ease. The current dismantling of social safety nets, environmental, public health, and human rights protections does not represent our Buddhist principles – of interconnectedness, reverence for the Earth and all beings, and of deep wisdom and great compassion.
The good news is that the Buddha left us specific instructions for times such as these. In the coming months as part of this newsletter, our teachers will offer guidance to help ground in your practice and discern what actions might support your heartfelt intentions. For today, I bring you a seminal teaching in the form of a parable having to do with standing one’s ground in the face of physical and psychological conflict.
In the Padhaana Sutta we encounter Mara – who various translators describe as the tempter, the personification of evil, the friend of heedlessness, and the bringer of destruction – who sees the Buddha struggling as he gets close to enlightenment. Mara presents himself as a kind and caring friend, concerned with the Buddha’s wellbeing and offering to “help.” He says to him:
“O you are so thin and pale,
And you are in death’s presence too;
A thousand parts are pledged to death,
But life still holds one part of you.
Live, Sir! Life is the better way;
You can gain merit if you live,
Come, live the Holy Life and pour
Libations on the holy fires,
And thus a world of merit gain.
What can you do by struggling now?
The path of struggling too is rough
And difficult and hard to bear.”[12]
But the Buddha recognizes the speaker of these “kind” words and sees clearly Mara’s hidden agenda to prevent him from knowing the truth. The Buddha firmly rebukes him and calls out Mara’s minions by specifically naming them (funny how some things never change!): greed, cowardice, uncertainty, malice, obstinance, self-aggrandizing, denigrating others, desire for personal riches and notoriety, and hatred.
The Buddha announces his readiness to give battle:
“None but the brave will conquer them
And gain bliss by the victory…
Better I die in battle now
Than choose to live on in defeat…
I sally forth to fight, that I
May not be driven forth from my post.”
Some mistakenly believe that Buddhism is for the passive; that the practice of compassion and lovingkindness means we accept what’s happening without putting up a “fight,” and that equanimity requires us to gloss over the suffering in the world. But quite the opposite is true. Buddhist practice is for the courageous, who are willing to stand in the midst of suffering and take a stand for what we know is true, even if we may not see the outcome in our lifetime.
In the eleventh hour of his awakening, when all other attempts at thwarting him had failed, Mara thought he could finally gaslight the Buddha into submission by saying to him “Who do you think you are, that you could become awakened?” And, as the story goes, the Buddha touched the Earth as the steadfast witness to his great triumph, and Mara was vanquished.
Please lean into your practice and your sangha to find strength and resilience for the coming days. If you aren’t connected to a group or a teacher, I encourage you to visit our Community Page to see how you can connect with others, either in-person or online. You can also still access the recordings from last weekend’s online special event “When the Rubber Hits the Road,” where eight amazing teachers gave us their take on practice in these difficult times.
All blessings on the path 🙏🏼
Trisha Stotler
Dharma Teacher & Executive Director of Programs
