Buddhism holds that the universe and all creatures in it are intrinsically
in a state of complete wisdom, love and compassion; acting in natural response
and mutual interdependence. The personal realization of this from-the-beginning
state cannot be had for and by one-"self" - because it is not fully
realized unless one has given the self up; and away.
In the Buddhist view, that which obstructs the effortless manifestation of this
is Ignorance, which projects into fear and needless craving. Historically, Buddhist
philosophers have failed to analyze out the degree to which ignorance and suffering
are caused or encouraged by social factors, considering fear-and-desire to be
given facts of the human condition. Consequently the major concern of Buddhist
philosophy is epistemology and "psychology" with no attention paid
to historical or sociological problems. Although Mahayana Buddhism has a grand
vision of universal salvation, the actual achievement of Buddhism has been the
development of practical systems of meditation toward the end of liberating
a few dedicated individuals from psychological hangups and cultural conditionings.
Institutional Buddhism has been conspicuously ready to accept or ignore the
inequalities and tyrannies of whatever political system it found itself under.
This can be death to Buddhism, because it is death to any meaningful function
of compassion. Wisdom without compassion feels no pain.
No one today can afford to be innocent, or indulge himself in ignorance of the
nature of contemporary governments, politics and social orders. The national
polities of the modern world maintain their existence by deliberately fostered
craving and fear: monstrous protection rackets. The "free world" has
become economically dependent on a fantastic system of stimulation of greed
which cannot be fulfilled, sexual desire which cannot be satiated and hatred
which has no outlet except against oneself, the persons one is supposed to love,
or the revolutionary aspirations of pitiful, poverty-stricken marginal societies
like Cuba or Vietnam. The conditions of the Cold War have turned all modern
societies - Communist included - into vicious distorters of man's true potential.
They create populations of "preta" - hungry ghosts, with giant appetites
and throats no bigger than needles. The soil, the forests and all animal life
are being consumed by these cancerous collectivities; the air and water of the
planet is being fouled by them.
There is nothing in human nature or the requirements of human social organization
which intrinsically requires that a culture be contradictory, repressive and
productive of violent and frustrated personalities. Recent findings in anthropology
and psychology make this more and more evident. One can prove it for himself
by taking a good look at his own nature through meditation. Once a person has
this much faith and insight, he must be led to a deep concern with the need
for radical social change through a variety of hopefully non-violent means.
The joyous and voluntary poverty of Buddhism becomes a positive force. The traditional
harmlessness and refusal to take life in any form has nation-shaking implications.
The practice of meditation, for which one needs only "the ground beneath
one's feet," wipes out mountains of junk being pumped into the mind by
the mass media and supermarket universities. The belief in a serene and generous
fulfillment of natural loving desires destroys ideologies which blind, maim
and repress - and points the way to a kind of community which would amaze "moralists"
and transform armies of men who are fighters because they cannot be lovers.
Avatamsaka (Kegon) Buddhist philosophy sees the world as a vast interrelated
network in which all objects and creatures are necessary and illuminated. From
one standpoint, governments, wars, or all that we consider "evil"
are uncompromisingly contained in this totalistic realm. The hawk, the swoop
and the hare are one. From the "human" standpoint we cannot live in
those terms unless all beings see with the same enlightened eye. The Bodhisattva
lives by the sufferer's standard, and he must be effective in aiding those who
suffer.
The mercy of the West has been social revolution; the mercy of the East has
been individual insight into the basic self/void. We need both. They are both
contained in the traditional three aspects of the Dharma path: wisdom (prajna),
meditation (dhyana), and morality (sila). Wisdom is intuitive knowledge of the
mind of love and clarity that lies beneath one's ego-driven anxieties and aggressions.
Meditation is going into the mind to see this for yourself - over and over again,
until it becomes the mind you live in. Morality is bringing it back out in the
way you live, through personal example and responsible action, ultimately toward
the true community (sangha) of "all beings."
This last aspect means, for me, supporting any cultural and economic revolution
that moves clearly toward a free, international, classless world. It means using
such means as civil disobedience, outspoken criticism, protest, pacifism, voluntary
poverty and even gentle violence if it comes to a matter of restraining some
impetuous redneck. It means affirming the widest possible spectrum of non-harmful
individual behavior - defending the right of individuals to smoke hemp, eat
peyote, be polygynous, polyandrous or homosexual. Worlds of behavior and custom
long banned by the Judaeo-Capitalist-Christian-Marxist West. It means respecting
intelligence and learning, but not as greed or means to personal power. Working
on one's own responsibility, but willing to work with a group. "Forming
the new society within the shell of the old" - the IWW slogan of fifty
years ago.
The traditional cultures are in any case doomed, and rather than cling to their
good aspects hopelessly it should be remembered that whatever is or ever was
in any other culture can be reconstructed from the unconscious, through meditation.
In fact, it is my own view that the coming revolution will close the circle
and link us in many ways with the most creative aspects of our archaic past.
If we are lucky we may eventually arrive at a totally integrated world culture
with matrilineal descent, free-form marriage, natural-credit communist economy,
less industry, far less population and lots more national parks.
GARY SNYDER
1961