“Abandon all hope” – Zen saying
Today’s social/political divide in our country has some historians noting that we are living in the greatest tearing at the fabric of national identity this country has experienced since the late 1960’s. While this schism is very different in tone and in who is agitating it, the feeling that the country is tearing itself apart and the anxiety concerning the future is very real. In those years, many young liberal Americans were caught up in what was described as a cultural revolution, seeking expanded democracy and tolerance of diversity, while today, the schism emerges from the political and cultural right, seeking to shut down diversity and threatening democracy. Those in the midst of the 60’s counter-cultural revolution considered themselves cultural warriors, idealists eager to turn America’s hypocrisy and mundane plastic façade upside down. Inspired by the non-violent courageous confrontationalism of the civil rights movement, they believed wholeheartedly in bringing the same idealism and discipline to ending American involvement in what they considered an unjust war and to cultural change. The civil-rights and anti-war movements converged with radical cultural re-imagining, and it was all very inspiring and invigorating for those who were in it.
But then, the Kennedys, Malcolm X, and MLK were assassinated, over 58,000 American servicemen and women died in Vietnam, more were sorely wounded and most who served were wounded in their soul, while over three million Vietnamese were killed in the conflagration that American involvement needlessly extended. The Chicago Democratic Convention and Kent State showed that the establishment was not going to back down, that they would continue to answer non-violence with violence. The war went on and on. Over time, the materialism and self-indulgence at the core of American society morphed this political/cultural movement out of its idealism into a pop culture movement noted mainly by its libertarian features of cool clothes, longer hair, and “sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll” as all that remained. While “the movement” changed many features of American society, American society profoundly changed the movement. For serious cultural revolutionaries, it was all very discouraging.
Forward to the mid-70’s and the hangover from the intoxicating fantasy of creating “the Age of Aquarius” was all that remained. Serious, responsible leftist politics had been eclipsed in the public eye by extremist ineffectual fringe elements preaching “Revolution!” as the movement withered away. Many felt like displaced persons within their own country. The war had dragged on, finally ending in 1975 with American defeat – it had all been for nothing. The Watergate scandal forced Nixon to resign the Presidency, but not before Republican politics had settled into the fear and loathing style we see on steroids today.
On one of those 70’s malaise days, in a psychology graduate school classroom, a student who had been part of those heady times in the 60’s was sharing their story of discouragement and displacement when the professor noted, “My god, you’re a disillusioned idealist! You’ve got to get over that.” That insight can have helpful reverberation today for those who feel their idealism exhausted by our country’s deteriorating circumstance. Idealism is a wonderful thing – except that it can be part of the problem, for as Buddhism teaches, we suffer because of being attached to wanting things to be the way we believe they have to be for us to be okay.
Today, many who share some glimmer of that 60’s idealism are experiencing a burnt-out disillusionment because their expectations for a more enlightened society are not being realized, but in fact, are being trampled upon. What the ‘60’s counter-culture revolution didn’t get was that the disease they were fighting was egocentric consciousness in American culture. They had created a counterculture, yes, but it was still based in an egocentric sense of self-in-the world. They were egocentric children rebelling against their egocentric society.
Today, many want a more compassionate society, but their wanting is still coming from an egocentric place and they are disillusioned. What needs to be realized is that the real and necessary focus for human progress has to be consciousness. While political and economic systems seem to be the problem and in need of change, the political and economic systems are only extensions of the level of consciousness of the society. What is happening now is exactly karma. Mahatma Gandhi, said, “If you want to change the world, start with yourself.”
American society remains mired in a dysfunctional, egocentric, power and wealth consciousness even worse than it was in the 60’s, and the human collective and the planet can’t take much more of it. Violent revolution cannot be the answer today any more than it was in the ‘60’s and wouldn’t fix a thing any more than the Communist revolutions of the 20th century did. What is needed is evolution, the expansion of human consciousness out of egocentricism. The great question is whether humanity is ready to grow in consciousness, into the consciousness of what Buddhism calls dependent origination – the reality of the interconnectedness and interdependence of all life and of all people. Can we evolve into living in a peaceful, just, sustainable, and celebratory relationship with each other and with Nature?
America is now sixty years out from the 60’s. We’ve gone from “Camelot” to a President having cage matches on the Whitehouse lawn and building gaudy monuments to himself while striving to turn the country into a corruption-laden oligarchical system and alienating our traditional allies. Mired in the 25th year of our running, morphing conflict with Middle Eastern Islam, we are now in a needless ill-defined war with Iran. Global climate change is accelerating, and the President and his MAGA Republican Party call it a hoax while attacking teaching truthful history, fair elections, science, journalism, academia, and America’s tradition as immigration friendly. The cost of living is out of control, we still do not have universal health or child-care, and a college education, a new car, and first home are unaffordable for young adults. The media and every element of our economy have been taken over by self-serving corporations as millionaires have become billionaires and billionaires want to be trillionaires while poverty increases and the middle-class struggles. The times are ripe for disillusionment.
We cannot let that happen. As that psychology professor said to his student, “You’ve got to get over that,” which means get beyond egocentric disillusionment which can cause a person to turn away from courageous social responsibility into self-indulgent escapism, conformity, materialism, spirituality, or even unrealistic political identifications and activity. The middle-class post-World-War II generations of America grew up expecting that stability, comfort, and continuity were to some extent assured, that “each generation would have it better than the previous generation.” Quite possibly, on our present course, this may not be true anymore. Those who see this can be vulnerable to feeling overwhelmed, deflated, disillusioned, numb, or blindly angry. But that’s just our egocentricism, our need to have things go our way, pulling us down. Buddhism teaches karma – that what will happen is built on what we do now. We have choice and the ability to act on that choice, and disillusionment is a choice that has consequence.
What’s happening to America is history. Stability gives way to instability leading to dramatic change. Historically, far more people have lived in unstable and undemocratic systems than in circumstances of stable democracy. Much of the great philosophical insight into deeper human resiliency has arisen from these times of struggle. They all say the same thing. “Get over yourself,” own responsibility for your life and your part in the social/political situation of your time. When Zen tells us to “Abandon all hope” it means wisely realizing hope is egocentric expectation of things turning out the way we want them to. Zen rather advises, just show up and meet the moment as it is, a bodhisattva warrior, confronting delusional thinking and the unnecessary suffering it brings, pushing society toward enlightenment.
Life is beautiful AND terrible. Politics sucks AND remains the only viable vehicle to stable social renewal. If one maintains their own center, dedicated to a fair and democratic society, aware of the miracle that is all life, a citizen of the planet and a shaper of the future by what we do in these times, goodness can prevail. Fight the fight – the no-fight of peace, compassion, and inclusion, of preserving beauty, soulfulness, and Nature. Meditate. Love. Be non-violently political. Don’t let idealism fall into disillusionment or ineffective anger. Beyond hope, stay vibrantly alive while you laugh and cry over human absurdity. Celebrate and live human idealism, courage, compassion, love, and the capacity for wisdom. Be a cultural evolutionary, a consciousness bodhisattva. The good news is there are more and more of these new cultural heroes – some even in politics. Not “Up against the wall!” – we need “Tear down the walls.” Buddhism teaches that all things pass. This mess we’re in can pass too. The ideals of our Constitution and the wisdom and compassion traditions like Buddhism and Jesus’s teachings of love are still there to inspire and guide us. We’re all in this together. What can be more exhilarating, more idealistic than getting beyond yourself, beyond even the possibility of disillusionment, to work for a society that recognizes we – and all of Nature – are in this journey of life together? We need to care for and support each other in the way Buddhism and true spirituality call us to. Do the work. Believe truth and goodness has always moved humanity forward out of dark times. Change yourself. Change the world.