Our world is in trouble. Society and the planet’s ecosystem are heading towards breakdown – and our mental health is suffering; many of us are also heading towards, or already over the edge of breakdown.
We are perplexed, anxious, and may be despairing of there being any solution to these global problems – but to be able to think sensibly about them we first need to bring them back to a manageable scale: what can I do about how these problems are affecting me, and how can I move away from being oppressed by them to becoming a constructive part of the solution?
To do this we don’t need to first have incontrovertible proof that the problems can be solved, that in x years’ time the ecosystem will have recovered and we will be living in a just, equitable society where everyone has their needs fulfilled. But I think we do need to understand that, if we can learn to enter into life consistently from a healthy motivational place, we can be sure that our efforts in the service of bringing a better world into being will bear fruit.
Buddhist teachings are unequivocal that right action necessarily leads to happiness and well-being for oneself and others; this teaching is one we should hold close to our hearts, and remind ourselves of when things get tough. In today’s world (in fact, always), the most important point is to train ourselves to act with compassion, as far as possible, in all circumstances. I submit that what is needed is to constantly remind ourselves of the three ‘C’s’ of Compassion for Oneself, Compassion for Others, and Compassion for the Earth.
Let’s look at these in reverse order. If I want to contribute effectively to the healing of the Earth’s ecosystem – and it’s becoming increasingly obvious that this is now humanity’s most urgent and important collective task – then I absolutely need to be working collaboratively and in harmony with others. There is little I can do that will be worthwhile if I try to operate in isolation, or out of hostility to those who are in denial about or are actively worsening the problem; attempting to do so will inevitably lead to pessimism, burnout and despair.
But as soon as I connect from a loving and compassionate place with others who are similarly concerned, I and they immediately feel a sense of empowerment – because when we are connected in this way, we actually are powerful. To do so requires us to listen to one another deeply, to let go of our tendency to focus on criticism of what we perceive as others’ mistakes, and to open our hearts to the shared pain of our common humanity. I cannot practise real compassion for the Earth without first integrating compassion for others, recognising (as the Yogi teabag says) that ‘the other is myself’, and that together our power is potentially limitless.
Again, however – and this is the point I most want to stress – many of us fall prey to unkind self-criticism and despondency because, though we sincerely want to consistently relate with compassion to others, again and again we find ourselves falling short of the high standards we set ourselves. We beat ourselves up for not being compassionate enough – does that sound familiar? Why’s that? I think it is because we have not fully absorbed the message that compassion for ourselves is a non-negotiable condition for real compassion for others.
If I feel I have to blame myself for past mistakes, then how can I authentically claim to not judge and blame others? The truth is that we have all made many mistakes, we are likely to make more, and we all need and deserve forgiveness – because our deepest intention has always been to be a good and kind person, and we are still learning how. If we practise the essential Buddhist training of always looking for others’ positive qualities, while recognising that whatever faults they may appear to have arise from misunderstanding, we may learn to stay in touch with the deep beauty of the human spirit, that is always there underneath whatever difficult emotions or misconceptions are hiding it from view.
And if we can see it in others, we can also see it in ourselves. Actually we need to fall in love with ourselves, because the disappointment we often feel towards ourselves arises from failing to see what’s there – each of us is a miracle, and has boundless capacity for love, joy and creativity.
When we see it – and this is most often through seeing it reflected in others – our hurtful self-judgement falls away and we are set free to radiate those healing and liberating qualities into the world. As we find authentic joy in our connection to others, and to the abundant dance of the living world around us, we are enabled to bring forth the healing that our world needs; it is infectious, and there is no necessary limit to how far and how fast it can spread.
I will continue to write about what I would like to hope may be an impending pandemic of joy and hope; despite the darkness that is all around, there is a powerful force at work that could transform our world in ways we did not suspect. If you’d like to explore this with me in person, please join me in my free online mini-workshop, Finding Peace and Joy in Challenging Times, Wednesday 22 January at 7 PM, UK time – or better still, sign up for my next 8 week CCT (Compassion Cultivation Training) course, from 6 February – 3 April.
In my next post I will write about the amazing and brilliant vision of Paul Hawken’s Project Regeneration, that has inspired me to believe that we can after all overcome the tremendous challenge of reversing climate and ecological breakdown. See you there!