Reading the diaries last night I came across kid oakland's eloquent diary on tikkun olam. Here he describes how Obama's message of unity to “heal the world” appeals to our better sides and has synonymous contextual significances within the Jewish faith under the notion of tikkun olam.
I find this interesting because it seems to illustrate that not only does Obama's message appeal to Christians, but members of the Jewish faith have also found resonating ideas that agree with their own set of values and it made me realize that it doesn't stop there. I think Obama's message also appeals to practitioners of Buddhist philosophy as well.
In this diary I would like to share how Obama most probably is appealing to Buddhist practitioners specifically because of his rallying call for unification and his pointing out our interdependent global relationship that demands a level of cooperation among nations and peoples not seen in our recent past. No longer will the old notions of divisions serve us in a world that is quickly colliding with a devastating reality both on environmental and social levels. I cannot begin to write about Obama's ability—as noted by Lakoff and chronicled in kid oakland's diary—to draw Americans towards a higher and greater purpose as well as kid oakland. So if you haven't read his diary please do: here it is
What I've found most compelling in kid oakland's diary, and what I've also noticed about Obama's candidacy, is this:
To subscribers of the second view, coming together to heal and repair the world is common sense. Faced with global warming, with the threat of terrorism from ideological splinter groups, with a global economy that is more inter-connected and inter-dependent every day, and with a nation where the two political parties have pitted one group against the other for forty long years of destructive politics, there is a thirst for a break from the failures of the past.
I say this is most compelling because it shows how Obama's message gets to the core of the seriousness of the challenges we face as a nation and as a world community. But it is the terms interconnected and interdependent that most draw my attention. The Buddha taught that interdependence lies at the heart of our experience. That we cannot live and associate in this world without affecting others and that indeed we are not separate, in an ultimate sense, from each other. In essence, we affect others and others affect us.
I believe Buddhists would recognize common points of belief here as well in kid oakland’s diary:
What Lakoff is getting at is something fundamental. It conveys an approach to tikkun olam. Per Lakoff, Obama is saying that we can only dare to heal and repair the world when we work together, when we find what is common in our fundamental start points, when we address the largest problems we face as one united people.
What kid oakland has pointed out is that within the Jewish faith there is an idea (tikkun olam) that resonates with Obama's core message, and this idea underpins Obama’s policy positions. When Obama speaks about breaking down divisions and coming together for common purposes and higher callings, Buddhists too will hear in his message tenets mirrored in Buddhist philosophy and the notion of interdependence rises to the surface so that finally, it seems, we have someone whose leadership will be driven by what is most important in creating deep, meaningful change that goes beyond mere organizational rearrangement. Leadership driven by an understanding of interdependence and interconnectedness signals a sea change that radically calls everyone to the cause and shifts the movement from a direction of top-down change to bottom-up change, utilizing agencies and agents at every level of society in this effort. This would indeed be a remarkable break from the past. Interestingly, finding what is “common in our fundamental start points” is the cornerstone of the Buddha’s notion of interconnection and interdependence.
One of the Buddha’s philosophical points is an idea termed “dependent origination.” Dependent origination, as I understand it, suggests that what we experience in the world is based on causes and conditions whose relationships are too vast and complicated so as to point to single points of genesis or inherent, immutable entities behind experienced phenomena. Now this may get into ontological territory and go beyond discussing Obama’s message in particular. But the idea of dependent origination has meaningful significance for us in terms of how we live together and what our actions mean for us and others in the world. On a most basic level dependent origination points towards recognizing that we, as individuals, do not operate in a vacuum. That what we do (and who we are) is profoundly connected in ways that, although they might not be apparent to us on first glance, when contemplated reveal to us our commonalities more than our differences. This is what the Buddha was trying to direct us to, an understanding of interconnection and interdependence and a realization of our common “fundamental start points.”
What all of this seems to show is that Obama's message is not meant for one religious group in America (which cannot be said of the Whitehouse of the past 7 years). Obama's message transcends the confines of a single religious belief system and hits us at our core, that place where to be human is a shared experience and our differences seem to us to be mere fabrications for political gain.
What is most important to us right now, given the situation we have before us in the world? Our superficial differences that attempt to divide us into evermore fractioning groups? Or is it more important to recognize our common challenges facing us and our interdependent connection that ties us together in our fate? These interconnected ties have strengthened so that we are bound together on a global level like never before. The consequences of our actions have never been so interrelated. Obama is trying to signify the importance of what radical change will mean. That, I think, is the real difference between Obama and his opponents. He is willing to point out to us what we NEED to hear and not necessarily what we WANT to hear, despite the attacks that will follow from his detractors. That’s courage. That’s leadership. That is REAL change.
Isn't that what America needs right now? A message calling for change that resonates with ALL Americans regardless of religious affiliation and tries to unite us under a common cause to tackle the challenges before us? I think so.
Note: I would not sully the Buddhist community by claiming myself a Buddhist practitioner. I am in no way reflective of someone who actually practices the philosophy as espoused by the Buddha. I have only studied Buddhist philosophy for some time and after reading kid oakland's diary I noticed that Obama's message seems to be a universal one spanning and appealing to many religious/philosophical belief systems.