We know about the monk who asked whether dogs have Buddha Nature. Such a question arose at Shasta Abbey, about Richard Nixon. We offered him merit every day, but some objected. The Abbess asked, “Who needs it more?” and that was that. And so it is today.
At meal times we give thanks to the Four Benefactors:the Buddha, the President, our parents and all people. The President replaces the King from earlier times. In either case, it is the protection for Buddhism provided by governments that we are grateful for. That part of the Constitution is working fairly well, even under the worst of Presidents, except for the recent Islamophobia.
In Chinese Buddhist cultural terms Trump definitely qualifies as a “dog”, that is, one who denies karma, compassion, and Buddha Nature.
Karma is simply cause and effect in the moral realm.
All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts.
If a man speak or act with an evil thought, suffering follows him as the wheel follows the hoof of the beast that draws the wagon....
If a man speak or act with a good thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him.
Dhammapada 1 The Twin Verses
My buddy Mahakala, the Lord of Time bringing karma to fruition.
Mahakala is also the Wrathful Aspect of Kanzeon, Bodhisattva of compassion. Not that that is his real appearance, but that this is what empathy, compassion, Wokeness, selflessness, and all of the other Buddhist virtues look like to those who have declared us to be the enemy, to be destroyed by any means possible. We are, in their minds, trying to persecute them, to destroy all that is Good and True in American culture, to propagandize and “groom” their children, and so on.
I’m sure I don’t have to run through Trump’s karma here, nor the suffering it has brought him in pursuit of what he considers to be happiness in life—being able to brag about his ostentatious wealth, vicious power, and sex life. Look at it this way.
The Muppet Show with guest star Avery Schreiber
Sir Avery of Macho: Monster…
Sweetums: Hm?
Sir Avery: I’ve been talking to your best friends.
Sweetums: And?
Sir Avery: You don’t have any.
Trump’s persona thus has aspects of
- The Heaven of Desire
- The Rebel Gods invading Heaven
- The Hungry Ghosts, who prefer excrement to real food
- The many and varied Hells
- Animals
as depicted on Mahakala’s Wheel of Life. But not the human world in which one can hear the Dharma and confront the koan.
I’m sure I don’t have to belabor the Trump/Ultra-MAGA/Wrong-wing antipathy to empathy, compassion, Wokeness, and selflessness either. I will just mention again that the title of “Buddha” means Awakened, not Enlightened.
Their errors are not what we are here for today. Our koan is feeling compassion for the deluded. That’s not so hard when they are aware of their own sufferings, and have at least some notion of getting outside of themselves. I have to confess that although I don’t hate ultra-MAGA Wrong-Wingers, I do sometimes find them quite tiresome. Which means I then need to go away to recharge my own batteries for a time, by getting out from under the Opposites.
For many of the deluded the starting point for a cure is finding Common Ground. Cult rescue expert Steven Hassan, now at Meidas Touch, is quite clear on the necessity of doing so and on various ways to approach the problem. So is Daryl Davis, rescuer of more than 200 Klansmen, who started out just trying to befriend them and ask them where they got their opinions on Blacks. So is George Lakoff, inventor of the Truth Sandwich method of countering hate and disinformation.
Grokking Trumpists: The Trump Death Cult
Grokking Trumpists: Converting KKK Members
Truth Brigade: The George Lakoff Truth Sandwich
You don’t have to dive into the deep end. Think of things you can thank MAGAts for. Some are farmers, and we can thank them for food. Some work in factories, and we can thank them for whatever they make. And so on. Say so on appropriate occasions. Talk to their victims, too, and thank them for their contributions.
Keep in mind that we are finding common ground with and peeling away a third of their children. Their elders scream endlessly about that, and we can simply do more of it. Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis has publicly lamented that that fraction could rise to 60%.
Excellent.
Keep in mind that President Biden is working on common ground in the economy at every level from rural broadband to chip factories. Hundreds of thousands of billboards are going up to remind Wrong-Wingers of funding for things they want from the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act, and more, things that Republican politicians vote solidly against and then try to take credit for.
This is a koan where meditation is only part of the process. We need the entire Eightfold Path. You may have to start small, but start somewhere, and watch yourself get better with practice. You have endless reservoirs of compassion, wokeness, and the rest to draw on if you go looking for them.
Surprise yourself.
