Wise Lawyering: Practicing Peace

When I think back on being 20 and choosing to be a lawyer, there was a lot of, “why not? That seems like a cool path.” There was less of, “How will this serve?” or “Will this contribute to a more harmonious world?”

I see now that whether my work created harmony or discord was always the important question.

Pema Chodron invites us to ask, “Am I going to practice peace, or am I going to war?” That’s the question I would ask my 20-year-old self today.

It’s the question I ask my 65-year-old self as often as I can remember: “Today, will I be practicing peace?”
What about you? Are you practicing peace? Or do you wake up each day, ready for war?
…

Transcript

Hey everyone,

It's Judy Cohen,

And this is Wake Up Call 456.

I've been talking about the Eightfold Path to Liberation,

And here we are at what is sometimes considered Step 5,

One of the ethical elements,

Wise livelihood.

And we're here after looking at wise view and wise intention,

Which are the wisdom elements,

And then wise communication and wise action,

Which are the first two of the three elements.

So I was looking at Tricycle Magazine about wise livelihood,

And there was an article by Walpola Sri Rahula,

Who was a Sri Lankan monk and also a professor at Northwestern University,

Which is my alma mater.

So I'm paraphrasing,

But Sri Rahula said wise livelihood means that one should abstain from making one's living through a profession that brings harm to others,

Such as trading in arms or lethal weapons,

Intoxicating drinks or poisons,

Humans or animals,

Gambling or cheating or anything that otherwise causes killing or harm,

And should live by a profession which is honorable,

Blameless,

And innocent of harm to others.

And he went on to say that wise livelihood,

As well as wise communication and action,

Should aim at promoting a happy and harmonious life,

Both for the individual and for society.

This is considered the indispensable foundation for all higher spiritual attainment.

No spiritual development is possible without this moral basis.

So that's a pretty strong recommendation,

I would say,

For engaging in wise livelihood.

And I want to come back to the specifics in a minute,

But Sri Rahula and most teachers I've studied,

They're essentially saying that wise livelihood is about choosing a way to earn a living that doesn't cause harm and that promotes harmony.

So I got interested in ours,

Of course,

And the California Rules of Professional Conduct and the model rules at least don't disagree with this.

So,

For example,

In their opening sally,

The California rules say they've been adopted and approved to promote the public,

The courts and the legal profession,

To protect the integrity of the legal system and to promote the administration of justice and confidence in the legal profession.

So that's pointing at harmony and non-harming in a way.

The model rules end their preamble by saying,

In part,

That a lawyer should cultivate knowledge of the law beyond its use for clients,

Employ that knowledge and reform of the law and to further the public's understanding of and confidence in the rule of law and the justice system because legal institutions in a constitutional democracy depend on popular participation and support to maintain their authority.

And then one California county,

San Diego,

Has taken this to the next very practical level and says in its bar rules,

Lawyers should not be influenced by ill feelings or anger between clients in their conduct,

Attitude,

Or demeanor toward opposing counsel and should conduct themselves so that they may conclude each case with a handshake with the opposing lawyer.

I suppose quoting Shakespeare.

So I like these ways for thinking about how we might want to consider how we work,

Right?

Can we work with protection of the public,

The court's legal system in mind,

You know,

With its integrity in mind,

Or at least with the parts of the system that we believe are in integrity in mind and with the idea of furthering the public's understanding of and confidence in the rule of law with the goal of protecting our constitutional democracy?

You know,

Especially in these times,

Though,

Those feel like really important elements of wise livelihood.

But then what about the work itself?

Meaning,

You know,

What about the choices we make about the work we undertake or,

You know,

In many cases for many of us,

The choices we have to make or that other people like our employers or our clients are requiring us to make if we want to keep them or keep our jobs,

You know,

Which we probably need in order to support ourselves or support a family,

Support our parents or all of the above,

Right?

So how do we lawyers square those very real needs with what sound less like guidelines?

Because I've been calling suggestions for wise communication and wise action.

I've been calling them guidelines.

But,

You know,

These sound more like admonitions to me,

Abstain from making a living by trading in intoxicants,

Poisons,

Weapons or humans and make a living in a way that is honorable,

Blameless and causes no harm.

And so just thinking of these,

Whether you're thinking of them as guidelines or you're thinking of them as admonitions,

Right?

What is an intoxicant?

I mean,

In this moment,

In this world,

What is an intoxicant?

I mean,

Certainly alcohol and drugs.

I once interviewed with a firm that did alcohol work,

You know,

Getting licensing.

And I had a moment of thinking,

You know,

That was a great firm,

Great people.

But I just couldn't do it just because it was their sole focus,

Right?

So alcohol and drugs.

And by the way,

That was just me.

I'm not I'm not saying anything about anybody else.

But alcohol and drugs.

What about social media as an intoxicant or regular media or entertainment?

What about the devices that serve those up?

Right.

What about here's a big one,

Anything that perpetuates the patriarchy,

Because isn't the patriarchy an intoxicant for those who sit at its top?

What about religion as an intoxicant?

I'm not a Marxist,

But in my own experience,

For better or worse,

I can see how religion can be an intoxicant.

And then to the even larger question of how I might be dealing in any of these,

You know,

To use the words of Sri Rahula and also the ancient texts,

You know,

What if it's not me directly,

But my clients or my firm or my organization that's dealing in these things?

And then same question,

You know,

What's a poison?

What's a weapon?

Hopefully I don't represent the NRA,

But you know,

Maybe my firm does,

Or maybe we represent Monsanto or Coca-Cola or some other corporation that's dealing in poisons or weapons,

Or my organization does that.

Or if I'm a public defender and my client uses a weapon and I defend them,

What does that say?

You know,

I'm honoring the Constitution,

But am I engaged in wise livelihood?

These questions are so big.

And if I'm a prosecutor and I make a plea deal with the defendant,

That defendant who was using a weapon,

You know,

Then where does that put me?

And then the same questions arise for me when I think about not dealing in human beings.

You know,

Hopefully I'm not representing anyone engaged in trafficking,

But what about entertainment and sports?

Is all of that okay?

And then what about the earth?

What if the work I'm doing is causing harm to the earth?

Or not even my work,

But the work of clients whom I'm representing for something totally different?

You know,

These are just such interesting questions.

And you know,

Once I remember working for a developer,

Took me to this beautiful bluff overlooking the San Francisco Bay and gleefully swept his arm back and forth explaining where the hundreds of housing units would go and the school and the commercial district.

I remember wanting to just sit down in the grass and cry,

You know,

But I didn't.

I did the work.

You know,

I had to do the work as my firm's client.

I didn't have to do the work.

I did the work,

Right?

That's where it is.

That's where that intersection is,

That really interesting intersection.

And then to the even larger question of our investments,

Right?

Mine are in,

Quote unquote,

Socially responsible funds,

But they weren't always.

And even though they are now,

How closely am I monitoring that?

Someone else is monitoring that for me,

Right?

So are they practicing wise livelihood?

Yeah.

So I don't,

I don't have any answers to any of these questions,

But I do feel like the questions are important because what more important thing can we do as lawyers than to bring as much wisdom and,

And frankly,

As much peace into the world as we possibly can?

So Norman Fisher always has such good wisdom for me.

And he says something about this kind of peace in his book,

The World Could Be Otherwise.

Here's what he says.

He says,

In meditation,

You eventually see a direct connection between your fidgeting,

Your uncomfortable body,

Your obsessive mind,

And your conduct.

You see that you never get away with anything.

That shoddy conduct casts shadows on your mind and heart that you feel sooner or later as mental or physical discomfort when you sit down to meditate.

Hurtful things you used to say and do without particularly noticing,

You now understand as consequential.

Accepting this,

You are kinder to yourself and everyone else.

This kindness,

Based on a grounded understanding of human nature,

Is the root of ethical conduct.

So with that,

Let's,

Let's sit.

So finding a comfortable posture,

Whatever would best support you for the next few minutes.

Taking a couple of intentional breaths,

Settling into the body.

Letting the body settle into the moment.

And beginning to pay attention to each breath as it flows in and out of the body.

Stabilizing the mind.

And beginning to see whether there are any shadows,

Any agitation,

Anything to look at that might reflect back on something you've said or done or a choice that you've made without any judgment,

Without any self-recrimination,

Just out of curiosity.

How does my body reflect my life,

My conduct,

My choices?

And whatever you're noticing,

Seeing if you can notice it with a warm and compassionate heart.

Whether there's agitation,

Regret,

Sorrow,

Or whether there's joy and gladness.

Receive whatever you notice with a warm heart.

And seeing if the warmth of the heart can support peace,

Can support a kind of peacefulness with whatever is present.

Because it's not about getting it perfectly.

Or getting it perfect.

It's about making peace with whatever we discover in each moment.

So Pema Chodron's question is,

For each moment,

Am I going to practice peace or am I going to war?

Thank you everyone for joining me on today's Wake Up Call.

Have a great Thursday and a really nice Labor Day weekend.

And I will see you next week.

Yes,

I'll see you next week.

Take care.