How To Work With Greed, Anger, And Delusion

In this talk, I explore the ways we can be with what the Buddha named the three poisons -- greed, hatred, and ignorance (or delusion). With so much anxiety about war and climate change and our sense of division from each other, these feelings arise intensely and there are ways to be with them so that they are healing and not destructive.

Transcript

It has been a momentous week since we last sat here. And I'd like to talk about what I'm learning, About myself, About this practice, About my attempts to be with all of it. I expect all of us, No matter where we were on any political spectrum, All of us have been filled with emotion, A lot of different emotions. I'd like to go back to the morning after election day because it was a striking experience for me of practicing with not knowing. I had gone to bed early on election night, Deciding we weren't gonna know for a long time and it was best to spare myself the agonies of watching all the pundits talk about election returns. So I went to bed and I woke up early before the alarm and my alarm starts by playing the radio and it starts by playing the news. So I was up early and I decided I didn't wanna know what had happened. I wanted to sit. And so I went to my cushion and I sat down and I sat Zazen. And what arose for me was just how peaceful it was. At six o'clock in the morning, There were a few birds outside, A bit of traffic, My heart beating, The sun beginning to rise. It was wonderful. It was peaceful. It was me in my life on a soft cushion, In a warm environment, In a pleasant place. And of course, Lots of doubts and fears and many things would come in and come and go and I would watch them come and go. But the phrase that kept coming to me was the phrase that we sometimes use when we talk about sitting down in Zazen. We talk about the ground of being. And I felt like I was in touch with the ground of being. And then my timer rang and I got up and it was time to go in and start my morning with my wife and the radio came on and we heard the news. And what was so striking was how quickly my experience of life changed. How quickly I was filled with so much emotion, Incredulity, Anger, Frustration, All swirling around. And what I kept being aware of is that I couldn't stop the rush of feeling and that the rush of feeling fit neatly into those categories that we call the three poisons, Greed and hatred and delusion. That I had all of it, Lots of it, Swirling around, Certainly hatred. Hatred for all those people who didn't share my views, All those people who voted differently than I did. Delusive certainty about who those other people were. In my mind, I labeled them so many negative things. Of course, All things that I could label myself from time to time. And actually greed. I found myself just wanting to circle the wagons, To gather the people I care about around me, The people who think like I do and just point to those other people over there and say, We are not them. That's not me. And the contrast with what I had been experiencing 10, 20 minutes before, Feeling that I was touching the ground of being. The contrast was astonishing. And what I came to understand was that it is very hard to hold a sense of the whole world and being part of the world when the three poisons start to work on me. That greed, That aversion, That delusive certainty, All of those things presuppose separateness. They presuppose that I'm over here and those other things are over there. And either I want them, I want more of something or I wanna push things away. And the certainty is the certainty about separateness. I'm not that. Those people aren't like me. The other thing I came to understand more vividly was how contagious those poisons are. You know, We've all been saying that we are so tired of the negativity that's been swirling through our culture. And it is contagious. The more I hear that's negative, The more I read, The more my own mind and heart are filled with that negativity. Thich Nhat Hanh taught about this beautifully. Our minds are what we put into them. And I saw this happening vividly for me the morning after election night. So I turned to some reading and actually I picked up a piece by the Zen teacher, David Loy. And David Loy, As you may remember, Is a Zen teacher who's very much an activist, A social activist. And what he talks about is how the three poisons get institutionalized. That it's not just personal greed and hatred and delusion, But that it becomes a kind of collective. He talks about greed as that feeling of never having enough. And he writes that, Who but corporations personify greed. Never enough. Stock prices are never high enough. And that in fact, Even when we as individuals work for companies, We're replaceable and the company, The company is institutionalized greed because it has to grow. And hatred, Of course, We see so much of the war going on around us and so much money to be made and power to be gained through hatred, Through war. And finally, Delusion. So much is written now about the heightening of delusion in the media, In the social media, Particularly. And how media thrive on selling us things that are frightening, Many of which are not true. So David Loy reminds us that it's not just on a personal level that these afflictive emotions that are the cause of so much suffering, That they visit us, But that they visit us collectively. And that we have built many, Many of our social structures around these poisons. So when I'm struggling, As I was the day after the election, I read some more. And I came across a piece by a Zen priest who leads a sangha in Portland, Oregon. Her name is Damyo Burke. And she wrote about these poisons. And she writes, What if societies recognized and accepted that just like individual human beings, They'd end up being driven by craving, Aversion and delusion, Unless they pay close attention and take appropriate measures. What if society saw it as the responsibility to anticipate the arising of the three poisons and quickly recognize them when they do? Instead of clinging to the delusion that our societies will naturally end up benevolent and sustainable, How about admitting greed, Hate and delusion are like diseases that will take hold and spread unless we are proactive and remain constantly diligent. And so I began to understand that the three poisons like everything else can infuse everything, Certainly can infuse my heart and mind and they were doing so, They have been doing so throughout the week, But that they can infuse everything we've built in our society. And that like Damyo Burke says, That the antidote to these three poisons is to observe, To see it for what it is, As it arises and to bear it, To say, Yes, I'm capable of that. Yes, I am capable of those things that I wish only arose in other people, Not me. Because when we bear it, We have the possibility of transforming it first in ourselves and then in the world. I included the selection from Joan Tollefson, Awakening to discouragement, Partly because discouragement has been a lot of my experience this last week. But there's a statement she makes here that I think is at the heart of our practice. She says, Awareness is its own action. This is transformative. Just being aware is transformative. And then it's through that awareness that right action calls us forward, Calls us to get off the cushion and do what we can to ease suffering. I got an email from one of the political organizations I supported and they gave advice that I'm sure many of you have gotten and maybe given each other this week. Their advice was be kind to yourself and comfort those around you. Reflect and don't blame anyone. We need each other now more than ever. Let us be compassionate, Joyful warriors for the world that we want to see. Let us surprise ourselves with our courage, Creativity, And humor. And I love this advice. And as soon as I read it, I said, Yeah, But there are so many times in these last days when I can't access that spirit. When I sink into despair, When I start feeling sorry for myself and the world, What do we do then? What do we do when we are overwhelmed? And that's where practice is such a gift because in any moment we can stop and whether it's sitting on a cushion or sitting and taking a mindful breath while we're sitting in the car at a stoplight, We can simply come back and touch the ground of being. Touch the breath and the heartbeat and the feel of the chair and the feel of the air on my skin. All of it as a way to touch back to what's here now, All of it, Not separate. But that's what's always available to us as we move through these swings of emotion. And so I'd like to close with a line or two from the blessing for the journey, Which I felt was so appropriate for this time. Wendy Nacow says, Let us vow to remember all that appears will disappear. In the midst of uncertainty, Let us so love. Here, Now, I call to you, Let us together live the great peace we are. Thank you.