Commonway Visioning » inclusivity

“Seven Seeds for a New Society” Now Available!

sharif — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:25:59 +0000

Seven Seeds for a New Society

My newest book, Seven Seeds for a New Society is available NOW!

“Seven Seeds” is emerging at a critical phase of our time here on the planet. Many of us can see an unprecedented catastrophe looming on humanity’s horizon. I believe that we can still avert that catastrophe – a crisis caused by the arrogance of the exclusivist “Breaker” mindset. It is not too late to take the next step in our human evolution – moving out of our “caterpillar” phase (consuming everything in sight), into our transformative “butterfly” phase, casting beauty everywhere.

There is still time for all of us (including our President) to engage in “Plan B thinking” – if we’ve struck an iceberg, we are NOT getting back to “normal”. Trillion dollar life support for institutions that are TOO BIG TO EXIST gets us nowhere. “Plan B” is: “let’s do something different”.

The change of consciousness is already in motion! You already understand this. Others, including our brilliant President, will eventually get there. We can help this process by being CLEAR that this is not a “Progressive” (or “Conservative”) agenda. Those are just two different ways to articulate an ADVERSARIAL point of view. That separating, exclusivist point of view has gotten us all in trouble, no matter which side you are loyal to. It’s time to free ourselves from our limiting thoughts and viewpoints. “Seven Seeds” was written to show us how.

“Seven Seeds for a New Society” provides you with a very concise tool to engage people in the conversation on how to transform our society from its current toxicity to one which reflects our deepest values.

Do you notice how often conversations stay stuck in discussing “the problem” and don’t go on to solutions and visions? Do you notice how people can talk about what they DON’T want easier than discussing their hopes, dreams and visions? “Seven Seeds” is designed to help us past those conceptual barriers.

PLEASE HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT “SEVEN SEEDS”. I don’t have a huge advertising budget. I don’t have a paid publicist or a staff cranking out press releases. What I’ve got is you. Acting together, we can raise awareness and consciousness, better than a hired marketing staff.

1. Buy the book! To order, go to the Commonway website and follow the directions: http://www.commonway.org/seven-seeds-for-a-new-society. (In a few weeks, you will be able to buy from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and also from your local bookseller.)

2. Encourage others to buy the book. We all have “networks” that we belong to. Some are only a few dozen people. Others are in the hundreds or thousands. Regardless of the size of your list, please tell folks on your lists that (1) you are buying this book, and (2) you encourage them to do the same. (Don’t forget to send them a copy of the webpage link.)

3. Print out a copy of the two-page flyer. Pin a copy to your church’s bulletin board. Make another copy for the community board at your coffeehouse or café. Leave a copy on top of your desk, for your nosy office mates to have something to look at! (At the bottom of the web page is an attachment for the printable version, in PDF format.)

Let’s work together to get this in front of as many eyes, minds and hearts as possible, to catalyze the next steps on our evolutionary path.

Lao Tzu said that “a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”. Our journey of 6,800,000,000 hearts and minds begins with your first contact.

Peace,

Sharif

PS: For the observant: you may have noticed a title change. I am still writing “Spirit on Earth: An Operating System for a Spiritual Society”, which will definitely relate to “Seven Seeds”. But, talking about two books with one title was confusing even me! “Seven Seeds” should be considered a stand-alone “prequel” to “Spirit on Earth” when it comes out sometime next year.

PPS: On the printer’s website (www.lulu.com), “Seven Seeds” is listed in the “Religion and Spirituality” category. That’s simply the “least bad” category available from their website. They don’t have categories for “Consciousness”, “Current Affairs”, even “Politics” or “Ethics”. (I could have listed it under “Horror”, or even “Cooking”, but I’m not sure many people would have gotten the joke.)

THE DESTRUCTION OF BUDDHISM

sharif — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:45:47 +0000

I had gotten pretty immune to the never ending stream of “patriotic” billboards and posters along Galle Road, Sri Lanka’s Main Street. Soldiers in jungle gear, faces smeared with war paint, huge assault guns held in ready position, with lots and lots of bullets draped on them – the jewelry of death.

Because I turn off the propaganda of war (in whatever country I’m in), I almost missed this poster: a little larger than usual, and with more implements of violence (jet fighters, helicopters…). But, the thing that got my attention was its position: right in front of a huge statue of the Buddha.

My first reaction was: “I didn’t see that.” Maybe my mind conjoined two very separate images — after all, most of Galle Road is a blur to me, after traveling this main traffic artery for over a dozen years.

A few days later, I drove back by. This time, I asked my driver to stop. And I took some photos. And a movie clip, in case someone accuses me of Photoshopping (a verb, akin to plagiarizing).

Buddha and War Poster

The war poster caption reads: "Now we have a country for our selves, There is now a tomorrow for you, son." "We salute you!"

I am not a Buddhist scholar. I haven’t formally studied the religion. But, from the little that I know, I believe the Buddha would unequivocally condemn the violence being done in his name in Sri Lanka. If that statue could move, it would get up and tear down the poster that glorifies and revels in violence. If that statue could cry, it would.

All around the world, I see people all too willing to hijack and subvert their most precious spiritual beliefs, to satisfy their lust for blood and their lust for power.

This isn’t about a minor deviation from a minor aspect of a hard to understand religious dogma. It is a major violation of one of the core tenets of one of the world’s most important faiths.

But that’s not the bad part: what turns my stomach is the near-silence met by this travesty.

The Life Of Buddhism

For most of us in the world, when we think about the term “Buddhism” we picture the smiling face of the Dalai Lama. Indeed, for many of us, his stance of nonviolence in the face of Chinese aggression is the epitome of what Buddhism looks like, as practiced. The Chinese aggression made the Dalai Lama a world-class figure, and Tibetan Buddhism known throughout the world.

The Dalai Lama: The Face of Buddhist Practice

The Dalai Lama ACTS like being “Buddhist” is more important than being “Tibetan”.

The Death of Buddhism

When I ask you to think about the term “Buddhism” you probably DON’T think about Sri Lankan Buddhism.

Recently, I was in the Midwest, doing a presentation on Sri Lanka before an audience of a few dozen people. To exemplify the Sri Lanka military, I downloaded a few photos of the proud Sri Lankan soldiers in their snappy uniforms, marching. One woman raised her hand and asked, “I thought Sri Lanka was a Buddhist country. Where are the Buddhists?”

To answer, I blew up the picture of the Sri Lanka soldiers, focusing on the hand of the soldier in the foreground. Around his wrist was a telltale white band. I told her, “These soldiers ARE the Buddhists. This band is the cord each one of them received when he went to the Buddhist temple to get the blessings from the monks, before marching off to kill human beings.”

Sri Lankan Soldiers

The Seal of Approval

The woman burst into tears. “I thought Buddhism was DIFFERENT!” she said between her tears. “I thought Buddhists actually PRACTICED what they talked about!”

A rude awakening.

Just like Christianity, Islam and everything else, Buddhists are just as likely to fall prey to powerful men who want to re-write the rules to suit their own agenda. Because the Buddha’s message: “Do no harm to any sentient being” is so clear, it makes the re-write so ludicrous and the attempts at manipulation so blatant and repellent.

But, if the re-write of “DO NO HARM” into “KILL OUR ENEMIES” is so obviously WRONG, what causes millions of otherwise sane and devout Sinhalese to buy into this, to revel in war and violence? More importantly, what causes them to go along with this attempt to conflate their ethnic identity with the OPPOSITE of their religion?

The Burning Buddha

One of the most durable terror symbols in the modern world is the “Burning Cross” of America’s Ku Klux Klan. In their heyday, the symbol of the Burning Cross struck fear among millions of America’s black citizens. It stood for the widespread practice of lynching, torture and intimidation — violence done openly and with impunity. Terrorism, pure and simple. Terrorism in the name of Jesus.

The KKK: America’s Home Grown Terrorists

In the light of this cultural terrorism, it’s hard to remember that the Cross represents the doctrine of Jesus, a doctrine of love, nonviolence, inclusivity, and acceptance. Jesus said that there were only two laws: (1) Obey God, and (2) Love your neighbor as yourself. (He actually went further and declared that we should LOVE OUR ENEMIES. I think Jesus and the Buddha would have really gotten along well with each other!)

Into this philosophy of love, nonviolence and inclusivity, the KKK added a superseding Commandment: “Hate and kill those who look, act or think DIFFERENT from you.” In the doctrine of Jesus (as re-written by the KKK), white skin was more important than any other consideration, including ANYTHING Jesus said to the contrary.

Fast forward 100 years. Take this doctrine of cultural arrogance to a different continent and a different culture. Have it based not on the color of skin (everybody in Sri Lanka is some shade of brown) but on language and cultural behaviors.

The Recipe for Cultural Arrogance:

1. Start with an unhealthy inferiority complex. (In the case of BOTH Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka, I believe the inferiority comes from centuries of colonization.) ANYTIME you see a resort to violence (a man punching his wife, or one country punching another), inferiority lies somewhere in the mix.

2. Add anger and a misplaced need for revenge (or, the need to “prove” oneself).

3. Place your CULTURE above your RELIGION. (Better still: confuse and conflate the two.)

4. If available: add a legitimate goal. The desire to live free from terrorism and the threat of violence is a legitimate goal. BUT, this goal can be attained NONVIOLENTLY. Indeed, it is the ONLY way it can be attained. Don’t believe me? Ask the Buddha.

Cultural arrogance lies at the intersection of bad nationalism and bad religion.

Bad Nationalism

Now, nationalism or ethnic identity is not by itself a bad thing. I am very proud of my culture and my history and heritage as an African-American. And, I know many other Americans are proud of their ethnicities also. But, the key point is this: I don’t need to put anyone else down in order for me to feel good about myself. The need to be “better-than” another person (on the grounds of culture, religion, gender or anything else) is the hallmark of a serious INFERIORITY COMPLEX. Secure people are not arrogant. Arrogant people are not secure.

The mixture of a feeling of inadequacy, coupled with the external need to be “better-than” some other group, is the recipe for what I call “bad nationalism”. By “bad nationalism”, I mean a “national” identity that hyper-inflates the stature of one group within a nation, at the expense of all others.

Remember: the people that Adolph Hitler and his Nazis put into concentration camps and exterminated – the blacks, the Jews, the Gypsies, the homosexuals – were ALL GERMAN CITIZENS. Under the Fascists, true “nationalism” – the German nation – was not important. A false notion of “racial purity” – the Aryan ideal – took its place. Bad nationalism.

The Sri Lanka “nation” consists of THREE major ethnic groups, not ONE (Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim). The Sri Lanka “nation” consists of FOUR major religions, not ONE (Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian). The Sri Lanka “nation” speaks THREE languages, not ONE (Sinhala, Tamil and English).

As any American can tell you, practicing inclusivity and political and cultural pluralism is not easy. In our relatively short history, America has gotten it wrong more often than right. But, since the Sixties, we have been firmly committed to the path of inclusivity. And our entire country has benefited from our adherence to the goal of “E Pluribus Unum” (“Out of Many, One.”) Even those who fight against the concept of inclusivity are its beneficiaries.

Forging one nation in Sri Lanka will be messy. It always is. It will involve compromise and sacrifice. No one will get everything that they want. But, in the end, all Sri Lankans will be better for it. And Buddhism will thrive on the island, without the need for protectionist laws against religious conversion.

Bad Religion

Religion can be a beautiful thing. I have had the privilege and the honor to participate in spiritual ceremonies from virtually every major wisdom tradition on Earth – from Eastern Orthodox Christian ceremonies in the far North to Maori ceremonies in the far South. And everything in between – including Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim ceremonies in Sri Lanka.

The thing that makes a religion beautiful, the thing that creates MEANING within the religion, is that the ceremonies each REPRESENT something. The actions and rituals represent something in this world and also represent something in the Transcendent realm. The wisdom teachers (of all faiths) left us a set of moral principles to guide our lives and our societies.

However: when you take the meaning out of the religion, when you scrub away the moral principles, then you are left with a handful of rituals that have no MEANING attached to them. This is what I call “bad religion”. Bad religion is full of rituals but devoid of meaning. It’s like a hungry man sitting down to a dinner of plastic food. He can put it in his mouth, chew and swallow, but he’s still empty. Your Spirit cannot be fed by a religion that is almost exactly OPPOSITE to the principles taught by the Buddha.

The philosophy of the Buddha has been feeding the world for over 2,500 years. The culturally arrogant “anti-Buddha” philosophy has been spiritually starving Sri Lanka for awhile – long enough for Sri Lanka to have one of the world’s highest suicide rates AND one of the world’s highest alcoholism rates. This is what happens from spiritual stomachs full of plastic.

Those with the guns, planes, cluster bombs and “patriotic” billboards say that they act to “preserve Buddhism”. (This argument has the same reasoning – and the same lack of morality – as the Christian “just war” doctrine.) What those gripped by cultural arrogance and the blood-lust cannot understand is this: NOTHING CAN DESTROY BUDDHISM, EXCEPT THOSE WHO BELIEVE IT CAN BE PRESERVED BY VIOLATING ITS PRINCIPLES.

The Way of the Buddha is the way of loving-kindness, compassion and nonviolence. In its essence, it is the exact opposite of what the current Sri Lankan government is practicing in the Vanni right now. You can either be a peace-loving Buddhist, or you can be a war-loving chauvinist, BUT YOU CAN’T BE BOTH.

Or, maybe you can. Maybe, in this crazy, upside-down world, the Buddha of the 21^st Century condones, supports and blesses the guys with the biggest guns, the guys who wage the best battles. Instead of sitting in meditation, maybe this new Buddha will be seen carrying an assault rifle – and a bottle of Arrack (why not? If you violate one principle, why not violate them all?)

THERE IS HOPE

The “good Sinhalese” are out there. The people who are offended by the war posters are in hiding on the island. While writing this article, I received an email from a Sinhalese friend:

I am happy you are away from this blood bath and craziness. Most of us are trapped in this hell. I feel shame to be a so called Sinhalese and live in this world. But, a little bit of remaining Faith and Hope helps me to bear this heavy burden of shame.

Even in the midst of this insanity, I still have hope. This is not just a stubborn refusal to face facts. This is my way of looking at facts through a long lens. The one thing that the past 100 years of organized evil has taught us is this – BLOOD-LUST ONLY WORKS IN THE SHORT TERM. People eventually come to their senses. In my country, it took us 8 years to wake up from our most recent trance, to retrieve our democracy and our Spirit from the hands of those who wanted to rule the world and were willing to trample underfoot both our Constitution and the lessons of Jesus to achieve their goal. It took about that long for the “good Germans” to realize the horrors that the Nazi government was perpetuating in their name.

Right now, it is very dangerous for people in Sri Lanka to stand up and speak out. The blood-lust is high. The war drums beat. Political disappearances are at an all-time high. In Sri Lanka, dissent is dangerous.

But, people will eventually wake up. Even as the statues of the Buddha are desecrated with the images of war, it is important for us to remember that a statue is a statue… the place the true Buddha resides is in our hearts. And that’s the place we need to keep clean and clear, as we wait for the blood-lust to spend itself.

May all beings be well.

May all beings be secure.

May all beings be happy.

Peace,

Sharif Abdullah

A Show of Power

sharif — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:55:55 +0000

Most of us have experienced them: a knot of half a dozen male teenagers and twentysomethings: a “street gang”. They come in all races and ethnicities. Whether loud talking during a movie or standing in front of the store entrance you want to use, their presence is undeniable. If you are not of their age and ethnicity, you will probably feel some intimidation: you probably won’t call the movie manager to complain about their noise; you will lower your eyes and rush past them into the store. Whatever you do, you will feel the flush of intimidation.

In case you hadn’t guessed, the purpose of their show is just that: intimidation.

From across the country to halfway around the world, the same scene is repeated. In Charlotte, black street gangs carry jam boxes and openly display anti-social behavior. Latino street gangs in Los Angeles fight over the colors or tattoos worn by the gang members. Palestinian teenagers openly carry automatic rifles instead of jam boxes. (Intimidation in Palestine has a more lethal quality.)

In all three instances, the goals are the same: a pitiful attempt at projecting personal power into a seemingly powerless situation. It is pitiful in that the display, whether openly or covertly violent, cannot ever achieve the aims of the young men. The “show” can never gain power for them.

The futility of their behavior is evident once one understands what power is (and is not). True power is the ability to manifest one’s intentions. It involves the will to move forward to accomplish one’s objectives.

With this definition, it becomes obvious that the young disaffected men in the street gangs cannot wield true power. The young urban rebels of America and the world are powerless because they have no collective intentions or objectives. Their show of belligerency is just that – a show. Like boats without paddles or rudders, they drift toward the chasm, knowing something is wrong but not knowing what to do about it.

However, in order to wield true power, intentions and objectives must be realistic and achievable. The goal of pushing Israel into the sea simply cannot be done. Pursuing an objective which, in your heart, you know cannot be achieved focuses and crystalizes your powerlessness and escalates the level of desperation in your actions.

Although powerless, the young men of the Middle East are responsible for hundreds of deaths every year, including the deaths of American civilians and soldiers. Similarly, the black street gangs of urban America are the leading cause of death in the black community. The buzzwords “black on black crime” mask a violent reality of a society rotting from the inside out.

What is the answer? What is the answer to those who feel so disaffected that violence is not only a solution but the only solution? What is the answer to those committing the slow suicide of drugs and casual violence, those for whom prison or execution is no deterrent, since it is no worse than the life in which they find themselves? “Senseless” acts of violence make all the sense in the world to those who perpetrate them.

The answer lies in adopting a simple but profound statement as a way of life: all of life forms one seamless, interrelated web. Therefore, anything I do to anyone else, I am doing to myself. I choose to resolve all conflicts through negotiation rather than confrontation. A person who is whole does not have the need for violence.

However, as a society, we send exactly the opposite message to the urban terrorists of this country and the Third World. We tell them that death and destruction are acceptable means of resolving conflicts. The lesson we teach by sending the battleship New Jersey to blow up Lebanese communities or sending in our armies to the Persian Gulf is that it’s better to shoot than talk. It is a lesson that the powerless have learned well.

If we ask Hamas or Al Qaeda or Iran or the Crips or the Bloods to renounce violence, we must be prepared to set an example and renounce violence FIRST. If violence is wrong for the Iranians, it is wrong for the Americans. Anything less is asking an adversary to hold still while you beat him up.

The second answer lies in providing realistic options to those who see themselves as powerless. Any animal, once cornered, will turn and fight to its death. The key is in not cornering or being cornered. The key lies in “Plan B” thinking. In the American ghettos, it means asking the disaffected a simple but profound question: what do you want that you are willing to work for? Then, if the goals are achievable, to assist in their realization. (Even if what they want isn’t what you would want.)

To solve the question of powerlessness, we must address the question of goallessness. We must cultivate a dialog in the schools, in the homes, in the community, about our goals, both individual and collective. A person with a set of coherent, achievable goals simply does not have time to feel powerless. It means helping to provide a sense of direction and purpose to an aimless life. (The accumulation of money is not a goal: rich people can lead powerless, aimless lives, just like the poor. They just do so with more “stuff”.)

In keeping with the philosophy of wholeness, we must see that the young black men on the corner are intelligent, creative, dynamic and energetic individuals, but without purpose, direction or constructive outlet. If we support them in the development and cultivation of goals and purpose, we will all be pleasantly shocked by their solutions to seemingly insoluble problems. For example, adults have talked for decades about the effects of drugs on teenagers. However, how many of us ask the teenagers to come up with the solution? Instead of considering them responsible partners, we treat them like mindless children, giving them simplistic, nonsensical solutions to complex problems, like the “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign.

On the international scene, ending the violence of powerlessness means ending military support. Period. Instead of selling arms to both the Arabs and the Israelis, it means sitting all parties down and TALKING – with no preconditions – until matters are resolved. It means supporting both sides (non-militarily) as long as they are talking, and withdrawing support from any side who gets up and leaves. It means being committed to “win-win” situations. It means recognizing that parties can differ without killing one another. It means being concerned about the growth and welfare of all.

To those who say that our security lies in everyone being capable of killing everyone else, the last line to the soundtrack of the movie “Colors” states both the promise and the peril:

“our war won’t stop
until all wars end.”