Basically there is no effective social response to terrorism except to render it unnecessary.
Growing numbers of our youth and young adults are in the intolerable situation of feeling alien, disenfranchised and hopeless. Studies reveal widespread morbid despair in this group, resulting in the endemic practice of suicide and, recently, a source for recruitment to violent extremist views.
Anybody who has ever experienced intractable frustration or been on the receiving end of injustice should be able to see how very extreme narratives can become a viable, and then a preferred, option. And while the process of maturation always involves encountering despair and even making bad choices, it also requires hopefulness.
It is incredibly unwise to permit situations to persist which leave segments of our population with no stake in the status quo and nothing to lose. No law or police power will be able to prevent acts of terrorism completely, especially against the so-called soft targets such as ordinary people going about their routine lives.
Terrorism should be confronted as intimately connected with the status quo; not as the embodiment of evil. We are, by definition, all complicit in the status quo; which is not to assign blame or guilt, but to offer the hopeful potential to modify the status quo, in ways that prevent individuals and groups from falling into extremes.
In other words we can intentionally become complicit in the negation of terrorism but without the corrosive factors of blame and guilt. This is the very definition of the Buddhist idea of the Middle Way and meditation is the petri dish from which it is cultivated.
There is great urgency to learn from the wisdom of Buddhist thought. Meditation is the missing element to bring about the cultural shift, which is the only way to counter the asymmetrical radicalizing influences on youth and young adults. We have grown and are improving our knowledge and worldly wisdom; plus, we are a good hearted society, but without the stabilizing influence of meditation, the expediency of greed, ill will and ignorance will continue to impel us toward a fearful extinction.
The Middle Way is a balanced way. A balanced way arises from an awareness that leaves nothing out. An awareness that leaves nothing out arises from a still mind. A stilled mind is the inevitable result of bringing awareness to the breath and body. Buddhism is not a very prescriptive religious tradition. There are a few rules, but only a few and those quite general in expression. It is definitely not of a “zero tolerance” mindset, except insofar as insisting that the highest moral duty is to cease causing harm and to act to mitigate suffering.
Zen meditation is a replicable configuration of mind and body which has a homeopathic and restorative effect on individuals and cultures.
Zen has many names for the mind of meditation; it is “original face”; it is wisdom; it is Buddha Nature; it is mind and body dropped away; it is Beginner's Mind and it is the Middle Way. Pursuit of the Middle Way is the pursuit of peace.
The great Zen teacher Shunryu Suuki-roshi wrote, “Moment after moment to watch your breathing, to watch your posture, is true nature. There is no secret beyond this point......in the zazen posture....mind and body have great power to accept things as they are, whether they are agreeable or disagreeable.” This is the initiating condition which can actually help.
Wayne Codling is a former Zen monastic and a lineage holder in the Soto Zen tradition as taught by the Japanese Zen master, Shunryu Suzuki-roshi (Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind). He teaches Zen style meditation in various venues around Victoria, including regular, drop-in, no charge sessions each Sunday at the Vic West Community Centre and regular classes with young offenders at a correction centre. Wayne’s talks and some writings can be found on his blog (http://sotozenvictoria.wordpress.com), and practice questions are responded to at: http://zendog.ca.
You can read more articles from our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking HERE
This article was published in the print edition of the Times Colonist on January 31 2015
