compassionate social action

Q. I recently heard you say something like: "In order to create positive change in the world it is not enough to do good work. You have to also live in a way that supports the heart." Can you say more about that?

A. Those who set out to do good work, do so out of love. Whatever that work is, be it in support of the environment, the eradication of poverty, towards humane behavior towards animals, working with abused children - whatever it is, the impulse arises out of caring, out of the open heart. The difficulty arises in the holding of polarity around the issues that are being addressed. When the caring impulse is taken into the mind, it expresses itself righteously in terms of good/bad, right/wrong, victim/tyrrant and so on. Then love becomes counterposed to punishment and instead of nourishing the heart and supporting its opening, hatred is fostered.

The only way that social action can avoid this pitfall of falling into hatred and vendetta is through the cultivation of compassion. Compassion does not ask that an action be excused, it asks only that it be understood for what it is. Those who play tyrant in this culture, whether through business interests or through the abuse of power in personal situations, are victims in their own right of a social system that values power over love, domination over cooperation, hoarding over sharing - that has cultivated the belief in separation to its absurd conclusion. To take any situation and view it in isolation is an error.

This is not to say that individuals and corporations should not be held accountable for their actions. But there is a great deal of difference between a parent who punishes a child in rage and one who regretfully applies consequences for a behavior. The difference is that one is abusing power and the other is acting out of love. The difference in the lesson taught is enormous, even if the action taken is the same.

Those who take on the struggle for justice as they see it stand in the position of teachers. They set out to demonstrate what is fair or appropriate behavior and to apply consequences to those who abuse their power. In order to not be damaged by living in the face of brutality they must first accept it as an inevitable aspect of life. This is spiritual work. They must take a broad perspective on human behavior and life on planet earth, understand the nature of the material plane which is electro-magnetic and therefore polarized, and work not from a belief that it shouldn't be this way but from an understanding that this is how it is and that they are choosing to make what difference they can. In this way, they do not pit themselves against god and they do not come to hate life. They also, in this way, recognize that their choice is made from personal freedom and that it is enough to touch who they can, where they can, without expecting to change the rules of the entire game. These issues are important because without facing the inevitable limitations of the work they do they can be crushed under the load.

Keeping the heart alive when doing the work of social justice means staying open to grief. The willingness to care entails the willingness to sorrow, which is also the willingness to love. Without this open heart all of this work is fruitless because it becomes, without love, only another aspect of domination, another will to tyranny.

When limitation is accepted, a life dedicated to service can be equally dedicated to personal wholeness. When this is the case the open heart speaks not only to the work but to the life in general. Then the caring that is grief in the work is balanced by the caring that is joy in the personal life. Then the open heart responds equally to the individual's personal needs as to the work and the life comes into balance.