Bush the Anti-Buddha?

I've been waiting for an article like this.

For a while now, I've been wondering just what—as a Buddhist—I should do with our about the rising anger I feel towards the Bush administration. I mean, it seems rather non-Buddhist, but how can one feel otherwise when looking at his policies and their consequences?

Bush's regime is a disgraceful manifestation of the nefarious crony capitalism that the Presidents Roosevelt – Theodore and Franklin – used their administrations to combat. His vows of "No Child Left Behind," and his recent but forgotten AIDS initiative in Africa tell all, as does his underfunded plan to expand AmeriCorps and his promises to clean up carbon monoxide poisoning while increasing the pollution rights of the corporations that fund him. He cuts taxes, then drives the Federal Government from surplus to its greatest debt in history, robbing future citizens to pay the bill. Taking and sending for Bush is not about tonglen (giving and receiving) but monetary and political favors.

Compassion, according to Bush, is allowing utility plants to upgrade their infrastructure without the pollution abatements previously required by law when, according to the National Academy of Sciences, 50,000 American children are born every year with brains damaged by prenatal exposure to methyl mercury compounds from fossil-fuel and industrial air pollution. And adding insult to injury, Bush and his minions spend their holidays shooting innocent creatures – bird, fox and deer hunting not for supper but for sport.

And that's not even dealing with the war in Iraq, or the so-called "war on terrorism."

As Buddhists, we can assume that Bush-hating doesn't help anyone. Buddhist philosophy is centered on non-duality, the unity of all things, so we must concede that we ourselves are not separate from the corruption and unprincipled behavior of those who represent us. It is in fact an old political axiom that people get the government they deserve.

As much as I hate to think of it, as a tax-paying American citizen, I'm inextricably connected to the atrocities we've seen unfold during this administration; not to mention those to which our limited attention span has not been directed.

The article touches on about the only good I can see coming out of the Bush administration: the opportunity for deeper spiritual practice, even as I actively oppose his policies and seek his return to civilian life.

Bush deserves our appreciation because he gives us a need to practice and thus to progress along the path. The Dalai Lama often speaks of the Chinese with gratitude, saying they have given him the "unavoidable opportunity" to practice compassion and cultivate forgiveness and understanding. Zen-Benedictine Brother David Steindl-Rast and Joan Halifax Roshi teach radical gratefulness, which posits that in every difficult or painful circumstance there is an opportunity for gratitude. Adversity can show us how well we have mastered our minds, how far along the path we have progressed.

This is, of course, while also feeling compassion for those who are harmed by the Bush administrations policies. But it goes even deper than that.

Given the countless Iraqis and over 4,000 Americans killed or injured – not in self-defense but in cold blood, and given the enablement of pollution, the trees and animals hurried into extinction, can we even begin to calculate the negative karma Bush & Co. are mounting?

…In fact, Bush may be the closest we can come to an anti-Buddha: a global poster-boy for profound ignorance. We can use him in our visualizations. We can breath in his confusion and breath out to him our clarity. We can also get out on the campaign trail for candidates who more closely represent that first precept: Do no harm. Sit and breathe contemplating this and see if you feel called to volunteer on voter-registration drives.

I supose there must be some level of compassion for the man himself, and those who support and execute his policies, for the karma they are planting for themselves and for others; for all of us, really. There must be some level of compassion for the consequences that will be visited on all of us, really. And then follow that compassion up with action to counter Bush's policies and create new, positive karma that benefits all. Sending Bush back to Texas as a private citizen would be a good start. In fact, it's one of the better aspects of our system of government that we can achieve this without spilling to much a single drop of blood. We only need to organize, vote, and encourage like-minded people to do the same.

When I'm stricken with unskillful thoughts about the President, I immediately focus on the words of the Buddha: "Hatred can never put an end to hatred, love alone can. This is the unalterable law."

Now my visualizations are of bearing witness to a panoply of devas and gods, the Boddhisatva Avalokitesvara, and countless rows of Buddha's and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time sitting in the clouds and celebrating Bush's retirement from the Oval Office and his safe return to Crawford, Texas.

Then I close with two healing mantras in rapid succession: "May all beings be happy and free from suffering – even Bush" "May all beings be happy – and freed from Bush."

May we all be freed from Bush, indeed.

Comments

[zumrut]

Dear friend,

I found your article while looking for an answer for the exactly same question. "What should I do about the anger I feel towards Bush?"

I live in Turkey where tomorrow there will be a NATO summit in which the presidents will come together to discuss "Alliance partnership" and "assistance to Iraq" which translates into how to abuse Iraq, as well as Iraqis, Americans, Turks, British...All the creatures of the related countries.

I read your article with great interest and I shared your thoughts and feelings. Right after that, I found the following page about forgiveness:

http://www.otoons.com/osho/askosho13.htm

I would suggest you to read it. It helped me to develop compassion and forgiveness.

Even for Bush.