Tribes

Background: It's funny how things happen sometimes. I started and stalled on this blog about 3 weeks ago. Then, in the last 48 hours, a video of Mandy Patinkin, and a Dharma Talk by my teacher, Ryudo Do'on Osho brought it back into focus.

Here it is...

When we hear the word 'tribe', the common tendency is to think of a concept that is very ancient in our culture. The word conjures up images of Moses leading the Hebrews through wilderness and doing battle with various other groups of people who stood in the way of their destiny in the land of milk and honey. We think of something ancient, and likely, of something long removed from our modern world.

The reality, however, is that tribalism is very much a part of the human existence. We continually organize ourselves into groups that allow us to identify an 'us' and a 'them'.

Ford, not Kia

Red Wings, not Maple Leafs

Buddhist, not Christian

American, not Mexican

Omnivore, not Vegan

Female, not Male

Republican, not Democrat

Sons of Anarchy, not Downton Abbey

Young, not old

As practitioners of the Way, we need to examine this. We need to examine how extensive our tendency towards tribalism is, as well as how we operate within it.

From an anthropological perspective, tribalism is a method of grouping that has played a key role in the survival and development of humanity. Grouping together has allowed us to protect ourselves and each other from threats. It has allowed us to pool our resources for greater gain. We also have an instinctual tendency to trust the tribe that we are in and to distrust others. These tendency, while a developmental advantage to our species, are now the great source of suffering in the world. We pull our own close, and push the others away. And still, I spend the lion's share of my time and resources helping my own family and not the family next door. My tribe, not theirs. Within certain contexts, tribalism is understandable and necessary.

Anytime we organize into a group, we create a collective self-identity, and in creating self, we create other.

The oppressed separate from the oppressor

The aggressor separate from the victim

Ultimately we find that it is not the distinction between one and another that causes great suffering, but how that distinction is used to elevate or hold down. Just because I see that you are different does not have to mean that I push you away. When we look at our history and culture, sadly, that is often what happens. This kind of fear comes from our conditioning. We learn it well and make it part of the lens through which we see the world. This is the importance of Zazen. Taking the backward step and letting space develop between our thought and our reaction. Creating space between our experience of now and the conditioning of our past. In this space we have freedom to choose. With each choice, we can manifest good and actualize it for other.

The Faith Mind Poem of Master Seng-ts'an (3rd Patriarch of Zen) speaks of the trap of duality. The first few lines are a good representation of the entire poem:

The Great Way is not difficult

for those not attached to preferences.

When not attached to love or hate,

all is clear and undistinguished.

Separate by the smallest amount, however,

and you are as far from it as heaven is from earth.

Many times in Zen practice, we are told that getting hooked is the problem.

When liking a Ford becomes a hook, it becomes an unhealthy fuel for attraction and revulsion. (all of a sudden window decal arises of Calvin pissing on a Chevy)

To be clear, it is important to recognize good and cultivate it. It is important to recognize evil and work to eliminate it. However, we must always look inward to see the extent to which we put on extra layers of story, or love and hate beyond the essential reality of the moment. We are called present to what is actually going on, witness it, and fully meet that moment.

And still, when the Winter Olympics roll around, I'll still be rooting for the Canadian Hockey team to beat the USA.