This past quarter, I took a class on Buddhism that blew my mind. Initially, it was very intellectually challenging, as everything I read seemed reminiscent of obscure philosophy. However, by the end of the quarter, I felt that I had learned more about myself and the world than any other class had taught me.
The one thing that really stuck out to me was the way in which Buddhism talks about inevitable suffering. This form of suffering, however, is not suffering in the conventional sense; it has more to do with the pain that beings experience as a result of change or attachment. If everything is subject to change, then everything is subject to inflicting dukkha, or suffering. This can occur in extreme forms, like death, or mild forms, like rain starting to pour, which may make one sad. Overall, though, Buddhism argues through the Four Noble Truths that suffering is inevitable, the root of this suffering is thirst, and that there is a way to reduce suffering. What struck me most about the idea of dukkha was the ways in which it could be used as a way to understand social justice movements and reduce suffering. I thought that the most compelling arguments for the ability of Buddhism to reduce suffering were those that had to do with racial justice.
The Theravada tradition would argue that discrimination is a product of dualistic thinking that has bred attachment and the assigning of false value to certain races or groups of people. Charles Johnson, an African-American man who grew up in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, offers an account of Buddhism that can help young black Americans cope with the anger that can often accompany institutionalized discrimination. Johnson writes, “In their thinking, they dualistically carve the world up in terms of the illusory constructs of ‘whiteness’ and ‘blackness’ and, on the basis of this mental projection, create social structures -- as Tillich declared -- that fuel attachment, clinging, prejudice, and what the Dharma describes as the ‘three poisons’ of ignorance, hatred, and greed.” This notion compliments the broader Theravada belief that attachment is the root of suffering.
Zen Buddhism, similarly, would argue that discrimination is the result of delusion born out of dualistic thought patterns and the inability to see the emptiness of all things.
The Shin tradition would argue that ignorance or prejudice is a result of pain and an inability to feel the gratitude and Immeasurable Light and Life of Amida Buddha. Taitetsu Unno, an American Buddhist scholar writes, “The light of the compassionate Buddha illuminates our karmic reality as infinite finitude. This means that, as finite beings, we can live forever in ignorance and darkness, unless and until our karmic reality is illuminated by the light of compassion.”
Throughout these three traditions, ignorance and hatred is seen as the result of an inability to see truth, whether that be what our class discussions referred to as “capital T, truth,” the inherent emptiness of all things, or the light of Amida Buddha. It is important to note that by identifying ignorance as a result of inadequate knowledge or wisdom and not out of innate hatred, Buddhism is very valuable to social justice (and racial) movements in that it emphasizes the inherently pure nature of any being, and that it is only this very world that adulterates said being. If one can understand, through Buddhism, that no being is born hateful or ignorant, they may be able to uproot some of their own suffering by viewing a perpetrator’s actions as those of delusion or pain rather than abhorrence.
