Interdependence Applied to Politics and Within Each of Us, Which are Themselves Interdependent

“It is the insight into Interdependent Co-Arising that puts an end to all extreme views, all discrimination, all division, which are the root of all afflictions like fear, resentment, despair, and craving.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

at left: drawing of a buddha, a hand and detailed leaves signifying concentration, and plants drawn from the art in the Diamond Sutra

According to the Buddhist view of causation, cause and effect arise together, each effect has countless causes (its conditions), and each cause has countless effects. For example, a wooden table needs the sun, the rain, the soil, a carpenter, and many other things. The sun, rain, and soil are in the table and the wooden table is in the sun, rain, and soil. In the Buddhist view, the table and its causes co-arise.

Considering the times we are living in now, that in the United States there is still racial injustice, poverty, food insecurity, many other societal problems, and it’s an election year, how could such a view be relevant? It’s relevant because we see that politicians are speaking as if they, and the Americans they want to represent, are separate selves, independent of one another. There is increasing division between the two political parties with little cooperation and compromise.

This lack of cooperation and compromise is due to seeing the self (the specific party) as separate from the other party, and seeing the members of the party as separate from the members of the other party. It is obvious that the two parties, and the people of which they are composed, are interdependent. For example, consider Jo, a schoolteacher, and her student, Joe. Joe’s parents are Democrats whereas Jo is a Republican. If Jo’s party manages to pass a bill to cut school transportation, Joe may have difficulty getting to school. This harms both Jo and Joe. If the politicians want to serve both Jo and Joe, they need to cooperate and compromise; otherwise, both will be harmed (Jo may lose all her students and her job and Joe doesn’t get an education) as Jo and Joe inter-are.

The quote above from Thich Nhat Hanh is characteristic of his teachings on interdependence. Elsewhere, he writes that the young prostitute is, because the wealthy nice girl is. It is the young girl sold into prostitution that allows the wealthy nice girl to be wealthy and nice. The reasoning is similar to that above, with Jo and Joe. Does this mean that there is no hope for a just society of equality?

No, in my view we need to begin with ourselves, seeing how sometimes we have craving when there is a feeling of pleasantness and we have aversion when there is a feeling of unpleasantness. When we act out of our craving, grasping for more of whatever led to the pleasant feeling (money, food, the latest technology, etc), or when we act out of aversion (anger, fear, hate) to get rid of whatever we think caused the unpleasant feeling, that is when we perpetuate these cycles of despair, extremism, and division, even on the larger scale of politics. This is because, for example, when we act out of anger or hate, this creates conditions for others to experience anger and hate, and thereby increase despair and division. When we act out of craving, this creates conditions for others to experience lack of essentials, such as food or shelter.

We need to bring attention within, observing our craving, our aversion, our feelings of unpleasantness and pleasantness, and see that whatever arises has arisen due to how the mind has been conditioned. As we sit in mindfulness practice, we create conditions for love, compassion, equanimity, sympathetic joy, and the insight into interdependent co-arising to arise. We can then act with awareness of interdependent co-arising and compassion rather than act with anger, fear, hate, or craving.

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