by Rob Lyons
So now what?
One thing that my teacher Sojun Mel Weitsman spoke about, often, was the “appropriate response.” The practice of Engaged Buddhism, as Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us, arises from compassion. We can’t turn away, and we should continue training ourselves not to turn away. The appropriate response will differ from one person to the next. Some of us will ameliorate: the care-givers, the listeners and supporters, the empathizers. The first responders. These are the people who bear the fullest weight of the suffering of others. Some people help by guiding others through the labyrinth of care, so that they can gradually improve their lives and be healed. Still others might focus on structures of suffering, and the supply chain that delivers suffering to its reluctant recipients, and work on combating injustice, hatred, economic discrimination and systemic misery. The important thing, as a bodhisattva, if you want to incorporate Engaged Buddhism into your practice, is that you engage. Investigate opportunities to be of service, maybe starting small, starting where you are. Or start where the need is greatest. You can set out on this path and pay attention to what happens as you travel it: how are you feeling about this, what is your gut telling you? Is this sustainable? Does this feel like you’re helping? Is it urgent or essential or life-preserving?
In light of Donald Trump’s reelection, here are a few thoughts.
First, we should take care of ourselves. Many of us are grieving right now, and feeling dispirited and listless and defeated. I was thinking the other day of that Michael McDonald song: “I keep forgetting we’re not in love anymore.” My mind goes back to all the hopes and visions and the promise of a Harris presidency: I’ve been working on this for the last six months, through all the postcard writing, and attending the two conventions, and planning and carrying out the election retreats. I had plans to stay in DC in January during Kamala’s inauguration. I was beginning to strategize about how we were going to pressure her into ending the war in Gaza. But none of that is real, we were defeated. We should do now whatever we need to do, to recover. Rest, relax, enjoy life, recharge. I was talking to Greg Fain about this on Saturday. He suggested a “digital detox.” Another friend of mine said that this would be a good time to declutter, to put the details of my life in order. And there is always our dharma practice: do more zazen. This will open the heart and mind, and ground us, and help us find the way forward.
Second, we should take care of those around us. We have friends and family members who are hurting, who may be suffering from shock and depression after this setback. Our Muslim friends, and our immigrant friends and especially our trans friends – were all attacked and vilified and will be feeling vulnerable and tender. They need our companionship and intervention. Both my son-in-law and my daughter-in-law work for the Federal government, and are concerned that their careers may be cut short by a purge to the civil service system or the slashing that Elon Musk promises as he creates the “Department of Government Efficiency.” All these friends of ours will need our emotional support. Reach out and call them, check in with them, they’ll appreciate this. Generosity and gratitude are powerful tools to combat difficult emotions and negative impulses. If things get as bad as some people think, we’re all going to need each other. Plus we can study the dharma together and practice together in sangha.
Third, we need to recalibrate. This election has revealed that the America we believed we lived in is not real. There is much more hatred and division and misogyny and racism abroad in the land than we’d realized. Whatever map we were carrying around in our head about the world we’re living in was proven wrong. We need to let go of it. We need to deal with the here and now, and take it one step at a time.
Fourth, there will be actions and campaigns to limit the devastation of Trump’s second presidency, his Project 2025 plans and so on. The Women’s March and other groups are planning a January 18 march in DC. And there will be many more. We should consider which of these we can support, and how.
Fifth, for those of us who are inclined to work on structural changes: there will be electoral campaigns we can look forward to, for example there are special elections coming up in 2025 and then a midterm election in 2026 – and of course the next presidential election in 2028. Then there is all the work that will need to be done around policy – climate action, green economy, peace in Gaza and Ukraine, tolerance, choice, and so forth. These will be more difficult now, but that’s all the more reason to fight to keep them alive.
And finally, I believe all of us need do our best to help heal the divisions in this country. There has been so much talk about “Civil War” between the reds and the blues, there is so much intolerance and ill will, ginned up by the media (especially on the right). But you know, many of those who voted for Donald Trump are good people. When I was at the Republican Convention in July I slipped into a meeting of Never Trumpers, (George Conway was there, and Michael Steele), and there was this one panelist, a right wing radio shock jock from the Tea Party, who called for what he called “The Coalition of the Decent.” Decent people on both sides of the aisle, holding a variety of views. We can forge an alliance of decent-minded people who believe in civil discourse and the American form of democracy, who may differ on certain matters of policy, but who will respect one another and work together where our values align. There are various programs out there – and Braver Angels may be the most well known of these – which are working on having Republicans and Democrats talk to one another and bring an end to the “othering” that has been so toxic, when major candidates talk about their fellow Americans as “vermin.”
So that’s my plan, my answer to “What Now?”:
- Take care of myself;
- Take care of others;
- Recalibrate and deal with what is;
- Work to limit the devastation of Project 2025;
- Work on upcoming elections and policy, especially around Gaza and Climate Change; and
- Join Braver Angels and begin talking with Republicans.
One thing about this work is: it never ends. So I implore you, open your hearts and bring forth an appropriate response.
