In regard to society/politics

Sentient beings are numberless, I vow to save them all.

When harm has been done to POC and LGTBQ+ people for so long, it's easy to believe those doing the harm are "evil" and in turn, to be angry at those people. But the laws of karma work very simply: anger creates more anger; division creates more division - this leads to more suffering.

Thich Nhat Hanh was exiled from Vietnam, both by the pro-communists and the anti-communists, for advocating for peace on both sides. He was told that he would be put in jail or killed if he returned. But he says now that none of these people are his enemies. He says he has no enemies. He says he prays for these people. Because they're living in fear and anger. They're suffering. It took him some time to come to this understanding.

I don't think it's helpful to understand or even listen to a Nazi or a bigot's or a racist's "political view." Though it's not very difficult to do so either. In fact, it's very easy to do that. It's easy to listen to such a view and see the flaws in the perception. It's much more difficult, a much more challenging human task, to understand that people on the right, like those on the left, are actually suffering. That they are confused. If they weren't confused, they wouldn't be holding such views. Division, separation, created by anger and fear, if left unaddressed, will only create more anger and fear, more division and separation. And thus, more suffering. This should make us sad, not angry. If we can enter into engagement with "others" through our sadness, our grief - that beings are suffering in confusion - it would go a long way to quelling the anger that is a continual force in this country, which only breeds further division, and more suffering. The left would go a long way just by saying that they feel angry and a great grief. Expressing this anger in words, very directly, and then being honest about the pain and sadness that is part of that anger might be helpful. Such is a doorway for the left to then hear what suffering is occurring on the right. It's naive to believe that a bigoted or racist person isn't suffering - being a bigot or a racist means that a person is suffering, whether they believe it or not.

None of the above is easy, and is much more difficult than dismissing the other side. It's because this goes to the very root the country's collective karma (if you don't like the word karma, substitute collective consciousness or psychology): this country was formed upon division. It is the country's karma, in my opinion (just a view) that things will play out like this. And until we begin to address that karma, from both sides (and of course, there is greater harm, generally speaking, from a certain "side"), we will only continue in this anger-filled cycle.

Sentient beings are numberless, I vow to save them all.