Problems and Privilege
by Nowick Gray
nowickgray.com
Often when I post on social media about problems in the world I get the response, “What are you complaining about? You have it so good…”
It seems the best thing to do when one has it good is not to rock the boat. We in the coddled classes who enjoy the spoils of empire had better not bite the hand that feeds us. Just ditch the rhetoric of morality and get with the program.
Another line of attack is to charge hypocrisy: “But you’re not helping. You have a smart phone too, right? You still burn fossil fuels. You accept government handouts. What right have you got to complain?”
It seems the only righteous complaints can come from Jesus himself. And He died for all the sins of the rest of us anyway, right, so we can go on sinning? Human nature is fallen, so just suck it up, put on the damn mask, and give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.
The above critiques of social or political agitation come from the bourgeois sector, those who are happy with the materialist system of rewards and tradeoffs; and if their happy lot in life is paid for by the suffering of others less fortunate, it’s probably the fault of those so-called victims themselves—either for not trying hard enough, or for bringing misfortune on themselves by making too much of a ruckus.
The bottom line for both of the above apologists for authority and empire is: Why would any sane person (or nation) bother to step out of the comfort zone available to those who conform, follow orders, and repeat the mantra of the official program? If you do step out of line you’re just drawing attention to yourself, which means you must be arrogant, narcissistic, egotistical, deluded, or even crazy.
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There’s another camp opposed to rabble-rousers like myself, and these are the spiritual materialists, for whom the desired life is one of self-created insulation from the problems of the world. Whatever the intended message of the Buddha or other spiritual teachers, it is taken to mean that the end of suffering is within our reach because our reach extends inwardly, instead of out there in the miasma of competing human desires.
So, if we follow the contemporary wisdom of Eckhardt Tolle, for example, we subscribe to the truism, “There are never any problems in the Now.” If you live in Yemen or Beirut, Portland or Chicago your experience of the Now may differ. Otherwise, you’re good to go, with most problems of your own creation, hangups of your own “pain body.”
Tolle of course was touting nothing new, but a restating of age-old spiritual solace. The Mother, preaching alongside Indian luminary (and ex-revolutionary) Sri Aurobindo, said, “If one attains true consciousness, there is no longer any problem to solve.” Of course this eternal truth has usefulness on both the individual and cosmic levels. It is realized by the identification of the small ego-driven self with the infinite cosmic Self. Personal suffering dissolves in the great mists of all-being.
And what about in between, in the global battlefields of conquest and strife, exploitation and disaster, crisis and oppression?
These problems are left to the politicos to debate, generals to work out. These are problems of demographics, economics, historical forces, collective karma. They are outside the scope of spiritual reflection or application. To delve into matters of colonialism, wealth inequality, systemic racism, pedophile rings, drug running… these are themes of pulp fiction, not spiritual discussion. Leave them aside, say the gurus, and find your true reality in the pure space of bliss within.
I mean, they do have a point. Where has all the agitation for human rights got us after all these centuries of trying? A case, perhaps, could be made for progress… or for increasing, more sophisticated enslavement, a neofeudalism more complete and more insidious than the last. Maybe there’s always been a choice between the battle of the outer world, and that within one’s own heart, and ultimately the latter is the only war one person can stand to win.
The professional baseball player, in the typical daily interview, puts it rather succinctly: “I can only control what I can control. I can’t worry about all the rest. That stuff will have to take care of itself.”
There is, however, within the spiritual tradition of the East, a counter argument. There is the mission of the bodhisattva who, having once mastered control of the self, returns to the earthly stage to assist other beings in their liberation. The catch, once more, is that that liberation will take a similar form, under similar constraints—not tainted by worldly struggles. For each of those new souls being helped, the narrow path is the same: You have to commit to the same program, of internal overcoming, of personal enlightenment, giving up aspirations of any heaven on earth for yourself or anyone else.
The Quakers of Christian tradition did take a different slant, believing like Gandhi, or Martin Luther King, Jr., or Henry Thoreau, that spiritual truth entailed speaking out and taking nonviolent action against injustice in the world. The spiritual warrior must embrace not only personal salvation, but the duty of civil disobedience to advocate for the dignity and fair treatment of the oppressed: notably slaves, prisoners, Native peoples, and the targets of wars. Such battles cannot be fought effectively unless you come from a spiritual grounding in community prayer; but then there is nothing in the way of a direct confrontation with state power over its abuses of natural humanity.
The trick is to stay grounded in the heat of battle. Neither to get caught up in fighting for personal glory or righteousness, nor discouraged by overwhelming odds and apparent defeats. For as Krishna counselled Arjuna in the Hindu classic, the Bhagavad Gita, you must commit to this battle for the sake of your duty, your karma, your calling and your role, and the necessary justice of your cause; yet at the same time you must fight without attachment to the fruits of your action.
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This is the challenge today for people of conscience, facing the multitude of crises challenging humanity.
To not be content with whatever privilege we personally enjoy—but to risk it all in the service of liberation of others who are suffering unjustly.
To not be too self-judgmental and perfectionist about our qualifications to protest—we have the right to speak for truth because the urgency of need compels us to do so.
To not rest content with our own psychic cleansing—but then to use our clear channel to advocate for the rights of others, as we feel their suffering.
To neither be too attached to victory or too discouraged by defeat—but to persevere in doing the right thing, speaking truth to power because it must be heard.
Truth of injustice cannot be silenced; cannot remain silent. Freedom and justice are the core of our humanity and must be proclaimed and enacted without fear and inhibition, if we are to continue to live and remain human at all.
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Nowick Gray writes from Salt Spring Island, BC. His books of genre-bending fiction and creative nonfiction explore the borders of nature and civilization, imagination and reality, choice and manifestation. Connect at NowickGray.com to read more. A regular contributor to The New Agora, Nowick also offers perspectives and resources on alternative culture and African drumming,and helps other writers as a freelance copyeditor at HyperEdits.com.
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image credits
- jail: me.me
- kundalini: thenaiveperspective.com
- (and feature) Jacob Reimann
Nowick Gray writes from Salt Spring Island, BC. His books of genre-bending fiction and creative nonfiction explore the borders of nature and civilization, imagination and reality, choice and manifestation. Connect at NowickGray.com to read more. A regular contributor to The New Agora, Nowick also offers perspectives and resources on alternative culture and African drumming, and helps other writers as a freelance copyeditor at HyperEdits.com.
