Wetiko, Gaza, Ukraine and the Kalpataru
Continuing to try and breakthrough my helplessness and sorrow I write here, to the choir … to this echo chamber called SubStack. At night, sad and suffocating in the helplessness, I obsess over whether this writing makes any difference or not? Then sleep. Fitful guilt-ridden sleep, fully and completely knowing an IDF missile will not kill or maim me in the night, nor a Russian drone destroy my home, nor a Made-in-America 2000 pound bomb vaporize my old flesh and all my belongings.
While lost in my own unwarranted pitiful sorrow an old story came to mind. A story I’d like to offer here. A split screen of the original story and its modern equivalent.
A great spiritual leader, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, was speaking to a group of people about Kalpataru (the Wish Tree). He could tell that those in attendance were not grasping this ancient concept. As the modern mind and soul moves further and further away from relationship with self, others and Mother Nature it becomes even more difficult to appreciate the ancient wisdom. And yet, every Indigenous nation is singing out, “Return to the old wisdom, to the old traditions. That is the only way we shall survive the Climate Crisis and the Violence.” But, we choose not to listen. We don’t have time. We are too busy. In that busy-ness we will lose everything. Ramakrishna, seeing that the people were bored or confused, decided to tell and old story. Stories wake people up, sometimes.
Into a room full of children at play walks their uncle laughing at their preoccupation with make-believe games. He asks them to go out to the massive banyan tree, which will grant them whatever they wish! The children rush out, stand under the branches of this huge tree that cover the sky, and ask for what all children crave: toys and candy. In a flash they get what they want.
Into a group of desirous Americans who define freedom as, ‘I can do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it’, walks a shady Powerful Being (Wetiko). The Powerful Being asks those present, “What is your Creed?” To that they proudly answer in unison, “ The CREED by which we live is, ‘The One with the Most Toys Wins.’ The Powerful Being smiles and says, “Go out to the massive tree you see standing outside. Ask for whatever your heart desires, and your every wish will come true. The people rush out and stand under the massive branches of the tree that covers the entire sky. And they begin to ask for what all Americans crave: a new phone, cars, clothing, a big house, fancy food, sex, money, power, independence, an attractive partner, health and happiness. In a flash they get what they want.
But along with every gift comes some built-in opposite for there are two sides to every stone. With toys the children get boredom; with candy, tummy aches. Sure that something has gone wrong with their wishing, the children asked for bigger toys and sweeter candy. The tree granted them their wishes, and along with them bigger boredom and bigger tummy aches.
But built in complications come with every gift. Some of the complications are quite problematic … there are two sides to every stone. With the new expensive car comes the need to build a garage, to pay taxes, to purchase insurance, to provide regular upkeep …. and, well, wait … ‘I have owned my new car a year already and my neighbor has the newest version of this very car. And his wife is prettier. I think I need a new car. And, maybe a new wife. And the latest iPhone, and popular style clothing and ….’
Time passes. The children are now young men and women and their wishes change, for they know more. They ask for wealth, power, fame, sexual pleasure--and they get these, but also a craving for bigger, better, newer…. more. But as before, with every gift comes its opposite and the young men and women receive insomnia, anxiety, stress, frustration and eventually disease.
Time passes. They are now young men and women and their wishes change, for they know more. They ask for wealth, power, fame, sexual pleasure--and they get these, but also a craving for bigger, better, newer…. more. They hoard what they have, become violent if someone tries to take what they have. Their greed grows exponentially as they need more and more and will lie and steal to have their emptiness filled. Their paranoia grows as they worry about who will steal their things, or have more things, or better things. They build fences, buy locks, purchase safety systems and policing agencies. They don’t have the time to enjoy their stuff because they are working hard to buy more and newer stuff. Like a hungry ghost, with its enormous jaw hanging open they walk the earth taking what they want with little concern for others. For some the up-side-gift they receive is insomnia, depression, anxiety, stress, frustration and eventually disease. For others, their soul runs away and the vacuous person sees and feels little but their own selfish cravings as they move into acedia, sociopathy and maybe even psychopathy.
The children, the young people, the old people, the Americans, the wishers are now old and stand under the branches of the tree. The first exclaims, "All this is an illusion!"
Fool, they have learnt nothing.
The second person says, "I am wiser and will wish better next time."
Greater fool, they have learnt less than nothing.
The third person, disgusted with everything, becomes depressed and asks for death.
They are the most foolish of all.
The tree grants each of them their desire, and with it its opposite: rebirth, under the same tree. For, where can one be born, or reborn, but within this cosmos!
All this while one child has been unable to walk out to the tree. Being lame, they were pushed down in the scramble and became transfixed watching their friends make their wishes, get them with their built-in opposites and suffer, yet compulsively continue to make more wishes. Riveted by this utterly engrossing divine play of desire and its fruits, a profound swell of compassion welled up in the heart of this lame child. They reached out for their friends and in the process forgot to wish for anything for themselves.
In that moment of spontaneous compassion for others, the child sliced through the roots of the cosmic tree with the sword of non-attachment, of nishkama karma (self-less service). They became the liberated one, the one not attached to and therefore not effected by the things of this world. They have become the compassionate one.
Gaza. Ukraine. Iran. Syria. Sudan. Somalia. 280 million people in Africa starving today. Native Americans. First peoples. Amazonians. All of the children suffering, dying, enslaved to mine for the minerals needed in our phones and cars. Enslaved to make our clothing. Enslaved to gather our chocolate and coffee. The Mother Earth herself suffering and in pain manifesting it through floods in dry places and drought in wet places and fire and wind and storm and earthquake. Everything is up-side-down and what have we done? What have we done?
(And then I return to thoughts of our two choices for President. And Boebert back in Congress.)
What is our Creed here in America? What is our Creed?
The One with the most toys wins and I’m going to be that One!
“Father good luck forgiving them, they are more fucked up than what we realized.”