Is That Me Bleeding?

We see so much suffering and injustice in the world, and it is our natural desire as humans to want to relieve this suffering. But what in the world can we do? How can we not be overwhelmed, how do we not retreat into helplessness and despair?

In this dialogue between Andrew Cohen and Roshi Bernie Glassman, we begin to see that in wanting to "solve" the world's problems we may be starting at the wrong end of the stick.

"When we live in a state of knowing, rather than unknowing, we're living in a fixed state of being where our notions of what should happen block us from seeing what actually does happen. We get upset because our expectations aren't met. The truth is, no matter what we think, we are never in control and things will happen as they happen. But in a state of unknowing we actually live without attachment to preconceived ideas. There is no expectation of gain, no expectation of loss."
- Bernie Glassman, in Bearing Witness.

True compassion reveals itself through our willingness to be with the rawness and discomfort of not knowing, again and again; our willingness to step through our fears and hesitations into that groundless place where we no longer pretend we have any answers. It is only from this state of open mind and broken heart - the place of our shared humanity - that we can truly see each other.

Then it's simple.

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