Buddhism teaches this: when tragedy strikes, there are two ways to go:
We open.
We close.
I am trying to learn to open. Everything in me, all my privilege, all my familial training - all of my protective devices from both being a victim in the past and also having not had to face as much victimhood as a lot of other folks - all of that training says CLOSE. FIND ANSWERS. GET COLD. BE PRECISE.
And all of my Buddhist training says "Soften. Open. Trust. Feel."
I make mistakes when I feel, but I make worse mistakes when I don't.
This week, I am feeling the Alton Sterling killing. Then, the completely overshadowed but far more telling, Philando Castle killing not twenty four hours later. I am trying to stay open.
