On a wall in my apartment hangs a prayer flag. The image on the flag is taken from a page in spiritual leader Ram Dass’s book Be Here Now. It shows an illustration of a man, stylized like a paper doll, with multiple options for his garb: bohemian, flower child choices including a guitar and long hair and a beard, as well as the getup of law enforcement officers. The text says: “Hippies create police. Police create hippies. If you’re in polarity, you’re creating polar opposites. You can only protest effectively when you love the person whose ideas you are protesting against as much as you love yourself.”[1]
I look at this prayer flag sometimes and think with exasperation: Ram Dass, I’m trying – but wow, I’m failing.
Though Ram Dass was not a Buddhist, his message encompasses powerful spiritual truths that transcend religious labels. The wisdom of seeing oneself in others— even if we are appalled at the beliefs and actions of those others— is aligned with Buddhist insights.
His intuition that holding extreme views creates extreme views at the other end of the spectrum is evident in the political landscape of the United States today. My friend used the term “powder keg” to describe the atmosphere, and I can’t think of a more apt metaphor: it feels like it’s going to explode. The explosion will harm all of us, not just those on the other “side.”
The proliferation of extreme views that lead to violence is on the rise. Of course, I am thinking of the assassinations of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and democratic politician Melissa Hortman, both this year. Extreme views lead to extreme actions. Violence begets more violence.
If we can’t bring ourselves to love the people who espouse the ideas we are fighting against, maybe what we can do instead is vow to refuse to allow our own views to become extreme.
[1] I added the punctuation; the image itself contains no punctuation.
