I am not afraid to die. I am not even afraid to die a slow, painful and agonizing death though that would obviously not be my preference. I have been a serious meditator for over 20 years now. My root teacher is Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Many of us who have been significantly impacted by this beautiful man and his beautiful teachings call him "Thay" for short. Because of my decades long meditation and particularly my Zen practice, I am aware that even if I were to die a slow, agonizing and painful death, I would be able to summon the strength or whatever it was that needed to be summoned, to endure that in the best way a human being possibly could. I would likely also be able to find many things to be grateful for in the process as well. These are some of the things that are available for us to learn from a Zen Master who cut his zen teeth in the midst of one of the most violent wars the modern world has known. He honed his zen skills in the midst of the war the people of Vietnam refer to as, "The American War." We here in America erroneously or ignorantly refer to it as, "The Vietnam War."
Much of the focus of my activism of late has some connection to death. People cheering the hypothetical death of a hypothetical 30 year old uninsured man during one of the recent and infamous Republican debates. The execution of Troy Anthony Davis has come and gone. The one year anniversary of Tyler Clementi's death by suicide has come and gone. The recent suicide death of 14 year old Jayme Rodemeyer continues to sadden millions across the country and world. Meanwhile, the murders of numerous transwomen of color over the last several weeks, continues to be ignored by mainstream media and America. The continuous and ongoing genocide against the black man is also continuing in its all too familiar unchecked, uninterrupted and denied manner by the masses. All of these stories have a clear and obvious connection to death. What does it all mean?
It has occurred to me that much of the social justice activism that takes place in the world is really directed at protecting people from "unnecessary" or "unjust" death for as long as possible. We don't want innocent people to be killed in unjust, corporate and greed sponsored wars. We don't want people to die without adequate healthcare and insurance. These are deaths many believe could have been "prevented." Some of us decry and want to prevent the deaths of potentially innocent death row inmates, young kids coming to terms with their sexuality, transwomen living in large urban centers, homeless men sleeping on benches in deserted parks, children without enough food to eat, women living with their potentially deadly, overly aggressive and under matured husbands and boyfriends. Its all about life and death at the most reductionist level. Its about attempting to change the process and dynamics around who lives and who dies, around why, around who makes those decisions, and how they are made. Social justice activists often want to protect people from what may be viewed as an unjust or untimely death. Other people, lets call them corporate and governmental henchmen, want to hasten people's deaths and to make lots of money and acquire lots of power in the process. Is this what it all really boils down to? Some people want us to live? Other people want us to die? Is it all simply a socially constructed ballet between two seemingly opposing ideologies? Do you believe life and death is something that is only decided by some entity we may call a god of some sort? Is it all just part of some cosmic plan? Or do we humans have a substantial role to play in it all?
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