There's A Lot Going On

The other day, I was walking down the street when I saw an old man lying on the pavement, blood streaming down his face. People were stepping over him as though he didn’t exist. My first thought was: Has everyone lost their humanity?

I helped him up and asked if I should call an ambulance. Call 911, he said. As I was doing so, he ran into a nearby bodega and tried to attack the owner, who jumped over the counter with a bat to defend himself. As all this was happening, another person yelled, “The old man’s got a knife!” I looked and saw it was true. Confused about who and how to help, I blurted out, “To hell with all of you,” and walked off home.

We swim in a sea of perceptions, none of which shows us the full truth. It’s like that story from the Upanishads of blind men grasping a different part of an elephant, each believing he has the full picture. So too, we try to grasp who the “good guys” and “bad guys” are. But the reality is often more complicated than our judging minds can fathom. At some point, you have to focus on your own actions and let the rest go.

There’s a passage where Ananda says to the Buddha: I think I’ve figured out how karma works. The Buddha says: I doubt it. The factors influencing your experience are too numerous and tangled to ever unravel. Luckily, you don’t have to, because the big issues in life — where you’re causing harm or happiness — are right here in the present moment. By focusing here, on your actions right now, you can make meaningful change. In the other way lies madness.

There’s a lot going on. In the world. In life. If you try to live from the vantage-point of perfect knowledge or a single, unified story, you’ll go crazy. It’s more important just to do the next right thing. I’m glad I helped an old man to his feet. Perhaps I could have done more. But who knows what knives, bats, and damage lie in the maelstrom of what we don’t yet understand?

Peter Paul Rubens, "Consequences of War" (1639)