December 01, 2008
Angry Asuras, or Attention, Walmart Shoppers
Just when I thought there were no demons in the world..... something like the incident at the Long Island Walmart (where an employee died) happens.
http://tinyurl.com/56qgb7
http://tinyurl.com/5opfv3
Wow. Someone's Christmas toy became, for the space of a few moments, worth more than a human life.
There are several articles out on the web about how this could have been prevented, many having merit. And I could rant about consumer culture being fatal. But I won't, for the moment.
From a Buddhist perspective, I suppose it isn't too surprising. Humans have been beset by the three poisons for eons......
Greed: "I've got to get that new ipod before anybody else - they might run out!"
Ignorance: "I had no idea that someone had been knocked down.... anyway, I didn't see it happen, so it's not my responsibility."
Anger:"I've been in line for over 6 hours! Get out of my way!"
It's also a horrifying example of the lower of the ten worlds - all the greed, thoughtlessness, and thrashing anger of a hungry ghost, asura and animal rolled into one ghastly pack of Walmart shoppers tearing down doors.
The tragic culmination of all of these poisons in a New York parking lot has jarred me into revisiting how I think and view the world, and left me wondering what Buddhism could possibly provide as an antidote for such toxic poisons.
I know I've "rushed the door" sometimes metaphorically, personally, and steamrolled people in my life, blinded by greed, anger or ignorance.
For me, chanting provides the laboratory in which I can examine myself and reveal the ten worlds within myself. I can then work to make the better parts stronger, and acknowledge the lower parts and redirect them to ways they can serve all humans more constructively (rather than just serving the "me" - the ego and bag of bones I identify as myself).
(Ah, jeesh. Now I've set myself up for some Frankenstein analogies.... but I digress).
Anyway, I am also hoping that by sharing the notions of the ten worlds, and three poisons, with others, and by encouraging others to chant, or meditate, or even to just be more mindful more often, perhaps, just perhaps, they can mend their own personal Frankensteins and strengthen their inner boddhisattvas, just as I endeavor to do, and do the same for others.
Maybe it's not enough, a Band-aid on a gunshot wound, but if the historic Buddha could have stopped a raging bull elephant once, perhaps a few peaceful individuals at large can begin to sooth the savage mob. I can always hope.
What do you think? Can Buddhism really serve to help in this 21st century world?
Posted by chicks at December 1, 2008 03:44 PMCan Buddhism help? Sure. Were there Buddhists in that crowd? You bet there were Christians and Jews and every other faith. Did they rush the door? Probably. It sounds like the biggest problem is the mall managers didn't think ahead. Humm, there's a huge crowd outside that is out of control at 3am. Let's just ignore it. That day everyone's faith was consumerism - greed, anger and stupidity. Can Buddhism help? Yes, but it's going to be a long road.
Nancy
Nancy,
I'll confess, the first notion I had was "They totally ignored the idea of crowd control". In no way was I intimating that the store managers had no responsibility. I think they bear the brunt of it, actually.
Nonetheless, I think I wrote the article because it was such a stark example of greed and impatience taking a life. I mean, I understand people stampeding the doors, say, to flee a fire, or guy with a gun, but whoa - stampeding just for consumer goods. It is like a really bad B-movie.
Personally, I've been caught up in a "herd" instinct like that before, and while I was initially thinking greedy, selfish, angry thoughts (gotta get the goods!), they were rapidly supplanted by a fear of being trampled myself....I'm not sure personally I'd have the chutzpah to stand up against the mass making for the door. To quote a favorite poet of mine, sometimes I feel convicted by my convictions, because I'm not sure if push came to shove, in a situation like that, that I could live my own ideals.
It makes it seem miraculous that some non-violent protesters, historically, have avoided lashing back in situations where, by most standards, they could have.
I like to think in a perfect world consumerism wouldn't be the number one religion. On a bad day, I wonder if that's possible.
Posted by: Kris at December 2, 2008 10:55 AMI think this story is a reminder of how human behavior can run the gamit from incredible thoughtfulness and sacrifice, to unbridled disregard of anybody but ourself. To be honest I doubt any one religion will save the day, when it comes to rescuing humans from greed, stupidity and anger. I like Buddhim because I think it makes people more aware, but I don't think it's a silver bullet for what ails the planet. A few weeks ago I had a weird road rage experience where I was so scared I was afraid to look out my car window because I thought the person might shoot me. Low and behold when I did still a glance, I recognized the perpetrator, another Buddhist.
I think the best we can salvage from this type of incident is for us all to stop and take a deep breath and self reflect. We can also make a promise to ourselves that if a human being falls down I will not be the one to trample him. We could also take it one step further and promise to try to reign in our other negatve behaviors that are similar. These types events shock us, but there are day to day events in everyone's life that hold the seed of this type of behavior
I don't know the details of what was going on at the store that morning but I know that the stores encourage this morning rampage by having special offers for the early hours or limited numbers of items at give away prices. People are all pumped up and competitive after waiting all night for the doors to open. I think of their incompetence at crowd control as being criminally negligent. The lustful idiots who trampled this guy are certainly to blame but even more so I think are the engineers of the fiasco. And after waiting outside all night I wouldn't be very inclined to leave just because some guy died, closing the store ain't gonna bring him back.
Posted by: clown hidden at December 3, 2008 10:13 AM