{"id":108263,"date":"2018-04-02T12:00:15","date_gmt":"2018-04-02T11:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=108263"},"modified":"2018-05-28T12:40:25","modified_gmt":"2018-05-28T11:40:25","slug":"deconstructing-power-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/04\/deconstructing-power-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Deconstructing Power (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Read.: Part 2<\/a> – Part 3<\/a> – Part 4<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Deconstruct (verb): Analyze an aspect of human experience, activity or concept so as to strip away superficial and\/or misleading verbiage; and thereby bring to light reality exactly as it is, rather than an erroneous or self-serving version of it.<\/em><\/p>\n

2 Apr 2018 – <\/em>Regular use of violence \u2013 for \u201cexternal\u201d or \u201cinternal\u201d security \u2013 has become a salient characteristic of the modern age. The enormous capability of modern technology has been aiding the process, multiplying manifold the potential of suffering which is caused by the use of violence.<\/p>\n

It is an oddity worth noting that almost all such uses of violence are made with deceptive \u2013 or even delusional \u2013 claims of aiming at a reduction in suffering<\/em>. Of course the trumpeted reduction in suffering never happens and, instead, we see \u201cexperts\u201d speaking with great \u201cexpertise\u201d of \u201cunintended consequences\u201d.<\/p>\n

As every person learns at school, it is the strong who bully the weak \u2013 never the other way around. Similarly, in the deadly politics of violence, the delusion of being \u201cpowerful\u201d plays a central role in any decision to initiate violence. The psychology of violence is therefore also the psychology of power.<\/p>\n

Do \u201cthe powerful\u201d learn any lessons from the tragic consequences of violence? What a na\u00efve and indeed a silly question! Of course they do not! Power insulates them from normal human emotions, suffering and the desire for a peaceful life.<\/p>\n

Therefore \u2013 tragically and inevitably \u2013 the deadly game continues from one round to the next. Indeed, the next bunches of power-mongers delude themselves to be incomparably wiser than their elders \u2013 who had only a short time earlier goofed horrendously. In each round, the inevitable result of the shenanigans of deluded power is \u2013 what else? \u2013 a further increase in human suffering.<\/p>\n

But there is also a heroic side to this tragic human story.<\/p>\n

No ordinary human being chooses<\/em> to suffer. To work towards reduced suffering is in fact a \u2018wired-in\u2019 and perfectly healthy human instinct. Indeed, efforts to reduce suffering \u2013 or, conversely, to add to happiness \u2013 have driven virtually the entire human endeavor, starting from the common human origin in Africa.<\/p>\n

[The words \u201cpursuit of happiness\u201d figure prominently in the US Declaration of Independence \u2013 although one may not guess that from observed outcomes.]<\/p>\n

The earliest forms of human suffering involved the simplest requisites of life \u2013 water, food, protection from wild animals \u2026 and so on. Today we live more complex lives, and accordingly our causes of suffering have also become more subtle, intricate and sometimes even remote.<\/p>\n

Activities in the areas of health, civic facilities, charity, community support, vocational training et cetera<\/em> aim at a reduction of suffering<\/em> amongst people.<\/p>\n

Therefore, when we look to both these aspects of human behavior, we see an obdurate and extreme \u201cbipolarity\u201d. On the one hand, there is untiring and indeed valiant effort by the vast majority to reduce human suffering. And, on the other hand, there is always a small and powerful minority which is quite persistent in adding to human suffering \u2013 often while claiming to want to reduce it.<\/p>\n

An example<\/em>: Actions of a \u201cpowerful\u201d country cause the bombing of a remote farmer\u2019s house, with several of his family members killed or injured. The \u201cpowers that be\u201d will either deny or rationalize the suffering caused, but people on the ground will get on with the urgent task of mitigating the suffering.<\/p>\n

This seemingly mysterious \u201cbipolarity\u201d has been observed throughout history. Attempts to explain or rationalize this baffling mystery in human behavior have contributed to beliefs such as those in \u201cgod\u201d, \u201csatan\u201d, \u201cdemons\u201d, \u201cevil spirits\u201d, \u201cpropitiation\u201d, \u201cheaven\u201d, \u201chell\u201d \u2026 and so on.<\/p>\n

There is no implication here that people are divided into two distinct categories \u2013 such as \u201cthe compassionate\u201d and the \u201cthe cruel\u201d. We shall assume here that every person has the potential of getting into either of these two broad categories \u2013 and even of experiencing a \u201clife changing\u201d event.<\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, surely it makes good sense to examine, as dispassionately and objectively as possible, the deep-seated human psychology<\/em> underlying this \u201cbipolarity\u201d \u2013 or what we may also call \u201cthe problem of human suffering\u201d?<\/p>\n

Surely it then also makes good sense to turn to the first and the most diligent human being who applied all his efforts \u2013 over a period of over forty five years \u2013 to the problem of suffering? We can certainly hope that some of his valuable insights may help in our chosen task of \u201cdeconstructing power\u201d.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Siddharth Gautam, long before he became Gautam Buddha, resolved to discover the root cause of suffering in human life \u2013 and to discover a way to gain freedom from suffering. The first part of his two-fold task involved total deconstruction<\/em>, while the second involved an enormous amount of compassion, creativity and synthesis in finding a path towards a better life.<\/p>\n

By the standards of any human society<\/em> \u2013 whose members may be tall or short, white or black, rich or poor, modern or ancient \u2013 this is an incredibly ambitious and noble goal.<\/p>\n

Finding a way to end human suffering is no small thing. Otherwise why this goal would be proclaimed loudly \u2013 time and time again \u2013 by all manners of rulers and politicians around the world? Their charades have been going on for millennia \u2013 but almost all of these rulers and politicians have failed. Brutal policies \u2013 such as colonization, slavery and genocide \u2013 have brought only short-lived well-being even to their chief perpetrators.<\/p>\n

So what did Gautam Buddha discover which might help us today?<\/p>\n

All we need at present is just the core element of his discoveries:<\/p>\n

What obscures one\u2019s clear view of any situation is craving, aversion and\/or illusion; and, in the absence of a clear view, one cannot find a way to deal with suffering. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Before we proceed, the following points may be noted:<\/p>\n