In his interview he demonstrates that he’s a very practical person: referring to the Buddhist story of 500 people on a boat threatened to be murdered, but rescued because the potential murderer himself is killed. It’s not my intention to vindicate this killing, the story — and its mentioning by Matthieu — only demonstrates that Buddhism comes with practical guidance instead of lofty periphrases.

However, what strikes me most, is Matthieu’s description of his first teacher Kangyour Rinpoche. When Matthieu first met him, Kangyour Rinpoche was 70 years old and lived in a tiny shack, together with his wife, two daughters, and one of his sons. „Kangyour Rinpoche radiated kindness. He was shining with power, serenity, and love. I felt pure generosity and empathy.“

From time to time, I meet someone who I immediately sympathize with, whom I can connect with in the first moment. However, I haven’t had this feeling of absolute generosity and empathy caused by Kangyour Rinpoche. And I assume that nobody I have met had this feeling towards me. The interesting aspect here is, that I‘m pretty sure how to achieve this state of mind in which an individual creates this kind of absolute serenity. The challenge lies in following the rules to get there. I‘m speaking of three apparently simple rules that everybody may follow. Here they are:

1. Don‘t resist!
Never mind, what happens: immediately accept any situation as it is. There are three ways to tackle any situation: first, accept it and focus on the action needed until the situation has changed. Second, try to change one or more constitutive aspect(s) of the situation. Third, leave the situation.
2. Don‘t judge!
Accept any situation, object, or living being as it is. Do not interpret or judge. Just see what‘s there. (From neuroscience we know that even this might be a task too hard in most cases.)
3. Don‘t inhere!
After having experienced a situation, do not inhere in it. It‘s gone. You live now, not then.

Of course, these rules deserved to be explained better, in a more elaborate way. And there are many different ways these rules are used in, or expressed, mostly in Buddhist, and especially its Zen tradition. For me, they are the basis for living a good life, and the essence of humanity in general.
Kangyour Rinpoche was one of those allegedly few human beings who internalized these rules. His unconditional serenity and empathy are the most obvious results. There is, by the way, a close resemblance of his behavior to a baby’s. Toddlers approach most people with the same unconditional openness, innocence, and friendliness. The fascinating aspect of Kangyour Rinpoche is that he‘s a greybeard. And, weighed down with decades of — typically mixed — experiences, older human beings tend to behave in a more introverted, straitened way.

One of the main aspects of any event is that it happens and that you essentially experience it. The fact that I stumbled upon this interview with Matthieu Ricard, today, motivated me to write this blog post — and — to again trying to follow the above mentioned three rules. If you like, give it a try, too! It‘s worth it!

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Should we really burn 2016? Of course, not.

Acceptance
I suggest a different approach: let’s do as the Buddhists do. There are three basic approaches to respond to a situation: acceptance, joy, and enthusiasm. If, on a rainy evening, your car’s tire burst and you have to change it — you probably won’t like that very much. If then, you get angry and keep swearing during the change, you are stressed and the whole process will probably last longer and will be way more annoying than if you accepted the situation and tried to manage the best chance of a tire you ever had. The thing is: the tire burst and has to be changed, no matter what. The situation is as it is. Now go and make the best out of it, by … at least, accepting it.

Joy
Imagine another situation: something good and welcome happens. You can easily respond joyfully. In essence, you accept that this situation is a happy one and you can react with joy. After the event has faded away you might feel joy for some time, but then you come back to your mood’s set point. A joyful response is short-lived.

Enthusiasm
If you’re strongly engaged in a hobby or if you campaign for certain purposes you might respond enthusiastically to most related events and situations. You feel an energetic and continuing interest in these topics and your feelings are inherently positive. Enthusiasm allows and enables you to put much energy into your topics without feeling stressed or exhausted.

The Positive States of Mind — Acceptance, Joy, and Enthusiasm
Now let’s apply that thinking to 2016, and more specifically, to the election of Donald Trump. (To avoid any misunderstandings: for me, DT is nothing more than a scary clown.)

First, simply accept that Mr. Trump will be the next president of the United States of America. By the way, the election result is nothing more or less than a result, a reflection of what Americans think. Now, spare all discussions about electors, the campaign strategy, and such. Accept the result. And move on.

How to feel joy, now? Hey, have you been happy with Hillary? No? Are you happy with a stale, corrupt political establishment? Probably not. So start working anew, start campaigning for your causes, again. Use DT and his team as antipodes and start building a sound political power from the base level. That’s fun, a lot of. that’s totally different from the political power play of an established power structure.

After you have overcome your actual state of shock and you begin experiencing joy campaigning (I don’t like the word ‘fighting’) for your causes, you will feel this long gone enthusiasm, again. If there is a positive aspect of DT’s presidency, it’s that it will unite, stimulate, and encourage people who think differently. This, again, will stir enthusiasm.
Maybe you’ll have four years to offer opposition, maybe it will be eight years, it doesn’t really matter. And it’s not only you, my US friends. Even we in good old Germany face a tough federal election in 2017 since we have our own scary clowns. If we accept the situation and follow the Buddhist’s thinking, our future will look a lot brighter. Let’s go back to work! How? Joseph Stiglitz has some ideas.

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