Tannishblog

As a neophyte Buddhist, I felt dumbfounded when I first heard the ideal that all people are inherently good. According to the Dharma, the innate, core attribute of humans is goodness. Furthermore, the teachings tell us that we lack nothing, that we have all we need already to find our path, to remain upon it and to reach it’s terminus. We are, on other works, perfect.

This thinking came as quite a shock. I contrast this to a view of Original Sin, wherein we’re deemed broken somehow, and we need to aspire to something despite our needing fixing. This leads to an absolution of personal responsibility: "I can’t help myself. God made me this way." It’s an easy out.

Perhaps because of an underlying belief in Godhead and all it’s accoutrements, I remember thinking on the perfection of others. At first take, it seemed far-fetched. Surely most people I knew weren’t behaving that way. They weren’t bad people exactly, but they didn’t view their lives as framed by the need to aid others as much as the compulsion to help themselves.

The Buddhist perfection is a refreshing alternate idea, but it comes with a catch. Because we’re inherently good and complete, we have a responsibility to utilize this understanding to help others. Because we’re whole, we have no excuse to act otherwise. To accept this responsibility is just a start, a baby step. The difficulty is in implementation.

Sometimes, though, we do the right thing automatically. I recall an early posting on citizen’s actions during the 9/11 horrors, wherein strangers aided others in a time of unthinkable distress.

 Impetus for correct actions need not be so vast. Wednesday, a few blocks from my home, the innate goodness in humanity surfaced. According to a Chicago Tribune story, a homeowner came to the rescue of his elder neighbor and saved him from a house fire.

(A) 52-year-old woman who lives in the home ran to a neighbor’s yelling that her house was on fire and that her 54-year-old husband was inside.

The neighbor ran to the one-story brick house, where thick smoke was pouring from all sides and flames were visible in the back, (Skokie Fire Chief Ralph) Czerwinski said.

The neighbor entered through the front door, crawled through heavy smoke into the living room, grabbed the unconscious man by the foot and pulled him outside, Czerwinski said.

Clearly, the hero had to work fast. Clearly, he was just a regular person who, when confronted with distress, did the right thing. As with the New Yorkers during the twin tower collapse, no thought was needed for the best of humanity to shine through. In both scenarios there was no time to think.

I note this as circumstantial evidence in support of Buddhist teachings of goodness. When we respond unthinkingly, automatically, we do the right thing. In a world as screwed up as ours, this is comforting. If we forget our conditioned "Me First" attitudes, underneath we are all decent people. No broken-ness, no flaws. If we awaken to this, we have no choice but to live expressing goodness, sharing in the perfection of humanity, and helping others in need. That’s reassuring.