Meditation after the Coup

“The coup has really challenged my meditation of non-judgmental observation. It is a really hard thing to do, to not judge a situation now as good or bad. But what I'm actually feeling is, I’m really sad and I want to do something to protect the innocent people from being brutally treated.”

This quote by Darko really stood out to me in the way it connected the spiritual with the worldly. Prior to this, Darko had been talking about his meditation practice, describing it as a non-judgmental way of observing everything that was happening around him. Not classifying things as "good" and "bad", but rather seeing it all as nature, and observing how this nature was unfolding before him, without the ego becoming involved and falling into liking/disliking.

This is all well and good, but what happens to your lifelong meditative practice when you see crimes against humanity taking place outside your door? How does one even begin to observe rape, torture, abductions, indiscriminate bombing, and so much else as simply, "nature unfolding"?

This is what Darko was vulnerably admitting during the interview, that part of his meditative practice was breaking down when confronted with something so atrocious.

This is not to say that meditation "can't work" when put against certain horrific situations. Terrible things also happened in the Buddha's day as well, and there are lessons from the scriptures as to how the Dhamma can provide solace and wisdom in even the most challenging of times.

But I think another part of Darko's sentiment which is important, is how it speaks to meditators outside of Myanmar who continue to give regurgitated advice which simply parrots the meditation instructions they have been given. The Dhamma can certainly come to us as a guide in even the worst of situations, but providing some standardized meditation instruction or citing a particular Sutta is often not enough, and a much more dynamic, wise, and nuanced approach is needed. And that is exactly what Darko, and so many others right now, are working on.