Right action is seldom easy and hardly ever popular. This is ancient wisdom. Last evening I was reading a memoir by Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282AD), a revered Japanese Buddhist itinerant monk. The passage detailed his persecution by the local Japanese authorities of his time. He was being harassed and abused by the authorities for advising peace instead of war. Things have not changed much, have they?
Nichiren's advice is simple and clear: Do not set aside righteous action and thought for any excuse. Excuses are many and quite easy to adopt.
I agree with Nichiren's belief that all human beings, with the possible exception of the mentally ill and drug addicted, are instinctively motivated to right action. I have tested this at risk to my own health and well being as a nurse. More often than not, people respond to the message of righteousness. But, I have been kicked, punched and bitten enough times to know that the practice of right action has its risk at all times.
We may be leaving a period of darkness, in which our mentally ill and power addicted leaders have turned the whole American nation's back against right action in the world. I hope so. However, each individual must take daily right action as a practice for the human species to advance toward peace and survival. This is the ongoing challenge of mankind.
