Proceed Onward With Care

A tiny bit of rain fell a few hours ago. It’s been quite dry here the past three weeks so this is good. But the parking lot under the big trees is still dry, so I know the amount rain is not enough to make much of a difference. It wets the ground, then evaporates with the morning sun, leaving the soil and the roots as dry as before. The well-established perennials and trees are still safe, deeply nourished by the oodles of rain we had in the early spring. But the newly planted or moved plants still need careful tending—just as we ourselves do in times of sorrow and confusion such as these days.

The Buddha’s final words were: ‘All compound things fall apart. Proceed onward with care.’   The Pali word translated as care is appamada which literally means ‘without heedlessness’.   Buddhist scholar and author Stephen Bachelor wrote a wonderful article* many years ago in which he carefully explained that in Pali, the language the Buddha spoke, the prefix ‘a’ is not simply the negation of the word that follows it but rather implies the opposite of that word. He lists some of the previous translations of appamada: “vigilance, diligence, heedfulness and conscientiousness. One German translator, Ernst Steinkellner, translated it as wachsame Sorge. Wachsame means wakeful or watchful, and Sorga means something like care or concern. So watchful concern. Or watchful care.”

Another traditional translation of Buddha’s final words is ‘Work out your salvation with care.’ While I think this is good advice for us all, the original Pali word don’t contain any mention of salvation. The text says to ‘proceed onward’ or ‘strive onward’ with ‘appamada,’ with care. Toward the end of his article Bachelor says:

Appamāda is that intention which guides us and directs us and inspires us, that energizes us, that commits us to what it is we consider to be good. We can summarize that as wisdom, compassion, tolerance—all the virtues Buddhism encourages. But remember that appamāda is the frame that encloses them all.

Most of us are not usually as aware of this ‘falling apart’ as we have been these days. First with the pandemic of COVID-19 we have seen so many of the patterns of our lives and interaction fall apart. Then the brutal and public death of George Floyd. And now the subsequent anguish and the protests of the now-visible structural racism of our society that is another kind of pandemic. This second pandemic is a constant danger to the health and wellbeing of so many of our brothers and sisters who happen to be born with dark colored skin.

What are we to do?

‘Strive onward with care.’ Buddha’s exhortation was not about being careful or cautious. He did not say we should move in slow motion but rather that we need to move foward into our lives and into the world. We move forward guided by the principles and deep truth that inspires and energizes us.

Even when we are lost in confusion, despair or conflict, we can rely on some deeper knowing to hold and guide us. Can we trust wherever we are long enough to sense these deeper urges?

We must take care of ourselves so that we can truly be of use to the world. This taking care may mean finally getting out and joining in the public protest – to risk one pandemic to do something about another pandemic. It may mean listening to the cries of anguish and injustice in ways we have never allowed ourselves. It may mean allowing ourselves to feel the depth of our own grief at all we have shut out of our hearts.

Carefully water the soil that nourishes you. Be kind to yourself and others, even as you follow the wisdom that calls you to stand up for what is deepest in your heart.

Personal Practice – What is it you want to stand for in your life? What is the difference you would like to make in the world? Do something today, however small, to enact this intention. Don’t wait.