Name my blog!

Ada_B

Hi Everyone,
I have a degree in politics, and have been studying the Dharma for about 4 years, so I thought of writing a political blog with a Buddhist slant on it. My motivation is to find a forum to rant about various issues I come across in the media, where I feel the full story has not been told.

For instance, I saw a documentary about the treatment of mentally handicapped children in Romania, which I felt gave the impression that Romanians were callous and cruel in their attitudes to children. But it did not even mention the legacy of Ceaucescu's regime of terror, which effectively forced women to have more children than they could cope with, and then housed the results of these policies in horrible, state-run 'orphanages'. I felt strongly that we need to look beyond the media's black and white portrayal of evil and good people, and try to understand what happened to people to bring them to where they are. There is a history we need to understand if we are to make sense of it, and if we are to develop compassion.

I don't want to start a discussion about Romania, I was just using that as an example: I'd rather expand on this example in my blog. But this is my plan: to look at situations in the media and try to look behind the surface, to what is happening underneath, the background and history to the situation.

I am particularly interested in issues to do with disabled people, healthcare and education. In all of these areas, the individual seems to be forgotten as governments try to pin the blame on scapegoats and save money.

My main goal is to express my anger at injustices, but try to turn that anger into a call for compassion and genuine understanding: of the so-called 'bad' people, as well as the victims and suffering. I believe we are all 'good' in our hearts, although that may be confused by ignorance. When I started out on my study of Buddhism, I was very angry. Mostly it was about the injustices I felt I have suffered, and some of my family, but it was impotent rage. As I have studied both politics, and the Dharma, I have learned to calm down and channel that anger, and importantly, to begin to see that it's not just about me and mine. There is a world out there and maybe I can do a little to relieve suffering, even if it is just in alerting those that can do something, into taking action.

As I study Tibetan Buddhism, I was wondering if there was a wrathful deity who was against injustice, whose name I could incorporate into my blog? But I can't find anything that fits appropriately. It would need to be something that non-Buddhists wouldn't be scared off by.

SattvaPaul

Your blog idea sounds great. I doubt you'll find a deity against injustice though. My personal view is that justice is very much a Western concept, stemming from Greco-Roman thought, Christianity, Enlightemnent and the rest of it, and it pertains to the relative. I'd be very surprised if there was any personification of 'justice' out there in Buddhist context.

person

I believe Tara, is the expression of compassion in action. There are many varieties of Tara though so you'd have to do some research to see if one fits. White Tara is the deity for long life for example.

Ada_B

@sattvapaul My understanding is that there are a lot of Tibetan deities that are to do with wrath against hindrances and spiritual poisons, which includes ignorance and cruelty. I believe one of the Tara deities is often portrayed as angry, but in a protective, mother-tiger way, not in a bad way.

Compassion is the direct opposite of injustice and so for me it is an entirely appropriate area for discussion. YMMV

SattvaPaul

Yeah, I agree. I was trying to kind of find a Buddhist equivalent of the goddess Themis.

I think Tara is a good candidate. But still, the emphasis is wrath against poisons in our minds, not against injustices in the society as such, although they are manifestations of them.

person

Chenrizig's wrathful form is Mahakala. Don't quote me on that.

Ada_B

Mahakala looks like a great one to use - I found on an 'Answers' site, the following quote about Mahakala in the Tibetan tradition:

Mahakala, the Great Black One, is the fierce face of Kanzeon, Boddhisattva of compassion. It is said that the kindest bodhsattvas are to be found in Hell, and it is for this reason that Mahakala puts on a fiersome face, to help those who are in the worst of places.

That sounds exactly like the intentions of my blog, so I like it. If I write about the awful side of life for vulnerable people, it seems appropriate to name my blog after a deity who helps those in hell, and appears fierce although he is full of compassion.

I also discovered that Mahakala is a genus of dinosaur - a little, lithe dinosaur, about 2 foot long, that was able to dart in and out of the feet of the big dinosaurs, thus avoiding harm. I like the idea of metaphorically ducking and diving. Also, a dinosaur picture is less overtly Buddhist and less likely to put off non-Buddhists from my blog.

All I have to do now is check the name isn't taken.

dorje

Palden Lhamo, HHDL's protector deity, is also associated with addressing injustices and protecting children. She's also known as Shri Devi.

compassionate_warrior

I wonder who produced that documentary. It sounds like the same-old, same-old Cold War rhetoric, deliberately slanted and incomplete information. I think your blog would be performing an important public service. In my observation, Romanians are like Russians, in that they are very devoted to children. The propaganda machine grinds inexorably on, crushing truth in its wake.