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Buddhism and Mental Retardation
Brian
Detroit, MI Moderator
I'm interested to hear people's personal experiences or thoughts regarding mentally retarded or physically handicapped people, or people born with grotesque birth defects, and how it fits into the Buddhist worldview. I'll save my thoughts for a later post 
discuss :uphand:
discuss :uphand:
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This topic is something very close to my heart, and there are things that I have thought about for hours on end and would love to share, but I will wait and see how this discussion goes first.;)
People talk about quality of life, and benifit to society, and burden on society, but the only person who can judge on quality of life is the person in question. The way technology is headed, there will come a day when there are no people born with intellectual disabilities, birth defects, downs' syndrome, spina bifida. Families would chose to terminate a pregnancy if there was something wrong. Would they? What imapct will this have on society? With genetic testing and DNA manipulation are we heading down the same road as, dare I say it, Hitler? Creating a perfect species, with no weaknesses like disability? Are we playing God a little too much? I think so.
I have come across people who were born to parents who had syphillis. Grossly deformed, deaf, blind, unable to communicate. What quality of life is there for this person? But more importantly, who is the judge of their quality of life? Due to revolutionary medications, some of these people are living to old age now, whereas decades ago they would have died reasonably young. Decades before that they would have been left to die. All that can be done is help them to be comfortable, to have a 'good' life.
They clients I work with at this present moment are smart. They hold down jobs, catch public transport, help cook their own meals and so on. Sometimes when I am out in the community with them and people stare at them I get angry. Thay have valued social roles just like very one else. They are not less of people.
The thing that strikes me a lot of the time is that the clients are not aware that they are 'different', thankfully, they have little idea of the ridicule pointed at them. Who is suffering then? The person with the disability, or the person uncomfortable with being in proximity of a person with a disability? If a family had a baby with down' syndrome, who suffers more? The family or the child with a disability? A person in a permanently vegatative state, with no brain activity, are they suffering? Or is their family? It is impossible to make a judgement on something like that.
Any way, I am on a rant now so I will stop. Sorry.
Sweep and clean
"One day, the Buddha saw a Bikshu crying aloud outside the entrance to Jetvana Vihara. A crowd of bystanders made fun of him and sneered at his stupidity. He was rather slow and dull, and his name was Ksudrapanthaka. Knowing that he was upright, the Buddha valued him and asked sympathetically:
" Why are you crying so bitterly?"
" Buddha! I am very slow in learning. I have renounced with my older brother who taught me a gatha the other day. As I could not remember it, he said I am hopeless in cultivation. He ordered me to return home and sent me out. It is for this reason that I am crying here. I implore the Buddha to have mercy on me!"
Having heard this, the Buddha kindly consoled him: " Do not worry but come with me to my place. Those who know themselves to be stupid are really the wise ones. The stupid are those who think they are wise."
As soon as they had returned, the Buddha ordered Ananda to teach Ksudrapanthaka. Not long afterwards, Ananda told the Buddha that it was impossible to teach him.
So, the Buddha came to teach him personally. He taught him to recite the phrase ' sweep the dust and remove the dirt'. No matter how hard he tried, he could not remember it. Everyone thought he was hopeless except the Buddha, who never gave up on any sentient being. He said to Ksudrapanthaka:
" Now, your job is to sweep the floor with the broom, and dust the clothes and shoes of the other Bikshus. Keep saying the phrase as you do this."
Following the Buddha's orders, Ksudrapanthaka readily served all the other Bikshus although he was considered a nuisance by them. But the Buddha reminded them that he was doing his job at the Buddha's will.
From then on, everyone pitied Ksudrapanthaka when he swept the floor, and they helped him memorise the phrase.
Working conscientiously, Ksudrapanthaka eventually memorised the phrase 'sweep the dust and remove the dirt'. And in time, he even percieved the meaning of this phrase. He pondered:" We can look at dust and dirt from two different angles. One is the internal, the other the external. External dust and dirt consist of the ashes and sands which are easy to clear away; the internal dust and dirt of greed, anger, ignorance are defilements which require removal by great wisdom."
At this, the mind of Ksudrapanthaka became brighter and clearer. What he could not understand before can now be seen. He deliberated again:" People's desires are dust and dirt. The wise would definitely cast away desires as otherwise they could never be liberated. It is desires which have given rise to the causes of defilements that lead to afflictions. Without them, we will not be bondaged but be liberated. It is only then that our minds will be purified and the real truth witnessed."
As he meditated,Ksudrapanthaka gradually calmed his mind from the effects of the three poisons. It entered the state of equanimity without any stir of love or hate, good or evil. It had emerged out of its shell of ignorance, and his previously hindered mind had now opened up.
The enlightened Ksudrapanthaka went blissfully before the Buddha, paid his respects and said: " Buddha! I have percieved, and have swept my mind clear of dust and dirt."
The Buddha gladly commended on him to the public: " How can one benefit if he does not percieve the meaning of the many Sutras he recites and practise it accordingly? One might as well just learn one gatha phrase and practise it really well to be assured of attaining the Way. Just look at the example of Ksudrapanthaka!"
Ksudrapanthaka became a well known and respected Bikshu of Jetvana Vihara. He did not change his way of life, and still carried on sweeping the floor daily while reciting the words:'sweep the dust and remove the dirt'.
The Buddha always taught with expediency to derive the best results. He would never give up on any of his followers. To the Buddha, the slow learners were like the seriously ill. Given time and patience, they would surely progress. The Buddha was certainly the magnanimous educationist of the world and teacher of all beings."
Adrian
I will openly admit that at one time people of this nature were distasteful and embarassing to me... I never knew how to perceive them, and felt both awkward and uncomfortble anywhere near them.... My tendency was to stare, pity, shun and ignore.... I can only speak for myself, but I don't believe I was the only one.
In time, I became more educated, and learned that everyone - EVERYONE - without exception has a means of communication, in one way or another. To whatever degree it could be measured, these people are still human, conscious and aware. And they have a right to respect, dignity and love as much as I or anyone else has. Even in the presence of someone who, to all intents and purposes may outwardly appear to be a virtual 'vegetable', I speak with respect and love. If any negative (distaste, revulsion, hostility) emotion arises, it is I who is creating it and enabling it to manifest. 'There but for the Grace of God, go I.'
If a being has two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two ears and a body complete with all the usual internal hardware, - Just as I have - no matter who or what they manifest - I am as they are as I am.
The byewords of Buddhism are Universal Compassion and Unconditional Love. It is useless to specualte or hypothesise that karma is at work in these people, and that they are in the process of perhaps reaping what they have sown - by definition then, so are their carers.... everything and everyone is interconnected, so then they are part of our Karma.... forget all that. This is the Here and Now. Right Here & Now is how we must respond. Because it is only through the Here & Now that we can truly live, alongside others. :smilec:
Through my interaction with her, she has brought home several of the Buddha's teachings.
Everyone is our teacher.
I have posted this info on the forum elsewhere, but I should always have known better.... I am losing the hearing in my left ear, and I believe it's possible that my right one will come out in sympathy. I did a week's sponsored silence to raise funds for the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (I am originally British, and I did this in the UK) and whilst anyone knowing me will find it almost impossible to believe I managed a whole week without saying a word, it was quite an eye-opener.... by the SECOND day, people whom I knew and worked with, were exaggerating their mouthing of words (whispering, almost but with oral emphasis! Dead funny!!) and writing things down for me.... they must have figured, 'hey, she can't speak - she must be deaf too - !!' Unbelievable.
Like I said, I really should have known better...!!
I think it's still ok here. Maybe mentally handicapped is more politically correct. These things go through phases. It's an interesting linguistic phenomenon. A word becomes taboo and is substituted with a euphemism. But then the euphemism becomes taboo (afterall, it does "mean" the same thing). Then comes another euphemism. Then sometimes the old word becomes fashionable again like in the case of Arse/Ass. I love linguistics
Just curious, what do you guys use instead of "retarded"?
From a dzogchen (Clear Light) point of view, the mentally challenged and handicapped are bodhisattvas here to teach us tolerance and compassion. I have had the privilege to work with the handicapped of various types in my younger days, and I came to love each and every one of them very much. Despite their handicaps, or maybe because of them, they had learned to let their being shine through. Despite being handicapped in one way or another in terms of communicating with others, they had discovered alternate forms of communication that were just as effective and sometimes more effective. They were truly an inspiration.
Palzang
I guess it is like the use of the word 'gay' as a insult.
For example, a person in a wheelchair is handicapped by a shop's unwillingness to provide an access ramp.
It is a question of perceiving the 'difference' from the point of view of the person living with it rather than from the point of view of the generality.
The change in the use of language is part of the work towards recognition of the dignity of each individual in the face of their dukkha. If the change permits greater dignity, we would speak of it as "poltically correct". It is a term from our glorious struggles in the '50s and '60s for equity fro ethnic, gender and sexual difference. It was adopted from our Marxist colleagues who would judge any action by its contribution to the class struggle: if it contributed to the victory of the proletariat, it was deemed "correct".
Has anyonew else read William Horwood's wonderful novel Skallagrig? http://www.ffbooks.co.uk/n6/n30853.htm
If you haven't and if you find people with disabilities a bit scary, do try it - it's a great read.
I'd just like to say that we can always count on you to give open, informed, concise and accurate opinions/quotations with no hint of egoism or condescension. It is always a pleasure to read your posts, and I'm grateful for the day you hit the site. :smilec: