It can be difficult for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to live with the heat and humidity in Northern Virginia. So, before Most Beautiful One (MBO) and I moved to Bainbridge Island in 2004, we took month- long summer vacations in the cooler climate of British Columbia. One of our favorite places to visit was Salt Spring Island where we saw Harry Manx perform for the first time. He is an award-winning Canadian musician and lyricist who blends blues, folk music and Hindustani classical music. His signature instrument is a 20-string mohan veena guitar .
 
Manx played a haunting song called Only Then Will Your House Be Blessed which he wrote in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001:
 
Let it go, Let it go, Well well, let it go go go
Let your sword of vengeance rest
Oh, do the, do the blind lead the blind?
Well well don't be cruel to be kind
Only then, will your house be blessed
 
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, while MBO and I chanted nam myoho renge kyo for the deceased, I reflected on the meaning of this song and how hard it can be to relinquish anger and a desire for revenge. MBO's Jewish grandfather was actually arrested during Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) in November 1938 and taken to Gestapo headquarters. The officer who interviewed him was a veteran and noticed that her grandfather had lost his leg as a German soldier in World War I. His conscience wouldn't let him send her grandfather to a concentration camp, so he sent him home. After conspiring with this officer to help many other Jewish families leave Germany, he was finally able to escape to America in 1939 with his family.
 
Last Friday, I shared with my therapist, Kat (not Kathleen's real name), that even though I know everyone has a Buddha nature no matter how deeply buried, I was having a difficult time resolving the anger I felt about past injustices as well as toward people today who still harbor such strong antipathy toward other ethnicities. Daisaku Ikeda has said, "When stones are cast at good people, when the rights of honest, hard-working people are trampled, we should be angry! When anyone anywhere around the world discriminates against another, we should burn with indignation! Raise your voices! Nothing suits the authorities better than the apathy of the people, than their feeling of powerlessness and their acceptance of violations of human rights."
 
So, clearly we need to make our voices and votes heard. At the same time, there is a big difference between righteous constructive anger and the deep-seated hatred that drives armed conflicts and the hurtful social media posts that prevent understanding and compromise. This behavior perpetuates stereotypes and an inability to feel compassion.


Kat asked me if I had heard of the loving kindness meditation where you sit with love for yourself, then your family and eventually, everyone in the world. I explained that we often do this mental exercise during our daily chanting, especially lately when we're upset with the behavior of irrational groups or people in power. It helps to remind myself that these 'enemies' present an opportunity for me to generate patience, understanding and humility.
 
This week, as I turned 70 in the face of all this political and corona-adversity, I re-determined to keep trying to improve myself, look for reasons to laugh and treat others with respect because, as Manx so eloquently sings:
 
Yeah, offer prayer, offer prayer well well
Offer sweet prayer, yeah now,
To your uninvited guest
Oh, won't you, give em the right,
Yeah yeah, to be welcome, through the night
Only then, will your house be blessed
 
Stay home and stay safe!
 
Note: Click here for more Harry Manx music.