A Golden Net

Yesterday I travelled back from Adhisthana to Glasgow. There was - as there often is - chaos with cancellations and delays, meaning I spent hours sitting in draughty waiting rooms in Birmingham, Stafford and Motherwell. I listened to various people getting upset and angry about things we had no control over and which, generally speaking, were nobody’s fault. At least nobody in front of them. It is human nature, I guess, to want to blame someone when things don’t go our way and it doesn’t quite work to think that the blame might lie with the big corporations that own and don’t maintain well the rolling stock or the actual rails. Generally, in the moment, commuters will shout at the person in the ticket office or the one on the platform rather than get angry about the failures of privatisation. And, given those folk can do nothing about the train stuck outside Wolverhampton, the unsatisfactory nature of samsara carries on. 

Anyway, I got to Glasgow Central eventually, coming in to the low level station as the main station is still shut. The Sunday before I had passed through Central on my way south. I had a coffee in Gordon St Coffee just before getting on my train. By the time I was in Birmingham, Gordon St Coffee had gone up in flames and was no more! I was terribly upset seeing the photos of the fire. That night I meditated before going to bed and realised that I was in fact feeling disproportionally upset. Yes, Union Street and that building were an iconic part of my childhood landscape but it felt more than that. Seeing the destruction of the dome that sat majestically over that corner was horrifying but I reflected that my distress was more than that. I think it was deflected distress from my response to the state of the world. I could handle my sadness about Glasgow more easily than the hugeness of the global situation.

I have been following with horror what is happening in Iran and the awful possible global consequences, economic as well as the sheer human suffering. And, of course, economic consequences will eventually be felt by most of us regardless of where we live and the lifestyle we have. Food shortages, oil and fuel price hikes are already noticeable and can only get worse while this conflict carries on and it is very hard to see how it ends. The world is in chaos and we live in times of uncertainty.

I recently read an article by George Monbiot talking about a UK government report: The national security assessment on biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse. This report had been basically hidden and was released on a FOI request by the Green Alliance. From Monbiot’s article about the report

It says “the world is already experiencing impacts including crop failures, intensified natural disasters and infectious disease outbreaks. Threats will increase with degradation and intensify with collapse.” The results will include geopolitical and economic instability, increased conflict and competition for resources.

Here’s the link to the article:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/27/uk-government-report-ecosystem-collapse-foi-national-security

This is, of course, nothing new and has been predicted by environmentalists for decades.  

I share it not to induce horrified anxiety nor to suggest that all is lost and helpless although it can feel like that. Feelings of fear, anger, outrage, despair are likely to arise in many of us as we contemplate the world around us. According to Buddhism these feelings in themselves are ethically neutral. It is what we say or do in response to those feelings that has ethical consequences. While it is important that we don’t pretend we don’t feel anything - and that we allow ourselves to recognise whatever feelings arise in us - it is also important that we know how to look after ourselves and how to act in a way that doesn’t cause more suffering to ourselves or others. I return again and again to gratitude. I am indebted to the conditions I have, relieved to have found the Dharma. It makes a massive difference to my mental states that I have meditation practices that help my self awareness and my awareness of others. Above all, I am grateful that I have a community with whom I can share my fears and sadness as well as the anger that arises in me when I think of certain political figures whose acts are causing havoc across the globe.  

I return again and again to the practice of Metta and compassion. I reflect as deeply as I am able on the Bodhisattva Ideal. Although I saw recently that I was in some ways conflating that sublime ideal with a worldly sense of wanting to make the world a better place, I feel more convinced than ever that the Bodhisattva Path is the only Path worth walking. That I, as an individual practitioner, and as a member of our community can work for the release of suffering and not add to the chaos and uncertainty around us. Every small act of kindness and help is a step on the Bodhisattva Path. 

Sangharakshita taught that Buddhism is not a path of isolated individuals seeking enlightenment, but a network of awakening beings and he formed our community from that belief. He was interested in asking what kind of Buddhism does the modern world need.  Because of that question, we are a global sangha with an engaged approach to spirituality and a recognition that every thought, word and act will have consequences, some known and many unforeseen. At least at our best I believe that is who we are and that is who I want us to be. 

At our mandala night class we will soon be turning to explore the second talk of the series of Buddhism for Today and Tomorrow: A Vision of Human Existence. That relates to the second gift from the poem we are also looking at: a golden net. That golden net is a net of interconnectedness - and the vision of human existence is a vision of interconnectedness. A vision that all actions have consequences and that we all affect each other by our thoughts, words and actions. May our effect be beneficial.

Meanwhile, as always: 

May all beings be well, may all beings find true happiness and its causes and may all beings be free from suffering.

Where the Bodhichitta has not yet arisen

May it arise

Where it has arisen

May it flourish

Where it flourishes

May it never die