Lessons from Medicine

Abstract

Just as there are few cures in medicine, in spite of all that is known about biology and disease, there are even fewer cures or quick fixes in the domain of the body politic. We work with the world as we find it and as we inhabit it, realizing that our understanding of events and our ability to shape outcomes are always limited, sometimes humblingly so. But, as we have discovered in medicine, that does not mean that profound healing cannot take place if the situation is met in ways that embrace the full spectrum of inner and outer resources for working even a bit more selflessly and orthogonally with what is, with things as they are, especially in the domain of the human mind and heart. The same is possible for the body politic. It too can be approached from a perspective of healing and transformation rather than merely fixing and curing, especially when the fixes can be potentially damaging to the patient and to the very potential for healing. That is precisely what the movement of mindfulness in various parliaments around the world is trying to accomplish. Obviously, it is what we might call, relatively speaking, a “top down approach.” At the same time, a certain mindful political organizing is going on more broadly in communities worldwide, in the United States through groups such as the Me Too movement, Black Lives Matter, and many others. If we are all cells within the one body politic of a country or the larger body of the planet itself, then the health of every one of those cells needs to be optimized. Everybody’s health and vital interests need to be met, recognized, and taken into account, while at the same time, we hold the larger interests of the well-being of the whole in mind as well, and protect them to whatever degree is consistent with the allegiance we pledge, as Americans, to the notion of “liberty and justice for all.” Just like themeditation practice itself, this is simple but far from easy.