A picture worth 1,000 words.
We all want to be safe. We’re busy. We see something scary or confusing & go on our way.
Above: Protesting Apathy, via Reddit.
When my mom was young, she was mugged in plain sight in NYC. She was beautiful and naive and vulnerable and she screamed and screamed. No one came out to help her. There’s a similar, infamous story about a woman getting murdered or raped under similar circumstances. My mom’s story had a happier ending…she pleaded, shouting to the crook “that’s all I have,” and he actually paused as he ran away, stopped, dropped her purse, and kept running.
In a group or mob situation, we often act—or don’t act—when, alone, we would have refrained from violence or interceded.
Trungpa Rinpoche had an expression: take 12 intelligent people, put them around a table, and they all get dumb. I find board meetings or staff conferences often trend this way: the sum is far less than the parts.
So next time you or I see something wrong—whether it’s online or in real, good ol’fashioned life—jump in. Do so with strength and gentleness. Find out how to help.
In a world full of tragedies, we must stay awake to the plight of others. For in so doing, we stay alive within, ourselves.
~
Incorrect source, offensive, or found a typo? Or do you want to write for Elephant?
Well said! We are so consumed by fear, it paralyses us.
This world has gotten so cynical and selfish. Hopefully any one that reads this, will engrave these words in their minds and act accordingly when some one needs help or they see some one doing wrong.
Kind of ironic that this post has so few comments… I hope that we can all begin to see the problem of even one other human being oppressed a problem for all. So many straight people see gay marriage/homophobia as "Not their problem." Westerners look at problems in the East and think it's too far away, too different, too strange — "Not my problem." But the thing is, wherever there is hatred, cruelty, oppression, war — it is a human problem. It is everyone's problem. My tonglen this evening will be for the little girl in the picture.