167
with respect to comorbidities, co-misery, co-depression, and singular suicide
amongst our kind
21
.
“I learned not to fear infinity,” wrote the poet Theodore Roethke. “The far field,
the windy cliffs of forever, the dying of time in the white light of tomorrow…”
22
.
Perhaps, fearless, before such infinitudes—esthetic jubilation in the face of the end.
Or, as Buddha’s final whisper is often characterized, “This I tell you, Bhikkhus.
Decay is inherent in all conditioned things. Work out your own salvation, with diligence
23
. But human reason transmogrified, allied with that inferno within oneself,
was given voice in the guise of that famed prayer book published in 1609, by
Thomas Dekker, citing Ephesians 4:26–32, “Wrath is a short madness; madness is
the murderer of reason, so that anger transforms us into brute beasts. Give us courage, therefore, O Lord, to fight against this strong enemy, and not only to fight, but
to overcome him – for it is harder to triumph over our raging affections than to
subdue a city”
24
.
The rage for progress (capitalism) has long blurred the lines of survival and of
essential human needs, this much can easily be adduced. The sum-total of economic, gender, and social justice disparities equates with a blind and grasping effort
on the part of every individual to achieve that Jain and Buddhist liberation. In the
face of two Digambara monks emerging one morning from a cave, the coefficients
of salvation seem almost at hand, certainly emblematically. They rouse enthusiasm
for it, in spite of ourselves. But the global biological problématique cannot be
understated, let alone ignored, except at our fast-emergent peril. Hence, a vast literature now exists on the correlations between climate change and mental health;
21 See, for example, World Health Organization tabulations of depression globally – said to be the
number one disabler of individuals: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression,
Accessed March 31, 2019; And the WHO statistics on the approximately 800,000 suicides per year
worldwide: https://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suicideprevent/en/. Accessed
March 31, 2019.
22 From “Meditative Sequences,” quoted in Contemplation and The Creative Process, by Ann
T. Foster, The Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, NY, 1985, p. 102.
23 ”Buddha’s last words,” in The Wisdom of Buddhism, edited by Christmas Humphreys, Random
House, New York, 1961, p.94.
24 Four Birds of Noahs Arke, republished b Appleton & Co., New York, 1925; See also, Sarah
Hinlicky Wilson’s review of a 2017 edition, “Review of ‘Four Birds of Noah’s Ark,’ by Thomas
Dekker,” Lutheran Forum, October 9, 2017, https://www.lutheranforum.com/blog/2017/9/26/
review-of-four-birds-of-noahs-ark-by-thomas-dekker, Accessed March 31, 2019.
18.5 Fearless Before Infinity
with respect to comorbidities, co-misery, co-depression, and singular suicide
amongst our kind
21
.
“I learned not to fear infinity,” wrote the poet Theodore Roethke. “The far field,
the windy cliffs of forever, the dying of time in the white light of tomorrow…”
22
.
Perhaps, fearless, before such infinitudes—esthetic jubilation in the face of the end.
Or, as Buddha’s final whisper is often characterized, “This I tell you, Bhikkhus.
Decay is inherent in all conditioned things. Work out your own salvation, with diligence
23
. But human reason transmogrified, allied with that inferno within oneself,
was given voice in the guise of that famed prayer book published in 1609, by
Thomas Dekker, citing Ephesians 4:26–32, “Wrath is a short madness; madness is
the murderer of reason, so that anger transforms us into brute beasts. Give us courage, therefore, O Lord, to fight against this strong enemy, and not only to fight, but
to overcome him – for it is harder to triumph over our raging affections than to
subdue a city”
24
.
The rage for progress (capitalism) has long blurred the lines of survival and of
essential human needs, this much can easily be adduced. The sum-total of economic, gender, and social justice disparities equates with a blind and grasping effort
on the part of every individual to achieve that Jain and Buddhist liberation. In the
face of two Digambara monks emerging one morning from a cave, the coefficients
of salvation seem almost at hand, certainly emblematically. They rouse enthusiasm
for it, in spite of ourselves. But the global biological problématique cannot be
understated, let alone ignored, except at our fast-emergent peril. Hence, a vast literature now exists on the correlations between climate change and mental health;
21 See, for example, World Health Organization tabulations of depression globally – said to be the
number one disabler of individuals: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression,
Accessed March 31, 2019; And the WHO statistics on the approximately 800,000 suicides per year
worldwide: https://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suicideprevent/en/. Accessed
March 31, 2019.
22 From “Meditative Sequences,” quoted in Contemplation and The Creative Process, by Ann
T. Foster, The Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, NY, 1985, p. 102.
23 ”Buddha’s last words,” in The Wisdom of Buddhism, edited by Christmas Humphreys, Random
House, New York, 1961, p.94.
24 Four Birds of Noahs Arke, republished b Appleton & Co., New York, 1925; See also, Sarah
Hinlicky Wilson’s review of a 2017 edition, “Review of ‘Four Birds of Noah’s Ark,’ by Thomas
Dekker,” Lutheran Forum, October 9, 2017, https://www.lutheranforum.com/blog/2017/9/26/
review-of-four-birds-of-noahs-ark-by-thomas-dekker, Accessed March 31, 2019.
18.5 Fearless Before Infinity