Pessimist? Optimist?

Everyone is familiar with the adage that the optimist sees the glass half-full, and the pessimist sees it half-empty. Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic, altho hopes springs eternal in the human breast– as Buddha (or someone) said.

The Buddhist view is to see the glass as full enough, just as it is, not comparing it to anything else. While noticing the unfolding events in our country and around the planet with active concern if not dismay, we could also be aware of how much of that feeling comes from a sense of comparing to how we think it ought to be, or could be, if only people had some basic sanity and clarity.

Buddhist practitioners of clear seeing and mindful awareness learn work with everything just as it is, without making too many overly evaluative judgments and comparisons. This is the best way, I think, to contribute usefully to situations, whether they be personal, political, or global. Then we become more objective and can act creatively, resourceefully and proactively rather than simply reactively– to situations as well as in interpersonal relationships, and even within our own interior world as well… Bringing greater feelings of harmony and calm, even amidst the inevitable travails of existence.