Out of the Jungle

“It’s not enough to achieve enlightenment. The master can’t hide away in a cave and bathe in the light of his own awareness, meditating away the rest of his life.”

 

“But I thought that was the goal. Reach the light and stay there.”

 

“Absolutely not!” Nate contradicted. “The master may not stay in the light. It’s his duty to return to the village and teach what he’s learned to the others. Only when everyone’s achieved the same consciousness as he, can he rest.”

 

I joked. “Well, that’s going to be one tired ox-herder!”

 

“Yep. I think so. But that’s what it takes. You cannot achieve a true state of bliss unless you bring everyone else along with you, no matter how long it takes. The truly enlightened one knows he must forsake the peace he’s attained and go back to work. By example, he’ll lead the others along the same path he took. And each person who achieves this state of bliss must do the same, until all the people of the earth have walked the same path and experienced the same state of pure consciousness.”

 

• From Hunga Dunga, Confessions of an Unapologetic Hippie

The passage above refers to the ten ox-herding pictures of Zen Buddhism. Dating back to the 15^th Century, the ox-herding pictures were a graphic novel used to depict the stages one experiences during the quest for enlightenment. I like to think that when something is found to be true under all circumstances, then it is an absolute truth and all the subsequent actions of an individual should be governed by that truth.

If you extrapolate this truth to current socio-economic issues, you might easily say that once a person has achieved a life of comfort, free from lack of food, shelter or security, it is not enough to bathe in that comfort, but you must do what you can to bring along everyone else, until everyone enjoys the “bliss” of that same comfort and security.

Just a few years ago there was a large area under the many elevated freeways just south of downtown Seattle that was dense with thickets of bushes and trees. It was quite amazing that this jungle could exist practically in the heart of downtown, hidden in the shadows of concrete super highways. If you looked carefully from your car during rush hour traffic, you could catch a glimpse of a destitute person picking through garbage, or the brief flash of a blue or pink tarp spread between two trees. The Jungle. The place where the majority of homeless lived.

Our previous mayor regularly sent teams of police to “sweep” the area of indigents, to make as many arrests as possible so commuters would not have to see “the rest of us.” But they always came back to reestablish their encampments and to be with their own. In an attempt to get rid of them once and for all, the mayor had The Jungle with all its trees and bushes bulldozed, so there would no longer be any place for them to hide.

A Congregational Church which had a large parking lot invited these displaced people to set up a tent city. The homeless recognized each other as being the underclass. They had achieved class consciousness. They organized themselves. They had their own security forces to make sure the rules everyone had had a say in establishing were enforced. No drugs. No alcohol. No fighting, etc. They had a communal kitchen, showers, bathrooms, a generator, a cell phone, running water and day care. Some had full time jobs, others part time. Everyone had a chore, be it washing clothes, sweeping the parking lot, or cooking. It was home to veterans, families with children, the disabled and mentally ill, substance abusers trying to get clean. If you met some of them on the street, you might never know they were homeless at all. They gave a name to their little town. They called it Nickelsville in honor of Mayor Nickels who was forever harassing them.

With help from the Real Change Homeless Empowerment Project, they publish Real Change, a great little newspaper with short stories, poems, art, news and commentary. Instead of panhandling, homeless people, showered and neatly dressed, sell the paper for a dollar, though they purchase it for fraction of that price. They stand quietly outside supermarkets and other stores. The papers sell quickly. Everyone wins. The homeless person makes an honest buck; the consumer gets a great product.

“Real Change is Seattle’s weekly activist publication with an ear to the street. Real Change readers are educated, socially-concerned, and loyal. Our publication is sold by Seattle’s homeless, and helps them earn the money they need to get ahead. Each month, more than 400 different vendors are out selling our paper throughout the Seattle area. Real Change is a hand up, not a handout. We strive to create fairness, opportunity and community by covering issues that socially conscious people want to know about, from topics surrounding the poor and homelessness, to stories about labor, the environment, public health and civil liberties. Our vendors pay 35 cents a copy for their papers, which are then sold on the street for a dollar donation.”

The people of Nickelsville do not consider themselves a homeless encampment or a tent city. They consider themselves an “eco-village.” They have moved out of The Jungle to Nickelsville. They number in the hundreds, but are growing daily as more and more people who thought they were a “notch” above have lost their homes, their jobs, their savings and all their worldly possessions. They are becoming conscious of class. And despite the labels based on income, more and more are recognizing there are really only two classes: the ruling class… and “the rest of us.”

The mayor was appalled that a church would allow a tent city in the middle of his Emerald City. He mandated that though it was private property, a tent city could only remain in one place for no more than three months. The Nickelsville residents resisted leaving. The mayor sent in the police. So they moved. And moved again. Every three months. Usually at the invitation of church or synagogue that practiced what their religion taught. And wherever they moved, they named their town Nickelsville. They have been moved 17 times in three years!

Their latest move put them on the acreage of an abandoned fire station in an industrial area adjacent to land owned by the Duwamish Indians. The new mayor, Mike McGinn, is more tolerant and seems to be taking a “let them be” attitude. This new Nickelsville is only a few minutes away from where I live. From the road you can’t see it for there are high berms surrounding the acreage. Anyone can visit. Ask for Darren or Falcon. Intelligent and well-spoken, they will dispel any stigma you think is attached to your definition of a homeless person!

Remember that it is not enough to achieve personal wealth, comfort and affluence and then just bask in your own well-being. If you believe that we are all one and that divinity resides within each person regardless of how they may be perceived, you must do what you can to help them along the path you have traveled so they may someday experience that same sense of well-being. When all have achieved that, then maybe we can refer to our society as an enlightened one.