Thunder Beings

  During the Buddhist Study Group session, we had been talking about Master Sheng Yen's chapter on discrimination and non-discrimination, in Chan and Enlightenment. The chapter describes how people form good and bad affinities with others, based on their tendency to discriminate between things in terms of like and dislikes, thus forming attachments. One of the problems is that the more people attach to some things and reject others, the more the cycle of suffering continues into many lifetimes. "Affinity" refers to the tendency for some relationships to go more smoothly than others over time, due to a tendency for people to prefer some situations and people. In contrast, 'poor' affinity refers to failures to achieve harmony between people or beings over time.

    As I was reading this chapter, I wondered whether there is truly such a thing as 'good' or 'bad' affinity after all. Can some beings offer 'good' effects even though they may initially come across as unpleasant? Can we learn more from these difficult or challenging relationships, rather than simply coasting on 'smooth' ones? Here, I am reminded of a professor who mentioned to me about the Lakota tribe, who honored what they refer to as 'thunder beings (Wakinyan). According to these legends, thunder and lightning heralded both the coming of spring and the potential for destroying life. Fire, for example, can be a way to warm people and provide food, as well as a destructive and uncontrollable force in the universe, depending on how it is used.  According to this professor, the natives celebrate the coming of the Thunder Beings with respect and honor, rather than trying to repel those beings or avoid their powers.
 
  It would be quite interesting to reframe unpleasant experiences with others as potential growth and befriending experiences. But the practice of honoring the 'thunder beings' in our lives is far from easy. It's almost a kind of knee-jerk reaction to say that someone who causes us unpleasantness is somehow bad or to be avoided. But when I pause to be mindful of it, I notice that it's only my own emotion. Using my imagination, I can change the situation to reframe the person as a potentially benevolent being, who is only helping us to dissolve a hardened sense of self. But in those moments when I am faced with the "Thunder Being" there is always a choice as to whether to contract into my solitary ego, or to see the relationship as an opportunity for letting go.

Of course, there are other aspects to being able to defuse the tension of encountering a Thunder Being. One is to recognize that none of our encounters with others is ever 'staying' or permanent. For example, no matter how much difficulty a person puts me through, I can know that the problem isn't lasting. There is always a way through the situation if I am able to persevere and recognize my options and resources in the present moment. Sometimes, this insight requires looking into the conditioned nature of experience. Something might give rise to frustration or misery today, but will that feeling remain forever? It's not likely, considering that the conditions are always changing.

Yet another aspect is to understand how encountering difficult others can improve a person's capacity for compassion. It's one of life's ironies, I think, that a harsh encounter with someone can often make us realize and appreciate mercy and the ability to understand. If I don't have any moments where I am seen as defiant of the law, I would have no compassion toward those who are labelled as criminals. And it would be harder for me to realize that even 'criminal' is a label that we put on some people and not others, without considering the circumstances that person faces.

I think Thunder Beings exemplify the importance of using the right attitudes. Rather than seeing someone or something as an unsurmountable challenge, what would it be like to befriend the challenge itself and see it as the opportunity for inner growth or change?