Buddhism is all about compassion. I think most peaceful religions are if you really study them. Jesus hung out with the whores and tax collectors because he had compassion for what their lives had become. Through this compassion, he changed lives and attitudes. I cannot give a specific example of a Buddhist version of this because of the McNugget nature of my meager reading thus far. More studying is needed.
One of the concepts that stood out to me in reading this book was a statement about how humans can only see about a hundred people as human beings. This was based on some study the author referenced and has something to do with the fact that our brains evolved from the perspective of a relatively small band of monkeys (a herd? a gaggle? a flock? I don't know the proper term). There were no monkey metropolises, unless you count that one from the Planet of the Apes movie with Markie Mark where he goes somewhere in time and crash lands at the monkey Lincoln Memorial. That movie was actually considered torture under the Geneva Convention and therefore does not count. Our chimp and caveman forefathers were in smallish groups of no more than about a hundred, and I guess our storage capacity to know more people than that did not get upgraded as we learned to be what we are today. According to this study, our family, our friends, our coworkers or classmates, our neighbors, and so on, fill up this one hundred person capacity. Beyond that, the people we interact with are just objects. They are that thing that gives me my Big Mac, that thing I give my dry cleaning to, that thing that drives the bus, or that thing that checks me out at the register. Homeless people have it even worse. During the study, peoples brain activity was monitored as they interacted with different people. When they saw or interacted with a homeless person, the brain reacted in the same way it does when it sees or interacts with trash. To the unenlightened human mind, a homeless guy is the same as a discarded candy wrapper or a dog turd that was not picked up by an inconsiderate pet owner. Holy crap! How can that even be? It shocks the conscience to think of such a thing, but deep inside you know it to be true. It might not be like that for all humanity, but I bet it is close to the way it is for most.
After my brain explosion and subsequent spiritual healing, I found this to be wholly unacceptable. I decided I needed to try and interact with those thought of as garbage as actual human beings. On my first encounter, I had just left the courthouse downtown to drop off some paperwork. There is every sort of humanity you can imagine around the courthouse. As expected, there were several homeless people. I passed a dirty and smelly woman that was likely younger than me, but with many hard miles on her. She mumbled something half hearted about if I had some change to spare. Usually I politely decline and am never rude or hateful to such requests. I kept my walking pace and began to speak whatever my polite refusal would be and stopped dead in my tracks. The thought of this woman being perceived by most as a piece of garbage shot to the front of my thoughts. When I walk downtown, I hide what my profession is for many reasons related to safety and wanting to me part of the invisible masses. This woman did not know I was a police officer because she would have never asked such a thing from a cop. I did not reveal myself and took a seat beside her.
Sitting beside her took her by surprise. I was also quite surprised I had actually done something so foreign and out of character. We were both quite uncomfortable with this odd situation but I decided to forge ahead. I told her I did indeed have a dollar, but that she would have to earn it. The look on her face was priceless. I'm sure she was envisioning giving me a handie behind the dumpster or something. I quickly explained that I just wanted to have a sincere conversation with her. This also seemed to surprise her, but we both just rolled with it.
I asked her what her name was and she told me. I explained to her my little idea of talking to people as a way of recognizing their humanity and the one hundred people thing. She wasn't really getting it, and I struggled to connect. I know how to talk to people, I know how to pry conversation out of the most unwilling of people and went to work. I remember her odor and knew she was legitimately homeless and living on the streets. I asked her where she stayed and she said she had a tent over in the woods by the highway. I knew this place to be a regular area for the homeless. I tried my best to not be condescending or make her feel like some sort of experiment. I ask her what put her on the streets and she tells me its from being stupid. I press a bit and she says its the meth. I, of course, know this from her appearance and condition before I even asked but I wanted the conversation to gain some momentum. We continue to chat in somewhat sincere small talk. She mentions her struggles and her dreams and I just listen or comment enough to keep her chatting. She becomes a human being to me, someones daughter, someones lover, someones friend. Someone with hopes, desires, and fears just like all of us have. We sit and chat for several minutes. The talk begins to drag and I know its time to move along. I stand up and dig into my pocket for my dollar. I give her a five instead for going along with my need to connect and her effort to be genuine.
I decide there is one more thing I want to share. I say, "you want to hear something that will blow your mind?' She is interested and says "yeah". I reach into my pocket and pull out my badge and ID card with my picture in uniform. Her eyes get wide and uncertain. I tell her I am a cop and then say "have you ever had this kind of interaction with a cop before?". She chuckles a "no" that means her normal interaction with police is not kind or human at all. I say something about how we both learned something today with her having a five dollar genuine chat with a police officer that would usually be telling her to get lost unless she wants to go to jail. She seems genuinely amused by this. I tell her goodbye and walk on around the corner. I feel good about this encounter, but I cannot remember her name. I am very bad about remembering names and it is quite important this time to know who I just spoke with. How can you be human without a name?
I quickly head back to where I had last seen her but she is gone. She has faded off into the city, slowly making her way down some street like a discarded newspaper in the eyes of most that see her. This connection was made and lost in only a few minutes. I like to think that she got more than just five dollars from this deal. Hopefully she felt like a real person with value, someone worth listening to. Even if just for a moment, I hope I gave her a bit humanity and a meaningful existence this day.
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