Robert Sachs

If we were in Oz, the chant, "Lions and Tigers and Bear, Oh my!" would seem the most apt of exclamations in the face of the continuous stream of ecological, economic, and geo-political calamities we see stacking up in news outlets, blogs, YouTube, on an on. I even feel that repeating them hear would only serve to traumatize the reader. And there is probably not enough medication one can take to fully obliterate heave and ho of our planet and all Her beings.

In the world of awakened beings or Buddhas, there is perfection in all of this and what we witness and experience is none other than the fruition of the phantasm we find ourselves due to our own ignorance, attachment, and aggression. Nothing is out of place, whether it is pleasant or hideous. But, what happens next - for us individually and collectively - will be determined by our response to our predicament.

Translate this into action and it means that now, more than ever, we are being called to wake up. This is why I wrote Becoming Buddha: awakening the wisdom and compassion to change your world. Even though our habitual mind can see that the phantasm we've created leads to disaster, unless we apply skillful means to gain a peaceful state of mind sharpened by critical thinking skills, we shall continue to come up with half-measure solutions and knee-jerk responses to one disaster after another.