How do we recognize when we are in the delusional grasp of linear cause and effect? It takes a simple form: if X then Y, or alternatively, if not X, then not Y. So when you are thinking, if I don’t hurry I will be late, that is a form of linear causality. Because, what? So, so many phenomena contribute to both that thought and that activity: red lights, slow drivers, an accident, a detour, road construction, a fallen tree, an aged pedestrian crossing the street, a train, a mother with a stroller, and on and on. The car breaks down, you get an urgent phone call as you are leaving, the event you are headed to is canceled, the weather turns threatening. 9/11 happens, a pope dies, a squirrel is trying to cross the road, a bee got into the car. You had an argument with your partner that morning, and she wants to make up. The car battery is dead, your dog has gone missing, the utility company is blocking your driveway, need we go on? How very many things have to converge to create that effect we think of as “not being late?”
Unfortunately, linear causality has a grip on our minds, individually and collectively. That is why we continue to fail to solve our thorny social problems: how to educate our children, how to care for our elderly, how to solve homelessness, drug addiction, poverty, climate change, immigration. To say they are thorny is not to say they cannot be resolved. But linear causal thinking can never even approach them, much less contribute to their resolution.
What’s needed is not a political revolution but a causal revolution. But, as the Buddha recognized, the revolution is subtle, profound, hard to understand. Still, he was persuaded to teach anyway by the arguments of the gods that there may be a few people with only a little sand in their eyes. In our time we are some of those people.
To say that causes and effects are not singular, but incalculable, is not to say there are ultimately no causes or effects, or that we cannot influence them. It does not dissolve our responsibility for a) the causes and effects we both create and participate in and b) the aspiration to be a benefit in the world, in relieving suffering and fostering liberation. Since any phenomenon is the result of a convergence of causes, we have a role to play as we contribute to those causes.
Our responsibility is not to fix everything or to save everyone; it is to be aware of the causes and conditions we are setting in motion in the world—the angry glare, the kindly gesture, the subtle aggressions in traffic, the generosity with those in need, even the care of one’s own body and mind are all contributions to the larger “climate” of ourselves and all existence, and our shared path.
In essence, we are keeping open the inquiry into what kind of world we want to live in, to bring into being. We do not have control over outcomes, but we can grow in our insight, skill, and clarity about what we are creating, which is indeed our world. When we are impatient, we increase the impatience in the world by just that amount. When we are generous, we increase the generosity in the world. When we are kind, we expand kindness around us. These effects are both contagious and constructive—they construct ourselves as we are, and they also have effects on others. We are social beings, and our moods, ideas, stories, emotions and even our bodies have an impact on others, and on the flow of situations.
Sometimes when I think about liberating all beings from suffering, I realize that is not a giant to-do list. When I refrain from anger, I am liberating all beings from my anger, when I refrain from distractions, I am liberating all beings from the consequences of my distractedness. And so it goes. If we can infect others with anger, grasping, delusion, we can equally free them and ourselves. We can contribute, no matter how slightly, to how things will go, for everyone.