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<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n There are two things we can safely say about human <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are two things we can safely say about human beings. The first is that we are social creatures. The second is that we are highly resilient, able to withstand the most horrific of circumstances and resume life once the trauma is over. These two basic human truths are intertwined as portrayed in the story…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,7,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddha-101","category-metaphors-for-mindfulness","category-spider-mind-world-of-interconnections"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n
\n<\/font><\/p>\n
\nbeings. The first is that we are social creatures. The second is that we are
\nhighly resilient, able to withstand the most horrific of circumstances and
\nresume life once the trauma is over. These two basic human truths are intertwined
\nas portrayed in the story of the tap code. Bob Shumaker was a POW in Vietnam
\nand suffered a long captivity including three years of solitary confinement. He
\nattributes his survival to the use of a tap code that allowed him to
\ncommunicate with his fellow prisoners. This meager fellowship consisting only
\nof taps on a wall was sufficient to create the social holding that integral to
\nour well-being. When the Buddha gave his teachings he emphasized three things:
\nBuddha-Dharma-Sangha<\/i>. Buddha refers to our ability to wake up and realize our
\nBuddhanature. Dharma can be translated as
\nnatural law, or the Way, or as the teachings of the Buddha. We can think of dharma
\nas the straightforward, testable, and livable wisdom contained in the Four
\nNoble Truths. Sangha was the community
\nof like-minded practitioners practicing the dharma together. From the outset,
\nthe Buddha created community, and the Sangha is one of the oldest continuous
\nliving human institutions. Contemporary research confirms this inclination
\ntowards community initiated by the Buddha 2500 years ago. Psychiatrist Dennis
\nCharnay who has studied the neurobiology of posttraumatic stress says, “The tap
\ncode kept many of the POWs’ spirits up, even when they were in solitary
\nconfinement. Everyone needs a tap code. Everybody needs people in their lives
\nto help them get through the tough times.” The tap code is a metaphor for the importance of social connection and, indeed, the social matrix that makes us who we are. <\/p>\n
\n<\/font><\/p>\n