The Mad Monk Manifesto by Monk Yun Rou

Author:Monk Yun Rou [Rou, Monk Yun]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781633538658
Publisher: Mango Media
Published: 2018-09-21T06:02:55+00:00

Chapter Four

Culture, Commerce, Government, and Power

Can one be both a Daoist and a patriot? The answer is a resounding yes. To do so, we have only to see the themes and trends within our country that are moving society toward the ideals we see as the best and highest—in my case, the ideas espoused in this manifesto—and spread and support them. This kind of high-mindedness, idealism if you must, is not found in divisive politics, nor in racism, greed, or corruption. Certainly, it is not present in the self-aggrandizing behavior of many leaders. It is likewise absent from partisanship, identity politics, rabid nationalism, and religious fundamentalism. To those who would accuse me and this work of being an Eastern version of the latter, I answer that you are welcome to put any label you like upon the way nature works, upon doing things that make logical sense, upon acting with sensitivity and compassion towards all sentient beings, and upon treating all non-renewable natural resources respectfully.

The intersection between Daoist thinking and politics appears not only in the workings of the awakened mind but also in the practical, external application of Daoist principles to everyday living, including the larger tasks at hand. Politics, in aggregate, is the name for such tasks. Politics are about conflict resolution, no matter how abstruse their proceedings may appear. At root, politicking is always about who will prevail and get what he or she wants. Steal from Peter to pay Paul. Work the middle ground. Develop a constituency. Serve the electorate. Be a populist, snollygoster, reformer, ideologue, demagogue, or a woman of the people. All these are just political lingo for being good enough at building bridges for a majority of potential supporters to want you in the game.

But how do we effect the change we want when it appears to be such a momentous task? The Daoist answer is that we don’t meet obstacles head-on but rather flow around them. Nature turns every conflict into a spiraling kiss. As mentioned at the outset, we see this example everywhere, from the way water goes down the drain to the way galaxies clashed in the aftermath of the Big Bang, when all matter was zooming away at unimaginable velocity from the primordial point, and everything that had been was condensed into a space smaller than the tip of a pencil. In this mad rush, this frenzied, chaotic flight from the center, collisions were happening constantly, and they were all resolved with spirals. In nature, meeting force with force is taboo.

…

Some years ago, a week before Christmas, I was in the drive-through lane at Starbucks. It was first thing in the morning, and the cars were lined up, bumper to bumper. When I reached the menu board, I recognized the barista by her London accent, and asked for a cup of tea. I was waiting for the cars in front of me to move up when the driver of an SUV behind me, apparently dissatisfied with the alignment between

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