Mindful Politics: A Buddhist Guide To Making the World

a Better Place by Melvin McLeod

For those who are willing to consider Eastern Religious thought in their discussions, I found this

book to be helpful. Just like the Jewish scholar, Paul Rogat Loeb in Soul of a Citizen who speaks

to us about political activism, Melvin McLeod in this book provides a spiritual context from

which to view how to create the change we want to see in this world. There are various forces

at work in the world. Whatever spiritual path we follow we can realize these three qualities –

mindfulness, compassion and wisdom – these do not belong to any one religion but are

qualities in our own hearts and minds. Mindfulness is the quality of the mind that keeps us in

touch and aware of the world around us. It is the

quality that keeps us in touch with reality in the

humblest of ways such as brushing our teeth or

having a cup of tea. It is the connection to the

people around us so that we are not just simply

rushing by them in the busyness of our lives. I

had always perceived Buddhists as fairly non

political persons but I learned that is not always

so.

I found this four point platform for political office delightful:

1) May all beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness

2) May they be free from suffering and the root of suffering

3) May they not be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering

4) May they dwell in the great equanimity free of passion, aggression and ignorance.

In mindfulness meditation we start with the

simple observation and feeling of each breath.

Breathing in and breathing out. We need to each

remember the sage advice of Mark Twain “Some

of the worst things in my life never happened.”

Slowly and calmly we train our minds, coming

back again and again to the concentration on

breathing in and out. Such a simple act can serve

to concentrate our awareness on ourselves, who

we are, what we want to be and where we want

to go with our lives. Compassion comes on both a personal level and also on the global level

of cultures and civilizations interacting with one another.

When Thich Nhat Hanh addressed members of the US Congress he reminded them that

mindfulness, deep listening, and loving speech can restore communication remove wrong

perceptions that are the foundation of all violence and hatred.

Whistleblowers struggle with the loss of hope. Why should I try to do anything if it won’t work?

If there is no hope? Devoid of hope they plunge into depression. Hope never enters the room

without fear at its side. What if we are truly powerless? I have given up trying to save the

world, I gave it up to discover what I am supposed to be – how I myself can best help. This left

me free to know how to retreat when necessary and I hope to act rightly – in the right time –

with the right action – with the right mindset. Thomas Merton a Christian mystic said

“Outcomes don’t matter people do.”

Thomas Merton advised a friend “Do not depend on hope of results …. You may have to face

the fact that your work will apparently be worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not

perhaps results in the opposite of what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start to

move and more not to concentrate on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of

the work itself….. you gradually struggle less and less for an idea and more and more for

specific people…. In the end, it is the reality of personal relationship that saves everything.”

In the fifth chapter of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, he discusses the power-in-motion, where

water, otherwise soft and harmless, can be amassed into a

rushing force capable of tossing huge rocks about, next as a

shape such as a steep mountain, evoking the power of troops

taking the higher ground in a mountain ravine, and finally as an

accumulation, the drawing back of a crossbow with the power

released at the pulling of the trigger.

“One who uses shih sets people to battle as if rolling trees and

rocks.

As for the nature of trees and rocks-

When still, they are at rest.

When agitated, they move.

When square they stop.

When round, they go.

Thus the shih of one skilled at setting people to battle is like rolling round rocks from a mountain

one thousand jen high.” Sun Tzu

Shih does not rely on changing the world but

instead on knowing how things are and how

they work together, and on the right timing.

Appreciating the nature of shih and

employing it well will help us when we are

faced with the need to apply force to move

forward and when we want to attain our goal

without engaging in a costly battle. We must

as whistleblowers enlarge our perspective,

take a bigger view of the situation either in time or space. In this concept of Shih intelligence is

not accomplished through the standard command and control with its sense of entitled

authority and series of cascading events, but instead a concept of public intelligence brought

from the consensus of the people – an intelligence grounded throughout the entire system and

thus attainment of one’s goal is done by disturbing the system rather than directing it. While

using this concept of shih to accomplish one’s objectives, one must loosen one’s grip on the

smaller objectives, while at the same time opening up to the larger world view. Thus our goal is

not to control but to influence. Skillful action comes from knowing, seeing, and catching the

moment. Using this concept of shih can be the gateway on a deeper more personal level to

magic in our ordinary day to day lives.

For Further Spiritual Support for Whistleblowers:

Email or Write to

Dr. Janet Parker DVM

Executive Director

Medical Whistleblower

P.O. Box C

Lawrence, KS 66044

MedicalWhistleblower@gmail.com

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