The revolution of being a Buddhist has many aspects. The revolution is beautiful like a sunrise or a forest in a valley or a waterfall. A revolution is not violent, and this one is internal.
Prioritizing spiritual development over anything else, not buying stuff, not being unhappy to need stuff, profoundly puts a crimp in the capitalist plans, cuts consumption, leads to minimalist living.
As you begin to live beyond conditions, you become less easy to manipulate and exploit. Conspicuous consumption isn't the way, competing for status, being so needy and desperate isn't the way.
Not filling your mind up with commercials and jingles, there is so much more space. I resist guarding the gates of your senses sometimes, but not when it comes to this.
By taking ownership of your mind, your journey, your experience, there is nothing and nobody who can take anything away. By undercutting capitalist narratives, you are not exploitable or easily manipulated.
You don’t have to get a new phone every year or a new car every 2 years and you don’t need a big cavernous house to store all your stuff. You rejoice in decluttering and giving things away. Use libraries, you can be minimalist in a tiny house, or a digital nomad, or just a nomad.
Prioritizing spiritual friendship is revolutionary. To make time for others instead of grinding at the job, prioritizing career, is to unplug from the grind. To create the space where friendships flourish is revolutionary. It’s great grounds for working on compassion and generosity.
Compassion is so threatening, for so many reasons. You have to cut off compassion to exploit people in a capitalist system. Compassion is radical.
I feel sorry for the delivery people who feel their only option is to press buttons to enter into the apartment entry where I live. By shifting the frame I don’t dwell on my pet peeves.
People are so afraid to appear weak, afraid that being too empathetic, they will lose the firm stance they imagine is necessary. They fear it’s not standing up for themselves to empathize for others. Maybe, I’m speculating, who knows what blocks and obstructs compassion, except it’s opposite is selfishness, egoism and narrow self interests. Idiot compassion isn’t compassion. It’s a hard skill.
You could use the asceticism thing to work harder, ignore your needs, and give the money away in effective altruism. Make the world a better place. Mindfulness is necessary in the work place because people are forced to focus on things they’re not interested in, and it takes a lot of energy to focus on things you don’t want to focus on. For me, anyway, that’s the hardest thing about work. But it’s also useful to focus on something. There’s a movement called effective altruism to focus the positive effects of donations.
You could fight for social justice, even if people aren't going to be happy in samsara. You have to be for treating people well because they are a part of you, you have to be against all forms of oppression and harming others. The insights of intense meditation has many implications.
You evolve towards a vegan diet, environmentalism, compassionate forms of government, truthful communication, avoidance of manipulation, avoidance of exploitation and abuse. Even a spiritual individualist can't help but think of others. Embracing your own freedom is a very difficult thing.
Maybe government needs to be reduced, you're also going to work to avoid polarizing and dualistic thinking regarding politics. Fighting for your own justice and interests might be something individuals and not the government do--I’m trying to not slant this towards one political personality. The Dharma revolution is not only for one side of the political spectrum, ideally it should be non-dualistic, not partisand, even though I feel one side very strongly.
Thinking about others and how everything is interconnected would prevent CEOs from polluting the environment for short term gain, for limited gains to stockholders. It undercuts the really negative side of Capitalism. People point to failed authoritarian regimes to say socialism won’t work but there are democratic examples of socialist success, collectivism success. There are strange paradoxes of libertarianism, and honestly I can’t fathom it.
The Dharma is free. It's been translated into English and sure, you need a computer or phone to access it on the internet or you pay hefty prices for hardback copies, but it's essentially free. You can go on high priced retreats with star teachers, but you really only make progress because of your own efforts to work the spiritual activities: friendship, study, ethics, meditation and devotion.
The negative forces are reduced voluntarily. Substance abuse will be empathetically worked on, avoiding judgment, and being honest about what works, let the social scientists decide policy.
As civilization and humanity evolves, we're going to be less and less confused, bewildered and alienated. Thorny knots will untangle. Culture advances, and we learn even if it is frustratingly slow to really be implemented in places, and there are times when we take steps back. Citizens will participate in democracy, not easily duped.
Radical respect for others autonomy and journey, and indeed other spiritual traditions will reduce conflict by exemplifying models of maturity and respect. When everyone’s journey is respected, there isn’t any kind of shade given, there’s no saying this or that is wrong, and when you see someone who seems quite mistaken, you can talk about your experience, and discuss so that you can close out the distance you feel between someone.
There are wars and violence done by cultural Buddhists, but the idea of fighting violently to impose Buddhism just doesn’t seem in line with the ideals. Thailand may be a Buddhist country but the persecution of the Rhogayans is antithetical to buddhism. I tend to think a country isn’t Buddhist, it could be influenced by Buddhism, but the complexity and depth of Buddhism doesn’t make it open to a mass movement. I mean it might have swept over northern India 2,500 years ago, and people were pretty upset so many people were converting, families were decimated, but they just also made it a condition that a family approves that someone goes forth, you have to be in harmony with your family to go forth.
I let go of the culture of insisting on my understanding of spirituality for others, and trying to rid others of heresy or apostasy. I celebrate diversity and difference, and am curious about other’s journey.
Going forth is to walk away from the grids of power in the regular world. For me the hardest thing is to put aside my mating mind. To be freed from the mating mind would be amazing.
Everything in life is a self fulfilling prophecy. If you want to overcome trauma, the trauma will still be present in your experience, but you can be creative instead of reactive. If you want to move towards enlightenment, you can move towards enlightenment. You can’t know what it is or whether it’s worth it, but either you’re really disciplined or you get something from the journey even if you don’t completely transcend sense desire, or whatever other promises you wish for.
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