Age for a Sage
A bit of autobiography to begin with;
I came to Buddhism nearly a decade ago, having wandered about through many years of questing and questioning on what can be called for convenience, the ‘spiritual’ path. During college, at a moment when I was particularly vulnerable, particularly at a low ebb and suffering on various fronts, I fell into a cult. I wasn’t in it long, but it was long enough to burn me. It knocked the bottom out of my self confidence. It took me years-and a lot of pain for those around me as much as for myself- to get a semblance of stability back. In the process, I read widely on religion and philosophy. Certain (subjective and hence anecdotal) experiences have edified my trust in at least the validity of Buddhism– no doubt among other religious faiths and paths, I’m not sectarian and, untrendy as it might now have become, I’m committed to an ecumenical outlook.
The above is to give some idea of what conditions led me to champion an unapologetic religious pluralism, and by extension, a cultural cosmopolitanism as the best if not only sane, beneficial, and least potentially destructive form of general outlook in modern western society.
China has many, many centuries, if not millennia, of cultural cosmopolitanism behind her, and whatever one may think about China, her success is undeniable. It’s not just China of course. The high watermarks in human civilization generally have been instances and eras of cohesion in diversity (I apologise for that rather overused and often hypocritically used latter term). Everyone should have the right and the resources to seek and to practice whatever spiritual path they find – or none as the case often is.
Of course, the powers that really shape society in their own interest have little to do with religion, or even culture, much less philosophy. Big business is just what the title implies. The military industrial complex also.
Be that as it may, we, the ordinary people, do not have to be so philistine, backward and inhumane. If we want a better world (by which I mean of course this world, Earth, the only inhabitable planet we’re ever going to have, and one which is in an increasingly precarious state with regards to the stability of the climate and sustainability of the ecosystems) we have to make sure that humaneness survives liberation.
I’ve witnessed a lot of profoundly toxic silliness of late from political commentators I previously considered sound. The kind of silliness that can create corpses, but usually creates only conflict, waste, unnecessary enemies and needless suffering. Contrarianism, offence mongering, sophistry and pose may be popular, but so are many unsavoury things. I don't like cults. Yes, I know the term isn't properly used in popular meaning and the distinction between religion and cult (in the modern usage) is perilously vague, but I'm trusting the intelligence of readers to understand the general point.
As an aside, I have noticed that whenever some situation of (usually western provoked) international tension or conflict arises, social media seems suspiciously flush with all sorts of religious pro-’western culture’ extremism. But this publication is not political. I tried that before and found my own humanity waning into viciousness. However, there certainly is a lot of energy and interest in engaging with and producing new (or renovated) forms of political philosophy,
American professor, Bryan Van Norden – an expert in Chinese philosophy – once said that eras of social pressure and upheaval often generate innovative and beneficial ideas. He was referring to Confucius, who lived and taught in the extremely turbulent era of the warring states in China. Predictions of revolution or violent collapse aside (because unlike climate science which has at least relative predictive capability, human behaviour is reliably unreliable) I really do hope humane human beings are going to meet the challenge of the times and give birth to fittingly humane forms in accordance with changing conditions.
Won't be me.
But may well include you, my dear reader!