Buddhist Right Wingers!

Описание: A Patron recently asked me what my thoughts are on Buddhist right wingers. Said Patron has right of center views and gets pretty annoyed by their left-wing Zen teachers who often bring politics into the Zendo.

Alas, I used to feel that a Buddhist practitioner with their head screwed on straight will, generally speaking, have a liberal point of view. Of course my own teacher used to live troll me during the 2012 election by saying "Vote for the Mormon, not Obama." So there goes that notion!

Over the years my views on Buddhism and politics have grown more complex. Or maybe it's just that I've gotten older, and what it means to be liberal and conservative has gradually changed over the years so that now I don't fit comfortably in either category!

That said, I've learned that whenever I feel most certain about something, especially a political point of view, I am ripe for being proven wrong. When I'm at my best, I shut my political mouth and open my Buddhist ears and take in ideas I don't automatically agree with. Then little bit of me dies along with my certainty, and what is reborn is usually a much deeper perspective.

My teacher used to call this "walking the path of self negation."

Whatever it is you think you are must die in order for something new to be born. Otherwise, at least politically, one arguably becomes a crusty right-winger or a flaky left-winger.

And who needs that!

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