I reckon in a former life I was a French revolutionary. I absolutely love the French national motto “liberté, égalité, fraternité” (freedom, equality, brotherhood). What could be more Buddhist, and indeed more generally wise, than that? The phrase was coined during the French Revolution and granted, the revolution itself was a wee bit bloodier and more brutal than any Buddhist uprising that is likely to take place, but I somehow feel that the motivation and the underlying feeling were strangely similar to what Buddhist political ideologies there might be.
A mass of ordinary working people coming together to pursue the heartfelt cause of freedom and equality, overcoming the tyranny and dictatorship in their country and attempting to install an egalitarian system of government. It didn’t go exactly to plan, what with the beheadings, the blood and then Napoleon and all, but I think they were onto something important...
The Buddha placed moral action at the top of the list of must dos.
ReplyDeleteHe taught that acting out of hate was wrong, but I don't know that he ever opposed acting out of love.