Wednesday 23 February 2011

Worldwide Revolutionary Fervour - will it touch the TBO?

Tens of thousands of government employees in Wisconsin, USA, are protesting against anti-union measures that have been brought in by the governor. They have been inspired by the waves of protest spreading across North Africa and the Middle East.

Will members of the Triratna Buddhist Order feel so inspired? Will they at last shake off the control and authority exercised by the same old faces saying the same old things, that has been going on for decades – since about the time Colonel Gaddafi seized power in Libya in 1969?

They could if they wanted to: Sangharakshita, Subhuti et al only have power because people give it to them.

Somehow we doubt it. People are free to leave, and this is what tends to happen when they no longer need the cosy authority of ‘Bhante’ Sangharakshita and his hierarchy. This is despite ‘Bhante’s' assertion that leaving his Order constitutes spiritual catastrophe. Those left behind are quite happy to have their thinking done for them.