[Buddha-l] Persecution in modern Colorado?

[Joy Vriens]

Bonjour Richard Hayes, 

>Has anyone else been disappointed with the lack of social and political  
>engagement in their Buddhist communities? If so, what do you do about it? Try  
>to become more complacent? Try to get Buddhists off their butts? Divide your  
>time between Buddhists and Quakers? Watch TV? Take psychoactive drugs? 

I have not been disappointed with the lack of social and political  engagement in my Buddhist community. I actually (initally and partly) joined them to mark my disengagement from social and political interests. But I had been disappointed when I discovered the many social and political interests proper to that community and how they seemed to dominate over the other interests that drew me there in the fisrt place. What did I do? I left. I disengaged once more. I try to become more and more complacent and disengage myself every time I discover other engagements, including those trying to disguise themselves as disengagements. Let's face it, I have no control over anything, I have no responsibility apart from doing what is required of me. Doing what is required of me is what I owe to Cesar, whoever Cesar is. I have never met a Cesar I liked and it's unlikely there will ever be one. I do realise that by acting thusly I may end up with no passion left. Wouldn't that be a terrible thing to happen to me?

Joy