Jesus Saves (Buddha Recycles)

From Martin Luther to Martin Luther King, Archbishop Tutu and the liberation theologists, the Holy Spirit flows fast in activist veins.

The protest of the Protestants began as a leafleting campaign attacking the Vatican think-tank at the centre of a transnational extortion racket, dictating how rulers and ruled should conduct their affairs. Today we have the IMF and the Fiscal Gospel, and a new Inquisition to guard our souls from economic heresy, but the missionary may not rest. My mission lead me to Buddhafield Festival, with faith in my wellies to keep out the mud, and in the Holy Name of Yaweh to keep me from heresy. Thus I came unto the Buddhists, and the mud was deep indeed.

I was challenged as I distributed the OT, which is always encouraging. “Would thou wert cold or hot,” laments the Revelator of Patmos. Someone arguing for an unfettered free market is already engaged, and will consider a question: Is the “invisible hand” really at work? Or is it the incorporated claw of another entity which bails out and fiddles rates, to drag us into debt and damnation?

Some “wert hot” about Occupy, either involved or sympathetic (and sometimes both). Buddhafield began 17 years ago as a meeting of Buddhism and activism, there were off-grid solutions, urban foragers and co-operatives activists, but also face-painters and skillful flirting sessions, ecstatic dance workshops, masseurs and healers, sun-saluting yoginis, singers of bajhans, readers of omens and bones. It could feel like young Prince Gautama’s palace, where the wilting flowers of the gardens were cut at night to spare him the sight of decay in the morning. Beautiful Amazonian beadwork was on sale, but without information about the new Brazilian forestry code or the catastrophic Belo Monte dam. There were plenty of solar panels and a hardcore baby shit-scraping recycling team, but no rabble rising about fracking or land grabs, green-washing, GM crops and oil spills. I was cut off from my daily fare of doom, the music of the hooves of the horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The End is Nigh! and the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand! are sentiments that cry out for exclamation marks, but where might a missionary find a corresponding sense of urgency in Buddhist scripture? Graven images of the Buddha sit calmly, cultivating non-attachment, and Buddhists make a virtue of silence. What other festival stops the music at 11pm, and does not serve vodka? Occupy camps would clearly have benefited from such mindfulness, but is there a middle way? Or is the First Noble Truth, that everything is suffering, more conducive to non-action than direct action?

“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,” continues the mystic seer, “I WILL SPEW THEE OUT OF MY MOUTH”. Of course, this was not really a spewing type of gathering, and disinterest is far more serious outside the Buddhist community, but how do we get people fired up without spewing? Buddhism cautions against extreme positions, but Occupy asks you to chose your side.

The Second Noble Truth, that the origin of suffering is craving, is a point of contact as it is also the first ignoble truth of advertising. It is the engine that turns the wheel of capitalism as well as samsara. The Third Noble Truth is of liberation from suffering, and perhaps some were seeking just that in a muddy field in Somerset. Many looked suspiciously at my newspaper, or froze at the mention of an idea – occupying, protesting, financial crime. One literally shuddered at the word “London.” But the Buddha’s journey to liberation began when he left his sheltered rose garden, to see the truths of poverty, old age, sickness and death outside the palace gates.

The Japanese are famously stoic even amongst Buddhists, but a new generation is taking to the streets en masse against nuclear power, as the country’s reactors, which were all switched off when the Fukushima disaster began, return to service. Buddhists do demonstrate, and spectacularly, as in 1963, when a petrol drenched Vietnamese Buddhist burned silently in lotus for ten minutes before rolling backwards dead. The president he opposed was deposed, and as dead as the monk four months later. The Arab Spring also began with self-immolation. “Would thou wert cold or hot?” These roasting Muslims and Buddhists respond in Fahrenheit.

The Fourth Noble Truth is the eightfold path to liberation, to understand and cut through the web which generates suffering. It includes the cultivation of ethical livelihood, discernment and consistent effort, all relevant to activists.

The virtue of right speech is also of paramount importance, particularly as we engage with outreach as well as outrage. A Buddhist teacher explained its four facets when we occupied the Dharma Parlour to consider what Buddhism could offer to activists.

Firstly, one must speak the truth, which is why we gathered at St. Paul’s in the first place. To do so in compliance with the second principle, however, to abstain from slander becomes more difficult. 99% versus 1% rhetoric can become a blame game. If Occupy is to survive and grow, we can’t afford to be bellicose or fractious, as the left so often is, under the strain of competing ideologies and personalities. The truth must be delivered in a manner that can be digested.

The third principle, kindly speech, applies as we take autonomy and consensus into our lives and workplaces. We need a refined vocabulary to engage others in festival outreach, indy journalism, nomadic occupations and school visits. Theatrical protests and funny billboard subversions communicate better than angry slogans, and in marches and actions, words with police and staff can be harmonious.

Finally, one should abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth. Amongst ourselves at General Assembly or on an e.list, in a public tweet or a speaking engagement, the issues are important, and no one wants to hear babbling, self-indulgent nonsense or divisive gossiping.

Among the many teachings Buddhism can offer occupy is the vision of one of the six realms of existence, the Asura realm, driven by competition and paranoia, where boastful and territorial gods seethe with jealousy. A sixth century description of the realm could equally be leveled at the archetypical bankster, cynical politician or corporate psychopath:

“Always desiring to be superior to others, having no patience for inferiors and belittling strangers; like a hawk, flying high above and looking down on others, and yet outwardly displaying justice, worship, wisdom, and faith.”

Buddhafield was a mudfest. Occupy London turned into something of a mudfest, and the economy looks like quicksand. It can be difficult to get people motivated in these conditions, but mud nourishes the roots of the lotus, which rises in dignity above it, as wisdom and compassion emerge from the defilement and suffering of samsara.

By The Irreverent Reverend Nemu