When will they ever learn?

That must be the most delightful picture I've seen in quite a while. It has forced me - no, not really "forced" - inspired me to order two of his books from Amazon. Thanks.
That comment was added by Scott to my post The sound of one monk jumping. The photo of the jumping monk Scott is referring to came from a YouTube photo essay about Plum Village Sangha by Paul Davis and that essay also supplies the images accompanying the current post, while the books he bought are by Nobel peace prize nominee and Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh who founded Plum Village. Our political leaders can offer no solutions to the violence and greed that dominate at what should be a time of peace and happiness. Yet, while we admire the engagement of great minds such as Philip Glass, John Cage, Lou Harrison and Jonathan Harvey with Buddhism and other knowledge traditions, we have no expectation of a similar engagement from our political and business supremos. Plum Village and other communities can offer important lessons, but when will our leaders ever learn? My own photo essay on the Zen garden at Venansault, France appeared as The Sound of 4’ 33”.

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Comments

Philip Amos said…
So very true, and it is not as if they would have had to travel far to learn. I read this morning of the passing, at the age of 101, of the Tibetan Master Artist Sherab Palden Beru, co-founder of the Buddhist monastery at Eskdalemuir, near Gretna, the first such monastery in the Western world.

With regard to politicians living at the monastery, one would have to hope they didn't list it as their seconday residence and try to claim a mortgage thereon in their expenses, but otherwise, a month in Eskmuirdale sitting at the feet of a master in mid-winter might constitute a veritable crash course in cognitive skills.
8:44 am
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