A Bald Monk and Engaged Buddhism

Thich Nhat Hanh is a bald, Vietnamese Buddhist monk who teaches and practices a little something called Engaged Buddhism. At its simplest, Engaged Buddhism is the practice of mindfulness in all daily activities.

I don't know that much about Buddhism. My religious upbringing has left me, in general, simultaneously drawn to and wary of religions. The missus is a big fan of the Buddhism and even has a meditation chair (Merry Christmas, missus!), and with my ongoing struggles against high blood pressure, my doctor has suggested that I start meditating.

A couple of months ago, Thich Nhat Hanh spoke in Boston. I don't particularly care for Boston but the missus loves her Thich Nhat Hanh, so we drove up in the morning, heard the bald monk speak, and drove back late that night.

I rather enjoyed his talk, which rambled on for more than two hours. Because his English is spoken in a relatively thick (Thich!) accent, listening requires great focus. But hey, as long as you're practicing Buddhism, you can focus on things.

Thich's talk was called, "Walking the Path of Love in Muddy Shoes." Well, the missus and I wouldn't know anything about that. And oddly enough, he made reference neither to muddy shoes nor to the metaphor in general. So I've decided that it's not a metaphor at all. There is a path called love somewhere and people get their shoes muddy while walking on it.

He told two tragic anecdotes about how a lack of communication caused death. Both anecdotes featured men who thought they'd been cuckolded by their wives but in fact had not been. If only they'd said to their wives, "Darling, I'm suffering" -- and if the wife in turn, upon poor treatment, had said to her husband, "Darling, I'm suffering" -- death could've been avoided.

Needless to say, perhaps, the missus and I now often say to each other, "Darling, I'm suffering." We're not quite ready to die.

Buddhism, and perhaps religion in general, is difficult for me because of a lack of irony. Spiritual practice inherently requires earnestness, and I strive to be a removed observer in life. It's why I write, after all.

So this idea of Engaged Buddhism came up again this morning, as I was doing some catching up on current events (unrelated to baseball). Over at The Nation magazine online, a fella called Andrew Lam has written this little ditty about the Buddhist monks in Myanmar.

Lam discusses these Asian monks who are not necessarily anti-violence. It's just that they practice mindfulness in their actions. Inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh's Engaged Buddhism, they are (mindfully) telling the Myanmar government to go fuck themselves.

These are not monks who are sitting in the woods, peacefully reflecting on the beauty of a flower or the softness of the dew. These are monks who self-immolate.

This, dear B&E readers, is Engaged Buddhism. And these monks are badasses.

So I'm coming around to an idea related to Engaged Buddhism. Perhaps I can be removed and observational and, dare I say, ironic, as long as I'm mindful in my practice of such things.

I'm not setting myself aflame, but I'm living the way I know how.