| What if God, politics and the Kama Sutra are not | | | | And believe me, I have a few Buddhist friends and |
| mutually exclusive? Stay with me here. What if God, in | | | | they are pretty much checked out of society as we |
| his infinite wisdom actually gave Buddha the Kama | | | | know it. |
| Sutra? Much like he gave Moses the Ten | | | | But what if we could make Buddhism work for the |
| Commandments? What if we only applied the Kama | | | | everyday stuff? Use the Kama Sutra and get involved |
| Sutra to politics? If you haven't read the Kama Sutra, | | | | instead of checking out? I truly believe that Buddhists |
| here it is: | | | | do have it figured out. If there is a flaw, it is that once |
| The Kama Sutra | | | | they have it figured out, they keep it to themselves. |
| "Do not believe in anything simply because you have | | | | Once every other religious denomination thinks that |
| heard it. | | | | they have it figured out, they gear up, start protelizing |
| Do not believe in traditions because they have been | | | | and preaching, and spending big bucks spreading the |
| handed down for many generations. | | | | gospel. And that is where the Kama Sutra fails. |
| Do not believe in anything because it is spoken and | | | | There are no big houses of Buddhist worship on this |
| rumored by many. | | | | continent. No way to make money from a quiet |
| Do not believe in anything simply because it is found | | | | congregation who is going to sit around and chant. The |
| written in your religious books. | | | | phrase "Big houses of Buddhist worship" is actually an |
| Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of | | | | oxymoron because it is an individual choice - being a |
| your teachers or elders. | | | | Buddhist. You cannot preach the Kama Sutra. To |
| But after observation and analysis, when you find that | | | | preach means "to force or propel in an indicated |
| anything agrees with reason, and is conducive to the | | | | direction." You cannot sermonize the Kama Sutra |
| good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live | | | | because to sermonize means "to make a moral |
| to it." | | | | judgment." |
| Now what if we applied the Kama Sutra only to | | | | Therein lies the quandary of the Kama Sutra - so |
| politics? If you used the Kama Sutra when | | | | simple in its meaning and so hard to execute - just like |
| approaching any political issue at the end of the day, | | | | politics and the tough choices they say we need to |
| you would come to your own conclusions based on | | | | make - when the choices are actually pretty simple. |
| nothing other than your own experiences and learning. | | | | Everyone needs access to affordable healthcare |
| Forget about the partisan talking heads, the shout | | | | (check), we need to feed, house and cloth the poor |
| jocks on TV and radio and the well-known among us | | | | and hungry (check), we need to educate our young |
| who just love to share their opinions. Sounds pretty | | | | (double-check) and make the elderly a part of our |
| simple, right? | | | | everyday lives (checkmate). |
| Yet in the United States we say religion and politics | | | | Yet by simply "being here on earth" we cannot make |
| are separate; when in fact the two are intertwined in | | | | these things happen. We have to practice doing what |
| our culture like Apple pie and ice cream, hot dogs and | | | | is good for the whole a little every day. Even on the |
| baseball, guns and America - you get the idea. Religion | | | | smallest scale doing a little every day has a profound |
| and politics are one in the same. A large majority of | | | | effect on those closest to you and ultimately a small |
| people use their religious beliefs to make political | | | | ripple effect on the planet. |
| decisions. Fiery religious issues are used as hot buttons | | | | So today, tomorrow or next week, cut out the Kama |
| by both Democrats and Republicans. Yes, Democrats | | | | Sutra, post it somewhere like I did years ago and try to |
| do it too - how about them "Blue Dog Democrats." | | | | read it every day. I never remember to read it every |
| It's not very cool, kosher or politically correct to say | | | | day. I think about it most often when I am outside doing |
| that you are a practicing Buddhist (Richard Gere | | | | yard work (if I was a real Buddhist I would have a |
| anyone?). Oh, you can makes jokes about it and say | | | | garden), walking in the park or sitting and letting the sun |
| that's what you are, but if you actually practice the | | | | beat down on me on a nice, breezy summer day. |
| Kama Sutra on a daily basis use it to make life | | | | Those places are places God created, so that's |
| decisions, then you are just weird, shunned by society, | | | | where I feel his presence the most in my life. |
| looked upon by your friends as amusing and eccentric. | | | | |