This goes more into the zandtaomed advice “Compromise and Dedication to the Path” of 21/10/22. The contents of this reflection can only be disturbing for seekers who are just coming to terms with the path, it is not constructive for this disturbance to be added to this growing awareness so it is not included in the zandtaomed advice. The boundaries between Noble Duty and compromise need to be investigated and pushed back by all, but how far they are pushed back has to be at the discretion of the seeker. When seekers are compromised the way patriarchy compromises them, should seekers feel the full weight of the implication of that compromise? Isn't reconnecting with Dhamma sufficient as following the path for them? Should compromise be their burden? It is however definitely the burden of genuine leadership.
Patriarchy and its understanding is the very difficult final aspect of zandtaomed’s advice in the Seeker Story. When zandtao uses the word patriarchy most seekers are lost by triggers, the conditioning around that word is so powerful. But to be honest in our society, understanding the synonymity of patriarchy, conditioning and kilesa is needed even though it is extremely difficult - especially for Buddhists. This synonymity gets lost within the acceptance of the timelessness of the Buddha’s wisdom, but for genuine contemporary leadership in times of such exploitative patriarchy how do they look at this acceptance of timelessness, review it in terms of the way patriarchy is, and incorporate change in contemporary leadership practice? Because of our contemporary conflict of sampajanna, we have the situation where the Buddhist institution hides behind an acceptance of the timelessness of the Buddha’s teachings - bypassing - in order to compromise with the patriarchy. However zandtao goes back to wisdom and tathata – “knowing and seeing the way things are”; this is a timeless phrase about the contemporary, don’t our genuine contemporary leaders need to measure their actions based on wisdom and tathata now and not hide behind a historic timelessness? This avoidance is of course typical of compromises institutionalism as a whole makes. And as with all compromises with patriarchy it appears small but has huge implications.
28/8/23 Love-wisdom revision
However zandtao goes back to love-wisdom and tathata – “feeling, knowing and seeing the way things are”; this is a timeless phrase about the contemporary, don’t our genuine contemporary leaders need to measure their actions based on love, wisdom and tathata now and not hide behind a historic timelessness?
Changing to feeling and love-wisdom has greater motivation and imperative, and highlights the bypassing that occurs with wisdom only and the effect of wisdom only on tathata.
[end revision]
Here is the big difficulty with the word - patriarchy, basically our conditioning instils in us an avoidance of what patriarchy does. In our education system we learn nothing of patriarchy, and as adults the word is designated as “used by lunatic fringe”. Zandtao could avoid its use as well through use of words like conditioning or kilesa, but this is not tathata – seeing the way things are. This is why “living with patriarchy” is the final part of zandtaomed’s Seeker Story. The Seeker Story ends up with an in-depth reflection on the personal impact of patriarchy on the upbringing of the seeker, it asks of the seeker to find and release trauma that has resulted from their upbringing in a patriarchal society. This understanding and release takes time, and a genuine effort and deliberation as trauma is confronted. Patriarchy is not just experienced by the individual but contributes to the traumas faced in families especially relevant concerning parents; the implications of patriarchy are all-embracing as conditioning. Yet for most people the conditioning on the word patriarchy dismisses it as a trigger.
Using our love-wisdom and tathata now – when we see the way things are now – humanity through patriarchy is putting itself at risk with its adherence to the exploitation of planetary resources in the way they do. Scientifically zandtao has limited understanding of the delicate balance humanity has on this planet, but it does appear self-evident that we need to live in harmony with nature. The arrogance of patriarchy does not accept that harmony, and humanity is put at risk. For a planet marginal changes in the environment will not affect its existence, but could see the end of humanity’s life on earth. This is what we need to feel, know and see; for zandtao there is confusion as to why genuine leadership does not appear to act sufficiently through this love-wisdom and tathata.
Compromise is a huge part of the way patriarchy functions. No one person is ever asked to make a decision that will destroy nature’s harmony. No person; from CEO to street cleaner patriarchy does not ask for any blunt confrontation. But compromises push at the edges – continually push at the edges – an ongoing downward spiral. When we look at the way the world is the problems appear huge and insurmountable, perhaps we throw our hands in the air and say what can we do? But the reality is that we know exactly what to do – follow our paths. There is no need to step back, take a grander picture and analyse, the task is straight forward – follow our paths. When we follow our paths there is harmony - the harmony nature intended.
The sum total of our compromises is the disharmony that we have in the world, what is globally harmful are just the consequences of our compromises. Currently war is conducted in Ukraine because western audiences are fed propaganda. They have been fed propaganda all their lives, this is just a bit more. And people are dying. Why? For resources. NATO people have compromised with this alliance, couched in nice terms people just see NATO as a gentle way of protecting each other. Whereas in practice NATO has effectively functioned as a war machine without actual fighting. When a dictator responds propaganda jumps in and cements war. And for the individual the problem is too huge, yet only a little compromise is required for this huge problem to exist.
Here is the reality. For (socially) successful upbringing conditioning creates self-esteem. Through this self-esteem there is romantic love (between selves) that leads to marriage and children. With these consumer units in place the economy is driven. In this economy exists all the decision-making that creates the global disharmony. The economy drives the kilesa that creates the destructiveness of patriarchy. Do we look at the effects of the way the economy is? No. We see the economy as buying food at the food store, driving the car to the food store, and feeding our kids. What is wrong with that? It appears. What can be wrong with that? Why do ordinary people have to question whether buying food and feeding their kids is ahimsa – creating harm? Because that is the design of patriarchy.
And in many ways we can look at the Noble duties that ordinary people carry out, and say these are good ordinary people – let them get on with their Noble duties. But what are our leaders doing, patriarchal leaders and genuine leaders? They are supporting the interests of the accumulations, and these accumulations are destroying the balance of life on this planet through the exploitations that arise from the patriarchy. So ordinary people can quite rightly say, it is the politicians who need to change, it is politicians who need to control business, it is the fault of the politicians. Yet we know that politicians have their own self interests, that is how patriarchy has created the structure of politicians. Genuine leaders cannot function as politicians, they are not let in – they are not allowed near genuine power. We know this, ordinary people know this. But what can we do?
And the answer is simple – avoid compromise. Patriarchy is designed as a summation of compromises. Most people have their Noble duties and are easily manipulated into compromises. When the whole of society compromises, we have patriarchy and war. That is the way it is.
And even here zandtao is compromised. The truth about compromise with the patriarchy is written here as a reflection whereas the advice for the seeker is contained in “Compromise and Dedication to the Path” as part of zandtaomed. Why? Because of compromise. Zandtao is compromised because the disturbances caused by the truth of patriarchy will be triggered by the use of the word patriarchy and seekers might then avoid the path. Compromise – mention compromise in the hope that a seeker will avoid compromise without putting the true burden on the growing awareness of the seeker whose emphasis needs to be finding the path. And yet zandtao criticises genuine leadership for their avoidance. There is no consistency, just hope – and the older he gets the less hope zandtao has.
Hope says please do not compromise knowing that for most people compromise is their only way of life, and this compromise will lead to the destruction of humanity on this planet.
And at last there has come full awareness as to the particular compromise, and the “sacrilegious depth this compromise has belittled the divine”. The compromise is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's belittlement of creativity and samadhi as “flow in the workplace”, this intellectual compromise particularly targetted zandtao’s own loves, his own reconnection with the divine, with Mihaly's avoidance of All that matters.
Mihaly’s path appropriation begins with jhanas in creative flow suggesting that it would be beneficial to recreate that flow in the workplace. What kind of limited bastardisation would this workplace flow be compared to the wonders of the bells and banjoes (jhanas) of bill’s Chiswick upheaval! It is such a ludicrous suggestion to even consider that such wondrous heights could occur in the workplace. It was of course the suggestion of an academic who was quoting the flow of some creatives rather than any form of personal experience of the power of that creative flow. It is only days later that zandtao has realised how much this academic was invalidating bill’s divine love in early life, it is no wonder zandtao has been trying to come to terms with his state of agitation and how his meditation has been disturbed.
This agitation was further exacerbated by frustration as to how this arose. A teacher zandtao knows, who has grown up with self-esteem and who both loves and is trapped by his Noble duties, is compromised by the very teaching system the patriarchy controls. The teacher has some awareness of the compromises the patriarchy imposes, but is bound by his Noble duties. This teacher asked zandtao to look at Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, but when zandtao describes the details of how deeply-rooted Mihaly’s intellectual compromise undervalues the divinity of creative flow and the anger, even rage, this engenders in zandtao, the teacher does not have the time to read. So over these few days zandtao felt this unexplained rage along with deep frustration that he has finally understood and got expressed in this advice and this reflection - thus ending his vulnerability.
Neither Mihaly nor the friend understand that this compromise is an undermining of deep spiritual love. Would that this love could be expressed in the workplace as flow or anything else? In practice it would just be mocked as much of the path is. This creative flow, this Muse jhana, is a high reconnection with path or sunnata, on a par (or higher) with the sublime connections of the 4 brahma-viharas. This creativity is connected to the fundamental autonomy required for love-wisdom and awakening. Yet Mihaly chooses to recommend diminishing this divinity to a flow in a workplace where it might end up being used in the destructive practices of business accumulations – highest powers of harmony with nature being used to destroy nature.
This vulnerability in zandtao was the ego associated with bill’s bells and banjoes in his Chiswick loft. Of course his compassion becomes agitated even enraged when such a high expression of love is appropriated for such harm. But as with all rage associated with consequences of love and compassion it is necessary to understand it, express it and let it go. It will not again be bottled up and unexplained by compromise as this rage was.
Finally real love returned this morning. His rage against Mihaly had been worked through leaving zandtao with a greater understanding. Chakra meditations were able to calm kaya releasing tensions that had arisen from this tool of patriarchy bastardising the path and belittling zandtao's deep real love.
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