Be Yourself

Just be yourself – Don't we often get this advice from others? It is perhaps one of the most popular self-help catchphrases of all times. And it is not a bad idea actually. It is better than betraying ourselves by changing ourselves into somebody we are not, and probably not comfortable with, just to please others, to win their approval, admiration, or favor, or simply to fit in. We should all have more self-respect than that.

But while being oneself is all good and nice we certainly need to exercise some discretion as to which part of ourselves we want to be. There are some who take the idea of being oneself as a license to set loose all their defilements. “Aren't they (i.e. the defilements) part of me?” they might justify. It does not take much to figure out that this isn't exactly what being oneself really means. It is in fact an abuse of a very wonderful idea, and moreover, for Buddhist, it is not in accordance with the principles of the Dhamma.

Dhamma Work and Politics

Politics, and by that we mean that social affair that takes place when people in an organization vie for authority and control even to the extent of employing crafty machination and maneuvering to achieve their aims, exists everywhere in our human society. It exists at the office (the infamous office politics), in social clubs, association, and cliques, in schools (among students and educators alike), even at home. Wherever there is a group of humans present, right there is a possibility for dirty politics to surface. Politics finds its way even into spiritual organizations like temples, monasteries, ashrams, churches, mosques, etc. As uninspiring as this may sound, we all know too well that it happens.

Yes, not even the sacred sanctity of our spiritual institutions, Buddhist ones not exempted, is spared from this poison of politics. While it may be true that all Buddhist organizations (we hope) started off with the noblest of intention, many soon find themselves, to a larger or lesser extent, embroiled in some kind of politics.