Towards A Better World With Obama?

[dutchguest]

An interesting article today in the Bangkok Post:

THE MINDFUL CANDIDATE

Seeing Barack Obama's historic campaign in a Buddhist light

NASH SIAMWALLA

It is my belief that Barack Obama's successful presidential campaign, which was based on the concept of "change we can believe in," and its underlying message are synonymous with Buddhist self-transformation. In Buddhism, people who are transformed become selfless and dedicated to serving others. This is what many people felt when they watched the broadcast of Obama giving his somber, determined victory speech in Chicago on election night.

Something in the back of our minds said that we were witnessing history, and that we seemed to have arrived at the dawn of another chapter in a more principled humanity. In the candidate himself, there is a powerful lesson that we can learn from. It is not just for politicians who dream of running a successful campaign and a landslide victory; the lesson is equally valuable for the rest of us. It would be ideal, though, if the world's politicians could learn the underlying message that Obama delivers, and the values that drove him and shaped his character.

As we now know, the global following of Obama's campaign was unprecedented. The American press attributed it to their country's position as the leader of the consumer economy: whatever America decides, the repercussions will be felt by the world. This is straightforward enough, but Lord Buddha also taught that every being and phenomenon in this world is interconnected, hence the need for us to always have good will and act accordingly towards one another for continuous peaceful co-existence.

But in addition to that, a Buddhist view offers another explanation for the Obama phenomenon; it was not merely the result of economic dependence on America. For those who believe that what are important in this world are power and money, we beg you to consider the following facts and think again, as there are more profound things that Obama offers.

Let's first admit, there was something about Obama that we were drawn to, and it was not just his charisma or his inspired oratory. What was it?

Mindful candidates always stand out

Looking at Obama's historic campaign, what strikes us most is how consistently mindful this candidate has been. By mindfulness, Buddhism refers to the ability to be totally aware of the nature of things as they are, in the present moment, without pre-formed judgment or emotional partiality.

Obama, as we saw, was always able to remain calm and composed in any situation. He was always mindful of his thoughts, his words and his deeds. He never showed hate or anger. The only time he allowed himself to show his human side is only when he talked passionately about the well-being of his family.

Even when the political process got heated with the opponent's campaign throwing aggressive comments at him, Obama refused to retaliate in a similar manner. Repeatedly, he made it clear he would not take, in his own words, "the low road."

Mindfulness leads to clean politics

For the rest of teh article see:

http://www.bangkokpost.com//211108_Realtime/21Nov2008_real001.php

Are we really going towards a better world with Obama or is it just wishfull thinking and retoric?

Will Obama, once in power, confronted with the reality play only a marginal role in a world that is ruled by ecomic powers with their practice of concurrence, greed and sharp elbows?

Are there underlying values in Christianity and Buddhism that point in the same direction?

[Groongthep]

I also highly admire Barack Obama and I voted for him because I strongly believe that me and my fellow Americans need to take our nation in a new direction. But this Bangkok Post article by Nash Siamwalla and the accompanying commentary by dutchguest are a bit over the top if you ask me. Let's not beatify the man into sainthood and place him on an ivory pedestal too soon. He is going to inherit a real mess when he takes over in January and while I sincerely hope for the best, there will no doubt be mistakes made and serious setbacks along the way. He is a good man and I will support him on the many issues where I believe he deserves support. Let's not forget however, that he is a human being and not some sort of messiah. He is, in fact, a politician. While his years of community activism in Chicago are indeed laudable, and I am sure that he must have gained a considerable amount of satisfaction from his work, you would have a hard time convincing me that the main purpose of him choosing to do so wasn't to use that experience as a stepping stone to higher political ambitions. Graduates of Columbia and Harvard Law School don't usually turn down lucrative Wall Street positions for purely altruistic reasons. (Yes, some have, but not many.) I find the references to Buddhist mindfulness in the article particularly a stretch. He, like his opponent John McCain and all other major politicians were coached by political campaign experts to always be careful of what they said in public in order to avoid the one big gaff that might sink the election. I find it hard to liken this kind of guardedness to the Buddhist concept of sati which (I believe) implies mindfulness to metta and the observation of all phenomena in order to gain insight into spiritual truth. That having been said, I do indeed whole heartedly support our new president and feel very proud of the progress that we as a society have made, but lets not get our expectations up too high too soon. It's a tough world out there.

Edited November 22, 2008 by Groongthep

[sabaijai]

I agree with Groongthep, the editorial reaches a bit too far.

The author could have strengthened his argument by examining Obama's family background. His half sister Maya Soetoro-Ng is Buddhist, and his stepfather Lolo Soetoro though born Muslim had a keen interest in Buddhism, like many urban Javanese of that era. Barack's mother Ann, although never declaring herself to be Buddhist, openly participated in local Buddhist events in Honolulu while attending the Univ of Hawaii (in the early 1980s, when I was there as well). So I think it's safe to say Buddhism was a part of Barack's upbringing, along with Islam and Christianity.

Just how that background informs his political outlook or his actions is, I think, wide open to interpretation from many angles.