by Dharmacharya Gurudas Sunyatananda

Created on: October 24, 2008

At a time when unprovoked wars, domestic violence, racial and gender-based genocide, environmental irresponsibility and economic uncertainty are causing untold suffering in our world, there has never been a more important time for people to come together and work for social justice. In my previous dharma talk, we looked at one of the two reasons people tend to shy-away from the interior call to a contemplative or monastic life. We talked about "sacred indifference" or "joyful detachment". In this talk, I will address the second area of misunderstanding. There is a common misconception that those who enter the monastic or contemplative life are doing so as a means of escaping their relationships, responsibilities and the need for meaningful stewardship. And this misconception is only a partial misconception really, because there have been, for more than 2500 years, individuals who sought the "solace" of the monastic life for those very reasons. Such individuals are monks or nuns only in name and appearance, but do not embrace a truly monastic or contemplative life. Immature, selfishly-motivated and self-aggrandising teachers, gurus and so-called "spiritual leaders" have also played a role in deflecting monastic and contemplative practitioners from their potential realisation and wholeness. A life of meditation, silence or contemplation for the sake of setting oneself apart from others... appearing to be holy and pious... or to avoid social responsibility is narcissistic and nihilistic. The late Pope John Paul II frequently condemned the Liberation Theology movement in South and Central America, and there have been those who have condemned the "living in the world" decision made by our own monastic community in 2001, including the Roman Catholic patriarchy; and yet, these movements, and others like it, arise out of a need to "engage" the Buddhist philosophy, or teachings of the Great Rabbi, Jesus the Nazarene. There are times too, when people have entered the monastic life with the intention of escaping responsibility and interaction with the world around them, only to discover themselves, and emerge more radically committed to social justice, service and engaged Buddhism/Compassion/Spirituality than ever before. This is one reason the Contemplative Order of Compassion, while rooted in three primary spiritual paths (the Buddhist dharma, the Way of the Christ, and Science of Mind), renounces all formal connection to "religion" itself... especially here in the

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