Judging Activism

About fifteen years ago I was in the Dominican Republic on a humanitarian mission with an handful of monks from the Ananda Marga spiritual/social service organization.

There I was, in my thatched hut at the top of a large hill, packing up some school supplies to take to local children. I tiptoed around the monks meditating outside and made some noise so they’d realize it was time to leave and do some good.

They, on the other hand, had no intention of going anywhere.

They told me that they would be sitting in the same spot when I returned at sunset, as their gift to the area and the children was to meditate for them.

All flippin’ day.

I was in my mid-twenties and had never heard of such a thing. Meditation is fine, twice a day, the way I was taught. But to do it all day? Wouldn’t that be a waste of time when you can be doing something really productive–like helping me get the school supplies to the kids?

Net message? Everyone has their way of serving, and no one’s is more valid than anyone else’s, and no one is allowed to judge anyone else’s.

So don’t complain about what someone else is doing–just do something yourself.

I concentrate my personal, spiritual, consumer activism on Planet Earth and its nonhuman inhabitants. I choose to focus on those without a voice.

I won’t judge your choice–don’t judge mine.