THIS LESSON IS IN TWO PARTS

This week three news items consumed our thoughts. 1) The US was on the brink of war with Iran, 2) Megan and Harry said they’d be quitting public royal duties and moving to Canada and 3) OG Hippie Ram Dass died. We answer a listener question about when to act when someone is disrupting your flow. To do this, we apply Tao Te Ching chapter 69, Matthew 18, and Western just war theory to think through the ethical and practical issues involved when trying to decide when to fight, when to engage bad guys, when to bail on a bad scene, and when to report bad behavior in religious communities.

TRIGGERS

We briefly discuss sexually abusive behavior alleged against Neem Karoli Baba or Neeb Karori Baba, a.k.a. Maharaji.

CAVEATS

*Not legal advice, not psychological advice, not HR advice: rather, we’re offering ethical advice.

*We are more than willing to change our minds here. If you have a different take on one of these points, write in or leave a message.

*Our goal isn’t to scare people off of speaking up and speaking out; it’s to help people have more confidence when they do speak, since they will have thought through the implications of their actions.

We discuss the work and life of Richard Alpert, who pioneered LSD research at Harvard, along with Timothy Leary, but then became devoted to a form of Hindu philosophy and changed his name to Ram Dass. He greatly influenced the hippies through his teachings and a recording that he boxed up and distributed as "From Bindu to Ojas.” If you happen to have a copy, by the way either donate it to us (!) or sell it on eBay since it’s a hot commodity. Junky versions go for at least $600 bucks without the vinyl record or the mandala that originally came with it. He wrote the foundational book Be Here Now well before Eckhart Tolle’s, The Power of Now.

For a free book that does in depth work to expose some of the nonsense of self-styled gurus and yogis, check out Geoffrey Falk, Stripping the Gurus: Sex, Violence, Abuse and Enlightenment.

We read our rendering of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching chapter 69. Here it is for you:

69.

Old military wisdom advises:

“When it comes to war,

I don’t plan the party,

but I’ll show up if invited.

I’d never consider seizing

an inch of your ground,

only whether I’ll concede

a foot of my own.”

This is gaining ground

without invading,

raising a fist

without throwing the first punch,

engaging enemies without

considering them enemies,

arming yourself

with something

stronger than weapons.

There’s no worse catastrophe

than disregarding your adversary.

One time,

I disregarded an adversary

and it nearly cost me

everything I hold dear.

All else being equal,

when there’s a fight,

the side that laments

having to fight

wins in the end.

We mention Sun Tzu, The Art of War and the important idea of “taking whole” the enemies “army.”

We mention Matthew 18 on how to address a friend who’s sinned against you, along with Jeff’s chapter in this book about the ethics of friendship.

We mention the This American Life episode “Anatomy of Doubt” and the Netflix series Unbelievable that explores it further.

Our discussion of the phenomenon of and research into false reporting of sexual abuse draws from the work of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

Thanks to Alice for the question that ties all this together. Write in or leave a voice message on this website if you’d like to be part of the conversation too.

We mention the creeper yoga celebrity Bikram Choudury and a documentary about his abuses.

Here are the just war theory criteria:

If you didn’t hear us up front on the show, remember: When in doubt, speak up. If you are asking the question, it’s probably more a matter of courage than propriety whether you engage or not.

S2E2-3 When to Engage: Just War Theory, Ram Dass and Confronting Abuse (Two Parts)