Enlightenment Lessons from Politicians

An ashram is a place for intense spiritual growth, a place where we face our desires, confront our illusions and seek to gain insight into our true nature.

The 2008 contest for the Democratic nomination for President continues as Senators Clinton and Obama fight their way across the United States seeking votes and victories. What could attention to American political primaries have to do with our path to enlightenment? If the world is our ashram, we may look for spiritual lessons in all areas of life. What might politics have to do with soul growth?

Well, for one thing, the incredible discipline, determination and (dare we say) courage to run for the highest office in the land is admirable. Can we as spiritual candidates match the time, energy and enthusiasm of political candidates seeking to serve as president? Do we not seek to serve the Highest and Greatest? Do we find that some men and women engaged in a material service put us to shame with their dedication? Where is our fire, our passion, and our courage to expose ourselves and our values to the criticisms and judgment of the world?

Living in the world, we regularly interact with people of high discipline and energy working in various occupations and services. These men and women can be our inspiration, our exemplars, as we challenge ourselves to pursue the goal of self realization as intensely as they rush toward their goals of self achievement. Among such men and women, politicians are some of the most intensely dedicated.

Politics is a brutal game, not for the faint-hearted. So is the spiritual path. The Katha Upanishad describes the spiritual journey as subtle and as perilous as ‘a razor’s edge,’ especially for the faint of heart or inattentive: “Wake up, get up! Your boons you’ve won! Awake and understand them! The path is like a razor’s edge. With guidance go attain it!” Some of the great mystics of all faiths and times have given up everything of value: every attachment, every unnecessary pleasure of the world in a fierce engagement with the greatest antagonist of a spiritual aspirant’s life—his or her own mind.

There is another way in which politics may inform our spiritual journey: by learning from the failures, ‘near death’ experiences, and improbable comebacks of politicians. Both John McCain and Hillary Clinton were ‘given up for dead’ at various times during this campaign season. And Barrack Obama reminds us of the improbability that the son of an impoverished sheep farmer from Kenya and a poor white woman from Iowa could rise to be the third candidate still left in the race for president. The lesson for us in our world ashram is clear: never give up. We will stumble on the spiritual path—often, and sometimes very hard. We will rise to great heights and fall to the lowest depths. The sages tell us to get up, shake off the dust, and go on. The only way our Journey ends in failure is if we don’t get up, or turn around and go back.