Spiritual Detachment And Presidential Politics

How does one walk in spiritual detachment in a worlddissimilar to spiritual detachment. Whereas fear and
in crisis? The question assumes spirituality requiresdespair may be but existential reactions to temporal
political detachment. I am not sure that it does. I amrealities set in motion by the apparent separation that
also not sure it does not. But in certainnecessarily precedes the ultimate state of one-ness,
circumstances, it is almost a requirement.they are rarely perceived as such when.events such
The 2004 presidential election was especiallyas the 2004 election occur.
compelling because so much was at stake--and onlySpiritual detachment in such times is almost
in retrospect have we actually realized how much.impossible. But for Martha and I, on November 3rd,
The dawning awareness that Exxon-Mobil and the USthe day after the election, we achieved it. True
have some responsibility regarding global warming isspiritual detachment was given to us.
only now taking its place in American's mindset besideIn that darkest of days (note: even darker days may
its blunder of the war in Iraq.yet be in the offing) Martha and I were lifted out of
The 2004 election of George Bush would definitelypolitical despair into a state where the events of
extend policies that contributed to these problems.November 2nd could be tolerated and accepted, a
We in America knew this; and it was because ofstate--where if not detachment itself--it was close
these and other issues that the 2004 presidentialenough to the real thing to suffice.
election was so important--or so it would seem.Martha and I were gifted into spiritual detachment
Note: Along with spiritual detachment, questions suchnot because we had so regularly practiced sadhana
as determinism and free will should be consideredthat rote spiritual exercise had come to our rescue.
here.No, we were lifted into spiritual detachment because
Many of us have a sense of witnessing events oncethe ALL-KNOWING UNIVERSE had caused us to see
previously unimaginable, i.e. the unashamed US torturethe movie, Huckabees, two days before and
of others, the denial by the US that habeas corpus issomehow in the daze of November 3rd, we KNEW
guaranteed, that the planet Earth may havewe had to see that movie again and SOON.
exceeded the tipping point where the effects ofSo that afternoon, when apparently all (if not all, then
global warming are irreversible, etc.most) of our fears had come to pass, we hurried to
The awareness of such has only increased since theagain see Huckabees. And there, in the darkness of
2004 US presidential election; but a prescient sensethe theater, the LIGHT that was Huckabees
of foretelling or foreboding preceded that event, andtransported us to another dimension where transient
that's why the election appeared so important to sorealities such as political elections were given their just
many--at least at the time..and limited due.
When the election results became known, when itFor myself, the question of spiritual detachment and
was obvious that the election had been handed topolitical involvement is still unresolved. But if Phil
George Bush Jr., what many us were afraid wouldJackson, the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, a
happen actually had. Four more years was no longerstudent of the art of zen, can night after night make
a slogan. It was a reality as real as hearing that ait through the last two minutes of a gut-wrenching
restraining order against a violent boyfriend had beenego-driven win-lose sport, then I know that while
denied and what could happen next could no longerdetachment is not a constant, it can be enough,
be prevented.sometimes just enough, to get us through the night
A state of impotent fear and political despair is quiteor day as GOD sees fit.