Is there a place for polictics/ news in one's life? (as a spiritual seeker)

[Manjushri]

My family's watching a local political satire show atm, so this occured to me. I don't watch the news, have no idea what's going on, etc, living my life. I love talking about philosophy of politics with my friends , but I don't see a place in my life for news/actual politics. On the other hand, if I behave like this, I'm an idiot in the antic Greek sense. I'm split here. My life is so much better this way, but I'm basically being ruled over and shat upon without me caring, living in my own little world... Until I wrote this post, I didn't even realize I live under a glass bell, totally forgot that there are things happening politically etc haha! I guess it's useful for spiral dynamics research, but I can't consume that toxin... 

I guess I needn't care about being shat upon unless I want to become an activist (and change it), which I don't - otherwise it's just garbage.

garbage in, garbage out.

Edited November 25, 2018 by Gligorije

[Leo Gura]

I once met a Zen monk who spent his leisure time reading US and world politics journals online. He was very well informed.

[Manjushri]

@Leo Gura why the fuck would you do this??????

[Leo Gura]

"In the Lotus sutra it is written that, 'Daily duties and attending to work is nothing other than true reality.' When we do business, or farm, or do temple work, or engage in politics and economics, all of this is Buddha-Dharma."

-- Zen master Yamada Mumon

That Zen monk was also an astrophysics major, a masseur, and a competitive swordsman. He lived out of his van and traveled around the country training his swordsman skills and giving massages. We had some great conversations.

This was a few months before the 2016 election. He told me, "Donald Trump is a terrible human being." Lol