3/9/19
Think Neither Good Nor Evil
plants us right in the middle way. What has that to do with a robe a bowl, a
barely literate man running into the mountains and encountering a former
military man who wants to take what you have? This sounds like a plot to some
cheesy novel about truth and faith in the fields of a foreign country. But what
if it was all perverted and the robber was not “an originally honest and
good-hearted straightforward man?” Suppose he wasn’t any of that and just took
the robe? What version might we be
reading? What does “think neither good
nor evil" have to do with this?’ The story would have moved from the truth to a
lie. Continuity would be disrupted. That robe represented more than the physicality
of truth and faith.
Trump stole the robe. Now he is
sweating in a massive perversion of faith, truth or as we call it, dharma.
As I tried to write I remembered
a book called The Robe. It is
in Christian context but here is the synopsis from Wiki.
The book explores
the aftermath of the crucifixion of
Jesus through the experiences of the Roman tribune, Marcellus
Gallio and his Greek slave Demetrius. Prince Gaius, in an effort to rid Rome of
Marcellus, banishes Marcellus to the command of the Roman garrison at Minoa, a port city in
southern Palestine. In Jerusalem
during Passover,
Marcellus ends up carrying out the crucifixion
of Jesus but is
troubled since he believes Jesus is innocent of any crime.
Marcellus and some
other soldiers throw dice to see who will take Jesus' seamless robe. Marcellus
wins and asks Demetrius to take care of the robe.
Following the
crucifixion, Marcellus takes part in a banquet attended by Pontius Pilate.
During the banquet, a drunken centurion
insists that Marcellus wear Jesus' robe. Reluctantly wearing the garment,
Marcellus apparently suffers a nervous breakdown and returns to Rome.
Sent to Athens to
recuperate, Marcellus finally gives in to Demetrius' urging and touches the
robe, and his mind is subsequently restored. Marcellus, now believing the robe
has some sort of innate power, returns to Judea, follows the path Jesus
took, and meets many people whose lives Jesus had affected. Based upon their
experiences first Demetrius and then Marcellus becomes a follower of Jesus.
Marcellus then
returns to Rome, where he must report his experiences to the emperor, Tiberius at Villa Jovis
on Capri.
Marcellus frees Demetrius, who escapes. However, later on, because of his
uncompromising stance regarding his Christian faith, both Marcellus and his new
wife Diana are executed by the new emperor, Caligula.
Marcellus arranges that the robe be given to "The Big Fisherman" (Simon Peter).
Robes have physical presence, significance and represent the intangible,
untouchable in our experience. We exist and the valence is neither good nor
evil but what we do with and how we manifest our faith in self and other. Take the
robe, do not take it, touch or not, steal or not, give freely or not.
Consequences of conscious will pursue us and the choices we make. I would say
that after reading some of Ryokan’s poetry he would attest to that.