The Bearded Mystic Podcast

Embracing Unity: Non-Duality's Role in My Political Endorsement

Rahul N Singh Season 7 Episode 6

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Advaita Vedanta in Politics: Compassionate Leadership and Ethics

In this episode of the Beard and Mystic podcast, host Rahul Singh explores the intersection of Advaita Vedanta and modern politics, emphasizing the importance of ethics, truth, and dharma in assessing political candidates. The episode advocates for compassionate and servant leadership qualities, drawing from spiritual teachings to address contemporary issues such as misinformation, political violence, and social justice. It endorses Kamala Harris for President, highlighting her progressive policies on economic equity, climate action, and healthcare reform. The discussion also challenges traditional notions of masculinity, promoting empathetic and ethical leadership, and urges listeners to vote with a sense of collective well-being.

00:00 Voting and nonduality
01:08 Advaita Vedanta Philosophy 101
05:02 Spiritual ethics in Governance
11:26 Leadership Qualities from a Non-Dual Perspective
13:32 Abortion Rights
16:33 The Bearded Mystic Endorses
18:57 True Compassionate Masculinity
24:04 Conclusion

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Want a one-on-one spiritual discussion with The Bearded Mystic - book here: https://www.thebeardedmysticpodcast.com/p/spiritual-discussion/

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Welcome to the Beard and Mystic podcast, where we are waking and growing in oneness. And I'm your host, Rahul Singh. I've been a spiritual seeker for over 20 years with a deep interest in non-duality. Thank you for joining today. Today, uh, we are less than a few weeks away from the U. S. presidential election, and the choices that we, as American citizens, have are definitely more interesting. Back in June, I wasn't excited at all, but now, when there is a clear choice, and I am proud to be voting for the first time for a presidential election. So, it's definitely going to be great. Before I go into who I am endorsing, which will be at the end of the episode, it would be an excellent way to look at politics and how Advaita Vedanta or non duality fits in. So let's see how our spirituality is represented even in politics with those who we vote for and for the issues we support. I do firmly believe that our spiritual values are represented in all aspects of life. It says a lot about you. So, let's have a look into Advaita Vedanta and its philosophical foundations just for a little bit here. Regarding non duality, we understand that there is one ultimate reality that we call Brahman. We know that even though it appears that there are many jivas or souls, there is only actually one Atma or one Jiva. This multiplicity or plurality is just the one Brahman. Maya, which is the veil of ignorance for the unenlightened and just a transparent veil for the enlightened shows many for the ignorant and only one for the wise. Therefore, politics in the view of non duality is not about helping just the many, but the fact it is the one that is manifested as the many that my vote matters for. So my single vote that I do for myself is truly for the self of all. So in this view, I see all as the same as myself, and this gives me a broader vision and one that will not allow my intellect to shrink into narrow mindedness. The Formless Awareness that is within all of us is changeless, imageless, boundless and therefore it is beyond the constraints of political games yet it is aware of the field that politics is played upon. Therefore the Realized Being views every living being as having the same Consciousness and this strengthens the intellect which means our discernment is strong. This power of the intellect is vital during an election and one that must be used when it comes to the political discourse. Today misinformation spreads faster, facts are doubted and conspiracy theories are a reality in minds which think they are questioning things but are only creating their own narrative. A strong intellect can discern between the truth and what is false. What is reality? And what is fiction? One of the key aspects of self realisation is that the individual understands this material existence as temporary and transient. With a strong intellect, they're able to see the root of all ideas and see it as an observer, rather than being personally invested in someone else's narrative, I'm confident that someone with a strong intellect will not be led down the rabbit hole of misinformation and conspiratorial thinking, nor would they fall for someone who spews so much misinformation that reality is then blurred. As shown through the history of the Mahabharata and Ramayana, the truth is always victorious, and the truth itself is like a diamond with many sides to it. It is up to us to have a mind that is free from bias and looks out for the greater good, just as Sri Krishna and Sri Ram showed us with how they dealt with their kingdoms. We are to use the lessons of our scriptures and assess whether our leaders have those qualities, or at least some of them. Does the candidate that I support value truth? Do they value humanity? Do they believe in equal opportunity? Are they looking to bring people together? Do they have strong integrity? Is love and compassion at the heart of who they are? It is not only about one line as said at a rally, but also in the conduct and policies that they are putting forward to us as a general public. With the practice of Advaita Vedanta, which fundamentally believes in the oneness of all, the way I view policies and political leaders will be with that same vision. Knowing that they are all made with the same essence, even the other candidates I will not be voting for or supporting at all. I should not harbour any hatred for that person, but understand that it is their behaviour, conduct, policies, and ideas that are being questioned through my intellect. So that leads us to what is the ethical and philosophical foundations for governance because ethics is essential in politics and this is not something based on morality. Ethics are about who you are as a person. They actually represent you. We see in ancient thought that we have the five yamas that ask practitioners to take the path of least harm, to not lie, to not steal, to not waste energy, and to avoid possessiveness. Now, let's look into this a little deeper in the context of this election. So, political ideas and leaders must try to avoid causing harm at all costs, although this is inevitable that some harm will be done. Therefore, the path of least harm or ahimsa is an important quality for someone to have. Even in the Mahabharata and Ramayana, we know that the antagonists or the evil forces were given many chances to solve the conflicts and avoid violence, which would always be considered as the last resort. In today's time, there is no need for anyone to incite political violence of any kind, whether that is trying to stop certifying the election results or even an assassination attempt. For a healthy democracy, we need candidates who do not resolve to attack the opposition with lies because this breeds deceit. So the candidate cannot claim the election was stolen, or worse, claim that the opposition cheated when it was their administration that was in charge or attacked capital to stop the certification of the election results. We may move past these issues quickly because of the news cycle, but we should remember the lessons here because they should never happen again. This was an apparent lack of ethics clearly here. And since one candidate and their VP did not accept the loss in 2020, this is violence and lying, which in fact, In my opinion, it is a lack of ethics. One should not lie, even if it is a half truth, one should avoid doing this. As I mentioned earlier, misinformation causes so much harm, we have seen people put their lives at risk and share such things also on social media, or more recently, maintaining the lie that immigrants are eating people's cats and dogs. Honestly, this alone should make you question why you are voting for such a person or even giving them a platform on your podcast or YouTube channel. Non stealing is a more nuanced ethic point but bear with me on this point as we see its broader impact. When it comes to lower and middle class people, they should not be paying more percentage of tax than corporations or the top three percent. So if a policy will help the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, that, in my opinion, is stealing. When it comes to, uh, wasting energy, this is unethical and the government has been accused of wasting a lot of energy regarding how efficiently it runs. Some may claim to drain the swamp but end up making the swamp worse. People may think about defunding a particular department, like education but this takes the very soul out of those departments. Also, many people are employed through the federal government, and if any candidate thinks they are a jobs president, they don't want a reduction in the workforce that they are leading. Or something similar we have been talking about is wasting the energy of supporters with a lie that the election was stolen or that immigrants are taking our jobs. Recently, there've been lies that immigrants are taking Black and Hispanic employment and evidence shows that this is not the case. Also, it doesn't matter what executive orders can do, whereas the Senate and the House fundamentally make legislation. So if something isn't put into law, it's not the fault of the administration, but we need to hold our house of representatives and our senators accountable. Now possessiveness is such an interesting one when it comes to American democracy. One of the great things is the transition of power and how someone cannot be President for more than two terms. The checks and balances stop a dictatorship from happening. Nobody should feel that their power is theirs forever. Anyone trying to cling to power or even running as President again to avoid facing criminal charges, you know that this person lacks ethics completely. So, those were the five yamas that we should measure every elected official with and anyone seeking our votes. We understand how important it is for any candidate running in any election, whether that's state, local or federal, that we need to see. that they have strong ethics but also a strong sense of dharma. They must represent righteousness. They must know and represent that immigrants are humans. Ensure that those with less economic advantages are given help to progress with their wealth. They will put every effort in to advert the climate crisis, respect democracy with its traditions and that women have autonomy over their bodies. Therefore my vote is not just for me but it's for my son, for my nieces and nephews and every single person in my life. The whole point of having a non dual realization or even having a spiritual life with compassion and understanding is to ensure we think of the nations and the world's best interest and the collective well being. Suppose we remember how Sri Krishna guided Arjuna to think of the greater good and that fighting the Kauravas was necessary because of the people that lived in the kingdom. So we need to see politicians being just as selfless. If their rallies are all about themselves and their problems, then you know they don't care about you or your needs. If a candidate talks about how they're going to make your life better, then supporting them is the best thing we can do. Fundamentally, Advaita Vedanta philosophically proposes policies that look to benefit the majority, like tax cuts for the middle and lower class, raising the minimum wage, giving women the right to control their bodies, immigration reform where humanity is at the base of it, stricter gun control, strive for better healthcare system, along with more affordable prescriptions and so on. This leads us to to look into leadership qualities, which are very, very important here. You know, power can be extremely intoxicating. And we have seen that whenever someone gets some title or position in life in general, it inflates their ego and they begin to lack a certain sense of humility. They may claim to be for everyone, but really they don't really care about us ordinary folk. You know, they want to do what they want to do. Therefore, since Advaita sees everyone as one, non duality is likely to foster servant leadership qualities where the leaders are humble, they listen attentively to others, empathise with the public, and they put others above their own needs. In Hinduism, we have Sri Rama and Sri Krishna who were very righteous leaders. So as a Vedantin, I'm looking at their qualities and seeing which of today's candidates is close to that ideal leadership. Nobody can come close to them, but the qualities are universal. Or we can even look at Raja Janak, an enlightened king. We know from the stories how caring he was for his kingdom and how he valued his people. Each and every person. For me, compassion plays a massive part in leadership. Suppose someone is sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, or ridicules people with disabilities. I don't think that person is fit for not just this nation's highest office, but they should be nowhere near any political office. The leader needs to be able to look forward, to have a vision that inspires us, and not someone who lacks, who looks back to the past as if we lived in more extraordinary times. For example, anyone who believes in this silly slogan, like "Make America Great Again", does not believe America is great right now. And I don't think that's very patriotic either. For me, America was, is and will always be great and its greatness lies in its people. An important issue for me is abortion rights. Now, some Hindus are against abortion and I get it. It's because in one of the Upanishads, it is said that the Jiva enters the womb before birth. However, we need to look at this holistically. First of all, this is a matter of human rights, so a woman should have full rights to choose whether she wants the baby or not. Her religion definitely can influence her and guide her, but the law does not need to make that decision for her. We also need to look at the simple issue, that if a baby is born and that child grows up in poverty and suffering, then we must look at Ahimsa here. We must remember our dharma is to take the path of least suffering. If the intention is clear, then the mother's health is in jeopardy or the child will not survive. Abortion will be seen as the best action to take as it will cause the least amount of suffering. Or if we are going to make women keep babies of their rapists or due to incest, then those men should have vasectomies or castration by law or should the father of the child help with raising the child at least monetarily and if they cannot for whatever reason then the state should provide that monetary value. You may disagree with me here but this is my take. At the very least we need leaders who will put women's health and autonomy back into the hands of women. We don't need old men in the courts or government telling women what to do. Another issue that I see so much misinformation on is how schools are making kids take gender affirming surgeries. A new study by researchers at Harvard, a T.H. Chan School of Public Health, found little to no utilization of gender affirming surgeries by transgender and gender diverse minors in schools in the US. Now if someone is disturbed that schools are trying to make kids feel comfortable to express themselves, then this says a lot about your own biases than the school system or government being wrong. No school is dictating to any child what their pronouns are. Or what their sexual orientation is, or what gender they feel they are. That child is just expressing what they feel. Or that child will not say anything out of fear because their parents have backward views. That fear will only cause mental trauma that could be avoided. Again, in Hinduism, there is openness for any gender, and gender fluidity is not some recent phenomena, it's even discussed in Hindu texts like the Kama Sutra, so the misinformation here has to stop, and we need to be more accepting and understanding. Fundamentally, we need our leaders to have a stable mind, someone who is committed and honest, and has a character full of compassion and integrity. As it said in the Bhagavad Gita, when meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place. We need such resoluteness in a world that is divided and flamed with hatred. So, now we come to and leads me to who I am endorsing as the next President of the United States. It will not be difficult to guess from my preamble there that I will be fully supporting Vice President Kamala Harris to be our next President of the United States. And with her, I will be voting Democrat down the ballot. The choice is clear for me. She has a detailed plan to deal with the economy, maintain our democracy, address the climate crisis, improve health care, bring forward immigration reform, give women their right to choose, and so on. There's an 80 page document on her website, and I'm going to put that document in the video description and show notes below. Some will say, she's been in the administration for the last 4 years, so why hasn't she done anything? She's the vice president. So it's president Biden that is calling the shots. And in my opinion, he's done a great job. When you compare how we are doing in the economy compared to other countries, you understand he's done a pretty decent job. Now, when President Biden needs something done by the Vice President, He will ask her like he did with the border. Now her vision for the border was forward thinking. Instead of closing the border which would simply be putting a band aid on the situation. She looked at investing in the economies in Central and South American nations so that migrants could settle there instead of moving towards the USA. The return on this investment must be seen in the long term and this is a real solution. It shows how she addresses the issue with a whole vision and plan instead of making a political stunt through executive orders alone. Or building a wall that people can still climb over. I also love Tim Waltz, who is her running mate. He's an excellent choice for vice president. He's relatable, speaks his mind. We have seen the great work he has done in Minnesota as well. Most of all, I feel confident that in 2029 when it comes to certifying the 2028 election, he will uphold democracy. Since JD Vance cannot answer this question about accepting any election result, I believe that if you truly love America and its democracy, then that alone should be enough to not vote for Donald and JD Vance's ticket. Before we end the episode, I want to address another critical issue which is young men and why our vote is crucial and that voting is the most masculine thing to do right now. Now voting for the Harris-Waltz ticket is the most masculine thing to do I have seen how some young men seem to think that Trump represents a strong man and exudes masculinity. And let me discuss this for a moment because I actually disagree with that. He's old school masculinity. There's a much more compassionate masculinity. You know, men have always been shown to be stoic and have emotional restraint. Yet, we have seen countless times how Trump lacks emotional intelligence. If I had a problem, he He would ignore my problem and talk about his own problems, and he would call the answer a weave. Plus, he hardly laughs, he calls people's names, and has to push people to show pseudo strength. This aggressive behavior is not masculine at all. It's straight up bullying. Being masculine is about respecting others and showing empathy. Being masculine also means acknowledging our own vulnerabilities and seeking help and we know that Trump can never admit that he has made mistakes. He constantly sees others as wrong and would fire people if they disagreed with him on any issue. Or worse, talking about his crowd sizes is easy to get under his skin. Masculinity is the ability to be vulnerable, shed a tear, have a laugh, that clearly shows intelligence. Being masculine is also about having leadership that unifies and builds consensus. We know that Trump's rhetoric has only been seen to exacerbate societal divisions and create an us versus them mentality. But we know masculinity is about valuing community, cooperation and bridging our differences. Which is why I make this point now. Some of you who I see as my friends or my family will vote for Trump. And that is perfectly fine because voting for what you support is important. But remember, Trump did say to vote on January 5th, so remember that please. An important one here is how masculinity is about being honourable, having integrity, and ethical behaviour. Trump has allegations of unethical behaviour. He is a convicted felon. He has been bankrupt four times. He has had conflicts of interest. He's even had his family work in the White House, and he just genuinely ignores established norms and protocols, like accepting that he lost the 2020 election. You can say what you want about Biden's policies or Obama's policies, but they represent integrity and strong ethics. Mind you, another point is that apart from Trump's tax cuts, he didn't change any of Obama's economic policies. So that economy that you enjoyed during Trump's era, is all thanks to President Obama. Also, thanks to President Biden right now, due to the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the Chips and Science Act, All this has increased investment in the country and increased domestic manufacturing, which Trump promised to do, but did not do when he was in power, but Biden has. There's so much more that can be said about Trump, like his infidelity in marriage, his shipping off Covid test kits for Putin's personal use, when the US public needed those covid test kits, because there was a shortage of them at the time. This is a man who shows the most toxic forms of masculinity, like dominance, aggression, suppression of emotions. Just look at how he treats women, especially women of color. Just watch those videos and then watch Kamala Harris, how she speaks to white people and note the stark differences. How there's equality in her voice in in her approach. Voting for Vice President Harris is a positive masculine choice. Kamala Harris embodies many positive aspects of modern masculinity, such as emotional intelligence, empathy, collaboration, integrity, and advocacy for equality. Her leadership style promotes inclusivity and ethical governance, reflecting a broader and more compassionate definition of masculinity, which is what we absolutely need today. And just remember, she's unifying because she's gonna appoint a Republican to her cabinet. Young men should look at Tim Walz, who is a great inspiration. We need more male teachers, and can we please give a massive pay raise to our teachers? They are making tomorrow's leaders, so let's pay them appropriately for this. Tim Waltz, he's a doting father, he's light hearted and humorous, he cares about his neighbours, he displays kindness and he's just relatable, especially with his understanding of fertility treatments and trust me he won't take your guns away since he owns one himself. So let's end the episode here and conclude in all, Advaita Vedanta seeks to enrich political thought and practice by embedding deep ethical values, promoting compassionate and inclusive leadership, and advocating for policies that reflect the interconnectedness of all life. Its influence encourages a shift towards effective, honest governance and spiritually aligned with the principles of unity and selflessness, fostering a more harmonious and equitable society. And this is what we need today. And we just need a new generation of leaders. Whether you agree or disagree with me, I am more than happy to discuss this in the comments section. And you may unfollow me from this and I'm okay with that. But one thing, please go out and vote. Since early voting is open in most states. Let's vote and make Kamala Harris, our next president of the United States of America, and vote for Democrats down your ballot. Plus I will be live on election day as the results trickle in right here on this channel. So I shall see you on November 5th, you know, all the best to the candidates. I wish for non violence on all aspects. So, go out and vote. Take care, namaste.

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