Mood:
specialTopic: Liberty Ancestors
Yesterday I blogged on Manifold Oneness about one of my culture heroes, B. R. Ambedkar. He's something of the James Madison of modern India, having been one of the major shapers of its constitution. In his life and after, he led millions of fellow outcast and economically depressed Hindus 
in formal conversion to Buddhism--this included inspiring the single largest mass conversion in human history. He's all about positive cultural change through the power of conversion. As a rich parallel, His life and work has a lot to offer Pagans as we quest for allies and inspiration in the long task of effecting ethical and democratic revolution. He is one of the major founders of the "engaged Buddhist" movement (which is nowadays one of the primary "sites" for Pagan-Buddhist interaction and mutual influence).
Here's what Wikipedia has to say about his constititutional sources (think about how this intellectual legacy is similar to the one we've charted here in relation to classical, northern European and Iroquois sources of the American democratic ideals):
In this task Ambedkar's study of sangha practice among early Buddhists and his extensive reading in Buddhist scriptures was to come to his aid. Sangha practice incorporated voting by ballot, rules of debate and precedence and the use of agendas, committees and proposals to conduct business. Sangha practice itself was modelled on the oligarchic system of governance followed by tribal republics of ancient India such as the Shakyas and the Lichchavis. Thus, although Ambedkar used Western models to give his Constitution shape, its spirit was Indian and, indeed, tribal.
There's much more in the Manifold Oneness entry, so please take a look there. For now, I leave you with a couple of quotations from this great culture worker:
“Freedom of mind is the real freedom. A person whose mind is not free though he may not be in chains, is a slave, not a free man. One whose mind is not free, though he may not be in prison, is a prisoner and not a free man. One whose mind is not free though alive, is no better than dead. Freedom of mind is the proof of one’s existence.”
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"Religion is for man; man is not for religion... If you want to gain self-respect, change your religion. If you want to create a cooperating society, change your religion. If you want power, change your religion. If you want equality, change your religion. If you want independence, change your religion. If you want to make the world in which you live happy, change your religion...."
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“Learn to live in this world with self-respect. You should always cherish some ambition of doing something in this world. But remember that the age of selflessness has ended. A new epoch is set in. All things are now possible because of your being able to participate in the politics and legislature of your country.”
