This means, what began as a fairly understandable request to ‘Keep off the grass’ in some moment and some places, by government, has become authoritarian and anti-people (though posing as precautionary-protective).
There is today no escape from the influences of the insanity that we see in wars, threats by Big Powers, extremism, terrorism, land and border conflicts, occupations by foreign troops, down-trodden ethnic groups, marginalized minorities, ecological disasters owing to industrial abuse, increasing mental illness because of poverty and in-human urbanized living , centralized governance that always misses the point, child medications (oh, he’s over-active!) and so on.
Locally, while the government does run an excellent health service, education for non-Chinese is unaffordable for many, the twits in Legco are always quarreling, local councilors need more executive powers over real affairs, transport costs have to be brought down, low-carbon infrastructures are needed, etc.
The answer to all this mess can only be gradually applied so will take time but the question is, how to remain safe and sane and with a feeling of, *”well at least I am trying to do something about it and I am not alone”*?
The activities associated with the Parks (an ‘*s*’ because there are thirty Parks extant today across the planet) strike at the root of all of such issues.
In the first place because the guided studies allow each one of us to understand our self and situation better and to begin rectifying the personal afflictions, while strengthening all that is good.
In the second place – but actually on par with the first – messages and actions of active non-violence are initiated by the people of the Park in order to address the injustices, in our immediate environment of family and friends, and to wider society according to our interest, ingenuity and influence.
However, I am not saying we need to be political. The parks are not political, nor commercial, nor a religion of any sort. But if a member wants to develop or engage in a political activity, or belong to a religion, why not as it is a personal choice, and that sector can benefit from the member’s balancing input to that sector.
The thrust of the endeavor in the Parks is personal enlightenment quite in the sense achieved by such as the Buddha, though without the trappings of Buddhism or other religious orthodoxy. The aim is to reach that deep understanding that appears following contact with what we can call the Profound which spontaneously erupts with a letting go of the dross.
The dross I speak of arrives to us because like it or not, we are all caught up in the hypnotic systematization of an imposed way of life that accords with where we were born and the demands of an industrial society where the bottom line is money-personal power.
To break free, we have to reconcile with the past, solidify what’s good in the present and open up the future. That’s the aim of the initial ‘*leveling*’ works and studies for anyone wanting to engage in the running of the Parks; affiliates can simply join in the activities as they wish.
