[UUPoly-L] UUSanghaInspirationalVisionStoryasWBAssign142007

["Miriam S Pia" <Miriam_S_Pia@hotmail.com>]

            Nuns, Monks Guard Protestors, Police

            By Miriam Pia

 

 

            There were scenes on the television news of the nuns and monks
from the Order of the Flaming Chalice.  They had gone into a tough
situation, wrenched control away from the local riot police and managed the
crowd.  There were 500 hundred of them all told, and no one could deny what
a triumph that really was.  

            There had been a time when the religion that this strange crowd
of clerics came from hadn't even had this type of clergy.  Individuals had
tried now and then, to establish such a part of the organization but it had
always petered out.  Then they had been beset by a bizarre series of events
that included an unprecedented arrival of prophetic figures and something
that smelled suspiciously of something that may have been messianic or else
it 'was just another incarnation of Godhead'.  It had taken a quiet,
rational, well educated religion by storm.  The reactions were mixed; many
were delighted and felt deeply moved, "Something this incredible has come
along, even for our religion..even though it's just us."  Others were
offended, "No, that's nothing but the kind of craziness found in irrational
backward religions; we don't have experiences like that in our religion."  

            Most of the progress was made by quietly hard working people
assembled or scattered throughout the religion, but there was no doubt that
the emergence of 'radical, even wildly evangelical & prophetic events'
heavily influenced the "intellectual's proper religious choice"  Unitarian
Universalism.

            It was still definitely true that most of the time, the Order
served as a secluded place where UUs could at last cultivate themselves
spiritually within the framework of their own religion rather than having to
always 'import and rework'.  Of course, what there was, was a combination of
techniques assembled together from other religions along with specifically
UU inventions and then thanks to the incredible work of a few heroic
individuals, these methods were adjusted for Unitarian Universalism and then
systematized for training and usage.  However, the Order, like many of those
that some of the Roman Catholics had, developed some specialized focus.  One
of these was that they practiced what they viewed as the most sensible
compromise of their desires for nonviolent conflict resolution and the need
for sufficient aggression to protect against some truly intolerant
opponents: nonlethal conflict management systems was one area of
development.  

            At the birth of their second century as the Holy Order for
Unitarian Universalists, the Order of the Flaming Chalice had what they
often laughingly called, 'the fire in the Chalice'.  This was a system,
within the UUA to send them out en masse to certain events.  The flames went
a bit further than the common and important forms of UU political activism.
Let's say there was a Gay Rights rally, but there was a high risk of
violence due to aggressive opposition from a particularly intense
conservative, strict Christian denomination expected.  While such opposition
is not the norm, in such a case, the UUA might send the entire Order to
protect the participants of the rally.  They prepared themselves of course
through meditations and practical organizations, through combat techniques
and through preparing for discursive disarmament strategies.  Their arm of
the UUA would gather in the extra funding, plot the course and timing, then
move, and 'boom': instead of demonstrators in favor and protestors moving
through the crowds on their own, there would be a protective wall of
clerics, often lining the entire path emitting calming energies to all sides
in their white & yellow robes.  

            They had a reputation for negotiation, but also for unarmed,
nonlethal combat.  As such, they had made the news again.  This time, even
the national journalists admitted, "In reality, it is probably true that
without the presence of this large group of monks and nuns, there probably
would have been a lot more violence."

            "The riot police had been given orders to tear gas the crowd and
beat them back.  The demonstrators were determined but doubtless even the
most intense of them were far more reluctant to hurl stones at this crowd of
clerics from a religion reknowned for its pacifism when they sure would have
thrown rocks at the cops."

            A journalist held out a microphone to one of the riot gear
wearing police officers.  "Sure," the cop said, "what's worse than hitting a
guy in glasses?  Hitting a woman.what's worse than hitting a woman or a
child?  Try this!"  He jutted his thumb at the throng of robed clergy.  Ten
of them were holding a banner that read "With Amnesty International for 175
years."  Some of them had shaven heads, others had hair and looked
'suspiciously normal'.

            Next up was a moment with a spokes person of the Order.  In this
case, it happened to be a middle aged man.  There was the sparkle of gold in
his robes.  "Hey, are these people really all monks and nuns?" 

            "Absolutely," the spokesman replied.  "This is the entire Order
of the Flaming Chalice, except for the few who couldn't make it.  We have
the newest additions, who just took their vows to spend a minimum of two
years, 100% of their time with the Order, to the most experienced who have
been with the Order from the time they were 18 years old, well over 50 years
ago."

            "You're all a bunch of Unitarian Universalists?"

            "Absolutely," replied the spokesman cheerfully yet with a
discernable intensity, "to the core!"

            "I heard you were all just a bunch of softy Liberals," the
policeman managed to say into the microphone.

            The spokesman smiled good naturedly, "Oh we are," he said.
"It's just that we have conviction."

            The cop laughed.  The camera man or woman pulled back showing
the cop's, spokesman's and journalist's faces.  Then the camera retreated a
bit further and the viewer could clearly see the way the monastics were
still working with the crowd and with the police.  At first glance, it
simply appeared that the two were being separated.  The camera team, being
savvy, found ways to show the next level of what was really going on.  There
were a good hundred or so of the clerics waving their arms through full
extensions up above and down through to their sides, but in a way so that as
a group their moving arms looked like the small revolving metal pieces on a
miniature soil tiller.  There was no denying the barricade effect.  Behind
the line, another, smaller group were working with small number of agitated
adults covered in riot gear.  Behind them, were a line up of cars and paddy
wagons with a long string of standing and seated police, most with their
helmets off.  The facial expressions showed feelings ranging from relief to
confusion, like they'd been forced off the field and onto the sidelines and
yet like instead of a little or lot of violence, there was only some
discomfort and a strange sensation that they were at once appreciated and
being protected.  Meanwhile, across the road, demonstrators were being
redirected and siphoned off as the demonstration had come to an end.  

            This victorious use of the Order to maintain peace was
celebrated throughout congregations of the UUA the following Sunday.
Before, during and after the event, the Sangha went about their business and
Boards both within the Order and pervasively throughout the Unitarian
Universalist Association tallied the costs and deemed it well worth while.
The Order of the Flaming Chalice was restricted to an outside maximum of 10
such episodes in any given year, and that only to address very severe
crises.  In most years there were there no more than three or so of these,
but only rarely were there more than five of these 'sendings of the entire
Order' in any given year.  

            Most days, the Order was more involved in providing an
adaptation of the Tea Ceremony as part of the repertoire of moving
meditation methods offered at the monastery while women wove in the morning
of days when men and women would sit in zazen or practice yoga together in
the afternoons and evenings.  It was not uncommon for people who
particularly liked one another to sit near one another during meals, nor was
it unusual for a sharp nudge in the ribs to indicate that having left burnt
food on the bottom interior of the saucepan used in making dinner was not
enjoyed by those who bought the item nor by those who did the dishes.
Finally, it was well known to at times have a bad effect on the taste of
whatever had been cooked.