Description
Throughout Governor Jerry Brown’s half century of politics—one of the most fascinating and effective public careers in California history—there has always run a deep moral and religious stream. Brown talks with co-hosts Jon Joseph, John Tarrant and David Weinstein about his evolving quest for an authentic spiritual and political life.
Summary
Throughout Jerry Brown’s half century of politics—one of the most fascinating and effective public careers in California history—there has always run a deep moral and religious stream. He has dedicated his whole being to inquiry and service.
In 1956 Jerry entered a Jesuit novitiate in Saratoga, California, where for four years he studied to be a Catholic priest. Within a decade of leaving the cloister he ran for and won the race for California Secretary of State. Following that he served four terms as governor, made three runs for U.S. President, and was elected Mayor of Oakland.
He currently serves as chair of the California-China Climate Institute at UC Berkeley, executive chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and on the board of the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
From recent interviews:
“Studying Zen in Japan with Koun Yamada and Enomiya LaSalle—both were extraordinary men. Ignatian meditation is about forming images. Zen is more severe; you simply sit on a cushion and breathe in and out; I did that for ten hours a day while in retreat. Zen is a different kind of experience. It does not have a doctrine, it is not even part of Buddhism. Attention in meditation transcends any denomination.”
“Politics is a power struggle to get to the top of the heap. Calcutta and Mother Teresa are about working with those who are at the bottom of the heap. I came to see them as no different from myself and their needs as important as my needs. And you’re there to serve them, and in doing that you are attaining as great a state of being as one can.”
“Our number one challenge in the world today is the threat of nuclear war. There has not been enough political debate on this … we have to live together on Planet Earth.”
“For me, religious experience is cultivating an ‘ecology of mind’ by watching nature, animals, watching dreams. Last year on our ranch in Colusa we picked over a ton of olives. Just taking the fruit from the tree, being on the land off the electric grid, no cell coverage, no television. Just watching the moon coming up, waxing and waning, being aware of what went before, gives a sense of what is coming after. It somehow feels good, it gives me hope. I am really enthusiastic: I love each day when I get up. And at night I walk my dogs and look at the stars.”
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