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and therefore, there is some kind of implicit leeway or permission for them to be “weak” on
occasion. This has been seen in news about jihadists drinking alcohol and visiting bars for adult
entertainment, as well as in the sexual scandals of the Catholic Church or the photos that we have
seen of Buddhist monks traveling by private jet to oversee their fortunes. Of course, I do not mean to
condemn all men and women of religious devotion. On the contrary.
What I am saying to you is that you need to make sure that you understand that those with plausible
authority are also human beings like you and me. They are human beings, who can and will be
distracted by the traditional human temptations of power, money, and sex. When I was a child, I was
always willing to inflate the authority of such people, based simply on the fact that they carried
themselves with authority. They had special uniforms. They had specialized knowledge. They spoke
with a weariness that must have come from deep thought and great suffering. They spoke to us in a
mystical manner. We would not understand everything they said, because we were simply not wise
enough or good enough to understand.
The aura of authority can serve as a cloak for earthier matters. I want you to be aware of this
possibility. This is a very human weakness of those who are looking for certainties in an ever
changing world. We have a desire to know and believe that there are truly good people somewhere
nearby. When we think we have found such a person, we are tempted to grant them our respect and
even love. We slip into adding qualities to them that other observers can see they do not possess.
Beware about endowing others with a goodness they do not have. Recognize that the goodness you
see in them may actually be your own goodness. Turn your eyes inward to your own goodness and
recognize that for what it is worth.
The question of authority is common to all religions. It spreads wider to encompass the workplace,
school, and university, and anyplace where humans interact.
There is always someone who claims to know better than the others. Over the course of my life, I
have gone from gullibly believing those who claim this authority in front of the group to having a
more realistic view. I want you to make this move quicker than I did. We are often advised to give
someone the benefit of the doubt. Or we are told that someone has a good heart deep down and thus
we should not judge this person on the basis of their outward behavior. Or that the person in question
is so learned that only those who have come close to learning as much will ever truly understand the
wisdom attained.
The other side of this relationship is that you are told that you do not have the authority to speak on
certain matters. Again, you will find this in all spheres of life, including the sphere of religion. The
acquisition of authority by one person usually correlates with a removal of authority from the other
person. Here you will be told that you should simply fall in line, follow orders, be a team player, do
your job, focus on what you can do, and leave more serious matters to others.