In my view, Mahatma Gandhi was a true patriot. While he was not without fault, he functioned as a fourth monkey in every facet of his public life. Unlike the idiot, zealot and elitist, Gandhi lived a lifestyle of few attachments, and in his public life embodied the characteristics of the fourth monkey; fear no evil.
Excluding the clothes on his back, his spectacles, sandals and comb, Gandhi's one material possession was a porcelain statue of Three Wise Monkeys, which he received as a gift from Chinese admirers. Today there are statues of the Three Wise Monkeys at Gandhi's one-time residence, where he began his march to protest the taxation and monopolization of sea salt in 1930.
The lesson of the wise monkeys is layered in its interpretation, but what cannot be debated is that the truly wise maintain all of their senses. The wise do not participate in evil nor ignore evil in one way or another; they do not observe evil in fear of it, but in calm, determined awareness. Like the fourth wise monkey, they stay informed and alert. They ignore only irrelevance. They listen and observe without prejudice, not hindering their own senses for fear. They are characterized by discerning vision, an understanding ear, thoughtful speech and the courage to hold their ground.
"Non-cooperation with evil is a sacred duty." ~ Gandhi
People are not monkeys. People are people; it is our reaction to information that defines us. We are all alike; we all want food, and clean water, and personal freedom for instance. The difference between people is in how they react to information. Our reactions are often based on prior information, experience and acquired tolerations or fears, and people can transpose from one to the other depending on the conditions and circumstances.
Thinking as a patriot does not necessarily mean you want change for its own sake, only when change is necessary to make a right or cancel a wrong. They are able to embrace change, including stopping, by openly questioning new information. Patriots are willing to implement change through their action and inaction. Patriots use their senses and cease participation in the perpetuation of manipulated information. Patriots are a rarity in society, like four leaf clovers in the forest, but they indeed exist. Patriots are not afraid to stop, look, listen and speak up. Patriots do not fear repercussions of their speech, they are unafraid to speak the truth.
"I do believe that where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence I would advise violence," Gandhi wrote in his famous work, Doctrine of the Sword.
Most everyone is afraid of something; afraid of what evil they might see or hear, or have to speak out about. Patriots may be afraid at times as well; everyone is afraid sometimes. But only true patriots are not afraid of obtaining or sharing information, and speaking out on their perspective of truth. Patriots are unafraid of taking right action, or halting action on behalf of what is right. If patriots are wary of anything, it is the outcome of the fear and ignorance that continues without the freedom and availability of information. Patriots look, listen, speak up so that other individuals may benefit.
"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are headed." ~Lao Tzu, Reputed Author of Tao Te Ching
The strength of the Patriot lies in the lessons of history. Exploitative institutional mechanics can be dismantled and bettered, and individuals can ascend institutional walls. Just as people are capable of creating institutions, people are capable of halting or developing exploitive institutions as well. Institutions after all, are only a human structure -- a social machinery. When pushed too far, idiots and zealots are capable of realizing they have blinded their eyes and plugged their ears to the truth. And when they push a population too far, controlling empires will inevitably fall.
When evil is about, the only way to cancel it is to look, listen, speak up about it and cease support of it without fear. Stand up forthrightly, unafraid. Do not cooperate with evil, but face it head on. When evil becomes institutionalized, by governments and corporations, it must be confronted by the people with foreknowledge of their surroundings and conditions. Only by using the senses and refusing to serve evil, can one make monkey-work out of canceling the evil that lurks behind the shadows of our society.
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