Praise for Mad Monk Manifesto
“Monk Yun Rou’s new book, Mad Monk Manifesto, is a Taoist call-to-action to anyone wishing to save themselves and the planet.”
—Danielle Bolelli, PhD, author, professor, and host of
History on Fire and Drunken Taoist podcasts
“In this wide-ranging, amusing, and thoughtful book, Mad Monk Manifesto: A Prescription for Evolution, Revolution, and Global Awakening, Taoist Monk Yun Rou offers us a vision that can give hope to millions. It is a vision which is rooted in compassion, simplicity, and selflessness, and offers a pathway to a sustainable world—not just spiritually, but practically too. It is a book for snacking, but devouring too.”
—Graeme Maxton, Secretary General of the Club of Rome
and author of bestselling books
The End of Progress and Reinventing Prosperity
“With Mad Monk Manifesto, Monk Yun Rou presents a utopian treatise that reminds us of what we can aspire to. He has much wisdom to share.”
—Dr. Carl Pilcher, PhD, Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, NASA (retired)
“Uplifting, inquisitive, and elegant in its delivery, Monk Yun Rou’s newest work Mad Monk Manifesto shines a light on the importance of curiosity, kindness, and transformation in a world beset by overconsumption, the glorification of violence, and the relentless inundation and demands of the Information Age. A wonderful read for anyone looking to gain perspective and insight on the power of simplification and wonder!”
—Sarah Fimm, American singer-songwriter residing in Woodstock, NY
Mad Monk
Manifesto
A Prescription for Evolution, Revolution, and Global Awakening
Also By Yun Rou
Yin: A Love Story
Mad
Monk Manifesto
A Prescription for Evolution, Revolution, and Global Awakening
Monk Yun Rou
Copyright © 2018 Monk Yun Rou.
Published by Mango Publishing Group, a division of Mango Media Inc.
Cover Design: Roberto Núñez
Layout & Design: Roberto Núñez
Yin & Yang illustration by Nancy Bautista
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Mad Monk Manifesto: A Prescription for Evolution, Revolution, and Global Awakening
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication number: 2018957576
ISBN: (print) 978-1-63353-864-1, (ebook) 978-1-63353-865-8
BISAC category code: PHI023000—PHILOSOPHY / Taoist
Printed in the United States of America
For Tasman Rosenfeld, who will most certainly make our world a better place.
Contents
Fostering Community, Deepening Culture
Culture, Commerce, Government, and Power
Awakening to Spirit and Service
You hold in your hands a manifesto for change, an eleventh-hour emergency survival manual utterly devoid of bright-future reassurances and New Age pabulum. You will find nothing here about how thinking positive thoughts will help you look great in tight jeans, how brilliant your children are, how the whales really love us for killing them, or how the work you do in your high-salaried corporate position is critical to the survival of the universe. Although I hope you will find my words as spiritual as they are political, I am no Pollyanna. I don’t believe that all will soon be right with the world or that we are almost through the tough times. I don’t accept social media as a substitute for reality, or that our evolving into half-digital cyborgs will take away all our pain. I believe in the transformative power of both meditation and love, but don’t believe either