Principles versus Rules

​My long-time mentor, the late Dr. Varindra Tarzie Vittachi (d. 1993), was a crusading Sri Lankan journalist who rose to become an Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations. His doctorate was conferred honoris causa by Harvard toward the end of his life. Although for the world he worked tirelessly for freedom of the press as well as for human rights, especially in Third World countries where they were often limited or denied, for me he was for many years the chairperson of the International Subud organization, my under-the-radar spiritual association with members now in 100 lands. But, more importantly, he had chosen me and perhaps a half dozen other young people in Subud around the globe to mentor. As a result, wherever I, my wife, and family were living, he would stop by for a few days and stay with us on his way to here or there. He would always regale us with stories of the big world as well as the Subud world and generally take us out for a fine meal. Through him, in fact, I came to know and work for a while with Dr. Jonas Salk, his buddy and the founder of the first polio vaccine who at the time was interested in wisdom and how to cultivate it. Meanwhile, he (V.) came up with ways to mentor me and “his” other young people to become future leaders in Subud and beyond.

One of his oft-repeated lessons was the difference between rules and principles. The point was rule were weeds, while principles were herbs. The latter could really be of use in helping to bring about a just and equitable world whereas the former could trip one up and/or trap one in holier-than-thou behavior which one used, whether consciously or not, to put other people down. He termed this malevolent type of behavior “rule-mongering.” Beware, he would tell me and doubtless my comperes, with a generous helping of negative examples by way of illustration, to avoid becoming a “rule-monger.”

I was recently reminded of this particular caution when participating in a program sponsored by the national Episcopal Church called The Bible Challenge, AKA Read the Bible in a Year. Each day except for Sunday we read selections from the Old Testament, the New Testament, and currently a Psalm. On Sundays, in lieu of readings, we participants meet on Zoom with a retired priest in our parish, who leads us in a discussion of the past week’s readings. It is truly a challenge. And although I’ve been through the Good Book several times before, there is so much there, most of which lies buried somewhere in our minds. Anyway, one thing I noted was how rules-oriented the religion in the first Five Books of Moses was. Jehovah must have taken hours each day over many weeks dictating the list to Moses, with a warning that all 613 of these do’s and mainly don’ts needed to be kept to by the children of Israel, freshly brought out of slavery in Egypt, or else. Orthodox Jews to this day heroically attempt to keep them all. Then, in a way pioneered by the Jewish prophets, Jesus simplified the whole process into TWO Principles, the so-called Great Commandments: Love God and Love your Neighbor. Still hard to do, of course, but it’s sure easier to remember just two guidelines for living than straining to remember and follow all 613 rules. The or-else concept is also not too user-friendly. Fortunately, Jesus’ Abba (Daddy), far from being an angry, jealous, vengeful deity, is a nice guy whose default behavior is forgiveness for infractions and lots of second chances. Lovingkindness and mercy are paramount here.
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So three cheers for a few Principles and at least two boos for a wagonload of Rules!

A 30-something me with Varindra in the Honolulu International Airport.