written 4/7/24
At MAPLE we have a standard dress code. Clothes must be dark in color, so white is off-limits. The Head Monk’s job is to enforce the dress code, one of their many duties. However, historically at MAPLE, holding up the dress code is really uncomfortable. It is awkward to give the feedback. And people often feel defensive when receiving the feedback. For a variety of reasons.
One week in April of 2024, one of our villagers wore a white sweater to a lecture. Soryu noticed this, questioned the Head Monk who hadn’t noticed this, and it was soon corrected.
The next day, the same villager was in the Main Hall during breakfast and wearing a white sweater again. Namgyal, the Head Monk, was sitting at the end of the table, and Soryu was at the head. Soryu asked him: “What’s the problem?” Namgyal replied, “I don’t know there is a problem.” Soryu said, “So there’s the problem.”
After breakfast, Soryu asked me if I thought he’d handled the situation well. I didn’t respond to this question, not having an answer, but I brought up a real confusion: Why would the same thing (with the sweater) happen after it was so recently corrected? What was happening here?
For me, I was mostly wondering what was happening in the villager’s mind. But Soryu quickly commented, naming (correctly!) that it was actually Namgyal who should be investigated.
As the Head Monk, Namgyal was responsible for the container. And something in Namgyal was affecting how people held the dress code, which had been slipping more and more recently.
My real question is still not answered, but it is important to know where to look.