The Path of Civility

On Saturday mornings I always go to the local market in Chalabre, where there are almost inevitably longish queues at the stalls and shops. This gave me the opportunity of reading through most of this book and finishing it in the hammock outside my writing hut, which overlooks the village. It brings to the fore the importance of civility in personal and social terms, rooted as it is 'in an altruistic spirit, founded on an understanding that we are basically good and that we best grow and succeed through cooperation. The originality of the book is that it combines the wisdom of the Buddha and George Washington. As beings of passion, it is our task to transform the three poisons of ignorance, attachment and aggression into compassion. This leads into a chapter on the six perfections of a generous spirit, kindness, patience, discipline, stillness and wisdom. Wisdom is further broken down, as is compassion, and here the author makes the useful observation that civil disobedience corresponds to a form of wrathful compassion and it is even enshrined in the First Amendment.nThe principles of appropriate speech are set out, and are followed by a detailed chapter on mind training and civility, drawing on the 59 slogans composed by the 11^th century Buddhist sage Atisha. These give sound practical advice and are embodied in a special meditation. The longest chapter is an analysis of George Washington's rules of civility, of which he copied down 110 from the original book Youth's Behaviour, Or Decencie in Conversation amongst Men published in 1668 and drawing on an earlier Jesuit text dating back to 1595. The author's commentary brings the content into a modern context and the principles can be summarised in terms of nobility, dignity, magnanimity, generosity, courtesy, consideration, modesty, respect and integrity. These are all vital moral virtues that form the basis of the important work undertaken by the Jubilee Centre in Birmingham (www.jubileecentre.ac.uk) and my own work at www.inspiringpurpose.org.uk. A civilisation is rooted in civility, and a decline in the latter spells the demise of the former – an important and timely contribution to note and implement.