Ex-banker turned Hindu monk urges Wall St to meditate

Thu Nov 17, 2011 8:40am GMT

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

Nov 17 (Reuters) - Rasanath Das, an ex-investment banker turned Hindu monk, was spending recent Sunday afternoons leading Occupy Wall Street protesters in meditation until police cleared their camp at New York's Zuccotti Park this week.

The 32-year-old monk isn't sure now where his next session will be. He'll keep following the protesters to lead meditation, though, convinced they will only roll back the inequality around them if they find equanimity deep inside.

"Anger won't solve anything," he told Reuters. "We have to work from the heart ... there is so much distrust now."

Das has been a discreet presence at the protests, leading short sessions before making way for other religious leaders to preach at a weekly interfaith service. What he doesn't tell is the unlikely story of how he ended up in Lower Manhattan.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/11/17/protest-occupy-hindu-idUKL5E7MH00020111117

Don't get me wrong, meditation's great, but it isn't going to help here.

They were the ones showing up with guns and signs encouraging violence, after all...