Week 9
According to Buddhism, the main source of our suffering is our preoccupation with our own desires. Suffering is said to be caused by selfish cravings and desires. The way to enlightenment, for Buddhism, therefore involves detaching from our narrow concern with ourselves, escaping the prison of our own desires and illusions.
Do you think it is possible to live according to this teaching in the contemporary United States? Is there a conflict between what Buddhism teaches, and how we are encouraged to think and act in our society? What are your thoughts on this?
I think it is possible to live according to Buddhism in the U.S. but there is a conflict between both of them. In our society we are raised to be a competitor, you have to be “strong” in order to get a successful career and a lot of times you set a side some values that Buddhism consider essential. The passage in the text that I think that shows what I am trying to say is “ we are like a child who has reached into a jar of candy and gotten his hand stuck. He doesn’t realize that the cause of his distress is that his hand is clenched into a fist around the candy, making it too large to slip out of the opening. If he would just let go, his hand would be freed…from our desires come frustration, resentment, greed, selfishness… that cause suffering.” I am not saying that we should give up our dreams, but I think we should know how to balance the material and spiritual life in order to accommodate both in our lives. And that’s not easy, because most of the times we let one side talk louder then other. And in our society usually, the material side is the stronger side.
According to Buddhism, the main source of our suffering is our preoccupation with our own desires. Suffering is said to be caused by selfish cravings and desires. The way to enlightenment, for Buddhism, therefore involves detaching from our narrow concern with ourselves, escaping the prison of our own desires and illusions.
Do you think it is possible to live according to this teaching in the contemporary United States? Is there a conflict between what Buddhism teaches, and how we are encouraged to think and act in our society? What are your thoughts on this?
I think it is possible to live according to Buddhism in the U.S. but there is a conflict between both of them. In our society we are raised to be a competitor, you have to be “strong” in order to get a successful career and a lot of times you set a side some values that Buddhism consider essential. The passage in the text that I think that shows what I am trying to say is “ we are like a child who has reached into a jar of candy and gotten his hand stuck. He doesn’t realize that the cause of his distress is that his hand is clenched into a fist around the candy, making it too large to slip out of the opening. If he would just let go, his hand would be freed…from our desires come frustration, resentment, greed, selfishness… that cause suffering.” I am not saying that we should give up our dreams, but I think we should know how to balance the material and spiritual life in order to accommodate both in our lives. And that’s not easy, because most of the times we let one side talk louder then other. And in our society usually, the material side is the stronger side.
posted by Monica @ 3:34 PM
1 Comments:
At 7:25 PM,
Professor Roger said…
It's interesting how you draw the distinction between Buddhism and our cultural consumerist orientation here. Perhaps you are right that it is possible to establish a balance.
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