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hardie karges
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hardie karges
Modern Buddhism and the Three Poisons
The only things to fear are greed, hatred, and ignorance. Call them the Three Poisons or the Three Unwholesome Roots, the result is the same. These are the cause of many of our problems, and much of our suffering. In fact, you could probably make a case that these are all part of the larger category of craving, which is the Buddha’s favorite cause to call out for its unwholesomeness to our quality of life. But I don’t blindly follow the Buddha, simply because he’s right 99% of the time.
Because the Buddha, like Jesus, Plato, and even Einstein, can be wrong at times, and that is a sign of his humanness. Other times, I simply don’t agree with him, though neither opinion could really be proven wrong or right, simply different perspectives. For example, the concept of change, anicca. Because Anicca is not only one of the Three Marks of Existence, along with (Anatta) non-self and Dukkha (suffering), it is also frequently counted as a cause of suffering, along with craving, tanha.
But I don’t see change that way, because I don’t see life that way. To use the Buddha’s own logic, if life is largely painful, then might not change be a good thing? I would think so. Then there is diversity, which is largely defined by changes, from one person and one culture to the next. To me, that is bad only if both are hateful. If both are kind and compassionate, then so much the better are the changes. If I travel from one country to another, I certainly don’t want nor expect them to all be the same. If I want to learn, then I am embracing change.
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hardie karges
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hardie karges
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hardie karges
Modern Buddhism: Life in the Slow Lane of the Meandering Middle Path
Human aggression, arrogance, and greed aren’t solved by more of the same, but by dialog and reconciliation, of opposites. This is another use of the famous Middle Path, and possibly more important than the more personal and subjective one between luxury and poverty, or smartphones and meditation. Because this one also predicts the rise of the Buddhist Mahayana school and its social orientation over the personal, and it even predicts the Hegelian dialectic to come some thousands of years later.
It also shows the indirect approach to Buddhist teaching, without commandments or strict requirements, but only a handful of prohibitions against the most onerous behavior, with only some general guidelines besides that. Buddhim isn’t too concerned about blood lines or caste restrictions, simply the overriding need for polite and appropriate behavior and the avoidance of extremes. For better or worse, most Buddhists are willing to let Karmic retribution take care of anything that the local courts can’t handle.
And that’s probably the best approach, as long as the ‘multiple feedback loops of karma’ don’t make you lose any sleep at night, wondering if those checks have cleared and whether balances have been ‘zeroed’, haha, ‘shunyata’ emptiness joke. But that’s probably appropriate, too. It is not Buddhism’s job to pay your bills nor collect your debts. But regardless of your Buddhist ‘school’, the simple kindness that the Dalai Lama mentioned forty years ago is probably the best focus of your practice, or ‘lovingkindness’, if you prefer. The rest is simple life, life in the slow lane, chopping wood and carrying water…
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hardie karges
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hardie karges
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hardie karges
Buddhism, the Meaning of Life, and the 3 Marks of Existence
To grasp at sensations to relieve boredom is like grasping at straws to save your life. But that is the situation we are faced with, having come so far from the formerly primitive state that we languished so long in, somewhere between low flying angels and high-flying monkeys. Now we are successful and have nothing much to show for it, while capitalists jack the rents up to line their pockets with profits and the rest of us struggle to make ends meet, all while AI threatens our jobs and politicians too often take sides with the mob.
The concept of balance is sorely lacking in most of our lives, but that is certainly implied if not explicitly stated in the Buddhist Middle Path. To avoid extremes is to seek balance. But, if that means to forego some treats that might provide some temporary rush of excitement to the pleasure centers of the brain, then most people will pass on that option, even if that means to forego some savings that might come in very handy during lean times or retirement years.
And that’s what the Buddha himself recommended, saving 25% of income for a rainy day (Sigalovada Sutta, DN31), back when incomes were much simpler than today, and even recommending 50% reinvestment to create and guarantee future income, allowing only 25% for daily expenses. Did someone say something about the present moment? Of course he did. That is meditation. He also had some good suggestions on how to live a good life. Don’t lie, Don’t kill, Don’t cheat, Don’t steal, etc. Sounds a lot like the Christian Ten Commandments, doesn’t it?
The Second Five of the Ten Commandments, yes, are almost identical to the Five Precepts of Buddhism, except for the one that says Don’t Drink, ouch. The First Five are almost identical to Islam. I suppose the difference between Precept and Commandment is much of the difference between Buddhism and Christianity, too. Buddhism has few sacred names or days, while carved statues and parents are optional. Sabbe sankhara anicca, Sabbe sankhara dukkha, sabbe dhamma anatta. All conditioned things are impermanent and imperfect. All phenomena are without souls. Those are the Three Marks of Existence.
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hardie karges
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hardie karges
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