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    hardie karges 2:38 am on August 31, 2025 Permalink | Reply
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    The Buddhist Middle Path in an Imperfect World 

    If there is a Middle Path, then there is a choice. And if there is a choice, then there is free will. That’s important, because if there is no free will, then there is no morality. And if there is no morality, then there is no right or wrong. The world is a jungle and anything goes, and if anything goes, then you can be assured that much of that will be bad. Because we may be a diverse group of unique individuals, or not, but I’m fairly sure tha the number of angels here is limited.

    The Buddha made it clear, and I agree, that this is not a perfect world, i.e. there is suffering, the First Noble Truth. How was he, and we, so sure of that? No one gets out of here alive. That’s how we know. When that changes, then maybe it will be time for a new philosophy and a new religion, but until then, we do the best we can in an imperfect situation. We can mitigate that suffering by lowering our expectations and being open to change, but many needs will still be unresolved, and many changes will be difficult.

    So, the Middle Path is not so hard, but it’s not so easy, either. That’s why it’s called the Middle Path. Because taking sides is easy, clear, and distinct, but often wrong. Following a narrow winding path is much more difficult, looking for signs to hopefully find the way through rugged terrain in troubling times. The important thing is to keep pushing forward and create a path if it’s not so obvious. Because the most obvious paths are like water, flowing downhill until they reach something bigger and better. Once you find flowing water, then you have found a path of little resistance, and there will be a way forward.

     
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    hardie karges 3:02 am on August 24, 2025 Permalink | Reply
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    Buddhist Middle Path: Hold Your Applause 

    All you need is kindness. Compassion is good, too. These are the Buddhist foundational concepts known in the Pali language as metta and karuna, often combined in modern standard Thai language as mettakaruna. I guess that’s similar to the Christian compound word ‘lovingkindness’, but without all the gratuitous emotion, please. That’s more Christian than Buddhism has ever aspired to, and largely by design.

    Christians need to hug and kiss, often, while Buddhists could usually care less. Christians are emotion junkies, while Buddhists are cool as cukes, usually, salad dressing optional. So, Christians deliberately took that word from the Hebrew Chesed and translated it to lovingkindness to make a point. Then, when Buddhism came to the West, many practitioners figure what’s good for the goose… you know. But, by then, Buddhism has changed its character, and not necessarily for the better.

    But that’s one way to fight the charge of pessimism and nihilism: slather the special sauce, and Bam! Thailand becomes like the Philippines, all of a sudden, fiery and passionate. I suppose there’s no real harm, but it’s really not what Buddhism is in its essence–just the opposite. Emotions go up and down as if by design, while the Buddhist path steers towards the middle always. That’s not a hard rigid path, but it’s not seeking peak emotion, either. That’s American Photography Course 101, always seeking ‘peak emotion’. Good luck with that. I’ll follow the Middle Path.

     
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    hardie karges 2:41 am on August 3, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Cessation of Suffering, Christian Science, GNH, GNP, , , , Middle Path, , ,   

    Buddhism and the Cessation of Suffering… 

    Wealth has nothing to do with the money in your pocket or your bank account. It has to do with the quality of your thought. That’s why Buddhism is at least semi-renunciative, because there are more important things in life than money. And if that’s what the Bhutanese government official meant when he said something to the effect that Bhutan has no GNP Gross National Product, instead they have GNH Gross National Happiness, then I think that’s what he meant, not that Bhutan is the happiness country in the world, something which would be extremely hard to prove, anyway.

    But, it’s been said a thousand times before, and it’ll be said a thousand times more, that there’s more to life than money, and nothing could be truer. Because, if it’s all about money, then how much is enough? At that point, you’ve defined life as something quantitative, and not qualitative, and that’s never good, the artificial thirst and hunger that inhabit the material body in the material world. In Buddhism, this lust is usually associated with thirst, so trsna or tanha in Sanskrit and Pali.

    In that sense, it’s natural, so nothing to be ashamed of, but still it’s definitely something to mitigate the extremes of, in order to mitigate the suffering. And I think that’s largely implicit in Buddhism by the use of the term ‘cessation of suffering’ and not ‘cure’. Because I don’t really think that anybody is really looking for a miracle cure with traditional Buddhism the way they might be with Christian Science or even Vajrayana Buddhism, but that’s exactly what the Buddha had in mind, I feel sure. Keep the parties to a minimum and keep the suffering to a minimum for a good and happy life. That’s the middle path.

     
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    hardie karges 4:40 am on July 13, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , letting go, , Middle Path,   

    Buddhism and the Conundrum of Forgiveness 

    People make mistakes. Life is too short to hold grudges. Forgiveness is necessary. And this may be one area where Westerners score higher on the Richter scale of righteousness than Asians, but that isn’t necessarily the fault of Buddhism. I think forgiveness is certainly encouraged by Buddhism, but other forces are at play, also. Still, forgiveness is one of the foundations of Christianity, and that is to its credit. Because forgiveness is one of the hardest things in life, and it can only be perfected with practice.

    The hard part is sometimes admitting fault, but that is not always necessary, nor is it completely discernible as to who the offending party is. So, then the hard part is simply letting go of those selfish considerations to concentrate on starting anew. Most Buddhists embrace the idea of living in the present moment, so this semi-necessary re-start should be second nature. If we truly live in the present moment, then we’ll never become bogged down in reconciling the past nor plotting the future.

    But that’s easier said than done, and though I’m not the ‘present moment’s biggest loudspeaker, I’m certainly a loyal fan from the bleacher seats. For one thing, the Buddha never said much about the Present Moment, to my knowledge, and for another, it doesn’t mesh well with the concept of karma. The future can be a beautiful sea of possibilities, too, hardly the drudgery that is often characteristic of the past. As always, the Middle Path rules. So, the act of forgiveness need not be some ritual of self-mortification when a simple ‘letting go’ will do just fine.

     
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    hardie karges 3:58 am on July 6, 2025 Permalink | Reply
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    Buddhism and the Principle of Relativity 

    Buddhism is not about glorifying the Buddha. It is about humbling yourself. Because if you think that you are the master of this world, then you have more problems than anyone can help you with, Buddha included. But this is intrinsic to all the world’s religions, isn’t it? Surrender to that which is greater and better than you? Yes, of course. The problem is to separate that from the petty dictators who would derail that religious instinct for their own nefarious purposes in order to accumulate wealth and power.

    The Buddha is a symbol and the exemplar, and, in many ways, the ‘way shower’ that Jesus was. And even though he was certainly quite special, he was hardly unique. Many are the prophets who simply said what was obvious to them, yet hidden to many others, because their eyes were not open to something so sublime. Middle Path? Duh. I could’ve told you that, but it was all about the content in the context of a historical situation that typically finds itself stalled at a series of crossroads.

    And so it was in the time of the Buddha in the place of the Buddha, where ‘Hindu’ Brahmanists were dualling (!) with the resident Jains over many of the same questions that obsessed the Buddha, no wonder. So, the Brahmanists were awash in rituals, while the Jains were awash while nude in spring rains, so the Buddha steps in and says let’s split the difference: enough ritual to remember while we’re here, but let’s wear some clothes while we’re at it, so that our donors giving dana are not scared of us by sight. Done. A practice was established of partial renunciation and partial reconciliation, and the rest is history.

     
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    hardie karges 2:56 am on March 2, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , gratitude, , , , , , , Middle Path, , Pangea, ,   

    Buddhism and the Middle Path Dialectic… 

    Gratitude is the companion to kindness and compassion in a perfect circle of Right Action and virtuous intent. Gratitude may be more of a Western thing than an Eastern thing, but that changes nothing. Gratitude is good. Lovingkindness was more of a Western thing than Eastern, also, until the Buddhists adopted it as their own as a suitable translation for the Sanskrit/Pali word metta, and the rest is history. The circle is complete, West meets East, Buddhism meets Christianity, and we are all better off for it.

    Because there is no fundamental distinction between the positions of West and East, not really, simply flip sides of the same coin, two pillars of a dialectic, in which antithesis counters the thesis in order to reach a higher synthesis. Now that’s not strict formal Buddhism (it’s Hegel), but I think it’s a nice approach to the Middle Path, illustrating clearly the fact that the Middle Path is not a cold hard set of prohibitions or dogmas, but is open and fluid and capable of change if and when the time is right for it.

    Notwithstanding the fact that India and the West have a common origin (see my upcoming book) genetically and geographically, if you go even farther back, the entire civilized world has common origins in Africa as homo sapiens and even farther back in Pangea as the large family mammalia, that split then from their reptilian ancestors. That’s who we are, consciousness and all, putting nouns and verbs together in sentences growing more complex every day, looking for a path with heart, despite all the suffering. Look inside; that’s the trick.

     
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    hardie karges 4:48 am on December 22, 2024 Permalink | Reply
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    Buddhism and the Middle Path of Least Resistance… 

    The Middle Path can be tricky, it seems, to avoid being sucked into the seductions of the sideline. Streams flow smoothest at the center. But the edges are where the fun occurs, apparently, giving rise to the word ‘edgy’ and the pleasures therein, pushing envelopes and sealing deals, and leaving nothing to the imagination but fantasy. Why do we love hot coffee or iced coffee but detest the tepid middle temps? We love extremes, even at the risk of self-harm. So, in a very important way, the Middle Path is not something tricky and difficult and a test to one’s patience, at all, but is really the easiest and most convenient path.

    We often make life hard in our quest for abundance and diversions, stacking up stuff in piles all the while with no real plan to utilize them, much less to ever dispose of them. But this is often unnecessary. I know it’s almost cliché by now, but how much do you really need? We often assume ‘the more the better’, but that puts all other clichés to shame, and nothing indeed could be further from the truth. For this I speak from personal experience, while passing no judgment against the predominant capitalist economies of the West and their wannabes.

    But it can be a trap and largely defines the Buddhist concept of ‘craving’, which is generally to be avoided. But that’s not just stuff in the closet but stock in trade. The first thought I had when starting to do business, was my exit plan. And, not surprisingly, that’s the part that I did best, defining the timeline as a function of the overall business plan, and therefore leaving with few regrets, and even less stock in trade, while being largely successful, for what I wanted to accomplish. The Buddhist Middle Path is not so different, really. To say that it is the path of least resistance would not say nearly enough, but neither would it be totally wrong. To go with the flow can be good sometimes.

     
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    hardie karges 4:32 am on December 8, 2024 Permalink | Reply
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    Buddhism Basics: Metta and Karuna, Kindness and Compassion… 

    Kindness and compassion, metta and karuna, are not the path of weakness. They are the path of true strength, which may or may not coincide with the popular images of ‘big men’ and ‘strong men’ flexing muscles and making waves, but that is not the paradigm of the Buddhist monk in partial renunciation from the world. That is the paradigm of the world that the Buddhist must renounce, at least partially, the world of hatred, fear, and anger, often masquerading as bravado, strength, and victory.

    Ironically, many Buddhists may defer to such popular images of strength and victory while forgoing it themselves. Because they know that such phenomena are the manifestations of the world, samsara, over which they have little of no control. We can only control ourselves. But, if we can stay on the good side of those circumstantial strong men that the world spits out like so many celebrities for sale, then so much the better. That’s ‘skillful means.’ It doesn’t imply superior dharma or any kind of enlightenment on the part of the big man, just survival instincts on the part of the average bloke.

    But Buddhism is a path of kindness and compassion. That much is certain. The only question is how best to manifest that in our own private lives. As always, the Middle Path seems to offer the best clue. Don’t be too passive or too aggressive. There is a sweet spot right there in the middle somewhere, defined by an almost equal distance from the extremes that we must avoid. And if it seems like this is a path for losers and nondescript middlemen, then nothing could be farther from the truth. Living right is its own reward.

     
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    hardie karges 4:35 am on November 3, 2024 Permalink | Reply
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    Buddhist Middle Path and the Problem of Free Will… 

    The path is not straight and narrow. It may be long and winding. It may go in circles. It may go up and down. But it’s best somewhere in the middle. Let’s call it that ‘sweet spot.’ Let’s call it ‘that special blend.’ Let’s call it ‘the Middle Path.’ It’s all alluding to the same thing: avoidance of extremes—and rigid definitions. Because those are two recipes for disaster. The current debate over free will is a perfect example (can you believe that there’s a debate over free will in the year 2024?).

    The determinist side says that there are all these preconditions that make absolute free will impossible. Duh. But who’s talking about absoluteness? The free will side says that man’s free will is unlimited. Huh? There’s only one problem; nothing is unlimited. Oh, dear, what to do? There seems to be clear evidence of free will and clear evidence of determinism at the same time. But how is that possible? What is the solution to such an obvious existential conundrum?

    Bingo. The Middle Path to the rescue, i.e. there must be some free will, but not absolute, and there must be some determinism, but not unlimited, and they just might be able to coexist at the same time, doing the do-see-do, doing the hootchie-koo, doing the I-love-you with the best of all opposites that feel inclined to mix and match and see what life can bring amidst all the hardship and suffering that we must endure in this Godforsaken world. It’s only a tribute to the brilliance of life and culture that this simple truth is the foundation to something much larger and lasting at the same time. And that is Buddhism, pure and hopefully simple, on a good day.

     
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    hardie karges 2:56 pm on September 22, 2024 Permalink | Reply
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    Buddhism 101: There are no Winners or Losers…  

    There are no winners or losers. There are only players and non-players. Either one is fine, but if you play, then play well. The concept of winning and losing is obviously a binary circumstance, as are players vs. non-players or even East vs. West. But sometimes binary terms are effective in conveying a message, even if they are often ineffective in organizing your life. Because, we Buddhists have long been of the opinion that the Middle Path is the best guide to living your life with or without any scientific proof. 

    But the concept of winning vs losing is especially offensive, as it suggests that some people are simply better than others, regardless of any merit displayed or accrued in the process of playing the game, which suggests racism, if not just arrogance or hubris. None of that has ever been proven, of course, and my gut hunch is exactly the opposite: the more mixed the race the more superior, but again that’s hard to prove or disprove. 

    The issue of players vs non-players is more well-defined, though, in that participation is an act of will and not an accident of birth. So, when comparing the aggressive Abrahamic traditions vs the renunciative dharma traditions, it is possible to draw some conclusions, even if they are still subject to interpretations and circumstances. Because, while India and China long ago embraced renunciative dharma and taoist traditions, their cultures are anything but. And while the abrahamic West is known for its aggressive colonialism, some of the world’s finest most peaceful cities and cultures are to be found there today. 

    So, it’s a mixed bag at best, and I myself qualify as a proponent of renunciation only in the sense that too much wrong action has already been done, and so its opposite is now often preferable. But I don’t think that humans should be passive and that’s not how I live my life. So, my conception of Buddhism is somewhat like Marx’s communism, something appropriate after the previous partial phases have occurred, i.e. its time has come. At an earlier time, something else was possibly more appropriate, but not now. So, when someone insults you or feeds bait your ego, do nothing–quickly.

     

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