I find it interesting that some of the most hallowed spots on the planet are surrounded by starvation and abject poverty.What does that mean?
When you completed the devouring of your stuffed turkey this holiday season (or whatever consumables you devoured), how did you rationalize the fact that your stomach was full while in 3rd world societies distended stomachs are indicative of the starvation and malnutrition of millions? We can't deny this as true, so how do we deny the guilt that most occur from such truth? How could we NOT feel guilt?
I'm just curious as to what rationalizations are used to offset guilt. I imagine, (from my own experience) just plain old denial or factual repression tends to work well for a time, but (also from my own experience) never entirely. Guilt seems to seep back into consciousness and of course, the "news" is not very helpful in repressing guilt when the images are right there in front of your face (just look at the situation unfolding in Gaza right now).
This has always been my difficulty with the concept of individual enlightenment as the Buddha and others proclaim. The prince left his palace to experience the suffering of the masses, only to sit under the Bodhi tree and become "enlightened." Unfortunately, that didn't seem to change conditions for the starving masses. They still kept on starving, even today. But I'm consistently told that I just don't understand Buddhism. Ok, so how do the Buddhists deal with guilt?How do we dissolve the guilt that others starve, while we partake of abundance (or obesity)? Due to my particular field, I've always had an interest in the use of ego defense mechanisms (Freud) in order to cope with an absurd reality. So what do you use to defend yourself from this unfortunate aspect of reality? Do you absolve your guilt by "seeking enlightenment" or maybe by "being enlightened"? (so what the hell is that!?)
Suffering may be a part of this "oneness" we all love to speak about, but if we haven't fully worked to reduce suffering can we really say WE are part of "oneness"?
In fact, shouldn't we being doing everything we can? Shouldn't we ALL be selling our HDTVs or our Ipods and sending the money to the starving? LOL! Obviously, I'm as guilty as you, so the point is what should we do? Just accept that guilt is part of life?
Nah......
I would imagine that an enlightened or awakened mind would have no difficulty alleviating starvation, otherwise why call it "enlightened"? Therefore, seems like more of the same old blah, blah, blah, to me.
Or maybe NO separate person has yet achieved "enlightenment" (yet), because NO one separate mind CAN? Maybe, inevitably, we will all need to be starving first, (spiritually/physically?) causing an equalization of 'experience' and, from there we can ALL be enlightened together!
Thanks for listening....
Wow. That one goes straight to the gut. Which is where I'm sure you intended it to go.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the best we can do is to cultivate a compassionate attitude at the same time that we seek enlightenment, so that gradually we can become more adept at helping those around us and thus encourage them to help those around them. The circle of influence that surrounds us gradually becomes one of compassion rather than greed. As we learn to defer the ego to compassionate attitude/action, we increasingly become able to influence a larger circle, and with energy that is increasingly positive. In which case it's less important how we feel about tragedy and suffering in the world than what we do about it, both directly and indirectly.
Guilt might be an expression of empathy, but it is also a form of suffering. Could it be that there is a more healthy way of suffering on behalf of others who suffer? Maybe there's a time for us all to give up our iPods and extra robes and suits, but we have to prepare ourselves for such acts step by step, otherwise we end up just feeling even more guilty than before and miserable too. Or maybe we're both just making excuses. I dunno, I will stop rambling now.
Mr. Pianist,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thought provoking comment. Possibly you are correct and that "the best we can do is to cultivate a compassionate attitude at the same time that we seek enlightenment..."
Is that occurring now or will we require a massive, and somewhat frightening, paradigm shift? As a western hedonistic nation will we need to be shaken to our core before we can give up our money and possessions in seeking an equalized suffering for all? (since we have obviously refused to allow abundance for all). If we all suffer equally how can there be guilt?
You "rambling" is welcome here anytime.
Thanks,
mikeS