Journey Through Cancer – Chapter 54 – Practice, Service and Symptoms – An Addendum

I ended my last post, “In this case seeking to be of benefit to others results in having the capacity to work for their benefit. What could be more appropriate for a Buddhist?” This same idea arose again for me when I was reading an opinion piece in New Scientist magazine entitled “Consumerism is 'eating the future.'” The author quoted some of the participants and speakers at the latest annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America.
The author writes, “[One of the participants, William ]Rees [of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada] quotes economist Victor Lebow as saying in 1955: 'Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and our ego satisfaction in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever-increasing rate.'” This is obviously so contrary to Buddhist teaching in all the different schools of Buddhism.
However, for this and its consequences in an unsustainable economy of endless growth and the resultant destruction of the environment and robbing of weaker nations of their own natural resources is seen by the author and the attendees as a problem requiring greater and more powerful government intervention as its primary solution. Indeed they others seem to propose that the only way out of this is the creation of some sort of “super-government.” However, they do acknowledge the benefits of grassroots developments as limited as they see their effectiveness.
I am reminded of a recorded lecture that I watched from a Theravadan Buddhist monk who was explaining the different understanding of “the world” from a Buddhist perspective. He explained that there were three, the least important being the same as the Western understanding of “all that stuff out there.” However, from the Buddhist viewpoint the most important was the inner world of our mind and motivations and the less important was the world of our immediate sphere of influence. He explained that, as an example, if we want to do something about littering the normal Western response would be to make a law against it. However, from a Buddhist perspective, the way to bring about this external change would be to make a change in the inner world. In other words, if someone no longer has the inner motivations for a particular outer action, the outer action will not occur.
I cannot help but see Buddhism as the ideal cure for the conditions outlined in the article. If I no longer see my happiness as coming from the accumulation of possessions, conspicuous consumption will no longer dominate my life. Indeed, if others see my happiness increases as my attachments decrease, they might also seek this more inward path to happiness. Indeed, over my lifetime I have at sometimes had the normal stuff that most people accumulate and at other times only the contents of a backpack. There was a lot of freedom in having so little, knowing that my needs were still met.
Even now as I prepare for my ordination, the process of “liquidating my own estate” is quite liberating and satisfying. I wish others could understand that this is not some sort of aberration but rather some degree of the truly healthy attitude toward “stuff” that Lord Buddha taught. Furthermore, we do not do anything in isolation from all sentient beings, but rather must serve them as well. They are not merely some distant relation, but over the countless eons of time that we have been reborn in different forms every sentient being has at some time been our mother, father, brother or sister. As a consequence of such a view, I would not wish to do anything which might harm such lives. Instead, I would seek to act in a way that preserves those lives and enhances their well being. Furthermore, I would act in a responsible manner toward all the other inhabitants of this planet.
When I look at these massive perspectives of the whole planet and sustainable practices on such a scale or even on a national or regional scale, I have to remember that the true scope of my action is still the same: within myself. The focus of my action is both meditation and Dharma study and practice. While this may at first, from a Western point of view, seem like a far too limited scope of action, it is really the most expansive, because everything can start there and reach to the limits of existence. We are, after all, talking about Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient being. Is anything bigger than that?