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It\u2019s interesting how some of the cardinal virtues of American culture: ambition, desire (drive?), and pride, are seen as vices in early Buddhism<\/a>. But in truth we need to be careful here. For, as the great English scholar David Webster has shown (<\/b>The Philosophy of Desire in the Buddhist Pali Canon<\/b><\/a>), there are plenty of ways in which \u2018desire\u2019 in Buddhism is a very good thing \u2013 desire for enlightenment being an obvious one, desire to help people in need, and so on.<\/b> Westerners tend to see the Pali term tanha<\/i>\u00a0(Sanskrit: trishna<\/i>) translated as desire and given the villainous role of causer of all suffering. But in fact the term refers more to \u2018thirsting\u2019 \u2013 even used in that colloquial sense at the time \u2013 and thus is a technical term used by the Buddha for a very particular kind of desire, one which by it\u2019s nature could not be satisfied and would thus lead to frustration.<\/div>\n
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That again brings us back to our society, which seems built upon frustration and the promise that more ambition, desire, and pride might be the solution. I\u2019ve had the pleasure of several really good conversations with my new coworkers here \u2013 and students as well \u2013 and look forward to more in India. Common to many of them has been the realization that the system is broken. The scraping along, grand celebrations at each new achievement, and grand disappointment in each set-back, just doesn\u2019t cut it in the end<\/b>. That last sentence just might be a realistic<\/i>\u00a0version of the \u2018American Dream\u2019.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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But for those who realize that the system is arbitrary and our participation is voluntary, there is a sort of small awakening.<\/div>\n
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Think about that. The whole American capitalistic meritocracy is arbitrary. Those who \u2018make it\u2019 and those who don\u2019t can\u00a0not<\/i>\u00a0be placed in relations of goodness or industriousness any other virtue you choose. Sometimes those who fail and are forgotten truly are amongst the best in the world. Too often those who succeed wildly are despicable human beings<\/b>. The American system \u2013 which extends to various degrees throughout the world now \u2013 doesn\u2019t prevent this, it facilitates it.<\/div>\n
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This is where foreign travel comes in. I learned today that Wanda, the manager of our program in Bodh Gaya, is doing some sort of research on how foreign travel effects our ethics \u2013 I think especially for students who will be exposed to this culture for the first time. I\u2019m very intrigued. My own hypothesis is that the trip will expand our notions of our \u2018selves\u2019 in the sense that we will realize that much of our previous belief\u2019s about \u2018us\u2019 were very limited \u2013 by our culture<\/b>. Seeing people living in such different conditions should force all of us to rethink our identity and what we take for granted in life. Of course those who are self-assured and insecure (you know the type<\/a>, those who are very self-confident but utterly incapable of seeing things from anyone else\u2019s point of view), will only grow more convinced of their narrow views of the world. I\u2019ve certainly met some people whose world travels have made them even more bigoted, because now they have \u2018proof\u2019 that other cultures \u2018really are (insert bigoted view).\u2019<\/div>\n
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In any case, through a bit of my own effort and a lot of luck, I\u2019ve found myself getting paid to travel to India tomorrow<\/b>. So I\u2019d best be off to sleep\u2026 But first, a few pics from my last couple days here.<\/div>\n
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Last Guinness, or second to last\u2026 (for a while). I even wrote down tasting notes at my friend\u2019s suggestion. I do think Guinness tastes better the closer you are to Dublin \ud83d\ude42<\/div>\n
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