Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
as we search for spirituality.
8:07 a.m.
It would appear that the �true path� of Buddhism is to find personal spiritual enlightenment. In order to do this, you have to leave behind those things that distract you from the quest, such as a family, job, possessions, including leather pants and a nice car, and devote yourself to self-exploration. Imagine if everyone were to do this. First of all, the VHEMT people would not be alone in not reproducing. But the Buddha himself realized that this path to enlightenment wasn�t for everyone, just as waterlilies live below, at and above the surface of a pond. So, just like in Christianity, you have monasteries of �specialists� who are actively seeking �enlightenment�, and the rest of the believing population who try to practise basic religious tenets in their daily life, but continue with the mundanities of everyday existence.
I once visited a Benedictine monastery where a friend of ours was trying out the monk�s life. In some ways it reminded me of a kibbutz (a communal atmosphere, no monetary reward for labour done but adequate living quarters and alimentary nourishment) and in others a half-way house (misfits, every last one of them). It was a wonderful place for young men who simply did not �fit in� the world-at-large. Our friend did not stay there. He now lives in NYC, is married and has two beautiful daughters. He�s also incredibly wealthy (from his wife�s side of the family) and paints as his m�tier. So much for his vows of poverty and chastity. I can only hope he is still obedient to his wife, if not his abbot.
But I digress. The point I think I am trying to make is that if one is going to live in a spiritual way in the world, one has to find a balance, that being how to weigh your own personal needs against those of others, be they members of your family, your community, the employees of the company of which you are CEO, or flood victims in Armenia. Just like the �butterfly effect�, everything we do has an impact on everything else. That �interconnectedness� is the spirituality we should be seeking, and the path requires the answering of certain questions: How can I live a good life without causing pain and suffering? How can I alleviate pain and suffering that already exist? What is truly important to me, and how do I find it? Am I looking in the right places? Is my answer to the first question all wrong? What constitutes a �good life�? Et cetera.
I am not seeking spiritual enlightenment. I am trying to live in the world and be a good person. Sometimes I feel that I succeed, and at other times I have serious doubts. Everytime I throw another begging letter from a charity into the recycle box I get a twinge of guilt that I am not doing my part.
Living in an affluent civilization, having access to so many distractions (nice cars, leather pants, computers with broad-band internet connections), we look for quick fixes for our spiritual needs. Instead of actual snowboarding, many kids do it virtually on their x-boxes. Adults, in the same way, write a cheque and send it off to their local soup kitchen instead of actually donning an apron and volunteering in person at said facility. Perhaps the attainment of spirituality is in the �doing�, not the �seeking�. More of us need to get away from our possessions and spend time with other people whose lives we could help make immeasurably better, like victims of famine, flood, fire and disease. Maybe the true path requires that, instead of asking big questions, we make ourselves so busy in selfless pursuits that we don�t have time to worry about our own souls. This is what happens when you have too much time on your hands.
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