Dear all
At present, with so much going on in the world, I notice that before I buy anything, my mind asks me - do you need this more than someone, somewhere else in the world, such as Palestine, the Yemen (where an estimated 11 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance) or even unhomed and struggling people in my own country?
Aside from buying food and other essentials, the answer is understandably usually no.
This is doubtless not an original thought, and oversimplistic since our own economies and businesses (which include many small and medium enterprises) rely on people buying things. However, since most people are not going to stop consuming overnight I don't think that a few Zen Buddhists buying a little less is going to crash any of our economies just yet.
As far as practice goes, the important thing for me is in the observation of just how much my mind wants things, and how it puts my (often trivial) wants above the needs of others who are unequivocally in far worse situations than me.
I am not saying that we should completely stop buying things for ourselves, but it is worth asking ourselves my initial question before we click 'Buy Now' on Amazon or swipe our card in store. If once in a while, or more often, we refrain from buying, going out for a meal,or whatever else, and send the money to an international or national crisis organisation, this would not be a bad thing at all.
However, I would also like to note that although it is clearly a good thing, and totally in line with my practice and beliefs, I still often notice a pang of sadness that I will not be getting the thing I want and instead the money is going to somewhere I will only be able to imagine its benefit. This, though, is a great reminder of just how self-centered my mind tends to be, and why we call this practice. If sitting, studying the precepts, and chanting metta doesn't change how we are in the world, what exactly are we doing here?
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-
At present, with so much going on in the world, I notice that before I buy anything, my mind asks me - do you need this more than someone, somewhere else in the world, such as Palestine, the Yemen (where an estimated 11 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance) or even unhomed and struggling people in my own country?
Aside from buying food and other essentials, the answer is understandably usually no.
This is doubtless not an original thought, and oversimplistic since our own economies and businesses (which include many small and medium enterprises) rely on people buying things. However, since most people are not going to stop consuming overnight I don't think that a few Zen Buddhists buying a little less is going to crash any of our economies just yet.
As far as practice goes, the important thing for me is in the observation of just how much my mind wants things, and how it puts my (often trivial) wants above the needs of others who are unequivocally in far worse situations than me.
I am not saying that we should completely stop buying things for ourselves, but it is worth asking ourselves my initial question before we click 'Buy Now' on Amazon or swipe our card in store. If once in a while, or more often, we refrain from buying, going out for a meal,or whatever else, and send the money to an international or national crisis organisation, this would not be a bad thing at all.
However, I would also like to note that although it is clearly a good thing, and totally in line with my practice and beliefs, I still often notice a pang of sadness that I will not be getting the thing I want and instead the money is going to somewhere I will only be able to imagine its benefit. This, though, is a great reminder of just how self-centered my mind tends to be, and why we call this practice. If sitting, studying the precepts, and chanting metta doesn't change how we are in the world, what exactly are we doing here?
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-
for positive poetry 優婆塞 台 婆
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