Hi Greg,
If I understand, the Buddha also ate and slept and "desired" to teach Buddhism and walk around India. Moderate, balanced, healthy desires are not usually the problem (assuming, of course, that one is not being starved unwillingly or on a desert island). It is really only excess and unhealthy, harmful desires that are the problem, causing greed and attachment, frustration, anger, jealousy, fear and the like.
In that way, desires are much like fire ... in small quantities, well managed and well timed, fire provides warmth and heat to cook our food ... in excess it burns down the house or the whole forest.
I happen to believe, by the way, that the Buddha's structure of his Sangha Community, including his recommendation to lay folks, met most of Maslow's basic needs ...
Your story also reminded me of this old classic ... the tigers and the strawberry ...
Gassho, J
SatToday
If I understand, the Buddha also ate and slept and "desired" to teach Buddhism and walk around India. Moderate, balanced, healthy desires are not usually the problem (assuming, of course, that one is not being starved unwillingly or on a desert island). It is really only excess and unhealthy, harmful desires that are the problem, causing greed and attachment, frustration, anger, jealousy, fear and the like.
In that way, desires are much like fire ... in small quantities, well managed and well timed, fire provides warmth and heat to cook our food ... in excess it burns down the house or the whole forest.
I happen to believe, by the way, that the Buddha's structure of his Sangha Community, including his recommendation to lay folks, met most of Maslow's basic needs ...
By the way, psychologist Abraham Maslow has his famous pyramid of basic human needs which, when fulfilled, allow us to be "self-actualized" at the top.
I have always felt that there is something to this. We all need basic food, shelter, safety and security, friendship, a sense of connection, etc. I believe that, since the Buddha's time, the "Buddhist Lifestyle" has been geared to fulfilling such needs. Also, we learn to keep excess needs and desires in check (for things we may hunger for, but which are ultimately harmful or far beyond what we truly need. An Oryoki eating bowl means to receive "just enough"). The peace I feel, even in the face of death, provides the ultimate sense of safety and security. A sense of "self-worth" comes both when we realize that there never was quite a "self" from the start, yet also that all little "selfs" of the world shine like jewels on a great chain, each their place in the sun. What Maslow described as the "self-actualization" at the peak of the pyramid (perhaps "non-self actualization" in Buddhist terms ) includes an "appreciation of solitude", but also "deeper personal relations with a few close friends and family members" ... a tendency "to view the world with a continual sense of appreciation, wonder and awe, yet even simple experiences continue to be a source of inspiration and pleasure" ... a heightened "sense of personal responsibility and ethics" ... and a tendency to "peak experiences, or moments of intense joy, wonder, awe and ecstasy. After these experiences, people feel inspired, strengthened, renewed or transformed".
I am not a psychologist, but I have always felt that there is something to this, and that Zen Practice points such way.
I have always felt that there is something to this. We all need basic food, shelter, safety and security, friendship, a sense of connection, etc. I believe that, since the Buddha's time, the "Buddhist Lifestyle" has been geared to fulfilling such needs. Also, we learn to keep excess needs and desires in check (for things we may hunger for, but which are ultimately harmful or far beyond what we truly need. An Oryoki eating bowl means to receive "just enough"). The peace I feel, even in the face of death, provides the ultimate sense of safety and security. A sense of "self-worth" comes both when we realize that there never was quite a "self" from the start, yet also that all little "selfs" of the world shine like jewels on a great chain, each their place in the sun. What Maslow described as the "self-actualization" at the peak of the pyramid (perhaps "non-self actualization" in Buddhist terms ) includes an "appreciation of solitude", but also "deeper personal relations with a few close friends and family members" ... a tendency "to view the world with a continual sense of appreciation, wonder and awe, yet even simple experiences continue to be a source of inspiration and pleasure" ... a heightened "sense of personal responsibility and ethics" ... and a tendency to "peak experiences, or moments of intense joy, wonder, awe and ecstasy. After these experiences, people feel inspired, strengthened, renewed or transformed".
I am not a psychologist, but I have always felt that there is something to this, and that Zen Practice points such way.
Gassho, J
SatToday
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