But What Now?

In the latest issue of Tricycle there is an interesting article called Why Buddhism Needs the West by David Loy. I’m not sure that this question was answered, but it did raise some timely questions for me, namely about why we are so dissatisfied (or maybe why I have a tendency to be dissatisfied with things going on in my life).

Mr. Loy states, “It’s because our sense of self, being a delusion, is incapable of finding lasting satisfaction.”

Well, ok… That’s a little hard to grasp, or my ego sure finds that hard to grasp. But then he goes on to give examples from history on how it’s not just a personal issue, but a cultural or societal issue. As he puts it, looking at it in Buddhist terms, social/society vs. the cosmos.

In early times, rulers in Asian Buddhist countries “maintained harmony between the state and the cosmos.” In essence, they were considered to be gods by their followers. And any unfortunate circumstances were explained by karma.

Ancient Greeks, on the other hand, were the first to think in ways that are distinctly Western now. That is, they made a distinction between the cosmos and society and believed in individual choice. This was pretty radical for the times.

So, I put together my short list of what may be causes of our dissatisfaction.

Our history
How we compare ourselves with others
Who we are individually
Who we are culturally
What we know and what we’re exposed to (this could be considered a sub item to any of the above items.

Imagine being very poor but having access to a TV. I realize this example has been used before, but it’s relevant. This poor individual, living in, say, Cambodia, watches American TV day in and day out. He sees affluence unimaginable to his life.

But this gets me off track of my own dissatisfaction. After all, I live in the US and by world standards, I am very wealthy. By US standards I am middle class, as long as I continue to work.

However, I don’t want to work, I want to create my own financial independence. I am told that I can and I believe that I can, but I’m not there yet. My father was a self starter. He believed that education was a ticket to working for the man or worse yet, living a lifetime of poverty. He built his own business and did very well. In fact, if he were alive today he would surely be a multi-millionaire from the internet.

When I got my technical degree in Architectural drafting in 1979, he suggested that I create a book of architectural plans to mass market. I didn’t listen then, but now I wish I had!

Even still, I’m doing ok. I actually like my job these days and I have a nice work arrangement. I work with great people and continue to learn new things every day. At the same time, I’m determined to make money on the internet. I’m building a business that I have every intention of being successful.

So, does my dissatisfaction come from my history or from myself? From my ego? Or am I delusional as the Tricycle author states? You know, maybe the delusion of self he was talking about isn’t that hard to grasp after all.