We're living in a rough time right now across the globe. Korea is polarized to a dangerous degree, American streets are full of angry people, Sudan's civil war is reaching a new dangerous height, and so on and so forth. To some degree this is business as usual. Humans have always sought to conquer one another, and I'd even argue that's natural to some degree because even animals have territorial fights.
At the same time this is a time that humanity has never faced before. There are a few reasons for this. One, we have never faced times where we are near depletion of resources. Two, we have never had this many countries with weapons of complete, mass destruction. Three, we have never faced this much pollution in the world.
We greatly advanced production technology and went from making a few things a day to making a few thousand things a day. It's no wonder the Amazon rainforests are threatened. What happens when there are no forests? Last November the Aceh province and other regions of Sumatra experienced a mass flood. Indonesia happens to be a big exporter of woods and due to the lack of trees the region basically is uninhabitable because every bit of rain will now cascade dirt down the homes.
Photo from jungto.org
Photo from jungto.org
Photo from Jungto.org
World war 2, the biggest war we collectively know of by far, ended with the atomic bomb. Now the atomic bomb will be the starting point of a global conflict. The implications of this is self explanatory.
When we look at religious texts, we find references for many different problems in life. Obviously the texts won't contain our latest advancements like cell phones; you won't find Buddha or Jesus talk about doomscrolling. But another kind of problem you won't find in the religious texts is pollution.
Pollution is a human problem caused by humans, and it's a problem we're facing for the first time and possibly the last time. What do you do when most of the water is undrinkable, which is a reality right now in East Timor? What do you do when the sea level rises to the degree of consuming your property? What do you do when it's so hot people cannot sweat to cool down?
One of the core problems adding speed to this cycle is that different entities contribute different amounts to this trend, and again different entities experience different amounts of consequences. This is when we need to talk about America.
America contributes the majority of the disturbances to the world while the consequences are felt by the poorest of the world. But even inside America, the richest contribute the majority of the disturbances while the consequences are felt by the poorest.
The American government is doing a lot of things. I'm not an American so I can't say with a full, balanced understanding whether certain actions' motivations are legitimate or not. I could offer my critique on whether America has an immigration problem, drug problem, terror problem, race problem, and so on but I can instead talk about something that encompasses everything: I think America has a suffering problem.
It seems counterintuitive. Why would the richest, most powerful nation in the world suffer? But that's the elusive nature of suffering. Suffering grabs your attention and keeps on encouraging you to DO something about it. You do something about it or you suppress it, either way you're controlled by the suffering.
King Bimbisara was a passionate follower of the Buddha. The king consulted the Buddha so many times, there's an entire path called the King's path next to a Buddhist holy site in Rajgir, India. If you think about this for a second, this means that the King had so much to gain from talking to the Buddha. But isn't a king supposed to be the most powerful person in the country? Contrast that with the Buddha, a traveling monk. He has no possessions other than his clothing and his alms bowl. Why does a man with everything want time with a man with nothing?
Consider a day in the king's life. A king supposedly has all of their needs fulfilled. They are rich, powerful, and have all the resources. When the king ate oily, sweet foods in his courts would he have eaten well? The foods all probably tasted indistinguishable to him because all the foods are good. They must also be wary of the possibility of poisoning, so they always need to use the silver spoon first. Sometimes they’ll need to let their servants eat the food first to see if they’ll die or not. When you eat like this, would that be a good meal?
Every night the king would spend his body with the most beautiful maidens of the kingdom, but every night the maidens would all come to him with jealousy and competition. Would that be pleasurable? All of them would bear the king’s children and they all fight for the throne in the future, killing each other in the process. Is that a good life?
A vast kingdom sounds good in theory but is always prone to independence movements and guerilla attacks. Does having a powerful military equate to being happy? Now you can see why the king would need to consult the Buddha every few days. Is the king’s life a good life? Because we’re all so occupied with trying to be the king.
The actions that America takes these days are all actions that get them more of what they already have. Oil, power, racial purity, these are all things that America doesn't lack. But even if all of the current Americans attempt succeed, will it guarantee that it won't happen again? No.
To stop the cycle of suffering you must understand your participation in it. You must understand the mechanism of suffering. The Buddhist happiness, freedom from suffering, is not some kind of perpetual joy machine where you're always happy due to excitement and stimulus. It is happiness that comes from tranquility of the mind without needing to change anything from that moment. Only from this space of mind can we engage in mindful changes that look across the board.
Work with me to understand suffering and put an end to it. Join me on a consult call and help me understand your suffering, I'll help you understand how to stop it. It's one decision away.
