I have always had a fascination with philosophy and ideas. I have read about the concepts behind most of the world's major religions and have a fair understanding of what they're all about. I have even read part of the Koran but I gave up as it is impenetrable unless you have spent a life time studying it. You can pick up the rudimentary points though. I wouldn't claim to be a Buddhist but of all the philosophical and religious teachings it's the one that appeals to me the most.
The main core Buddhist concepts make perfect reasonable sense which you can test empirically. You don't need to believe in a 'man in the sky' or do mental gymnastics to justify it. You don't need to have faith. You just need to follow the ' Noble Eightfold Path' or the eight laws which are basically: no lying or cheating, no intoxicating substances, living for the moment, showing compassion, earning your living by honourable means, don't covet shiny objects or be fooled by life's illusions. If you meditate hard enough you can even become Buddha yourself. Easy you would think... not so.
I do try and follow the Noble Eightfold Path but I am not very good at it. I make a point of being honest and truthful but anyone who knows me would say I was fighting a losing battle when it came to intoxicants. Fortunately, I am not materialistic and I do earn my living by what would be considered honourable means. I also try and take each moment as it comes. I particularly fall down on the compassion and reality fronts though.
I went to work early the other afternoon as I needed to pop into town to get some cards for upcoming family celebrations. I was already unreasonably annoyed that it had been raining all morning and I had visions of getting soaked walking into town. I had already prepaid for my parking but all the spaces were full so, after 10 minutes driving round searching, I had to park in a different zone and fork out once again. By now my mood was blacker than a coal miner's boots. I got soaked walking back from the town whilst I muttered curses at the leaden sky and the malicious wretches who had stolen all the best parking spaces. Clearly, my inner peace and harmony were disturbed because I wanted things to be other than they actually were. Whilst I was sitting in my car dripping and mentally shaking my fist at the world in general it occurred to me how ridiculous I was being. I began to smile at my own stupidity. No doubt the Buddha would be laughing at me as he was proved right once again.
I am not very compassionate. Some people are natural carers but I am not one of them. I am always happy to assist someone who's in a jam but I don't go around looking for people to help like a misguided Boy Scout. I am more of a 'pull your socks up and get on with it' type of guy. Have you ever been in one of those situations where you spot an elderly driver trying to get out of a junction, compassion kicks in and you let them out only to regret it moments later when they pull out in front of you and continue their journey at 20 MPH while the rest of the traffic disappears into the distance. I also kill spiders and various insects.
I don't think I am ready for the saffron robes just yet; they won't match my blue eyes anyway.
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