Hi Everybody,
I had a great day yesterday that I must share with you. In the morning I received an e-mail telling me that a young lady in North Bogota ( got that...North Bogota!) had bought the Spanish version of one of my books a few monthsa go, and she is now goingto receive Gohonzon this saturday, and wanted to thank me. And in the afternoon I received a euro cheque posted in Bratislava ( Bratislava!!) for 102 books bought there. Obviously in English because none of the books has been translated into Czech...yet. To say that I am amazed whenever this happens is an understatement. That the books should reach into so many corners and touch so many people's lives just blows me away. Every time. So there, I've shared it.
Today we round off chapter 8, so we're really motoring through the book, and this passage has the sub heading, The great vision.
' So the Buddhist vision is one of growing numbers of people seizing the opportunity...and that word seizing is important because it does express that element of positively taking hold of something that you have come across in your life, rather than simply letting it pass you by...growing numbers of people seizing the opportunity to create this transformation in their own lives, not simply for their own sake, but for the good sake of their families and friends and colleagues and all those in the wider circle of their lives. Then indeed we could come to see a cumulative change, in the way groups and communities and societies and eventually nations function. It is of course a journey of great vision, andn its distant objective is immense...nothing less than peace and harmony in our oh so troubled world.
But the constant Buddhist argument is that it is not a journey that is in any way remote or inaccessible. We can all choose to join it, since it starts really at our own feet. Peace...as Buddhism puts it...begins with me. And as bold as that sounds, it happens to be a view that has been shared by many great and inspirational leaders down the years, from Ghandi and Martin Luther King to Nelson Mandela and John F. Kennedy. Kennedy chose deliberately in his Commencement Address at the very beginning of his presidency, to make clear his personal vision of what a bold and positive approach to conflict might deliver. He declared then,
' First examine our attitude towards peace itself. Too many of us think it impossible, too many think it unreal, but that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable, that mankind is doomed, that we are gripped by forces we cannot control. We need not accept that view. Our problems are man-made, therefore they can be solved by man, and man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly impossible, and we believe we can do so again.'
It is a vision and a message that unquestionably continues to resonate in all our lives today. Buddhism too would argue that, 'We need not accept that view. Our problems are man made therefore they can be solved by man...' with each one of us making the determination to create peace in his or her own sphere. '
I still find that speech so inspiring no matter how many times I read it. I hope you do too.
So it's goodbye to chapter eight and on to chapter nine, next tiem, Buddhism and Negativity.
Hope to see you then,
Many thanks for reading to here.
William
Thursday 30 October 2014
Saturday 25 October 2014
my buddhist blog number 67
Hi Everybody,
We've been talking about the ways in which we influence, create even, our own environment. Obviously there's going to be the odd hiccup and break in continuity when a book is split up into segments like this, but nothing major I hope, to detract from the meaning of any episode. This one is best read as a straight follow-on from 65, but it makes complete sense on its own. Ok so here we go.
' The Buddhist argument is that this understanding that we do, in large measure, create our own environment, essentially holds good even when it is scaled up to the level of society, and beyond, to the society of nations. Although at first glance that might seem a somewhat difficult position to accept, we only have to cast around in recent history, in Europe for example, or in the Middle East, to find count less examples to suggest that something very similar is taking place; that a nation will find reflected back from its environment the aggression for example, that it projects.
One could certainly argue that the past 100 years has been a clear demonstration of just such a circumstance. It has been the described as the bloodiest century in human history, as the cycles of aggression and revenge among nations have been reflected back time and time again. Over 70 million people have been killed in wars of one kind or another, estimated by historians as being a greater number than in all previous centuries put together. And yet, despite the world wide suffering and massive destruction, it's quite clear that history, in the sense of human experience, has provided precious few strategies to break this cycle. Certainly not diplomacy, and sadly it seems not the United Nations. At least not yet. There have been over 200 wars since the last great global conflagration, and today the world bristles with more and vastly more powerful death-dealing weapons than ever before.
If you take into account also the emergence of the 24 hour news machine, that wakes us up and puts us to bed, with stories of violence and disaster from one corner of the globe or another, then you can clearly see the reason for the sense of powerlessness and impotence that can affect the lives of so many of us. We can grieve in sympathy, or we can give a few pounds to this charity or to that relief organisation, but what else can we do.
Buddhism's immediate response is that we should look at the environs of our own lives, because that is where we can have an effect. Change Buddhism argues, starts with countless individuals determining to to take responsibility for their own lives, and setting out to develop the optimism and the courage...because it does take real courage...the compassion and the wisdom to have a value-creating and positve effect upon the lives of those around them.
As Daisaku Ikeda once again reminds us with absolute clarity of vision, 'no one was born hating others.'
That is such an amazing statement. It's like suddenly having one's eyes opened.
That's all for today.
See you next time.
Thank you for reading.
William
PS just learned that The Case for Buddhism is being translated into Spanish, as The Reluctant Buddhist and Buddhism and the Science of Happiness have been
We've been talking about the ways in which we influence, create even, our own environment. Obviously there's going to be the odd hiccup and break in continuity when a book is split up into segments like this, but nothing major I hope, to detract from the meaning of any episode. This one is best read as a straight follow-on from 65, but it makes complete sense on its own. Ok so here we go.
' The Buddhist argument is that this understanding that we do, in large measure, create our own environment, essentially holds good even when it is scaled up to the level of society, and beyond, to the society of nations. Although at first glance that might seem a somewhat difficult position to accept, we only have to cast around in recent history, in Europe for example, or in the Middle East, to find count less examples to suggest that something very similar is taking place; that a nation will find reflected back from its environment the aggression for example, that it projects.
One could certainly argue that the past 100 years has been a clear demonstration of just such a circumstance. It has been the described as the bloodiest century in human history, as the cycles of aggression and revenge among nations have been reflected back time and time again. Over 70 million people have been killed in wars of one kind or another, estimated by historians as being a greater number than in all previous centuries put together. And yet, despite the world wide suffering and massive destruction, it's quite clear that history, in the sense of human experience, has provided precious few strategies to break this cycle. Certainly not diplomacy, and sadly it seems not the United Nations. At least not yet. There have been over 200 wars since the last great global conflagration, and today the world bristles with more and vastly more powerful death-dealing weapons than ever before.
If you take into account also the emergence of the 24 hour news machine, that wakes us up and puts us to bed, with stories of violence and disaster from one corner of the globe or another, then you can clearly see the reason for the sense of powerlessness and impotence that can affect the lives of so many of us. We can grieve in sympathy, or we can give a few pounds to this charity or to that relief organisation, but what else can we do.
Buddhism's immediate response is that we should look at the environs of our own lives, because that is where we can have an effect. Change Buddhism argues, starts with countless individuals determining to to take responsibility for their own lives, and setting out to develop the optimism and the courage...because it does take real courage...the compassion and the wisdom to have a value-creating and positve effect upon the lives of those around them.
As Daisaku Ikeda once again reminds us with absolute clarity of vision, 'no one was born hating others.'
That is such an amazing statement. It's like suddenly having one's eyes opened.
That's all for today.
See you next time.
Thank you for reading.
William
PS just learned that The Case for Buddhism is being translated into Spanish, as The Reluctant Buddhist and Buddhism and the Science of Happiness have been
Saturday 18 October 2014
my buddhist blog number 66
Hi Everybody,
So we ended the last episode with the thought that it can only be immensely confirming, immensely heartening to any practising Buddhist to learn that the kinds of answers that modern sociologists are coming up with, are so close to the kinds of values and principles and modes of behaviour that lie at the very heart of a Buddhist approach to life. So today we try to answer the question, What difference does it make?
So in many ways that remarkable conjunction of views between modern social scientists and Buddhist teachings reminds us of the thoughtful dictum offered to us by Einstein so many years a go.
' Science without religion, ' he observed, 'is lame, religion without science is blind.'
Even today that statement represents perhaps the most concise and the most powerful expression of the fact that we all need contributions from both. Science that is, can provide the objective discipline and the method to observe aspects of human behaviour and motivation,right across societies. Religion, Buddhism in this case, with its great body of understanding of human nature built up over many centuries, can gain not just encouragement and support, but wholly new perspectives from the insights that science can now provide. So it is potentially, a very rich and fruitful combination of views. And by no means is it just of theoretical or academic significance. far from it. It has, I would argue, huge implications for the future of society. Why do I say that?
We are all deeply concerned, fearful even, about the fact that we live in a time of great turbulence and turmoil, and much of that turmoil is down to violence across religious boundaries. Indeed the violence of inter-religious conflict is, without doubt, one of the greatest and most challenging issues of our age. And no one seems to be able to offer any meaningful way forward, let alone anything resembling a resolution. It might seem somewhat fanciful to suggest that Buddhism can offer a strategy for tackling these widespread and seemingly insuperable problems, but that is precisely the promisethat Buddhism holds out. It represents in a very real sense the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice. Since Buddhism is not attached to any definition of divinity, it doesn't have any boundaries. As we've seen, nothing and no one is excluded. It doesn't have that is the boundaries across which so much of modern conflict takes place. The only qualification is to be a meber of the human race.
The Charter of UNESCO contaisn a sentiment that echoes to the very heartbeat of the Buddhist vision of a world, firmly in the grip of peace. The Charter reads;
'...since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.'
Buddhism might well aff the words, individual by individual, because that it argues, is how it must begin, in the minds of countless individuals. Put simply, Buddhism teaches that at any particular time, the environment we find ourselves in is, in very large measure, a reflection of our subjective life state at that time. If we are in an angry, destructive, aggressive frame of mind, that will be reflected back at us from the reactions of those around us, and from the situations that follow. If on the other hand our life state is high and our approach is consistently optimistic and welcoming and value-creating, then, Buddhism argues, that will flow out into,our environment and have an influence on the people we encounter, and the way that situations around us evolve.
Try it! Not the angry bit but the positive one. I have many many times, in all sorts of situations, and it holds true.
So just to pull this particualr argument to a close, I would argue that the Buddhist claim, huge as it no doubt is, fits in with our common experience. Even without the recent research we discussed in earlier instalments of this blog, we are aware that both optimism and pessimism are highly infectious. We all prefer to live our lives surrounded by positive, optimistic people. We all find that our energies are sapped and our enthusiasms are extinguished by being amongst those who are persistently pessimistic. And similarly, we are commonly disturbed and can get worked up in all sorts of way, by being among those who are persistently aggressive or combative. S
So Buddhism argues...we can make a big differecne to our environment...if we choose to do so.
And that's where we go next time.
Hope to see you then.
Thank you for reading thus far.
I'd be imensely grateful if you felt able to bounce this blog onto someone else who might be interested, or perhaps point them in its direction.
Best wishes,
William
The Case for Buddhism is available at a knock- down- drag- out price on Amazon or on Kindle.
So we ended the last episode with the thought that it can only be immensely confirming, immensely heartening to any practising Buddhist to learn that the kinds of answers that modern sociologists are coming up with, are so close to the kinds of values and principles and modes of behaviour that lie at the very heart of a Buddhist approach to life. So today we try to answer the question, What difference does it make?
So in many ways that remarkable conjunction of views between modern social scientists and Buddhist teachings reminds us of the thoughtful dictum offered to us by Einstein so many years a go.
' Science without religion, ' he observed, 'is lame, religion without science is blind.'
Even today that statement represents perhaps the most concise and the most powerful expression of the fact that we all need contributions from both. Science that is, can provide the objective discipline and the method to observe aspects of human behaviour and motivation,right across societies. Religion, Buddhism in this case, with its great body of understanding of human nature built up over many centuries, can gain not just encouragement and support, but wholly new perspectives from the insights that science can now provide. So it is potentially, a very rich and fruitful combination of views. And by no means is it just of theoretical or academic significance. far from it. It has, I would argue, huge implications for the future of society. Why do I say that?
We are all deeply concerned, fearful even, about the fact that we live in a time of great turbulence and turmoil, and much of that turmoil is down to violence across religious boundaries. Indeed the violence of inter-religious conflict is, without doubt, one of the greatest and most challenging issues of our age. And no one seems to be able to offer any meaningful way forward, let alone anything resembling a resolution. It might seem somewhat fanciful to suggest that Buddhism can offer a strategy for tackling these widespread and seemingly insuperable problems, but that is precisely the promisethat Buddhism holds out. It represents in a very real sense the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice. Since Buddhism is not attached to any definition of divinity, it doesn't have any boundaries. As we've seen, nothing and no one is excluded. It doesn't have that is the boundaries across which so much of modern conflict takes place. The only qualification is to be a meber of the human race.
The Charter of UNESCO contaisn a sentiment that echoes to the very heartbeat of the Buddhist vision of a world, firmly in the grip of peace. The Charter reads;
'...since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.'
Buddhism might well aff the words, individual by individual, because that it argues, is how it must begin, in the minds of countless individuals. Put simply, Buddhism teaches that at any particular time, the environment we find ourselves in is, in very large measure, a reflection of our subjective life state at that time. If we are in an angry, destructive, aggressive frame of mind, that will be reflected back at us from the reactions of those around us, and from the situations that follow. If on the other hand our life state is high and our approach is consistently optimistic and welcoming and value-creating, then, Buddhism argues, that will flow out into,our environment and have an influence on the people we encounter, and the way that situations around us evolve.
Try it! Not the angry bit but the positive one. I have many many times, in all sorts of situations, and it holds true.
So just to pull this particualr argument to a close, I would argue that the Buddhist claim, huge as it no doubt is, fits in with our common experience. Even without the recent research we discussed in earlier instalments of this blog, we are aware that both optimism and pessimism are highly infectious. We all prefer to live our lives surrounded by positive, optimistic people. We all find that our energies are sapped and our enthusiasms are extinguished by being amongst those who are persistently pessimistic. And similarly, we are commonly disturbed and can get worked up in all sorts of way, by being among those who are persistently aggressive or combative. S
So Buddhism argues...we can make a big differecne to our environment...if we choose to do so.
And that's where we go next time.
Hope to see you then.
Thank you for reading thus far.
I'd be imensely grateful if you felt able to bounce this blog onto someone else who might be interested, or perhaps point them in its direction.
Best wishes,
William
The Case for Buddhism is available at a knock- down- drag- out price on Amazon or on Kindle.
Monday 13 October 2014
my buddhist blog number 65
Hi Everybody,
What we've been doing over the past 6 to 7 episodes is to look at the kind of understanding and learning that has come out of a huge amount of sociological and psychological research over the past ten to fifteen years say, about the qualities and the behaviours that help us to build a meaningful and satisfying and creative life, for ourselves and those around us. So it's not remote and academic stuff. it's real and everyday, and affects every one of us. In fact it's worth pausing I think, to enable us to be absolutely clear what we have here. We have modern social scientists, defining in great detail, the kinds of values, the kinds of choices, the kinds of behaviour that they now have not the slightest doubt, can enhance and improve people's lives. They also make it clear that their work represents a very considerable addition to our understanding of what it is that makes people feel good about their own lives, and what kinds of values and modes of behaviour help people and societies work harmoniously and creatively together.
And that's what we all want don't we, when it comes down to, it? We want to live in peaceful, cooperative and supportive societies, in which people genuinely care about what happens to their neighbour, and fully respect the lives of others.
The key point I would want to make, indeed then key reason for looking at this work, is the sheer extent of the overlap, the similarities and the echoes between what buddhism has been teaching for so long, and the findings of these modern sociologists and psychologists. As I've said before, we shouldn't seek to adopt the research as a sort of scientific scaffolding around any particular Buddhist perception, because it patentlky isn't.
What the research does it seems to me however, is to open up a whole series of immensely illuminating and interesting new perspectives, when we are discussing things of the very greatest moment to all of us: what do we really mean when we are talking about happiness in this life, or about creating value in our relationships? Or when we are trying to answer that profound question, how should I live?
It can only be immensely heartening, immensely confirming I suggest, to any practising Buddhist, to learn that the kinds of answers that modern sociologists are coming up with, are so close to the kinds of values and principles and modes of behaviour that lie at the very heart of a Buddhist approach to life.
That's enough for today I think.
Thanks so much for reading it.
If you know any one else who might be interested it would be great if you could bounce it on.
And if you do you have my heartfelt gratitude.
See you next time around.
William
The case for Buddhism is available from Amazon and can be downloaded from Kindle, as can my other books, The Reluctant Buddhist and Buddhism and the Science of Happiness, in English and Spanish.
What we've been doing over the past 6 to 7 episodes is to look at the kind of understanding and learning that has come out of a huge amount of sociological and psychological research over the past ten to fifteen years say, about the qualities and the behaviours that help us to build a meaningful and satisfying and creative life, for ourselves and those around us. So it's not remote and academic stuff. it's real and everyday, and affects every one of us. In fact it's worth pausing I think, to enable us to be absolutely clear what we have here. We have modern social scientists, defining in great detail, the kinds of values, the kinds of choices, the kinds of behaviour that they now have not the slightest doubt, can enhance and improve people's lives. They also make it clear that their work represents a very considerable addition to our understanding of what it is that makes people feel good about their own lives, and what kinds of values and modes of behaviour help people and societies work harmoniously and creatively together.
And that's what we all want don't we, when it comes down to, it? We want to live in peaceful, cooperative and supportive societies, in which people genuinely care about what happens to their neighbour, and fully respect the lives of others.
The key point I would want to make, indeed then key reason for looking at this work, is the sheer extent of the overlap, the similarities and the echoes between what buddhism has been teaching for so long, and the findings of these modern sociologists and psychologists. As I've said before, we shouldn't seek to adopt the research as a sort of scientific scaffolding around any particular Buddhist perception, because it patentlky isn't.
What the research does it seems to me however, is to open up a whole series of immensely illuminating and interesting new perspectives, when we are discussing things of the very greatest moment to all of us: what do we really mean when we are talking about happiness in this life, or about creating value in our relationships? Or when we are trying to answer that profound question, how should I live?
It can only be immensely heartening, immensely confirming I suggest, to any practising Buddhist, to learn that the kinds of answers that modern sociologists are coming up with, are so close to the kinds of values and principles and modes of behaviour that lie at the very heart of a Buddhist approach to life.
That's enough for today I think.
Thanks so much for reading it.
If you know any one else who might be interested it would be great if you could bounce it on.
And if you do you have my heartfelt gratitude.
See you next time around.
William
The case for Buddhism is available from Amazon and can be downloaded from Kindle, as can my other books, The Reluctant Buddhist and Buddhism and the Science of Happiness, in English and Spanish.
Thursday 9 October 2014
my buddhist blog number 64
Hi Everybody,
This episode brings us to the last and undoubtedly one of the most significant of this little clutch of life-strategies we have been discussing, we might perhaps call it the connected life, because that is the very strong theme that comes out of much of the social research we have been referring to. What does it mean? It means a real sense of connectedness or engagement. a real sense of involvement in the lives of family and friends and colleagues and communities, as a constant reminder of our wider humanity. This turns out to be in many ways the fundamental constituent in a well-balanced and happy life. The evolutionary biologists tell us that we are in our deepest nature a co-operating animal, that we survive and flourish because of our ability to live and work and co-operate in family and social groups. As Sam Harris puts it in The Moral Landscape,
' There may be nothing more important than human co-operation...Co-operation is the stuff of which meaningful human lives and viable societies are made.'
Then positive psychologists tell us something very similar;
'The centrality of social connections to our health and well-being cannot be overstressed.'
What they are telling us is that hwen we do manage to build or experience these harmonious relationships they don't simply make us feel good about our lives, they seem to buttress and reinforce all our creative energies, so that we feel released or set free so to speak, and empowered to pursue many other fulfilling activities and objectivesin our lives.
And it is even greater than that. The strength of our social connections, the levels of altruism and compassion and willingness to support others, are absolutely decisive factors in how whole communities function. In some of their most recent research for example, sociologists such as Robert Sampson from Harvard have identified a quality that they have labelled the ' enduring neighbourhood effect,' which determines not simply how communities are able surmount and recover from major crises such as the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 2011, and the perfect storm that struck New York in 2012, but how neighbourhoods are able to deal with what he calls, ' everyday challenges,' such as anti-social behaviour.
So our level of connectedness, our level of engagement is in no way a marginal factor, it is clearly crucial in the quality of our everyday life. '
How ' connected ' are you is a big question. And it's interesting that this is a question that has moved from social theory you might say, to front and centre political debate, in terms of ' The Big Society ' for example, which is being debated on both sides of the Atlantic.
The key question of course is what has all this got to do with Buddhism? Good question. And that's where we go in the next episode.
Thanks for reading. And if you feel you can pass it on to someone else, double thanks!!
See you next time.
William
This episode brings us to the last and undoubtedly one of the most significant of this little clutch of life-strategies we have been discussing, we might perhaps call it the connected life, because that is the very strong theme that comes out of much of the social research we have been referring to. What does it mean? It means a real sense of connectedness or engagement. a real sense of involvement in the lives of family and friends and colleagues and communities, as a constant reminder of our wider humanity. This turns out to be in many ways the fundamental constituent in a well-balanced and happy life. The evolutionary biologists tell us that we are in our deepest nature a co-operating animal, that we survive and flourish because of our ability to live and work and co-operate in family and social groups. As Sam Harris puts it in The Moral Landscape,
' There may be nothing more important than human co-operation...Co-operation is the stuff of which meaningful human lives and viable societies are made.'
Then positive psychologists tell us something very similar;
'The centrality of social connections to our health and well-being cannot be overstressed.'
What they are telling us is that hwen we do manage to build or experience these harmonious relationships they don't simply make us feel good about our lives, they seem to buttress and reinforce all our creative energies, so that we feel released or set free so to speak, and empowered to pursue many other fulfilling activities and objectivesin our lives.
And it is even greater than that. The strength of our social connections, the levels of altruism and compassion and willingness to support others, are absolutely decisive factors in how whole communities function. In some of their most recent research for example, sociologists such as Robert Sampson from Harvard have identified a quality that they have labelled the ' enduring neighbourhood effect,' which determines not simply how communities are able surmount and recover from major crises such as the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 2011, and the perfect storm that struck New York in 2012, but how neighbourhoods are able to deal with what he calls, ' everyday challenges,' such as anti-social behaviour.
So our level of connectedness, our level of engagement is in no way a marginal factor, it is clearly crucial in the quality of our everyday life. '
How ' connected ' are you is a big question. And it's interesting that this is a question that has moved from social theory you might say, to front and centre political debate, in terms of ' The Big Society ' for example, which is being debated on both sides of the Atlantic.
The key question of course is what has all this got to do with Buddhism? Good question. And that's where we go in the next episode.
Thanks for reading. And if you feel you can pass it on to someone else, double thanks!!
See you next time.
William
Sunday 5 October 2014
my buddhist blog number 63
Hi Everybody,
Just the most beautiful autumn day in Kew today. Bright blue skies after yesterday's rain, brilliant sunshine and that autumnal crispness in the air. The run in the park with Gatsby this morning was a gift.
Were' in the middle of this account of many ways in which the results of recent sociological research chime with age-old Buddhist teachings, on how we go about building a rich and meaningful life out of the stuff of everyday. So we've looked at altruism and gratitude, both of them playing such an important role. We've discussed focusing on our strengthts rather than constantly being anxious about our weaknesses. Everybody has weaknesses. They're normal! And we've talked about trying to focus on the now. Today we're talking about having meaningful goals.
' We all need meaningful goals or directions that are bigger and wider than the simple daily progression of our lives. Things that we have to put real effort and energy into trying to achieve, so that we are completely aware that this activity is stretching us, and lifting us up out of our normal comfort zone. Settling down into that comfort zone can become a powerfully restricting habit, to the extent that we develop not just a strong resistance to setting higher goals ortargets for ourselves, but even a kind of fear, a fear of failure or rejection, that becomes strong enough to prevent us from attempting anything vaguely challenging.
There's plenty of research to show that if we can build this desire, this willingness, to set goals and targets for ourselves, to the extent that it becomes part and parcel of our lives, with real commitment in making the determination, and real resolution in sticking to it, and putting it into effect, then it can spill over into many other areas of our lives, even if they are completely unrelated areas, such as our social and partner relationships and career succes and so on. It seems that the sheer discipline of setting the goal, and the perseverance required to making something of it, act as a sort of catalyst to trigger these beneficial spill-over effects into other areas of our lives.
What has all that to do with Buddhism you might ask? Well a Buddhist practice is precisely about stretching people and lifting them up, encouraging and challenging ourselves to set goals and determinations for what we really want to achieve out of life. That's an easy thing to say of course, it rolls smoothly enough off the tongue, but it takes reall commitment and real application to achieve it. The daily practice is there to help us get better at summoning up that application and that effort. In one sense that is its very point, it is a structured discipline, a structured training programme to help us achieve more.'
That's it for today. Hope your day is a good one. As beautiful as it is here in Kew.
With my best wishes,
William
PS if you can think of anyone today's episode might help, inspire, encourage, be good for, please fire it off to them, with my best wishes.
Just the most beautiful autumn day in Kew today. Bright blue skies after yesterday's rain, brilliant sunshine and that autumnal crispness in the air. The run in the park with Gatsby this morning was a gift.
Were' in the middle of this account of many ways in which the results of recent sociological research chime with age-old Buddhist teachings, on how we go about building a rich and meaningful life out of the stuff of everyday. So we've looked at altruism and gratitude, both of them playing such an important role. We've discussed focusing on our strengthts rather than constantly being anxious about our weaknesses. Everybody has weaknesses. They're normal! And we've talked about trying to focus on the now. Today we're talking about having meaningful goals.
' We all need meaningful goals or directions that are bigger and wider than the simple daily progression of our lives. Things that we have to put real effort and energy into trying to achieve, so that we are completely aware that this activity is stretching us, and lifting us up out of our normal comfort zone. Settling down into that comfort zone can become a powerfully restricting habit, to the extent that we develop not just a strong resistance to setting higher goals ortargets for ourselves, but even a kind of fear, a fear of failure or rejection, that becomes strong enough to prevent us from attempting anything vaguely challenging.
There's plenty of research to show that if we can build this desire, this willingness, to set goals and targets for ourselves, to the extent that it becomes part and parcel of our lives, with real commitment in making the determination, and real resolution in sticking to it, and putting it into effect, then it can spill over into many other areas of our lives, even if they are completely unrelated areas, such as our social and partner relationships and career succes and so on. It seems that the sheer discipline of setting the goal, and the perseverance required to making something of it, act as a sort of catalyst to trigger these beneficial spill-over effects into other areas of our lives.
What has all that to do with Buddhism you might ask? Well a Buddhist practice is precisely about stretching people and lifting them up, encouraging and challenging ourselves to set goals and determinations for what we really want to achieve out of life. That's an easy thing to say of course, it rolls smoothly enough off the tongue, but it takes reall commitment and real application to achieve it. The daily practice is there to help us get better at summoning up that application and that effort. In one sense that is its very point, it is a structured discipline, a structured training programme to help us achieve more.'
That's it for today. Hope your day is a good one. As beautiful as it is here in Kew.
With my best wishes,
William
PS if you can think of anyone today's episode might help, inspire, encourage, be good for, please fire it off to them, with my best wishes.
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