Hi Everybody,
I'm off tomorrow for distant and sunnier parts. The case is all packed. Taxi ordered. Time to squeeze in one more episode before I go.
We finished last time with a couple opf extraordinary quotes coming out of research studies into this complex issue of money and its impact on our life state. And it is complex of course. No one study can dissolve away that complexity for us. But a whole series of studies taken together can of course give us a steer, open up a new perspective. And that's what these comparative studies do for us, and I'd like to quote just one more, to drive the point home so to speak, because it's tough for all of us to escape from the life-long conditioning that we've all undergone, namely that more money, or more of the stuff that money can buy, is just about the answer to all our problems. It isn't. So here goes;
' If you made a graph of life on both sides of the Atlantic since the end of World War 2, every line concerning money and the things that money can buy would soar upwards, a statistical monument to materialism. Inflation-adjusted income per head in Europe and the US has almost doubled in the last 35 years. Owning a small runabout was once a goal; now the average US household boasts nearly three cars, while in the UK there are now more mobile phones than there are people. Designer everything, personal electronics and other items that didn't even exist half a century ago are noe affordable. No matter how you chart the trends in earning and spending, everything is up, up, up. But if you made a chart of happiness in the same period, the lines would be as falt as the roof of an S class Mercedes. Polls in Europe and the US show remarkably little changein happiness sinc eEurope began rebuilding itself ( after WW2) and America developed into the world's unrivalled economic and military superpower. '
That's another quite remarkable statement isn't it? In fact were it not for the sheer weight of evidence, the story that it is telling seems almost inconceivable. Bu tit is given even sharper edge by the figures that are quoted in other studies. Just to explain, when these surveys are carried out the scientists get their information from a wide sample of people chosen to represent a typical cross-section of the entire population, and then those several thousand personal interviews are reduced to numbers and curves on graphs, so that the sociologists and economists can make use of them to compare results from one time and place to other totally different times and places. The American National Opinion Research Centre for example is typical in that it has been carrying out virtually the same survey since the 1950's, so that we can compare directly how people felt about their lives in the 1950's and 60's, with how they feel today.
Back in the 1950's for example, with infinitely lower levels of wealth and comfort, when Americans were asked to rate their overall satisfaction with life, they reported an average score of 7.5 out of 10. Despite the simply vast changes in the level of material wealth and personal comfort and possessions over the past 50-60 years the average score in the same survey today is just...7.2! So the simply vast increases in material wealth that have occurred in society appear not to have been matched in any way by an increase in our overall sense of well-being.
At the very least I think that kind of understanding should give us pause for thought when we try to weigh up what it is that brings meaning and purpose and fulfilment into our lives, don't you.
Right, enough for today. Next episode when I get back on 10th March.
Until then hope you have an interesting and creative time.
All my best wishes,
William
Sunday 22 February 2015
Tuesday 17 February 2015
my buddhist blog number 82
Hi Everybody,
Just the most beautiful spring-like day today, running in Richmond Park with Gatsby, just a hint of frost on the grass glinting in the sunlight. At the moment in my new book I'm writing about the interconnectedness of everything, trying to fit in the science and the Buddhism, and I felt it so strongly this morning, this being part of a coherent whole, me, my spirit and the colossal beauty of the world we inhabit. Some days so much stronger than others of course, but with the practice it is there underlying everything.
We are in the middle of this quite strenuous chapter on Buddhism and Money, and we've reached a sub-heading which reads,
The paradox at the heart of the western way of life.
That brings us directly to the vast range of studies that have been carried out over the past 20 years or so by the economists and sociologists and the remarakbale paradox that they have brought out into the light. In fact it is so counter-intuitive that I have no doubt that many of us will find it hard to swallow. But it helps if we stick strictly to the science, rather than our own instinctive and obviously personal response. The fact is that one of the earliest and most frequently repeated, and unquestionably one of the most surprising findings of this research is that wealth, how much money we earn is not a substantial factor in our basic sense of well-being. What the studies reveal is that once our main needs have been met...that ismof course a crucial proviso...then additional wealth seems to have a rapidly diminishing role to play in how we feel about our lives, until eventually it dies out altogether.
This conclusion has been described by one leading European sociologist as 'the paradox at the heart of western society.' Why paradox? Because it seems to be so completely out of step with our current immensely aggressive materialist consumerist society. Most of us in the western-way-of-life parts of the world, and beyond, are deeply conditioned to believe that much of our happiness, and what we describe as Success, with a capital S, lies in seeking greater financial wealth.
The plain fact is that we all expend very considerable amounts of time and energy throughout our lives in trying to achieve greater wealth. If we were asked the direct question, we all know that we want to be rich or richer don't we? Why? Because we all believe with absolute conviction, that although it may not solve every single one of the things that trouble us, it would certainly blow the vast majority of them out of sight. So we would be a lot happier...wouldn't we? And if I'm absolutely honest, as I sit here writing these words, having done all the research mind you into this issue, a big part of me wants to shout out the answer...' Yes! '
But the accurate answer to that question, and an answer coming from the social scientists remember, and from lots of research, not from some Buddhist text, comes out as a resounding negative. Listen to this for example, from a very eminent British economist;
' There is a paradox at the heart of our lives. Most people want more income and strive for it. Yet as Western Societies have got richer, their people have become no happier. This is no old wives' tale. It is a fact proven by many pieces of scientific research. We have good ways to measure how happy people are...and all the evidence suggests that on average people are no happier today than people were fifty years ago. Yet at the same time, average incomes have more than doubled. This paradox is equally true for the United Sates, Britain and Japan.'
Or this from a leading American sociologist;
' Over the past two decades in fact, an increasing body of social science and psychological research has shown that there is no significant relationship between how much money a person earns and whether he or she feels good about life. A TIME poll carrie dout in the US in December found that happiness tended to increase as income rose to $50,000. After that more income didn't have a dramatic effect. Edward Diener, a psychologist at the University of Illinois, interviewed members of the Forbes 400, the richest Americans. he found the Forbes 400 were only a tiny bit happier than the public as a whole.'
' ...only a tine bit happier thann the public as whole!' What an extraordinarily revealing statement that is, because it reveals the sheer scale of the delusion...I can't think of a more appropriate word to describe it...that most of us carry around with us. If our sense of well-being were to increase in any way even slightly in-step with increasing wealth, as we fondly beleive, then these Forbes 400 people, the very richest Americans remember, should be permanently over the moon shouldn't they? Walking on air. Singin gin the rain. But the unlikely, the surprising, the oh-so-hard-to-believe truth is that they aren't. They are no happier it seems than the restof us, sitting on roughly average incomes. '
Well I enjoyed that. Hope you did, at least a bit.
I'll continue a bit more with this argument next time around.
I'm going off on hols next week. Windsurfing in Can Cun. can't wait. But I will try to get out one more episode before I go.
See you then,
William
PS Just another reminder. The Case for Buddhism can be bought on Amazon or downloaded on Kindle.
I'm really gratreful. I've had some really good comments from readers in theUS and UK and elsewhere.
Just the most beautiful spring-like day today, running in Richmond Park with Gatsby, just a hint of frost on the grass glinting in the sunlight. At the moment in my new book I'm writing about the interconnectedness of everything, trying to fit in the science and the Buddhism, and I felt it so strongly this morning, this being part of a coherent whole, me, my spirit and the colossal beauty of the world we inhabit. Some days so much stronger than others of course, but with the practice it is there underlying everything.
We are in the middle of this quite strenuous chapter on Buddhism and Money, and we've reached a sub-heading which reads,
The paradox at the heart of the western way of life.
That brings us directly to the vast range of studies that have been carried out over the past 20 years or so by the economists and sociologists and the remarakbale paradox that they have brought out into the light. In fact it is so counter-intuitive that I have no doubt that many of us will find it hard to swallow. But it helps if we stick strictly to the science, rather than our own instinctive and obviously personal response. The fact is that one of the earliest and most frequently repeated, and unquestionably one of the most surprising findings of this research is that wealth, how much money we earn is not a substantial factor in our basic sense of well-being. What the studies reveal is that once our main needs have been met...that ismof course a crucial proviso...then additional wealth seems to have a rapidly diminishing role to play in how we feel about our lives, until eventually it dies out altogether.
This conclusion has been described by one leading European sociologist as 'the paradox at the heart of western society.' Why paradox? Because it seems to be so completely out of step with our current immensely aggressive materialist consumerist society. Most of us in the western-way-of-life parts of the world, and beyond, are deeply conditioned to believe that much of our happiness, and what we describe as Success, with a capital S, lies in seeking greater financial wealth.
The plain fact is that we all expend very considerable amounts of time and energy throughout our lives in trying to achieve greater wealth. If we were asked the direct question, we all know that we want to be rich or richer don't we? Why? Because we all believe with absolute conviction, that although it may not solve every single one of the things that trouble us, it would certainly blow the vast majority of them out of sight. So we would be a lot happier...wouldn't we? And if I'm absolutely honest, as I sit here writing these words, having done all the research mind you into this issue, a big part of me wants to shout out the answer...' Yes! '
But the accurate answer to that question, and an answer coming from the social scientists remember, and from lots of research, not from some Buddhist text, comes out as a resounding negative. Listen to this for example, from a very eminent British economist;
' There is a paradox at the heart of our lives. Most people want more income and strive for it. Yet as Western Societies have got richer, their people have become no happier. This is no old wives' tale. It is a fact proven by many pieces of scientific research. We have good ways to measure how happy people are...and all the evidence suggests that on average people are no happier today than people were fifty years ago. Yet at the same time, average incomes have more than doubled. This paradox is equally true for the United Sates, Britain and Japan.'
Or this from a leading American sociologist;
' Over the past two decades in fact, an increasing body of social science and psychological research has shown that there is no significant relationship between how much money a person earns and whether he or she feels good about life. A TIME poll carrie dout in the US in December found that happiness tended to increase as income rose to $50,000. After that more income didn't have a dramatic effect. Edward Diener, a psychologist at the University of Illinois, interviewed members of the Forbes 400, the richest Americans. he found the Forbes 400 were only a tiny bit happier than the public as a whole.'
' ...only a tine bit happier thann the public as whole!' What an extraordinarily revealing statement that is, because it reveals the sheer scale of the delusion...I can't think of a more appropriate word to describe it...that most of us carry around with us. If our sense of well-being were to increase in any way even slightly in-step with increasing wealth, as we fondly beleive, then these Forbes 400 people, the very richest Americans remember, should be permanently over the moon shouldn't they? Walking on air. Singin gin the rain. But the unlikely, the surprising, the oh-so-hard-to-believe truth is that they aren't. They are no happier it seems than the restof us, sitting on roughly average incomes. '
Well I enjoyed that. Hope you did, at least a bit.
I'll continue a bit more with this argument next time around.
I'm going off on hols next week. Windsurfing in Can Cun. can't wait. But I will try to get out one more episode before I go.
See you then,
William
PS Just another reminder. The Case for Buddhism can be bought on Amazon or downloaded on Kindle.
I'm really gratreful. I've had some really good comments from readers in theUS and UK and elsewhere.
Wednesday 11 February 2015
my buddhist blog number 81
Hi Everybody, hope all is well with you in a seriously troubled world. It is a seriously troubled world isn't it? I just don't watch the 10 o clock news anymore because I don't want to take all that negative energy to bed with me. That's not turning my back on it. I just prefer to hear it next morning when I've done an hours daimoku so I'm re-energised to cope with it. And the other change I've made is to search out things in my own environment where I can make a really positive contribution to ease distress or suffering, rather than simply focusing on all those horrors so far away about which I can do nothing except chant in sympathy. One of those activities has turned out to be really rewarding; I take a hot drink and a hotwater bottle every night to someone who has chosen to cope with disharmony in his family by sleeping rough, as a symbol of his distress. And we talk briefly about Buddhism. It helps to alleviate the grief over Syria.
Right back to the blog, and we're in the middle of Chapter 11, with some interesting stuff on Buddhism and money. Well, I hope it's interesting! And we've come to a sub heading which is...
A sense of balance
So where do we draw the line between what makes sense for our lives and what doesn't? The key thing Buddhism argues, is working to maintain that sense of balance we mentioned earlier, between the spiritual and the material. The middle way you might say. Not getting swept away by overly strong currents in either direction, because both can cause reall suffering.
So that means not being overly spiritual, doing too many Buddhist activities for example and so neglecting the genuine material needs for ourselves and those around us. Just giving quality time to a partner and children for example is a crucial material need, among many others.
Conversely, real trouble can arise, Buddhism argues, when the hunger for more money, more stuff, more material goods, becomes a dominant or even overwhelming life condition.
We may not see it that way of course, because we are inside the desire. It is us. Or we may not see it early enough, because these things tend to creep up on us. We may regard it as simply ambition, or the desire to get more out of life. But when the drive for yet more wealth, yet more material possessions becomes the overriding motivational force in our lives, the thing we get most pleasure out of, and we find ourselves increasingly drawn in that direction, with decreasing time and space allocated to meaning in our lives, or our values, or doing stuff for other people, then Buddhism argues, we've probably lost the plot. We're way out of balance. And the effects of that imbalance can flow into all the other areas of our life, almost without our being aware of it.
In fact Buddhism uses language very similar to that in the scientific article that we touched upon a moment ago. It describes greed, because let's face it, that's really what we're talking about here, as a poison, or an addiction in our system, that can infect all the dimensions of our life, and be the source of deep, life-changing pain and suffering.
Witness the story of the bankrupt businessman that I recounted briefly above. And there are of course many such stories. '
Well that's it for today.
See you next time I hope. Because I'm in the middle of another writing task I'm only putting out one blog a week rather than the two I used to., but I have to say I really enjoy doing it. I hope you can say the same thing about reading it!!
My best wishes,
William
The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon as a paperback, and on Kindle as a download. And it is even now being translated into Spanish, which I see as a great honour.
Right back to the blog, and we're in the middle of Chapter 11, with some interesting stuff on Buddhism and money. Well, I hope it's interesting! And we've come to a sub heading which is...
A sense of balance
So where do we draw the line between what makes sense for our lives and what doesn't? The key thing Buddhism argues, is working to maintain that sense of balance we mentioned earlier, between the spiritual and the material. The middle way you might say. Not getting swept away by overly strong currents in either direction, because both can cause reall suffering.
So that means not being overly spiritual, doing too many Buddhist activities for example and so neglecting the genuine material needs for ourselves and those around us. Just giving quality time to a partner and children for example is a crucial material need, among many others.
Conversely, real trouble can arise, Buddhism argues, when the hunger for more money, more stuff, more material goods, becomes a dominant or even overwhelming life condition.
We may not see it that way of course, because we are inside the desire. It is us. Or we may not see it early enough, because these things tend to creep up on us. We may regard it as simply ambition, or the desire to get more out of life. But when the drive for yet more wealth, yet more material possessions becomes the overriding motivational force in our lives, the thing we get most pleasure out of, and we find ourselves increasingly drawn in that direction, with decreasing time and space allocated to meaning in our lives, or our values, or doing stuff for other people, then Buddhism argues, we've probably lost the plot. We're way out of balance. And the effects of that imbalance can flow into all the other areas of our life, almost without our being aware of it.
In fact Buddhism uses language very similar to that in the scientific article that we touched upon a moment ago. It describes greed, because let's face it, that's really what we're talking about here, as a poison, or an addiction in our system, that can infect all the dimensions of our life, and be the source of deep, life-changing pain and suffering.
Witness the story of the bankrupt businessman that I recounted briefly above. And there are of course many such stories. '
Well that's it for today.
See you next time I hope. Because I'm in the middle of another writing task I'm only putting out one blog a week rather than the two I used to., but I have to say I really enjoy doing it. I hope you can say the same thing about reading it!!
My best wishes,
William
The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon as a paperback, and on Kindle as a download. And it is even now being translated into Spanish, which I see as a great honour.
Wednesday 4 February 2015
my buddhist blog number 80
Hi Everybody,
Can I just thank everybody for the sort of feedback I've been getting all week as a result of Jason's podcast of the first chapter of The Case for Buddhism. It's been just amazing. Jason's Buddhist Podcast of course has been going for much longer than the blog and has a far wider reach, so it pulls in more response, but for any writer, there's just nothing to equal the pleasure and the satisfaction that comes from knowing that people are reading your stuff, and that it seems to be useful. So...thank you. Right thisepisode, we're in the middle of this quite complex chapter on Buddhism and money. We've covered a number of important issues in the last two episodes. on the way in which the pursuit of money has been shown to affect, or distort our value system, and we've come to this key question, what does Buddhism have to say about all this? Well, let's see.
' As I mentioned earlier, since Buddhism claims to be about our ordinary daily lives, and since money undoubtedly has a very important part to play in those daily lives, Buddhism somehow has to embrace that fact in its teachings. Man may not be able to live by bread alone, as the Christian scriptures tell us, he needs some sort of spiritual life as well, but he certainly needs to be able to buy bread! That is to say, he needs money. The fact is that Buddhism has a lot to say that is refreshingly direct about wealth and how we might best relate to it. Perhaps the crucial point we need to grasp, mainly because it runs directly counter to a widely held stereotype, is that Nichiren Buddhism is not in any way about not wanting things, or not having things, or indeed about giving things up. How could it be, since it is about the reality of daily life, and part of that reality for all of us, is to have things?
So Nichiren Buddhism is not about diminishing or reducing or setting arbitrary limits, on what we might or might not possess. Not at all. It teaches simply that since we clearly have extensive physical as well as spiritual needs, we have to attend to both if we are to achieve the most meaningful and the most fulfilling and value-creating lives of which we are capable. That, it teaches, is the very purpose of our lives, and the key to achieving success in this, as in so many things, Buddhism argues, is establishing a keen sense of balance.
Earthly desires.
Those physical needs are often described as earthly desires, not earthly in any pejorative or derogatory sense, but simply in the sense that they are needs and wants that relate to the material aspects of our life. And Buddhism clearly accepts them as playing an essential role our sense of well-being. That is to say, they are not in any way marginal. Wanting things is part of our basic humanity and has been ever since there have been things to want from sharp stone hand axes and pretty cowrie shells, used for currency in several primitive societies, to a better paid or more satisfying job and a more comfortable home, and a car big enough to carry the whole family and the dog, and a bit of spare cash for an enjoyable holiday. Buddhism is ordinary daily life.
So Buddhism makes clear that we shouln't in any way try to reject, or try not to think about these wholy natural wants in our life, or see them as somehow separate from or worse, in conflict with our spiritual life. Because there is no conflict. Not at this everyday, ordinary level of wanting. It doesn't really matter what it is that launches us down the road of establishin ggoals for our life, and then committting ourselves to a Buddhist practice as a way of strengthening our lives and setting out to achieve them. The understanding that lies at the very heart of Buddhism, and proven over countless lifetimes, is that once we set off down this it will inevitably draw out the perception that what we are really seeking is meaning and purpose, and a sense of self-worth, and the durable sense of well-being that comes from the exercise of compassion and altruism, whetehr or not we happen to achieve those material goals we set out with.'
That's it for today. I'm in the middle of a new book so it's quite difficult to do two episodes a week, but I am trying to make sure that there is a regular weekly episode.
See you next time,
William
The book The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle as a download. And, once a month as a Buddhist Podcast. We've already recorded Chapters 2 and 3.
Can I just thank everybody for the sort of feedback I've been getting all week as a result of Jason's podcast of the first chapter of The Case for Buddhism. It's been just amazing. Jason's Buddhist Podcast of course has been going for much longer than the blog and has a far wider reach, so it pulls in more response, but for any writer, there's just nothing to equal the pleasure and the satisfaction that comes from knowing that people are reading your stuff, and that it seems to be useful. So...thank you. Right thisepisode, we're in the middle of this quite complex chapter on Buddhism and money. We've covered a number of important issues in the last two episodes. on the way in which the pursuit of money has been shown to affect, or distort our value system, and we've come to this key question, what does Buddhism have to say about all this? Well, let's see.
' As I mentioned earlier, since Buddhism claims to be about our ordinary daily lives, and since money undoubtedly has a very important part to play in those daily lives, Buddhism somehow has to embrace that fact in its teachings. Man may not be able to live by bread alone, as the Christian scriptures tell us, he needs some sort of spiritual life as well, but he certainly needs to be able to buy bread! That is to say, he needs money. The fact is that Buddhism has a lot to say that is refreshingly direct about wealth and how we might best relate to it. Perhaps the crucial point we need to grasp, mainly because it runs directly counter to a widely held stereotype, is that Nichiren Buddhism is not in any way about not wanting things, or not having things, or indeed about giving things up. How could it be, since it is about the reality of daily life, and part of that reality for all of us, is to have things?
So Nichiren Buddhism is not about diminishing or reducing or setting arbitrary limits, on what we might or might not possess. Not at all. It teaches simply that since we clearly have extensive physical as well as spiritual needs, we have to attend to both if we are to achieve the most meaningful and the most fulfilling and value-creating lives of which we are capable. That, it teaches, is the very purpose of our lives, and the key to achieving success in this, as in so many things, Buddhism argues, is establishing a keen sense of balance.
Earthly desires.
Those physical needs are often described as earthly desires, not earthly in any pejorative or derogatory sense, but simply in the sense that they are needs and wants that relate to the material aspects of our life. And Buddhism clearly accepts them as playing an essential role our sense of well-being. That is to say, they are not in any way marginal. Wanting things is part of our basic humanity and has been ever since there have been things to want from sharp stone hand axes and pretty cowrie shells, used for currency in several primitive societies, to a better paid or more satisfying job and a more comfortable home, and a car big enough to carry the whole family and the dog, and a bit of spare cash for an enjoyable holiday. Buddhism is ordinary daily life.
So Buddhism makes clear that we shouln't in any way try to reject, or try not to think about these wholy natural wants in our life, or see them as somehow separate from or worse, in conflict with our spiritual life. Because there is no conflict. Not at this everyday, ordinary level of wanting. It doesn't really matter what it is that launches us down the road of establishin ggoals for our life, and then committting ourselves to a Buddhist practice as a way of strengthening our lives and setting out to achieve them. The understanding that lies at the very heart of Buddhism, and proven over countless lifetimes, is that once we set off down this it will inevitably draw out the perception that what we are really seeking is meaning and purpose, and a sense of self-worth, and the durable sense of well-being that comes from the exercise of compassion and altruism, whetehr or not we happen to achieve those material goals we set out with.'
That's it for today. I'm in the middle of a new book so it's quite difficult to do two episodes a week, but I am trying to make sure that there is a regular weekly episode.
See you next time,
William
The book The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle as a download. And, once a month as a Buddhist Podcast. We've already recorded Chapters 2 and 3.
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