my bvbuddhist blog number 141

Hi Everybody,

This passage follows on almost directly from the last line of the last episode........never before have so many people in the West turned to Buddhism to find answers to their questions about life, the universe and everything.

What makes it all this more remarkable is that this global movement is taking place not on the backs of missionaries or itinerant preachers as you might expect, or anything resembling them, but slowly steadily, almost imperceptibly, in a truly modern way, as a result simply of people talking other people, largely on a one to one basis. ' This is my experience. You might find it useful in your life.'
The very basis in a sense on which this book, this blog, is being written.

Moreover it's taking place in an age, as I've said, that is far more notable for its rampant materialism and its widespread cynicism than for its religious commitment, and despite the fact that a Buddhist practice is genuinely demanding. It calls for application and effort and commitment, because we are learning a new set of life skills, fundamentally new ways of thinking about ourselves and our relationships, and how to tackle the tough and challenging stuff that is inherent in all our lives.

Clearly it is fulfilling some perceived need for a stronger and more meaningful spiritual life for many people; a searching for something more to life, a reaction perhaps against these powerful influences of cynicism and materialism at work in society. There is so much more available to be 'done' these days, and so much more to ' hunger' after in shopping malls and supermarkets and on the web, that we can find our lives almost entirely taken up with ' stuff.' With the doing and the arranging and the acquiring and the moving on from one event, one party, one club to the next.

But is that enough? Is that what we really want? The point is that we are undoubtedly spiritual animals, however much we try to convince ourselves that aren't.'

Nuff said.
Thanks for readingn thus far.
See you next time.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon and on Kindle in English and Spanish.