my buddhist blog number 164

Hi Everybody,
There's beena bit of a gap because Sarah is playing at the RSC in Stratford on Avon and I've spent a bit of time up there with her.Today's episode is about what Buddhism calls the life state of hunger, and what modern psychology calls hedonic adaptation. OK here goes.
Since it lies at the root of a great deal of self-inflicted pain and suffering...and that's the key point to note...it is self-inflicted. it is our choice...Nichiren Buddhism considers it important enough to flag it up for us, by giving this  itch-to-acquire stuff a name. It's called the life state of Hunger. Basically this is a state of more or less constant, restless dissatisfaction with our lives because we convince ourselves that our happiness lies in having something, or experiencing something that is just out of our reach. And in this life state, there is nearly always something that is just out of our reach. This restless dissatisfaction is not limited of course to just material things. It reaches out to into all the fields of human activity you can think of, from the desire for particular relationships or partners to the desire for more wealth than we happen to have, or status or fame and on to regaining youth and beauty through plastic surgery say. There's always something to want or yearn for. And it's by no means uncommon for people in this life state to fix their gaze on one thing after another in their environment, in the sure and certain knowledge...each time...that this will satisfy their deep hunger and bring them the happiness that so far has just eluded them.

The extraordinary thing...and i use that phrase advisedly because it is I think genuinely surprising...that modern psychology recognises something very similar indeed to what we have just been talking about. The term it uses to describe it is ' hedonic adapatation,'  Hedonic comes from the Greek word that means pleasure. Adaptation speaks for itself. So put simply this somewhat esoteric phrase means that we adapt with astonishing speed to new stuff., to any new material goods that we acquire. It simply becomes the new norm.

' The things that  we get used to most easily and most take for granted are our material possessions...our car, our house,. Advertisers understand this and invite us to ' feed our addiction' with more and more spending.'

But the key point to note is that the new acquisition changes nothing in terms of how we feel in the depths of our lives. Nothing changes in terms of our fundamental sense of well-being. '

Ok enough for today. Back at the end of the week with another episode.
Best wishes,
William
PS The case for Buddhism is available on Amazon and on Kindle.