Hi Everybody,
Today is a new horizon, we move onto Chapter 6 in the book, Buddhism and Ethics. I really like this chapter. It was quite difficult to write because it sets out to cover lots of tricky issues, but I'm pleased with the result, which is not always the case. Anyway let's dive straight in.
' What we decide to do, how we choose to behave, unquestionably matters. Moreover it reveals a great deal about who we really are; the principles that we have, the values that we hold and the things that are really important to us. Indeed that is true I would suggesteven in what we might consider to be otherwise wholly trivial encounters in our working day. Do I take the trouble to smile at the lady behind the lunch counter and exchange a few pleasant words, or do I choose to keep my head down and ignore her because I happen to have this problem chewing away inside me? Should I respond to that aggressive e-mail equally aggressively? Do I take the trouble to listen to the arguments being put to me, and properly consider their value, or do I just ignore them and cling on to my own views? Do I get up in this heavily overcrowded carriage and noffer my seat to that older man who looks a bit weary, or do I just get on with reading my book?
It matters.
It matters in the sense that the choices that I make determine who I really am. Indeed the psychologists tell us that they determine who I am in two senses. First because my actions and my behaviour are an indication to the people around me what sort of person I am, since it is by my actions rather than by my words that my character can truly be judged. But most importantly they suggest that my character is to an extent shaped and determined by my choices and my actions, in the sense that by continually acting in certain ways I develop habitual ways of behaving. So in this way, my choices yesterday and today and tomorrow, shape the person I become. Psychologists talk in terms of our developing habitual dispositions, or patterns of behaviour. Buddhists might talk perhaps in terms of life tendencies or habit energy, but the idea is essentially the same.
Buddhism argues that patterns of choices and patterns of behaviour become so deeply ingrained in our lives that they acquire their own energy, and so become more and more difficult to break out of. And we all instinctively know that to be true don't we? We are very much creatures of habit. We all know that we can all too easily acquire patterns of behaviour that we find difficult to overcome, even when we know full well with out intellect, that these habits really don't help us or create value in our lives, because they are so dysfunctional or unattractive or destructive in some way.
It calls to mind the slightly scary Buddhist mantra that runs...
...take care of your thoughts because they will become your words...take care of your words because they will become your actions..take care of your actions because they will become your habits... take care of your habits because they will become...your life...
It's not for nothing that one of the most important things written about the life of Shakyamuni was that the real significance, the real purpose of his appearance in this world lay in his behaviour as an ordinary human being. Not his behaviour as a agod notice, or as any sort of special or superhuman being, but just as an ordinary human being. One of us.
This discussion lies slap bang in the middle of the slightly fuzzy, often controversial area of thought and debate that is known as ethics or morality, the words are used virtually interchangeably. Morality is essentially about how human beings choose to live their lives in relation to one another. It concerns the principles and the values...some religions of course would say the commandments or the rules...that we embrace and take on board to shape and guide the way we think about and deal with the multitude of relationships and encounters that we have with other people.
And if we think about our lives even momentarily, if we have any concern for the effect our life has on others around us, we clearly need some sort of structure don't we? The plain fact is that all our lives, from the moment we arrive until the moment we depart, is made up of encounters and relationships of one kind or another; an immeasurably complex network of relationships and encounters of every possible shape and size and frequency and intimacy, from the most fleeting, to the most enduring and long-lasting relationships we have within the circle of our family and friends and colleagues.
So if we seek to live any sort of valuable and creative life, let alone the most valuable and creative life of which we are capable, we need some structure don't we, some guidelines to point us in the right direction, and keep us on the right track? And that essentially is what this chapter is about. What sort of structure does Buddhism have to offer? '
That's it for now.
See you next time.
William
The Case for Buddhism is available from, Amazon
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