Hi Everybody,
we're into chapter 7, Buddhism and Practice, and we ended the last episode with the idea that lies right at the heart of a Buddhist practice, that if we are prepared to summon up the determination to achieve it, and if we are prepared to put in the effort, we can choose hope and optimism and resilience and well-being as the way we live our lives. That's where we pick up the thread....
' But even as I write that I am only too well aware of course that it is far easier to say than to achieve. However attracted we might be by the idea, we can't achieve it without help, without some sort of discipline or structure, some sort of scaffolding around which we can consistently reinforce the determination, and strengthen the will to change. That in essence is what the Buddhist practice offers us. It provides the essential structure, the method or the discipline that enables us to take hold of our lives in a rational and measured way and move them in the direction we wish to travel.
Thus despite the many stereotypes and the many misconceptions that are prevalent in the western world, a Buddhist practice is not in any way esoteric or remote and other-worldly. Somewaht differetn certainly from our embedded cultural norms, but always immensely practical and down-to-earth. A key thing to hang onto is that it has absolutely nothing to do with the sort of outcome that we normally associate with religious customs, namely some promise of reward in some afterlife. It has wholly to do with establishing a greater sense of well-being amidst the often harsh realities of this one.
What does that mean you might ask, in terms of the ups and downs of ordinary life? It means that instead of finding ourselves responding positively or negatively to those ups and downs, positively to the good things, and negatively to the bad, as they occur in our lives. Now up now down, depending on the nature of the circumstances and the events that we just happen to encounter, which is how so many of us actually live, if we are honest with ourselves. Instead of that we are seeking, with the help of the practice, to develop a much more stable inner core of optimism and resilience and confidence, so that we can more often respond positively and optimistically, no matter what circumstances we have to deal with. You will often hear people decalre for example that that has been the biggest benefit they have gained from the practice, an altogether greater sense of stability, not being blown around so much by circumstance. Not necessarily more in control of their lives, but unquestionably more in control of their responses.
Does that mean we banish anxiety from our lives? Of course not. We're only human. There is nothing seamless about a Buddhist approach to life. Doubts and anxieties frustrations all remain part of the daily mix, because they are all part of our essential humanity. The key difference in my experience is that they don't take over. You see them for what they are, because the practice is very much about clarifying and strengthening that crucial quality of self-awareness, and because we are learning all the time to respond to negative stuff more positively and more creatively.
And we can all see immediately can't we, that an ability to respond strongly and positively to negative stuff is an immensely valuable quality to have in life? We could all do with lots of it. Moreover this expressed purpose of the practice turns out to be completely in tune with what modern psychologists tell us about positive and negative responses. They tell us for example, that we can't have negative and positive feelings, at the same time. We can be mixed up and confused of course, and often are. We can alternate between them, and often do. But we can't feel them at the same time. So the objective becomes clear; the more we can learn how to summon up our positive responses to tackle the stuff that life presents us with, the less room we have to experience the negative ones.'
That's it. A nice neat compact message I hope. The extraordinary thing is that if you take it to heart it's big enough to change your whole life. If you enjoy the blog I'd be really grateful if you were to tel your friends about it, practising Buddhists or not. The idea is to get the ideas in the book discussed andtalked about. You don't have to agree with them. Of course not. It's discussion that's the valuable thing. Anyway, hope to see you next time.
Best wishes,
William
The Case for Buddhism is available from Amazon or from Kindle.
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