Holte's corner

Buddhism and Freedom

The goal of buddhism is enlightenment. The primary narrative of Buddhism is that by defeating Mara an entire vista of wisdom and understanding can be opened up within any human heart. And conversely, that the way to defeat Mara is by walking towards the light; the path of Buddhism. To me Buddhahood is about freedom. But it is not just about our sole selfish freedom. Once we are aware of the light, we have a duty to share that light.

A second narrative of Buddhism is that we exist in context. Our sense of ourselves as separate beings is in many ways delusional. Unfortunately, the end of that delusion involves samsara, the path/circle of suffering. To end the delusion of life we have to literally or figuratively die and be reborn as more spiritually advanced beings. The "Lesser Ego" is shed and a "Greater Ego" is revealed --- one that is not so selfish.

The enemy of Buddhism is selfishness, greed (hunger), Anger, and delusions. It is a premise that if people would wake up to what their enlightened self interest is, they would automatically shed those features of their lives.

But the reality is that shedding illusions without awakening compassion enables venal behavior. Devadatta, according to one narrative, acquired all but one of the features of the Buddha through effort, meditation and insight. But he never developed compassion towards others. He remained deeply selfish. The Greater Ego allows us to shed our selfish concerns and to think outside the box of our delusions and fears. Yes, Buddhism is a religion of genuine altruism. It shows that altruistic behavior and enlightenment go together side by side. And ultimately altruistic behavior and self interest go together too.

A Buddhist doesn't leap into the pit of suffering to help others; not unless he knows he or she has a bungee cord strapped to himself and can bring others out with him/her. We hand down a ladder, or a rope. We help pull others up. For we know that suffering, as the result of delusion, is as much a matter of forgetting the truth as it is of blindness. Our compassion is self interested. The only way to guarantee rebirth into a "pure land" is to sow the seeds to transform this land into a pure land.

We know that because the small ego is a delusion. The "I" we experience is replicated and reborn many times all around us. "I" am a real person, for the time being. And "I" will be reborn. Figuratively at least there are many incarnations of human beings all of whom see themselves as "I." If "I" am not literally reborn, figuratively its a certainty. Therefore what I do for this "I" is also for future unborn eyes. I owe it to myself to plant a seed of wisdom in the environment around me. If only to my future selves.

Finally I know, from illumination that each of us is more than the sum of our parts. It may seem expedient to live a selfish self interested life, but the unintended consequences of selfish self interested behavior is a world where there is no balance, and ultimately a world of misery. As Mason said addressing the temporally rich and powerful. Even if you can perpetuate your own power, you cannot guarantee that your children will enjoy such power and privilege, nor all your childrens children. Whether one lives in a primogeniture society where only the eldest inherits or a divisive system where inheritances are carved up -- even our own descendants cannot inherit from us unless we generate a society that is equally fair to all.

We seek enlightenment for ourselves, and world peace for the world around us. That is the Buddhist path. And to me that is the path of universal religion.

Religious and political groups who pursue a selfish path of elitism and power only degrade the society around them and degrade their own rebirths.