Matt Brundage

Oh my gosh! All this time I thought e.e. cummings was a woman.

What I like best about the Confucianist principle of jen is that “subsidiary attitudes follow automatically…”, meaning that if we possess the qualities of jen, we don’t really need to worry about the details because our overall conduct will reflect it. It’s as if you’re a changed person, a la 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Is it possible for a human being to feel compassion for all living beings? It is an ideal that is to be strived for, but is rarely, if never, achieved. It is akin to asking “Do you think it is possible for a human being to never sin?” In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you. That’s a tough command to follow! Personally, I don’t have any real enemies — I am familiar with people whose actions I don’t agree with, but there is no one whom I would consider my enemy. Furthermore, I find it hard enough to love everyone who isn’t my enemy. Being altruistic and compassionate in all circumstances is admirable in virtually every faith. Bodhisattvas who meditate to become universally compassionate by definition haven’t yet reached the point where they are truly universally compassionate. It’s human nature not to be altruistic.

Is it desirable for a person to have unlimited compassion? Let me answer this question with a few more questions. Does the bodhisattva (who is perpetually storing up good karma) experience suffering? i.e. does he experience the desire to obtain nirvana, and therefore, experience suffering? With compassion and altruism comes sacrifice. Jesus Christ, in the Garden of Gethsemane, was the tortured bodhisattva — he knew that his altruistic suffering came with a price — extreme physical torture. In a similar vein, does the Buddhist bodhisattva experience prolonged mental torture when he realizes that to perpetually be a bodhisattva mean an existence forever outside the realm of nirvana? A fundamental difference between Jesus and a Buddhist bodhisattva is that Jesus’ store of “good karma”, if you will, is infinite. A bodhisattva’s karma is derived from good deeds and exemplary actions, while Jesus’ “karma” is derived from a solitary experience (death on the cross) that epitomizes God’s grace.

I’ve come to the realization that I shouldn’t hold other people to the same standards as I hold my ideal self. I know it sounds cynical, but I’ve found that it doesn’t work to expect others to behave as logically as you do. You’ll be constantly let down. Face it, no one calls their own behavior illogical.

No, I haven’t been reading some pop psychology book — but what got me thinking was the horrid conditions in which people leave the trash rooms at my condominium complex. Sometimes I think my slothful neighbors actually want to attract ants, flies, and other swarming insects. I hate to tell you this, but I sometimes spend a few extra minutes in the trash room cleaning up after others. Once, I found that someone had put two milk containers in a trash bin when there was a recycle bin right next to it. These milk cartons were half full of warm milk, and the expiration dates on the cartons were from at least two months prior. C’mon people! How long does it take to pour milk down the drain, or at the very least, in the bushes?!? According to my condo association, most of the recycle bins are frequently “contaminated” with non-recyclable trash — the dedication that most neighbors put into recycling materials is wasted by the apathy of a few. And don’t get me started on the number of times I’ve approached the trash room to find piles of trash (most not properly sealed) outside the door. And after I clear a path to the door, I find that half of the trash inside the trash room has somehow not made it into the numerous large trash bins — most of which are nearly empty.

In church today, our priest talked about a survey that was conducted among people earning over $100,000 annually. A question was asked of them: “What do you fear most?” The answer most gave was “Not having enough money to live comfortably.” The follow-up question: “How much is enough?” “Just a little bit more.” Even poor and starving people will not be satisfied with incremental blessings and increases of money/possessions. We all (myself included) want just “a little bit more…”

We want true happiness through self-actualization — the perception that one has reached his fullest potential as a person. Wealth and pleasure (artha and kama, respectively) are nice but ultimately fleeting. Huston Smith’s comments of Buddhism more eloquently tout this view. I know it’s simple and clichéd, but wealth and pleasure cannot bring lasting happiness. Temporary happiness cannot be what people want, for there is always a letdown, a hunger if you will, after the initial “peak”.

Hinduism agrees that the “drive for success is insatiable.” To do one’s duty (dharma) could be considered a form of self-actualization if one acknowledges that one’s duty may be to live to one’s fullest potential. Living to one’s fullest potential does not necessarily imply garnering vast amounts of wealth, power, and respect. Is liberation (moksha) the Hindu equivalent of Heaven? If so, Brahma/God will eliminate our wants and desires upon liberation/entrance to Heaven. Sensible people want liberation/Heaven because such an experience is the absence of want. Could it really be that what people really want is to not want anything?

I really haven’t touched on what I really want out of life. Right now, I’m in the “security” stage. I don’t want to have to worry about finances, career paths, health, my fiancé, my place in the Reign of God… To me, that is happiness — not having to worry or spend time trying to fix what can’t be fixed.

You heard it here first: my prediction for Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees for 2008: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn) and Senator George Allen (R-Va).