Interesting points.
The realization that you can always find a way to
make yourself miserable in the presence of abundance
has always been a major theme in western philosophy.
"The wealth required by nature is limited
and is easy to procure; but the wealth
required by vain ideals extends to infinity."
"The soul neither rids itself of disturbance
nor gains a worthwhile joy through the possession
of greatest wealth, nor by the honor and admiration
bestowed by the crowd, or through any of the other
things sought by unlimited desire."
--Epicurus (341-270 BCE)
While the west probably does suffer from (and enjoys)
a greater illusion of personal control over life,
deep down we still understand that we're kidding
ourselves. :)
-Jon
PS:
For a fairly an ultra-condensed guide to
western thought, check out "Squashed Philosophers":
http://www.btinternet.com/~glynhughes/squashed/
* Vijay Kundaji ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) [051124 05:04]:
>
> >> Living is suffering, self-realization dawned sometime before I learned
> >> that the Buddha's teachings are somewhat along the same line. But then
> >> again, I'm not the religious type.
>
> > If living is suffering, you're doing it wrong.
>
> It seems to me that in some circumstances control over how to live
> life to optimize suffering-happiness is complicated by factors beyond the
> individual. Larger processes such as society, politics, history, the
> environment ... etc, etc seem like daunting factors to tweak the knobs on
> and surely also influence individual happiness.
>
> It always seemed to me that in 'the west', there is a far greater "sense of
> control" over how to live and enjoy living that certain individuals
> apparently
> enjoy. In India, at least, it seems like there is admittance that life, and
> the
> processes that affect it, is/are complex and so the way to deal with this
> is through internal mechanisms and mental adjustments. In other words -
> the line of instruction seems to be - life is suffering - but one has to deal
> with this reality through various mechanisms such as detachment, committment
> to certain kinds of action, compassion, etc etc ... and the multifold paths
> taught in various schools of life-practice ...
>
> I am not the religious type either - so while I'm happy seeking ways to
> be individually happy (and not socially irresponsible, in the bargain) -
> I am not sure that I will continue to enjoy such a sense of individual
> empowerment all the time and am not sure either that most people
> do.
>
> Vijay
>
>
>
