[Buddha-l] Re: Greetings from Oviedo

[Benito Carral]

On Tuesday, October 4, 2005, Curt wrote:

> So  while  some  people might choose to avoid talk of
> "happiness",  there  are  others  who  agree with the
> Dalai  Lama  and Plato in thinking that happiness, if
> properly  understood, is the natural result of living
> our lives in a good way.

   The  problem with "happiness" is that it is an empty
word, it can mean anything or nothing at all. As far as
I  have  been  able  to  explore,  what  most of people
understand  by  "happiness"  in  our  tragic globalized
world  is  the  absence  of physical pain plus material
comfort.  Nowadays  I  tend  to  include  interpersonal
relationships--marriages  statically  last  11 years in
Spain;  when  one becomes tired of his partner, he just
chooses  other--and  mental  wellbeing  here--when  one
feels bad, he takes Prozac.

   So  I wouldn't go so far as conclude that Plato, the
Dalai  Lama,  and our fellow citizens are talking about
the  same  reality  when they say "happiness." In fact,
one  of  the  couple of things that I have learnt in my
life  is that people tend to use the same word to refer
to   completely  different  realities.  So  one  of  my
favourite  questions is, "What do you mean when you say
x?"

   Now  bringing  my  remarks to a more Buddhist arena,
it's  clear that Mahayana Buddhism emphasised attaining
something  instead of stoping dukkha--I'm not sure that
the   old  Indian  Buddha  would  agree  with  such  an
approach.  I  admit  that it can be an useful rethoric,
but it has been misused through history.

   It's  my  experience as a Buddhist teacher that many
people  in our world practice what they call "Buddhism"
in  order to attain enlightenment, to see the void, and
a lot of more of strange things. Nowadays I always ask,
"Why do you want to study Buddhism?" If they don't tell
me  that  they  want to stop dukkha, I ask them to look
for another teacher.

   I  have not deal yet with the question, "What a good
way is?" How should we determine it? By its results? If
so, what results would indicate that one has followed a
good  way?  If  not  by  the  results,  how  should  we
recognize what a good way is?

   Best wishes,

   Beni