[Buddha-l] what wld buddha buy

[Gary Gach]

Jim Peavler writes:

*"Is it possible that the most compassionate thing that people who happen to
have money should spend it on really nice gifts for themselves, family,
friends, serving people, deadbeats, etc. this year, of all recent years."*

That compassion is, in and of itself, of boundless mind is not in doubt; but
for whom is the compassion intended?

*> The gifts themselves wouldn't be as important is simply circulating some
bucks around instead of putting them into treasuries.*

Is the criteria for the greatest good then that they be really nice?  I.E.,
the greatest goods?

Great can not only mean wonderful but also big ... more ... and still yet
more.  I think the assumption here that might need unpacking is ... that a
good deal of wasteful excess is produced and sold for Xmas holiday, and that
such consumerism has replaced genuine intimacy and community which are
presumably being celebrated during the winter solstice; and that a symptom
of a pervasive consumer culture replacing previous values in the public
space.

> What really matters is what really matters.

And what doesn't mind isn't no-mind.

> Alms for the economy, that sort of thing.

Can I lift this phrase?  It's too good to pass up.  The idea of capitalism
asking for a hand-out is, you gotta admit, ironic, to say the least.  Santa
hitting up little boys and girls for spare change.  Etc. But given that The
Economy's been recently fueled on such nonmaterial "assets" as debt, (rather
than services, much less goods) your image reminds me of the headline of The
Onion following the Stock Market Crash of '08, where one real dollar bill
fell on the floor of the Wall Street Stock Exchange and everyone going into
a tizzy

I mention this on Buddha-L if only because the B-man's innovation of Sangha
seemed to effectuate some kind of buffer zone between the newly emergent
cut-throat competitive market economics and the millennial traditions of
agriculture economics ... and the Axial Age having thus possible parallels
to our own ('tho I fish cannot describe wetness, living admist it) ... I am
reluctant to say "paradigm shift" but there seems a seismic upheaval
affecting all frameworks at hand (or afoot) ...

Gary Gach

may all beings
be well