[Buddha-l] buddhism and brain studies

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Tuesday 11 November 2008 12:14:44 joanna kirkpatrick wrote:

> Lots of laughs here--but actually, people also lie to escape
> being shamed. In the case of being asked questions by a stranger
> researcher if they are happy, they are no doubt ashamed to admit
> they are not happy--since admitting that runs contrary to
> American ideas that we live in the best of all possible
> countries, plus ideas of how Jesus saves, especially if you put
> your trust in him and don't complain.

My informal studies show that there are far more Buddhists than Christians in 
America. At least, I know way more Buddhists than I know Christians, and I 
consider myself a typical American. Now Buddhists are ashamed to admit being 
happy, since such a declaration would surely be taken as a sign that one 
disputes the First Noble Truth. Or worse, it could be taken as a sign that 
one is shallow, since everyone knows that profoundly wise people are also 
profoundly miserable. The greatest single source of anxiety for 
undergraduates (who, according to my experience, make up about 88.3% of the 
American population) is a dread of being perceived as happy, since being 
perceived as happy would be construed by their peers as evidence of not 
having read Nietzsche (or worse, of not having their favourite performer lose 
on American Idol).

I have no evidence for any of these claims, of course. I just know I'm right. 
When you know you're right, you need no evidence. Just ask any Republican. Or 
Democrat.

And now I am compelled to tell about a  Buddhist miracle. Yesterday was 
Armistice Day, the day when people remember all the people whose lives have 
been taken away from them by power-hungry governments waging unnecessary wars 
on the pretext of preserving freedom and other noble ideals. I was sitting in 
my office here in Albuquerque and remembering how at McGill University the 
custom is for everyone to stop whatever they are doing at 11:00 and to 
observe a minute of silence. In the building at McGill where I worked there 
was a chapel, and out of the depths of the chapel, as the minute of silence 
ended, a bagpipe would play a lament of such solemnity that it ripped one's 
heart into shreds and left one blubbering like a sentimental fool. No sound 
in the world is more mournful than a bagpipe. So here I was in Albuquerque 
feeling a deep longing to hear a bagpipe playing a lament. Now bear in mind 
that Albuquerque is millions of kilometers away from the nearest bagpipe, and 
that we have to settle for mariachi bands in lieu of pipes and drums. No 
sooner had I settled into a proper melancholy about the absence of bagpipes 
than I heard a sound coming from the plaza in front of the building where my 
office is located. It was the unmistakable sound of a bagpipe! I ran out onto 
the balcony and looked down to see a kilted gentleman pacing back and forth 
playing a lament on a bagpipe. It produced in me a state of profound sadness 
and grief for the tragic deaths of all those who have died in pointless wars, 
and I melted into a wordless and tearful despair. Never have I been more 
happy.

-- 
Richard P. Hayes
Department of Pipology
University of New Mexico