Coincidence

why are most of the Christians countries richer than most Buddhist countries. Most Buddhists live below the level of poverty while Christians enjoy a wealthy and better life.

I’m sorry, but I just have to chuckle a bit every time I read this. In fact, I would probably laugh a little more if it weren’t so sad. For this statement so well represents the prototypical American view. I am a little alarmed that no one has questioned yet the basic premises behind these statements. The most glaring of which occurs at the end with this: “Christians enjoy a wealthy and better life.” In other words: wealth (abundance of material possessions) = better life.

To begin with, I would not concede that the accumulation of material possessions equals a better life. I would be more inclined to think that the accumulation of spiritual wisdom and experience equals a better life. Or that a wealth of friends and familial love equals a better life. But, more things? No, I don’t think that equals a better life.

Furthermore, what makes life more rich and rewarding for me, is to be able to paint my paintings, to be able to communicate with my Buddhist friends, to ride my bicycle by the edge of the lake with the still waters reflecting the rose and turquoise sunset, or to rest in the sand next to an ocean’s beach beneath the cries of the gulls and the crashing surf, to be able to help people on their way when they need my designer’s expertise (frequently given out at no charge), and to be able to live in a town with people of all races, beliefs, cultures, achievements and concerns.

Sure its nice to go see a movie every now and then, and I really could use a toaster oven, so I will probably buy one of those sometime. But, I just can’t see the so called “better life” in someone like a co-worker of mine whose life consists of going out to the movies, going out to dinner, going shopping, going out to shows, watching DVDs and TV or playing PS2 at home, all accompanied with liberal amounts of alcohol, preferably in the company of her even less sensible boyfriend. And whose meager income is totally consumed by her car, going out, getting the latest cds and DVDs and several new pairs of shoes each week, along with the expense of having to purchase most of the meals for herself and her boyfriend, as she will not prepare them herself.

Her future hopes: an apartment that she and her boyfriend will have to themselves (unlikely since neither of them can save the barest amount from month to month) and perhaps “running away to join the circus”. And what concerns me the most is that she is not atypical. That for far too many young people life is about always being entertained. (By the way I care about this young woman quite a bit, and listen compassionately to all her adventures and travails, encouraging her to get her butt into school and so forth.)

And then too, there is the dark underbelly of this so called “wealthy, better life”, that I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere here yet. And this is the fact that the wealth and lifestyle of this so-called better society is fully dependent upon a far greater proportion of the world’s population being trapped in lives of poverty, who have no other choices but to take the extremely low paying jobs that produce the cheap goods that the wealth of the first world thrives upon. That the richness of a society is dependent upon the economic misery of others does not instill in me the opinion that it is a “better” society. In fact, it does quite the opposite.


Furthermore, because this society with its “better life” is dependent upon a source of cheap fuel to run its vast fleet of vehicles, it inevitably means that it must occasionally make war upon other countries that might threaten the availability of this cheap resource. Or, that our governments must turn a blind eye to the possibly negative environmental consequences that the pollutants of this fuel might bring. (Not to mention the pollution caused by the agribusinesses, meat and poultry businesses. Or the devastation brought on by over fishing of the oceans. Topics that are equally ignored throughout our major social infrastructures.) I personally, don’t claim to be free from guilt with these issues; I don’t know if any of us in the West can make such a claim.

To me the poignancy of this argument was brought squarely into view on the cover of one of those pictorial essay books done by the publishers who are famous for their series of books with titles like: “ A Day in ______”. The cover of the book showed two photographs: one of a white middle class family in front of their suburban ranch house, while the second photograph showed a Tibetan family kneeling in prayer in a rather shabby looking building.

In front of the suburban ranch home the family has gathered with many of their cherished possessions. While the Tibetan family looks dirty and haggard, living in near squalor, as the father bends forward with his hands clasped in prayer.

And this is exactly how we in the West are taught to view the rest of the world: To see the outward appearances of wealth as being achievement. Ignoring the deep reserve and inner strength of the spiritually rich lives that others may well find preferable to the lives of those who, inside, are empty, except of the latest brand or toy.