Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
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problems in order to solve the original ones.<br />
There is an old story of an ascetic who once upon a time<br />
lived under a tree with nothing but his robes. One day<br />
someone invited him to live in a hut that they had built, so<br />
that he could avoid the inclemencies of weather, bugs, etc.<br />
Thinking this would help his spiritual life, he accepted. After<br />
some time living in the hut, however, he began to be<br />
troubled by rats who would bite holes in his robes when he<br />
left them in the hut. <strong>In</strong> order to solve the problem, he<br />
procured a cat to scare away the rats. This, however,<br />
presented a new problem of how to feed the cat. To solve<br />
this problem, he procured a milk cow. The problem with the<br />
milk cow, of course, was it needed one to tend to and milk it.<br />
To solve this problem, he found a milkmaid to stay with him,<br />
and in the end found himself falling in love and breaking his<br />
asceticism, taking on all of the problems of the household<br />
life. This is a very good example of how we try to solve<br />
simple problems by creating more complex ones.<br />
<strong>In</strong> modern times, this problem is seen all the more acutely.<br />
Through trying to avoid simple problems like how to procure<br />
food and shelter, we find ourselves caught up in social,<br />
economical, political, and even global problems that are all<br />
far removed from the very simple problems they are<br />
designed to solve.<br />
If the goal is the proliferation of a species, approximation and<br />
shortcut taking is a tried and tested means of advancement -<br />
the species flourishes, adjusting behaviours only when they<br />
hinder its proliferation. This is how the animal realm<br />
functions, and many humans as well seem satisfied with this<br />
sort of "development" as a positive thing. It is thought to be<br />
a sign of advancement that the human species has<br />
proliferated so rapidly in a relatively short time. Such<br />
thinking is actually an example of the problem; rather than<br />
taking the time to look at whether we are actually solving<br />
anything, we see our ability to continue taking shortcuts as<br />
proof that we are, and so are encouraged to spend even less<br />
time studying our problems and more time finding ways to<br />
take shortcuts around them.<br />
As a result of all of this, our beliefs and views don't<br />
necessarily have anything to do with reality; they only serve<br />
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