Maybe we are now too old and infirm to fight Nazis. But I believe at least we should have strength to uproot the ideas which give rise to Nazism. (Burmakin 2013')
How do your study in Brown Univ: go on? Do you find your courses meaningful for your future career and related to the available employments?
Anyway, to be in States itself is a great blessing for a book lover. I really envy you in this sense only. The flames of worldly knowledge and the transcendental wisdom are burning on this land of freedom and creativity.Even libraries are widely available for all students, so it is not a necessity to buy and own the books.
You can take this great opportunity to learn whatever you want in States. Here in Myanmar, we are like the frogs in the dried well that just look up the sky and waiting for the rain drops to come in. We spare a large amount of our salaries and savings to buy very expensive books from USA for the sake of just tasting the wisdom. What a pity!
Another thing is that USA is a huge spiritual Supermarket. I know that even you are persuaded by the superficial distractions (wealth, fame, and power which are parts and parcels of great American Dream), you are a spiritual being in deep down level. In USA, You can find the competent masters from all kinds of spiritual traditions: Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Mahamudra and Dzogchen, Sufism, Vedanta, Taoism, Zen Buddhism, and even indigenous spiritual traditions like Wicca and Shamanism, so on and so forth. So my dear, now you are at the center of the world and you have an unparalleled chance to find 'the Way".
Our regular weekly teashop meetings are still going on. Sometimes, as you said, it is better to talk with one's old-time friends freely and frankly and exchange opinions and ideas. It is really a tonic for the lives of people who are working uninteresting jobs just for the sake of money and survival. I hope you also miss your friends in Yangon.
On the way of return full of exhaust, from my farm She implored me in this morning she would like to put on Jasmine; Had I plucked the buds, hopefully, I could have a hug;
Now I saw a vague shape That's my beauty queen, My heart thumping, rush for her amaze But the lady's hair, full of grace Not with Jasmine that was borne with royal roses and thorns
(Translated from a Burmese poem by Leonard Aung Khine)
In class, I asked a question whether there exists a universal pre-condition for happiness or there's not:
If you examine my love story of 3 old men, what are the negative things of their life: old age, upcoming disease burden, lowest salary, hard job, no aspiration. And what is positive?
"Love and to be loved".
But when they can forget all the bad things and when they can substantiate this small little thing: human beings can be extremely happy. As I said in the class, the human beings have adaptability to be hedonistic; upcoming failures are taken granted and try to enjoy whatever they encounter at the very "small present". My question is "the ever-existing miserable side of their life is more to be reflected " or "the small treadmill happy moments are more to be valued".
Leo Tolstoy once wrote a story: An old man is traveling in the desert. He was being chased by a tiger. He ran away and slipped off into the den. Fortunately, he could hang on a small branch of a tree that grew alongside the wall of the den. Hanging this branch, he looked downside, a lion at the floor of the den was opening wide his mouth ready to eat him if he ever fallen. So he thought should he go up. The tiger ever chased him was roaring at him to tear him apart if he ever come up. He saw his last resort, that small branch. One white mouse and one black mouse were hungrily biting the root of this branch driving him to ultimately go down. A honey comb was also there in this rotting deteriorating branch and drops of honey were dribbling from the comb. The old man in his forgetfulness, he ignored all his conditions and tried to lick the honey drops.
I think this story exactly reflects the hedonistic adaptability of human beings. However if you see the situation of the old man in the den, the only best way he can do is to lick the honey drops, and although the venerable Tolstoy wanted to criticize this human nature, we can't blame it.
In the ending of "1984", Winston Smith began to believe that "2+2=5" and he fell in love with the cruel dictator, Big Brother. As long as he denied 2+2=5 and insisted that it is 4, he was restlessly tortured. What the person who tortured him said are remarkable: "You believe that reality is something objective, external, existing in its own right...But I tell you, Winston, reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes; only in the mind of the party, which is collective and immortal. Whatever the party holds to be truth is the truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party. That is the fact; you have got to learn, Winston. It needs an act of self-destruction, an effort of the will. You must humble yourself before you can become sane". These brain wash words changed the revolutionish Winston to believe and accept 2+2=5 and he began to love "Big Brother".
If you see the Party in this story as the Society and you see yourself as Winston, all the miserable things you encounter for the past, present and future as the torture, what we all are doing is the last choice Winston made that is accepting 2+2=5, falling in love with "Big Brother" and exactly it is our happiness.
Stephen Covey wrote in his 7 habits of highly effective people in arguing against his friend who found no interest in his wife after 10 years of marriage or so: "If you don't love her, try to love her". His friend complained, "Is love natural or man-made". Stephen's answer is "you can make it, try to believe you love your wife and try to love your wife".
You can see apparently Stephen is trying to defend "happiness adaptability" of mankind in every effort. And this is the outlet of all human beings. All the tortures in life lead to that we should have the positive attitude to accept what is happening for the moment and we have to be positive to be happy.
However, if you see all these 4 cases in consequentialism, all these good processes we have made brilliantly to make us happy are ultimately and unfortunately "dissoluting again" as Buddha said Ananda in his pre-last words. This form of philosophical doctrine is pervasive in existentialism and sometimes existentialism is blamed as "too negative" to see the life.
If you really know Buddhism, Buddha teaches only one word: "Mindfulness". I hope if we have the real practice of mindfulness, you can find a middle way between your present hedonism and your future existentialism.
Here I gave you two Buddhist stories professor and I had talked in the class.
Story (I)
Ananda felt very sad, and the Buddha begun to consoled him. Ananda uttered this: In lack of wisdom rule the darkness in the humans mind and all the sentient beings in the world grope in the lack of guidance. Then the Perfected One lightens the lamp of wisdom, that lamp, which now will be ceased before he had carried that lamp to the end". "Do not cry, Ananda", said the Buddha.
The Buddha told him this: I told you for a long time ago this: That’s the nature of everything that we must be separated from them who we loving in this world. One is short-sighted and keeps the idea of the self? The clever have realized that there is nothing to build any thoughts from. He is apparent of that all compositional units may be dissolute again but the truth always lasting. Why should I preserve this body then the noble truth lasting? I have now reached the end of the way. I have reached my purpose, after this work I have done, I am seeking for the rest. You, Ananda, you have been very close tome and ardent in thoughts and loving deeds, which never had been lesser and never could be measured. You have acted well. Be patient in your struggle. Soon, even you will be free from evilness, from sensuality, from egoism an ignorance". Later, Ananda brushed away his tears, and stopped crying.
Story(II)
But both of them were ignorant and knew only how to spend money and not how to keep it or to make it grow. They just ate and drank and had a good time, squandering their money. When they had spent all, they sold their fields and gardens and finally their house. Thus, they became very poor and helpless; and because they did not know how to earn a living they had to go begging. One day, the Buddha saw the rich man's son leaning against a wall of the monastery, taking the leftovers given him by the samaneras; seeing him, the Buddha smiled.
The Venerable Ananda asked the Buddha why he smiled, and the Buddha replied, "Ananda, look at this son of a very rich man; he had lived a useless life, an aimless life of pleasure. If he had learnt to look after his riches in the first stage of his life he would have been a top-ranking rich man; or if he had become a bhikkhu, he could have been an arahat, and his wife could have been an anagami. If he had learnt to look after his riches in the second stage of his life he would have been a second rank rich man, or if he had become a bhikkhu he could have been an anagami, and his wife could have been a sakadagami. If he had learnt to look after his riches in the third stage of his life he would have been a third rank rich man, or if he had become a bhikkhu he could have been a sakadagami, and his wife could have been a sotapanna. However, because he had done nothing in all the three stages of his life he had lost all his worldly riches, he had also lost all opportunities of attaining any of the Maggas and Phalas."
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows: They, who in youth have neither led the life of Purity nor have acquired wealth, waste away in dejection like decrepit herons on a drying pond deplete of fish.
They, who in youth have neither led the Life of Purity nor have acquired wealth, lie helplessly like arrows that have lost momentum, moaning and sighing after the past.
For those who want to listen to my critique about happiness,
Today, I was working in the dining services. The two old American women(workers at the dinning services) were very happy at seeing a very ugly African janitor man (as ugly as Sams, Furray and Troussay) who always hold a smile with his spiritual compassion towards everybody.
He was pushing a very heavy trash bin. These two old American women hugged him in joy. This guy, Andree whose one side of hand was always imprisoned by this heavy trash, hugged them back with the only remaining arm that could sense the taste of Democracy. He was also really happy to hug these two old American women with grey hair in their heads (who could no longer be as beautiful as Marwa or Elizabeth or Anna or Rana) (I need not to forget my two beautiful TAs in this list for sake of my happiness in grades). These old people kissed each other, smiled at each other, talked stupid things at each other and burst out into laughter. You can imagine how happy they were at that moment.
I explored my curious mind why these people should be so happy. They were working at the minimal salary and the hardest jobs for their old ages; apparently in comparison with us, lost all the youthfulness and great chances and great aspirations in life, still they could freely enjoy the sense of happiness. I don't think his Excellency, George W Bush couldn't have been happier for "the very moment" these three old men in the poorest strata met together.
My question is why these old poor man and women can be so happy among the restraints and mourns of life. I believe it is the love that determines this moment. One of the greatest moments for your life can be that you begin to know that you love somebody and you are convinced that you are being loved.
When I was in the WashingtonBotanical Garden, I took a place under a big shady leaf. I saw my life back and queued," how many times I could sit peacefully breathing the naturalbreeze under the cool shelter of a tree, equanimized, free from any mourn and sigh, just the very enjoyment of quietness".
When the Vijara prince, the gallant with the army, marched to genocide all the Nepalese,Buddha was walking in the sun that is on the inside border of Nepal. The prince asked Buddha, "Why you don't take the shelter in spite of seeing so shady trees?". Buddha said to him, "Prince, for the shelter of relatives is cooler". I sighed how you have lost a relative that is cooler than this shady tree of Washington or the trees 2500 years ago outside border of Nepal . However, we try to validate to think we come to the world for seeking happiness always hungry for better utility (satisfaction). Notwithstanding," Death has tided all humans away while they are sleeping in their dreams". That is the undeniable truth Buddha alarmed the people. I hope you and all the people to be awakened from the sorrows as well as that virtual happiness of our dreams.
Dear Ko BmK,
