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A thought experiment
Jeffrey
Veteran
If you could:
A) end BOTH world hunger and war
or
B ) turn the world of dharma as the next Buddha
What would you choose?
Personally I find it a flawed question because it would be impossible to do A) I feel. But it is interesting to think about.
0
Comments
Oh heck, "A" in a heartbeat. Then I'd have B in the bag
I'll have an 'A' please Bob
"C" it's a no brainer
@Jeffrey
(A) Could just mean that humanity gets snuffed by....anything.
(B) Could just be like my daughter said at the age of 5.."Everyone's a Buddha".
Who's offering?
It will never happen.
No war or hunger but there will still be immense suffering about something else.
If all people wake up then this is the end to suffering. Which is the ultimate goal.
Give a man some food and he will suffer some other projection. Allow a man to wake up and he will never suffer again.
I wouldn't even have to think about it, A.
A. I don't think "wanting" to be a Buddha is even a thing.
Just sayin' a single year of the US defense budget could single-handedly cover world hunger for 25 years...(per the estimates the WHO has determined it would need to significantly solve or handle the hunger problem).
Just interesting to me to consider the A option above with one (ideal and obviously unrealistic) solution. Most affluent and influential country on the planet gives up it's arms (war) to solve the problem of hunger.
A is impossible to achieve. With B you just, just might achieve A. OR not.
That's what I was thinking when I wrote the question. But I think it's great to want to achieve A and maybe that is like the bodhisattva motivation if you don't really analyze. But yes I am of the mind that either could be a great answer. You could either have a few total Buddhas surrounded by their assembly or else the suffering reduced from war and famine would also be immeasurable (or would it?).
In a way like how says the wheel of dharma has already been turned and we are a part of the assembly. Next part is to transform the world. CHARGE!!!
That is a very interesting comment. In teachings I think more a gelug flavor of Tibetan Buddhism (or perhaps pan-TB?) the wanting is called 'aspirational bodhicitta'. I don't seem to recall to much about it. But I think it is something to be talked about even if it is not a thing. Can you say something about what you mean by it not being a thing? Sounds interesting to me!
In the world we live in, I'm not sure being a Buddha would have much of an impact despite the wide reach of the internet and other communications. I think anyone making any claim to be someone special would be met with undercover stories by Brian Williams and "Buddha makes his own sandals!" by TMZ. He/she'd just be seen as another religious nut. Even here, people posting declaring they are enlightened get an eye roll from pretty much every member, and we supposedly would recognize a Buddha much faster than the rest of the world.
I'd take A. I mean if one person can solve the problem of hunger and war, surely they will become a Buddha at least in the next life
Maybe the world will be in a better place to receive a Buddha then.
Well, it's really a colluquialism, in my area it's a way of saying that something is not real a bit sarcastically. However, my understanding is that the way to reach enlightenment is to be free of craving . . . that is, want . . . so by craving Buddha-hood, we are sort of guaranteeing that we will never get there. Make sense?
There are some wholesome cravings @Amthorn. The secret is not, to NOT have any cravings. The secret is to know when something BECOMES a craving and needs letting go of.
A no doubt.
Never ever B. Heck I just wanna get out as fast as I can.
@Amthorn I have read that the last craving that drops away is the craving for enlightenment. But for now craving for enlightenment is very valuable.
There are two categories of Craving. Tanha and Chanda.
Chanda is basically the craving to do things to reach Unbinding.
Chanda is acceptable and as pointed out earlier the last craving to be extinguished.
Tanha is basically everything else and not acceptable craving.
Associatively, the OP ("thought experiment") put me in mind of "Thought Moments." which I found more provocative.
This reminds me of Alan Watts "Middle Way"
"Don't desire to give up more desire than you can. And if you find that a problem then don't desire to be successful in giving up more desire than you can!"