The United States of America has always divided, conquered and disciplined. This country was built on the discovery of new, promising land, and that was carried out through genocide to an entire culture of Native Americans. Since then, if there’s an opportunity to advance, it is seized. This discipline is so deeply embedded into American culture to highlight the impertinent class system we are enslaved in.
The “American Dream” has always been to work as hard as possible in order to afford the finer things in life, such as a spouse, kids and more material possessions than the next-door neighbor. Americans look at one another as not humans, but competition, and the outcome is inhospitable for anyone attempting to live in harmony. Consumerism has become the adopted principle for the United States of America, therefore deeming the unity of all humans as one impossible. Artificial materialism distracts us from the ebbs and flows of our body and mind’s rhythms—an awareness vital to achieve self-actualization.
A stark contrast from the chains of capitalism and the constant need to conquer are the disciplines of Buddhism. There are no hierarchical social constructs and there is no inequality. To Buddhists, being is classless; to practice this religion, one must gravitate away from the desires of the self to focus on the needs of humans altogether. The self does not exist. Although Buddhists do often think about rising above, it’s from a vertical transcendence perspective, in order to look deeper into themselves they must ascend to what is beyond. For a Buddhist, the most important possession is knowledge. There should be no other attachments, for everything is impermanent.
What stands out as most ironic about the history of Buddhism is the very root of Siddhārtha Gautama’s childhood. This founding father of the religion was born royal. He was shielded from the inevitable pain of the world that has seemingly not changed since 400 BCE. It was from within that he decided to escape the confines of the castle and search for the origins of suffering to eventually find the end of fear.
I think humans, without necessarily being forced to adopt this religion as theirs, should learn a lesson from the teachings of Gautama Buddha. We must stop worshiping what is not real. We must transcend the constrains of our castles—though comfortable, and free of adversity—and learn how to place suffering on the same pedestal as joy. By accepting anguish, and not using superficial means to distract the discomfort, we will grow out of the trivial issues that plague our minds. It would be much easier if everybody realized we are all recovering from something, we are all afraid, and we are all in this together.
