Diversions

I told my sister that I’d been reading Buddhist texts and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Her facial expression said “What the Hell?” but her mouth said something a lot more Christianeeze. Upon reassuring her that I wasn’t going to become Buddhist or leave Christ she let me out of the headlock, and I got to explain myself. I’ve been questioning my desires a lot lately. The safer ones lead me down pointless rabbit-trails of accumulation. The greater ones are so extreme that they would demand everything, like an all or nothing gamble. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t be the best thing to do to suppress all desire, shoving it all down before something harmful comes of it. What is it that makes people climb Mt. Everest? I’ve never heard about the fine cuisine at the top, and there’s definitely never been mention of any hot ladies waiting up there. Ed McMahon is not there offering a million dollars, and yet each year scads of people attempt the peak to become popsicles instead. There is something sinister and irrational about this.

With these thoughts here framed for you, obviously I was not considering becoming a Buddhist. I could no sooner become a Buddhist then I could twist my legs into that terrible pretzel of pain they call the “lotus position”. What do I look like? –A gymnast? (I deeply sympathize with the way first graders must sit “criss-cross applesauce” when at attention for show and tell. It seems a high price to pay just to see someone’s loose tooth, or the hospital pictures 6 year old Johnny brought of his mother’s liposuction……) To top it all off I really, truly suck at haikus. As evidenced from the length of this blog, I’m probably more of a sonnet guy, and I’m pretty sure you have to be good at haikus to be a Buddhist.

ANYWAY, I guess I was just trying to discover whether I sympathized with Mr. Guatama who said that the material objects of our desire are illusory. I can agree with that, sure…. What’s more is that through psychology I am aware of an entire field of study devoted to the research of what I buy and what makes me buy it. I am then promised the absurdities that eating Life Cereal or shaving with a Mach 3 will be the secret to true happiness. No doubt my eating habits could probably teach them a thing or two about nutrition.… ….consider saying “goodbye” to your precious little food pyramids, and hello to my grand Totino’s pizza pyramid.... But with the gigabytes of data stored on human behavior and desire, it’s no wonder that I feel somewhat helpless when I walk into a store. Thus, its obvious that materialism is something of a façade and in that respect the young man who spent 49 days sleeping under a tree was right. Unfortunately, the soul-searching Buddha did not cease his vendetta against aspiration merely with the cessation of material thinking, but further compounded it by saying that ALL desire only leads to suffering and thus ALL desire should be alleviated. If this were true, consider carefully the affect it would have upon your hearts. Would not love itself become a crime?

Following Christ seems to be like walking the tightrope over desire’s extremities. On one side is the fall into hedonism, and on the other asceticism which seems to have been the route of many past believers. Considering the Puritans, or past Catholic saints it seems Christians often ere on the side of stifling desire. After all, it is dangerous. People will gladly put their marriages on the line for a thrill or promotion. Countless conquistadors died in the heat of the jungle searching for the El Dorado. Even so, Christianity in all its history of asceticism has never completely shut the door on desire. Truthfully, I think Christ is the only way desire can find peace. Over the next few blogs I would like to evaluate this for myself. How much can I trust my heart? What does the Bible really say about it?

I do know this:

Desire in all its apparent danger is the foundation for my greatest hopes, for one cannot hope in that which he does not desire, AND according to Hebrews 11:1 the assurance of things hoped for is faith. Thus, it is easy to see that true faith in Christ becomes impossible without first entertaining desire. Maybe the occasional daydream about becoming a famous matador and fighting bulls for charity isn’t such a bad thing after all? I don’t know. Logically i guess it'll take some serious napping under a tree to find out. Stay tuned for more blogs!