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Good Work: An Engaged Buddhist Response to the Dilemmas of Consumerism

Good Work: An Engaged Buddhist Response to the Dilemmas of Consumerism OVERCOMING GREED Good Work: An Engaged Buddhist Response to the Dilemmas of Consumerism David Landis Barnhill University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Consumerism is such an ingrained part of our culture, it is paradoxically difficult to avoid and easy to ignore. Sometimes it seems like the water we modern fish swim in. But the Buddhist call to awareness of our state of mind and the nature of reality leads us to reflect on it, to encounter it as directly as possible. When we do, it is all too clear that consumerism goes directly against virtually everything Buddhism stands for. In thinking about a Buddhist response to it, what first comes to mind is the rich monas- tic tradition, with its trenchant analysis of the pervasiveness of desires, the ideal of life lifted free of craving, and the inviting simplicity of the communal life. But as an engaged Buddhist, I almost immediately feel that, compelling as it is, this monastic tradition is insufficient, particularly at a time when consumerism has become so dev- astating on a global scale. While the monastic tradition offers a model of a noncon- sumer lifestyle, it does little to affect the industrialized world’s accelerating exhaus- tion of http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Buddhist-Christian Studies University of Hawai'I Press

Good Work: An Engaged Buddhist Response to the Dilemmas of Consumerism

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Publisher
University of Hawai'I Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 The University of Hawai'i Press.
ISSN
1527-9472

Abstract

OVERCOMING GREED Good Work: An Engaged Buddhist Response to the Dilemmas of Consumerism David Landis Barnhill University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Consumerism is such an ingrained part of our culture, it is paradoxically difficult to avoid and easy to ignore. Sometimes it seems like the water we modern fish swim in. But the Buddhist call to awareness of our state of mind and the nature of reality leads us to reflect on it, to encounter it as directly as possible. When we do, it is all too clear that consumerism goes directly against virtually everything Buddhism stands for. In thinking about a Buddhist response to it, what first comes to mind is the rich monas- tic tradition, with its trenchant analysis of the pervasiveness of desires, the ideal of life lifted free of craving, and the inviting simplicity of the communal life. But as an engaged Buddhist, I almost immediately feel that, compelling as it is, this monastic tradition is insufficient, particularly at a time when consumerism has become so dev- astating on a global scale. While the monastic tradition offers a model of a noncon- sumer lifestyle, it does little to affect the industrialized world’s accelerating exhaus- tion of

Journal

Buddhist-Christian Studies – University of Hawai'I Press

Published: Jan 10, 2005

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