Post 110. 09/06/2020 continued . . .
Why Buddhism is Enlightening
The View from Nowhere
Another Buddhist notion that is foreign to most westerners is the “Oceanic” feeling of “Oneness” with the Universe. Unfor-tunately, Wright only briefly glimpsed that degree of enlighten-ment. “Did I feel like I was at one with the world, or was I closer to feeling like I was nothing?” Anyway, meditation is not the only way for a person to feel such wholeness. It seems to be a common factor in “out-of-body” experiences, drug trips, and epilepsy. So the author doesn’t put much significance on the mystical sensation of becoming god-like. Perhaps, more important is the ability to metaphorically rise above the mundane sensations of the physical body, and to view them from a god’s-eye-view, so to speak. Since Pain is the epitome of human suffering, we tend to think of it as a bad thing. But, Wright notes that “pain isn’t inherently painful”. Instead, it’s just a message from a body part that something has gone wrong. It’s your interpretation of neurotransmitter signals that feels Bad. Yet, highly experienced meditators, psychically disengaged from the body, are able to receive the signal without positive or negative evaluation. That’s the Buddhist path to minimizing human suffering in the world : a dispassionate attitude and impersonal perspective. But it doesn’t require total elimination of Empathy (my ability to feel your pain), merely moderation of extreme feelings.
Rather than advocating that we declare all-out war to fight fanatical feelings, Wright admits that, “up to a point, seeing the world from your particular perspective has its virtues from a standpoint of social efficiency and even social harmony”. So, meditation may serve us better as an occasional aspirin for a headache, than as a total lifestyle. But that’s merely my interpretation of the author’s intention. For me, as an innate navel-gazing introvert, overwhelming or obsessive feelings are not a common problem. Yet, ambitious Type A extroverts may more often butt their heads against self-imposed walls. In which case, some form of slow-down meditation may be the best prescription for what ails them.
In his chapter on the moot question “is enlightenment enlightening?”, Wright takes a rather pragmatic stance. He emphasizes the practical, rather than theoretical, advantages of Buddhist practices. He is more interested in real-world results than in other-worldly speculations. In general, he does not concern himself with religious doctrines or mystical myths, but with the here & now applications of updated ancient wisdom. He says, “I’d focus on the experience of emptiness, not the philosophical doctrine”. However, “if you would like to think of meditation practice as being a rebellion against an oppressive overlord, we can arrange that : just think of yourself as fighting against your creator, natural selection”. Such an attitude implies that you know better what’s good for you, and for mankind, than the “Creator” did. But, according to my own worldview, I can speculate that the Programmer included Suffering in the Grand Plan, to serve as a moral challenge for intelligent beings to overcome, on their way to becoming god-like. Hence, Meditation is just one of many artificial devices that mankind has devised in order to surmount the inherent limitations of Nature, by using their god-given Reason to create Culture. Yet, until our Science finally reaches Omniscience, we may have to rely on imperfect methods to protect ourselves from the clashing tidal waves of natural forces and personal feelings.
End of Post 110
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