We hear a lot about the so-called protestant work ethic here in these United States. It might have powered the 18th and 19th centuries but it seemed to run out of steam by the end of the 20th. Today I'd say that Christianity supports the materialistic, gotta have-it-now culture of Cosnumerist America with drivel like the Gospel of Wealth.I have to say that Zen has no such tendencies. In Zen minimalism is stressed. Not to an an extreme, but just enough. That concept pervades the life of most practitioners of the Buddhadharma, Zen or otherwise.
It has become such an aspect of my family's own life that the extended members of our family all think we're a little queer. We get questions like, "why don't you want a new television?"
Most of the time they just write us off as weird. My coworkers are worse always talking about the new stuff that they spent their money. I am a little jealous of the fact that they HAVE money to waste. Ours goes to bills and food.
Although my practice is still mostly informal and rather "bookish" I can say that the more I get rid of the more I have.
Gassho.
Congrats on the new house. Hope you used it as an excuse to get rid of some crap.
ReplyDeleteI used to buy little decorative stuff that represented my interests but forced myself to stop when I started running out of usable table and desk space.
Since then I've been trying to get rid of things (books being the big one) because I share space with my girlfriend and she hates clutter. She's always using that show about hoarding in an accusative way. (even though I'm nowhere near any of those peoples' level)
Despite all the anxiety about letting stuff go, it does make for good practice and I do end up feeling better. It really makes my heart go out to those that do have a problem with stuff owning them.
thanks for the posts and welcome to the city,
kevin