INSIGHTAotearoa
A newsletter for New Zealand's insight meditation practitioners and communities
kanya @ insightaotearoa.org | http://www.insightaotearoa.org
Monday October 3rd, 2011
The theme of this issue is ‘Radical Contentment’
Kia Ora,
In this newsletter you’ll find…
EDITORIAL: Contentment is the greatest wealth
WISE WORDS: Sulak Sivaraksa
REFLECTION I: Greed is not good, David Loy
HAIKU
REFLECTION II: What is contentment? Ven. Payutto
HAIKU
REFLECTION III: Contentment as radical refusal, Christine Dann
CULTIVATING THE DHARMA GARDEN: Radical contentment in the Dharma Garden
THEMES: For upcoming issues
SANGHA NEWS & NOTICES
IN COMMUNITY: Retreats, Workshops, Courses, Talks & Special Events
RESOURCES: for Dharma study and support
THE LAST WORD
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EDITORIAL: Contentment is the greatest wealth
‘Santutthi paramam dhanam – contentment is the greatest wealth.’ The Dhammapada
Eleven years ago I met three Thais at a workshop for Green activists. Two of them, Pracha Hutanuwatr and Pipob Dongchai, were also ‘engaged’ Buddhists, heavily involved in one or more of the activist organisations initiated by a prominent lay Buddhist and senior social activist, Sulak Sivaraksa. (See http://www.sulak-sivaraksa.org for more on Sulak and these organisations.) At one point in our group discussions Pracha waved a magazine called ‘Seeds of Peace’ in the air, and said jokingly “Here’s our propaganda, if anyone wants to read it.”
I did, and at this point I discovered that one of the organisations he was involved with was called Alternatives To Consumerism. This sounded very worthy but not necessarily radical, rather like the advocacy of ‘voluntary simplicity’ as a life-style by Americans concerned about global environmental and social justice issues, or the proposition of the German Green Rudolf Bahro that the centuries-old monastic Benedictine Rule offered a good guide for those wishing to live a simple but satisfying life today. I didn’t realise what a radical organisation Alternatives To Consumerism is in Thai political terms until I was told that teaching contentment was now banned in Thailand. Pipob Udomittipong tells the story thus:
“A short time after the First National Economic Development Plan was drafted some thirty years ago, (1961) the government prohibited Buddhist monks in Thailand from preaching santutthi, the teaching of austerity or contentment with what one has. This action was sanctioned by the Sangha authority, the official governing body of the monks. The reasoning behind this decree was that the government believed that the teaching of santutthi was opposed to the ideals of economic growth, and hence opposed to development….. ….. The late Buddhadasa Bhikku, a revered Thai monk, argued against the government ruling which prohibits the teaching of santutthi. He pointed out that this teaching contributes to real human progress, which must focus upon the development of wisdom rather than material assets.” (1)
I read Pipob’s piece again when I was looking for readings for a class on environmental policy that I am currently teaching. I want the students to look at the environmental impacts of pro-consumption, pro-growth economic policies, whether there are more sustainable alternatives, and what they might be. It occurred to me that the teachings on santutthi are as relevant to the world we live in today as they were two and a half thousand years ago – or even more so, given the much greater impacts of suppressing santutthi in these times of unprecedented global consumption. I started to look for more information on the subject, and to reflect on it. My little reflection on santutthi and the words of much greater Buddhist scholars on the subject feature in this issue of Insight Aotearoa.
May you all enjoy santutthi.
Christine Dann
(1 ) Udomittipong, Pipob, Thailand’s Ecology Monks in Kaza, Stephanie and Kraft, Kenneth (2000) ‘Dharma Rain Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism’, Boston: Shambhala, p.191
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WISE WORDS: The three poisons
According to Buddhism, there are three poisons: greed, hatred and delusion. All three are manifestations of unhappiness, and the presence of any one poison breeds more of the same. Capitalism and consumerism are driven by these three poisons. Our greed is cultivated from a young age. We are told that our desires will be satisfied by buying things, but, of course, consuming one thing just arouses us to want more. We all have these seeds of greed within ourselves, and consumerism encourages them to sprout and grow.
From Sulak Sivaraksa, ‘The Religion of Consumerism’ in Kaza, Stephanie and Kraft, Kenneth (2000) ‘Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism’, Boston: Shambhala, p. 181
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REFLECTION I: Greed is not good
Greed is an unpopular word both in corporate boardrooms and in economic theory. Economists talk about demand, but their concern to be objective and value-neutral does not allow them to evaluate different types of demand. From a Buddhist perspective, however, our capitalist system promotes and even requires greed in two ways. The “engine” of the economic process is the desire for continual profits, and in order to keep making those profits people must keep wanting to consume more.
Harnessing this type of motivation has been extraordinarily successful depending, of course, on your definition of success. According to the Worldwatch Institute, more goods and services were consumed in the forty years between 1950 and 1990 (measured in constant dollars) than by all the previous generations in human history. This binge did not occur by itself; it took a lot of encouragement. According to the United Nations Human Development Report for 1999, the world spent at least $435 billion the previous year for advertising, plus well over $100 billion for public relations and marketing. The result is 270 million “global teens” who now inhabit a single pop-culture world, consuming the same designer clothes, music, and soft drinks…
From a Buddhist perspective, the fundamental problem with consumerism is the delusion that genuine happiness can be found this way. If insatiable desires (tanha) are the source of the frustration (dukkha) that we experience in our daily lives, then such consumption, which distracts us and intoxicates us, is not the solution to our unhappiness but one of its main symptoms. That brings us to the final irony of this addiction to consumption: also according to the 1999 UNHDR, the percentage of Americans who considered themselves happy peaked in 1957, despite the fact that consumption per person has more than doubled since then. At the same time, studies of U.S. households have found that between 1986 and 1994 the amount of money people think they need to live happily has doubled! That seems paradoxical, but it is not difficult to explain: when we define ourselves as consumers, we can never have enough. For reasons we never quite understand, consumerism never really gives us what we want from it; it works by keeping us thinking that the next thing we buy will satisfy us.
From David R. Loy, ‘Shall We Pave the Planet, or Learn To Wear Shoes? A Buddhist Perspective on Greed and Globalization’ – full article available at www.inebnetwork.org/thinksangha/tsangha/loy-globo.html
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HAIKU
Sitting quietly, doing nothing
Spring comes
And the grass grows of itself
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REFLECTION II: What is contentment?
While not technically an economic concern, I would like to add a few comments on the subject of contentment. Contentment is a virtue that has often been misunderstood and, as it relates to consumption and satisfaction, it seems to merit some discussion.
The tacit objective of economics is a dynamic economy where every demand and desire is supplied and constantly renewed in a never-ending and ever-growing cycle. The entire mechanism is fueled by tanha. >From the Buddhist perspective, this tireless search to satisfy desires is itself a kind of suffering. Buddhism proposes the cessation of this kind of desire, or contentment, as a more skillful objective. Traditional economists would probably counter that without desire, the whole economy would grind to a halt. However, this is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of contentment. People misunderstand contentment because they fail to distinguish between the two different kinds of desire, tanha and chanda. We lump them together, and in proposing contentment, dismiss them both. A contented person comes to be seen as one who wants nothing at all. Here lies our mistake. Obviously, people who are content will have fewer wants than those who are discontent. However, a correct definition of contentment must be qualified by the stipulation that it implies only the absence of artificial want, that is tanha; chanda, the desire for true well-being, remains. In other words, the path to true contentment involves reducing the artificial desire for sense-pleasure, while actively encouraging and supporting the desire for quality of life. These two processes — reducing tanha and encouraging chanda — are mutually supportive. When we are easily satisfied in material things, we save time and energy that might otherwise be wasted on seeking objects of tanha. The time and energy we save can, in turn, be applied to the development of well-being, which is the objective of chanda. When it comes to developing skillful conditions, however, contentment is not a beneficial quality. Skillful conditions must be realized through effort. Too much contentment with regards to chanda easily turns into complacency and apathy. In this connection, the Buddha pointed out that his own attainment of enlightenment was largely a result of two qualities: unremitting effort, and lack of contentment with skillful conditions. [D.III.214; A.I.50; Dhs. 8, 234]
Ven. P. A. Payutto [n.d.] from Chapter 3 of ‘Buddhist Economics A Middle Way for the market place’ translated by Dhammavijaya and Bruce Evans, compiled by Bruce Evans and Jourdan Arenson, http://www.buddhanet.net/cmdsg/econ.htm
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HAIKU
My storehouse having burnt down
Nothing obscures my view
Of the bright moon
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REFLECTION III: Contentment as radical refusal
“Is fashion wearing out the world?” asks Lucy Siegle in ‘To Die For’, her recently-released book on the environmental and social costs of the British fashion industry. Britons today consume 1.72 million tonnes of brand-new garments per year – four times as much as they did only thirty years ago – and they throw away almost the same amount. There are not four times as many Britons as there were thirty years ago, so almost everybody is buying more clothes than they were before, and yet not spending as much as they used to.
Fashion discounters now dominate clothes selling in Britain, and they have cut prices so far that owning four times as many clothes as before has become totally affordable. But why would anyone want to have more clothes than they could reasonably wear, and throw some of them away after only two or three outings?
Siegle provides lots of ethical reasons why not. They include the gross exploitation of garment workers, the cruel treatment of the animals who die for fashion, and the terrible damage to the natural environment inherent in fast fashion. Yet these are reasons from the supply end of the fashion chain, and even those few fast fashion consumers who read Siegle’s book, and are convinced by what she has to say, may still feel the same urgency of demand that Siegle confesses to feeling when a new style goes on sale – it’s a bargain! I want it!
There was no fast fashion in the Buddha’s day, but he understood what is going on here. Even in his time there was abundant evidence that a lot of human actions are dominated by tanha – craving or desire. Noting this, the Buddha also noted the way in which such craving could cause severe suffering to the person caught up in it, and sometimes to those close to him or her. He also knew that the desire for power, riches and other worldly things in some individuals could cause dreadful suffering for thousands more, as was apparent when neighbouring princes strove to conquer each other’s territories, as they did all too often in northern India at the time.
I wonder if he could ever have envisaged a time when tens of millions of ordinary people, not particularly greedy or mean, and not actively cruel, would be driving enormous suffering on a global scale – just with their not obviously immoral desires to acquire a new garment every week and new shoes every month. Or to eat fast or ‘convenience’ food every day, or to re-decorate and re-furnish their homes every year, or to update their vehicles and their appliances regularly. Yet by so doing they are wearing out the human, animal and natural world at a frightful pace – and for what? The shallow satisfactions of a compliment on a new frock, or showing off a new handbag?
The Buddha would also have found it hard to imagine that there would come a time when there were whole industries (advertising, television, public relations, film) dedicated to stimulating tanha to insatiable limits, and that these industries would be more profitable than those which made useful, sustainable products. If he were alive today no doubt he would find it depressing to contemplate the power and range of these industries, their grip on so many minds and hearts, and the horrible consequences of their perfectly legal work.
Ironically, in observing this, he would find perverse confirmation of one of his core propositions, which is that an end to craving (for surplus clothes, surplus food, surplus furniture, surplus anything) is an end to suffering for the individuals who feel such an unworthy lack in their lives, and for those who slave to meet it. The Buddha advocated and practised the cultivation of contentment instead of craving, knowing that to be happy with having enough material goods to live decently – and no more – is true happiness, for it frees the mind and heart for more rewarding pursuits than shopping. This was true when excess consumption was not the social and environmental disaster it is today, and it now surely has the status of a radical truth. A truth which goes to the root of mindlessly wearing out the world, and offers a sane and healthy alternative. Santutthi: contentment as a radical refusal to destroy the world through craving for unnecessary stuff.
Christine Dann
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CULTIVATING THE DHARMA GARDEN: Radical Contentment in the Dharma Garden
When we first bought our house in Taranaki seven years ago, my partner and I fell in love with our beautiful quarter acre section with its park like setting. Mature apple trees, kowhai, cabbage, punga and flax grow amidst expansive views of the adjoining properties in a valley invisible from the road. The variety of exotics alongside the native trees in the valley provide splashes of yellows, oranges and reds in autumn, and bursts of pink, red and white blossoms and fresh young leaves in spring. At this time of year kereru, tui, and waxeyes are out and about melodically feasting on the abundance of available nourishment. It’s a joyful time in the garden, a time to really appreciate how fortunate we feel to be stewards of “our” little piece of heaven.
I’ve found it interesting to observe my responses to the changes in the garden over the years. As in all aspects of life, there have been disappointments, losses, frustrations, as well as successes and causes for celebration. Some native shrubs and grasses planted in the earlier years grew much bigger than we expected, courtesy of the verdant Taranaki soil. The grasses especially continually self seeded, popping up all over the place. The flaxes which looked so perfect when they were young and small, grew to the extent that they became a nuisance, threatening to bop passers by on the head with their long seed heads in the summer. What was once valued and enjoyed started to grow more abundantly than desired, to the extent that other valued plants were being covered up. At the front of the house, the area that seemed so big to fill took years to develop just how I wanted it, but did it stay like that for long? Not at all. Some plants took over, others failed to thrive or died, and the endless weeds kept showing through despite the painstaking work of mulching with newspaper and bark.
But there was so much to take joy in and celebrate. Every year when the apple blossoms come out, and later provide us with a plentiful supply of delicious organic apples, we are full of appreciation. The yield from the herb and vegetable garden fluctuates but always brings nourishment and great pleasure. To plant seeds, nurture the crops and then harvest them is a great gift for body and spirit. To be able to just BE in the garden, whether working or relaxing, is a blessing. When I find myself agitated or upset, then weeding, digging or simply sitting under the trees restores me to a sense of balance.
I realise how much a garden is a microcosm, a world which reflects so clearly the changing and unpredictable nature of conditions, and what a wonderful teacher it is. Learning to accept and flow with these forces of nature challenges me constantly to see the ways I resist what is happening, and the ways I try to maintain a sense of control by attempting to impose my desire for how I want things to be.
Radical contentment suggests being able to open with equanimity to the varying conditions that arise, whether I like what’s happening or not. I know if I allowed myself to be too bothered by what I am not happy with in the garden, I would always be seeing what is wrong rather than what is right with it. But if I go beyond what’s okay and what’s not okay in my view, then conditions are as they are – neither right nor wrong, just the unstoppable forces of nature operating. It’s not personal. If I can soften my preferences a little, still doing the work that needs to be done, even when I may be feeling overwhelmed or having a temper tantrum, then there’s not a problem. A garden, like life’s journey, is an ongoing work in progress. When I accept this, able to open to the wild aspect of nature even as I may attempt to change parts of it, I can enjoy this beautiful piece of the natural world that is my privilege to steward. I can sit under the apple blossoms in spring, gazing at beautiful maunga Taranaki, and be thankful for the opportunity to co-create this small pocket of land in ways that enhance the earth and give back to it, a very small offering of gratitude for all the earth provides.
Kanya Stewart
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THEMES: for upcoming issues
Short contributions from readers (original or fully attributed) on the theme of the month are welcomed. Please email them to the Editor – kanya @ insightaotearoa.org
NOVEMBER 2011 Practising Non-Harming: Sunday October 23
DECEMBER 2011 Self/Not Self
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SANGHA NEWS & NOTICES
NOTICE: Seeking support for February 2012 visit by Stephen and Martine Batchelor
Martine and Stephen Batchelor will be returning to New Zealand in February 2012 to give two public talks, a residential retreat and a day long retreat. Their schedule is:
Friday 17 – Auckland – public talk
Saturday 18 – Auckland – day long retreat
Sunday 19 to 26 – Riverslea Retreat Centre, Otaki – residential retreat
Monday February 27 – Martine teaches for a day on “Acceptance and Transformation”.
Monday 27th – Wellington – public talk by Stephen “Becoming Human – Buddhist Practice in a Post-Christian World” at St Andrews on The Terrace from 5.30pm
Their visit is being coordinated by Derek LeDayn – derek.ledayn @ gmail.com or 021 355 225.
Contributions towards their travel costs can be made through the Aotearoa Buddhist Education Trust – http://www.abet.net.nz
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SUPPORTING INSIGHTAotearoa
INSIGHTAotearoa goes out in the first week of every month (except January). INSIGHTAotearoa aims to encourage and assist the formation, connection and growth of communities of Insight meditation practitioners around the country, by
listing current insight meditation events and groups throughout the country, and promoting future events; publishing articles and other items of interest; sharing news and views from insight meditation groups, teachers and practitioners.
Please help us keep the SANGHA NEWS section of INSIGHTAotearoa up-to-date by sending news and corrections regarding events, sitting group details, etc. to christine @ insightaotearoa.org
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IN COMMUNITY: Retreats, Workshops, Courses, Talks & Special Events
1. 28 September to 2 November 2011, Wednesday evenings, 7.30pm–9pm, WELLINGTON
Let Life Live Through You – Mindfulness of the Body: a six week meditation and Chi Gong course led by Erin Taylor Pa Maria, 78 Hobson Street, Thorndon, Wellington To register and for information contact Erin – http://www.originalnature.co.nz/teachers/erin-taylor/
2. October 8-9, 10am- 5.30pm, AUCKLAND
The Open Heart – a weekend workshop on awakening the heart through meditation and restorative yoga. Led by Peter Fernando & Wilhemeena Monroe. Cost: $170 includes organic lunch both days.
Phone 09-8173051/email info @ soulcentre.co.nz
COMING UP IN 2012
1. January 22-29, CANTERBURY
Dharma Gathering with Subhana Barzaghi, Jeremy Logan, and Arthur Wells. A week of meditation, workshops, art, music, bushwalks and enjoying being with dharma buddies. Organised by Southern Insight Meditation in conjunction with the Diamond Sangha. Details from southern.insight.meditation @ gmail.com
2. February 11-19, TE MOATA
Insight Dialogue Meditation Retreat ‘Open Heart, True Wakefulness.Insight Dialogue and Relationship’ with Sharon Beckman-Brindley (USA) and Mary Burns (USA)
See http://www.abet.net.nz for more information
3. February 17-19, AUCKLAND
Being At Home in the Body. A weekend retreat with Peter Fernando & Kanya Stewart. Kawaipurapura, Albany, Auckland. For more information contact peter @ originalnature.co.nz or pranava @ ihug.co.nz
4. Monday February 27, WELLINGTON
Martine Batchelor will be teaching a day-long session in Wellington on Monday February 27th. The theme for the day will be “Acceptance and Transformation”. Please contact Diana Clarke – dianaclarke276 @ gmail.com – if you would like to register or if you would like to be on the mailing list to receive further information.
ON-LINE
Online Practice Group: Journey to the West
Are you housebound due to health or disability or far from a meditation group? We meet weekly for an hour via Skype conference call to reflect on practice and draw on the energy of our experience together as a reminder for practice. We presently have members from New Zealand, the UK, Canada, USA and Sweden and are part of the Unfettered Mind network. (www.unfetteredmind.org) Contact Ann: abraunw @ gmail.com, 03 544 2597
RESOURCES: for Dharma study and support
1. Aung San Suu Kyi on freedom. Burmese democracy leader and Buddhist meditator Aung San Suu Kyi recently gave two secretly recorded lectures for the BBC’s Reith Lecture series. They are available as podcasts at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012402s
2. Locally-produced Stephen Batchelor DVDs/on-line talks
The November 2010, panel discussion between Buddhist teacher Stephen Batchelor and Christian theologian Lloyd Geering at St Andrews on The Terrace in Wellington is now available as a DVD. A well attended meeting, the DVD includes responses to the questions which were put by a lively audience. The topic of the evening’s discussion was “Can Christianity and Buddhism Remain Relevant in the 21st Century?”. Also available is a DVD of the talk that Stephen Batchelor gave at the National Library in Wellington in December 2004 on the topic of his book “Living With The Devil”.
Produced by the Wellington Insight Meditation community, each DVD costs $30, including postage. To get one or more DVDs, make a deposit into the WIMC account at Kiwibank 38 9010 0244181 00 with the reference ‘Geering Batchelor DVD’, “Batchelor DVD” or “both DVDs”. At the same time send a message to treasurer @ wimc.org.nz letting treasurer Janice Hill know how much you’ve deposited, which DVDs you want along with your postal address.
Alternatively, send a cheque to WIMC, PO Box 6626, Marion Square, Wellington 6141 with a letter stating which DVD you want, and how many copies.
OR You can watch both the 2010 panel discussion and the 2004 talk online at http://www.wimc.org.nz.
3. ‘MINDFULNESS IN PLAIN ENGLISH’
This excellent basic guide to Insight meditation by the Ven Henepola Gunaratana can now be downloaded from http://www.urbandharma.org/dharma4/mpe.htm
4. AOTEAROA BUDDHIST EDUCATION TRUST
A charitable trust which raises funds to bring insight meditation teachers to New Zealand. To find out more visit http://www.abet.net.nz
5. INSIGHT MEDITATION IN AOTEAROA ON THE WEB
http://www.insightmeditation.org.nz – information on New Zealand’s insight meditation practitioners and communities
http://www.insightaotearoa.org – the website for this newsletter
http://www.southern.insightmeditation.org.nz – Christchurch sangha Southern Insight’s website
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THE LAST WORD
Enjoy everything. Simply leave it as it is, and rest your weary mind.
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with metta, Christine Dann, Kanya Stewart – supported by Marianne Adams. Thanks to Ron Dubin & Caren Wilton for their technical expertise & support.