Applying Eastern Wisdom to Western lifestyle
Western nations have done wonders in explaining the outer material world. Their success story is undoubtedly impressive. However, despite these stellar achievements, something is crying for attention.
Despite the material prosperity in the West, there is a simmering discontent and unhappiness among people. Dr. David G. Myers of Hope College calls this a, ‘spiritual hunger in the age of plenty’. Evidently, material acquisition and success have not been able to create happy people in an equal measure.
Balancing Material and Spiritual Prosperity
If you look around, the people in the western hemisphere are comparatively more prosperous than the ones living on the fringes of countries like India or Bangladesh. They drive better cars, have better housing facilities, have better resources, have access to a better medical system, and have all the comforts that one can aspire to in ordinary circumstances. But still their happiness and life satisfaction index is much lower than many of poor countries.
There is a profound reason for such discrepancy. West has taken a wrong idea that they can solve all the problems through taking a logical or rational approach to living. However, life is not all about rational thinking, there is more to it than some cold calculations. E.g. pure logical thinking can help you to propel a rocket into space and map out its astronomical dimensions. But it will not be able to provide you with an answer when your life seems dull or meaningless or when you lose a job or every material possession in a single stroke of natural calamity or your boyfriend/girlfriend dumps you for another person. Then you need another kind of science to help you come out of that emotional devastation.
In order to live a harmonious life we have to balance the material pursuit with mental/emotional/spiritual training. Mental and physical are two parts of the same reality and if we ignore one part, we do so by imperiling the balance in our life. Both material and spiritual pursuits are akin to two embankments of a river. If one embankment is broken down, then the flow of the river is seriously disturbed. Same thing happens in real life. When you become too much involved in material success and don’t pay attention to your spiritual needs, the balance in your life will be disturbed. You may succumb to various addictions or become sleepless for no apparent reason.
Go Slow and Reach Faster
Aggressiveness is part of western culture and most of the times it is used to achieve goals and material things within a specified time frame. I heard one of my friends say that in America, if you have not had a heart attack by the age of forty than you are not considered as a successful person. This undoubtedly symbolizes the philosophy of aggressiveness and possessiveness towards living.
There is nothing wrong with achieving material or professional success. Indeed, it is very essential for a healthy self-esteem of any individual and can make you happy and content to some extent. But if you are always worried about achieving external success in the form of getting an early pay-raise, a promotion or stress yourself to buy an expensive car to impress your neighbour, and have no time to enjoy the present richness of your life, then there is something seriously amiss in your approach.
What would you do with an expensive car, if restlessness simmers in your heart? What would you do with an early success if you become a victim of heart diseases at the age of forty? On the contrary to your expectations, these material things may bring you more restlessness than the restfulness for which you invested so many efforts and spent so many sleepless nights.
The Middle Way
Balancing your efforts of achieving external success with deepening the internal satisfaction might be a valuable strategy. Then you will enjoy the fruits of labour with more relish. With this approach, you can have the best of both worlds. Try not to become a person who spoils his health to earn money in the first half of his life and then spend the same hard-earned money to get back the health in the later half of life.
To do so, engage in spiritual training so that you are able to coach the neglected portion of your soul. It should be kept in mind that spirituality does not necessarily mean adopting a religion; it is a simple device to care for your soul or spirit and can be non-religious. Scientific research has shown that mental/spiritual balance is very important for living a productive life. Controlling your emotions and having mastery over your moods can add valuable experience to your daily living.
These practices, which help control and train the mind, could be in any form ranging from Transcendental Meditation to Gregorian chants. All these practices done with complete commitment and dedication can enrich the core and meaning of life.
For an enriching life, the aggressive and active approach of Western lifestyle should be balanced with Eastern methods of training the mind. Not only will this approach help you in achieving more success in the external world but will also deepen the joy and satisfaction in life. Pema Chodoran also has some sage advice how to thrive during difficult times.
Parmjit Singh, PhD
