Kitty Buddha
After spending days contemplating about the email correspondence between Dr. D and I, I've arrived at the conclusion that those Buddhists had it all wronged. Let me explain to you what I mean by that.
Buddhism believes that, to the best of my knowledge, the ultimate goal in life (or many lives if you'd prefer) is to achieve enlightment and became a Buddha, thus escaping further reincarnations, which is said to be full of pain and suffering. Now I don't have a very clear picture on what exactly is it like to be in this Buddha state, but for as far as I could tell, it really doesn't sound all that appealing. (Granted, my opinion could change once I get there, if ever. But this will go back to my original point that what its like then is not comprehensable at our stage now. I can only speak for what I know and how I feel at this point in this life time.) What's the sense of working not just your entire life, but life after life after life, we are talking about a LONG time in a geological sense, or possibly longer, in order to achieve something that I didn't even care about?
So, for argument purposes, let's say the Buddhism viewpoint (of reincarnation) represent the truth of the universe. And that the goal is to "escape all pain and suffering (associated with being alive)," the best alternative is not to become a Buddha, but to reincarnate as a spoiled pet. Yes, I said pet. And by that I don't mean a fish, or a rat, or snake, which you'd have to keep in a cage. I am talking about more like a cat or a dog. Note, I said a spoiled one, obviously the life of an abused pet is not much to be aspired to.
Let me use my Kitty to illustrate to you why a spoiled pet's life is what we should aspire to be:
(1) Kitty is spoiled rotten; how many humans can say that about themselves? If I have kids, I would not spoil them remotely as much as I spoil my cat. Why? Because one day they'll have to go out into the real world, and survive out there.
(2) Take the life of a regular person, he/she will have to keep a job in order to pay for all the expenses incurred for the basic needs in life -- shelter, food, other amenities and comfort in life. Does Kitty has to worry about any of those? No! She takes everything I provide for her for granted. By the Buddhism viewpoint, I must have owned her lots from my previous life (lives)!
(3) Most humans, even the lucky of all lucky ones, will find themselves in occasions that they'd rather not be in. For instances, most individuals, as I understand, do not enjoy their work, or at least wish they could work less hours at times. People who actually enjoy what they do are a rarity, and even those, I'm sure, have parts of their jobs that they'll rather not have to deal with. Do you think Kitty had ever done anything against her wish? The most horrible thing that has happened to her was probably being picked up when she doesn't want to, for a few seconds before she struggled free. (Sure, she's fixed and deprived of the pleasure of intimacy, but Buddhism was never about advocating intimacy. Monks don't have intimacy; by the same token, nor do Buddhas, so we are really comparing oranges with oranges here. :)
(4) Demanding: Kitty wants to be fed; Kitty makes lots of noises. Kitty wants attention; Kitty makes lots of noises. Kitty wants to play; Kitty makes lots of noises. Eventually you'll have to choose being caving into her wishes, or going insane from her persistent meowings. (Did you know that cats are not naturally vocal? Pet cats acquired that ability to better boss around their owners. They've learned from experiences that owners reacts better to noises. Who do you think is the true boss in this house?
(5) Her life literally is consist only of eat, sleep, play, eat, sleep, play, eat sleep, play. How many of us would die for such a lifestyle?
Therefore, the Buddha state described in the scripture, in my humble opinion, must be very closed to that of my Kitty. I shall rename her Buddha from now on, if she feels like responding to her newly adopted name.
Buddhism believes that, to the best of my knowledge, the ultimate goal in life (or many lives if you'd prefer) is to achieve enlightment and became a Buddha, thus escaping further reincarnations, which is said to be full of pain and suffering. Now I don't have a very clear picture on what exactly is it like to be in this Buddha state, but for as far as I could tell, it really doesn't sound all that appealing. (Granted, my opinion could change once I get there, if ever. But this will go back to my original point that what its like then is not comprehensable at our stage now. I can only speak for what I know and how I feel at this point in this life time.) What's the sense of working not just your entire life, but life after life after life, we are talking about a LONG time in a geological sense, or possibly longer, in order to achieve something that I didn't even care about?
So, for argument purposes, let's say the Buddhism viewpoint (of reincarnation) represent the truth of the universe. And that the goal is to "escape all pain and suffering (associated with being alive)," the best alternative is not to become a Buddha, but to reincarnate as a spoiled pet. Yes, I said pet. And by that I don't mean a fish, or a rat, or snake, which you'd have to keep in a cage. I am talking about more like a cat or a dog. Note, I said a spoiled one, obviously the life of an abused pet is not much to be aspired to.
Let me use my Kitty to illustrate to you why a spoiled pet's life is what we should aspire to be:
(1) Kitty is spoiled rotten; how many humans can say that about themselves? If I have kids, I would not spoil them remotely as much as I spoil my cat. Why? Because one day they'll have to go out into the real world, and survive out there.
(2) Take the life of a regular person, he/she will have to keep a job in order to pay for all the expenses incurred for the basic needs in life -- shelter, food, other amenities and comfort in life. Does Kitty has to worry about any of those? No! She takes everything I provide for her for granted. By the Buddhism viewpoint, I must have owned her lots from my previous life (lives)!
(3) Most humans, even the lucky of all lucky ones, will find themselves in occasions that they'd rather not be in. For instances, most individuals, as I understand, do not enjoy their work, or at least wish they could work less hours at times. People who actually enjoy what they do are a rarity, and even those, I'm sure, have parts of their jobs that they'll rather not have to deal with. Do you think Kitty had ever done anything against her wish? The most horrible thing that has happened to her was probably being picked up when she doesn't want to, for a few seconds before she struggled free. (Sure, she's fixed and deprived of the pleasure of intimacy, but Buddhism was never about advocating intimacy. Monks don't have intimacy; by the same token, nor do Buddhas, so we are really comparing oranges with oranges here. :)
(4) Demanding: Kitty wants to be fed; Kitty makes lots of noises. Kitty wants attention; Kitty makes lots of noises. Kitty wants to play; Kitty makes lots of noises. Eventually you'll have to choose being caving into her wishes, or going insane from her persistent meowings. (Did you know that cats are not naturally vocal? Pet cats acquired that ability to better boss around their owners. They've learned from experiences that owners reacts better to noises. Who do you think is the true boss in this house?
(5) Her life literally is consist only of eat, sleep, play, eat, sleep, play, eat sleep, play. How many of us would die for such a lifestyle?
Therefore, the Buddha state described in the scripture, in my humble opinion, must be very closed to that of my Kitty. I shall rename her Buddha from now on, if she feels like responding to her newly adopted name.
posted by cahalan @ 22:06
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