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#Avidyā #Saṅkhāra (at New Haven Zen Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck5m2c9u1Qx/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

"There is indeed a certain satisfaction in the acquisition of new knowledge. We all have tasted the feeling of competence in mastering new domains such as a foreign language or a musical instrument. However, as with the desire to have more, the desire to know more is constantly being met by the realization that there is always more still left that is unknown. This only sparks the desire to know even more, drawing human beings in directions where no one has gone before.

If we dispassionately survey our contemporary world, we cannot help but notice the stark contrast between our ideal of universal happiness — the expected outcome of more knowledge and mastery over nature — and the actual realities of our global situation. We cannot help but see an ever increasing gap between the haves and have-nots, with hundreds of millions living and dying in subhuman conditions. We can't help but see the heightened tension among different sectors of our human community, leading to armed conflicts around the world. We can't help but see the increasingly critical situation of ecological destruction, from ozone depletion to the extinction of thousands of species.

All this indicates that we have not been able to harness our knowledge to provide the wisdom we need to live well and be genuinely happy as a global community. The desire to know that drives our mental pursuits presupposes, as well as accentuates, the dichotomy between knower and known. I see the world and other people as 'out there,' separate from me, and therefore fundamentally cut off from my field of concern as I seek my own happiness.

Never before in the history of the world have we human beings had access to so much knowledge and information. But looking at the history of the last hundred years, the gap between what we know and how to use that knowledge for greater happiness has never been greater. Indicator after indicator affirms that we have not been able to put our knowledge at the service of our communal human well-being. This is a gap that is crying out for redress."

- Ruben L.F. Habito, from "The Inner Pursuit of Happiness." Hooked: Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire, and the Urge to Consume, edited by Stephanie Kaza.

Abstraction

From today’s Book of the Day, I have selected this sentence for a deeper analysis: The abstraction of exchange is not thought by the participants in exchange, yet it is real.Alfred Sohn Rethel, Intellectual and Manual Labour This sentence condenses the entire force of Sohn-Rethel’s project into a single ontological shock. It asserts, with a calm that is almost cruel, that one of the most…

The Transformative Power of Knowledge: A Journey into Self-Exploration, Growth, and Wisdom

Knowledge is far more than a mere accumulation of facts or the mastery of information; it is a dynamic tool that deepens our self-exploration, promotes lifelong growth, and fosters profound wisdom. Photo by Janko Ferlic on Pexels.com However, true knowledge is not confined to intellectual pursuits—it demands an integrated approach that embraces impermanence and embodies detachment. Drawing…