Right Pursuits

In Adage 18, Master Sheng Yen remarks, "Pursue only what you can and should acquire. Never pursue what you can't and shouldn't acquire". I find this statement puzzling: after all, can we never know absolutely what we should or shouldn’t acquire? Recently, I am developing a lesson plan for my Junior students to learn about the Trojan War. Part of what I want to express to them is how the Greek view places a lot of emphasis on human beings not taking more than what is granted to them—not “stealing” from the gods. The tricky part of the Iliad and its telling of the Trojan War, is that each god/goddess competes with each other for their claims to what human beings deserve and what is their fate. Even these immortal beings are confused about what humans deserve to have! So begins a gradual shift from blaming fate to taking responsibility for one’s own course in life.

  What I can tell is that Buddhist philosophy tends to explore actions from the perspective of their intentions and the consciousness that gives rise to them. When I am taking things out of a sense of greed, I don’t have the base line from which to tell what is needed and what is only desire. My whole experience becomes off kilter, and I am only using things around me to regulate my desires and emotions. This is a kind of addictive mindset. Similarly, the more one craves, the more one has to work in extraordinary ways to maintain that craving, whether it be for a substance or for a lifestyle. This is the meaning, perhaps of “never pursue what you can’t and shouldn’t acquire”. On the other hand, there are in fact things that are desirable to have in the world. Now, I don’t always know which path leads to benefit for all beings, but perhaps one way for me to tell is to ask myself what is my intention for pursuing something. Is it because I want to look or feel “good”, or is it because I am genuinely concerned for the good of all? If the latter, then I will feel very little desire in the form of craving. Instead, I feel an open joy that comes from open hands, ones that no longer need to clutch onto anything. There isn't so much frustration if the desired outcome is not attained, since one is not trying to seek aggrandizement from their seeking.

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