The lowly seer

Optimism & pessimism

Seems just lately the news is full of murders. Moving onto the bigger, international picture things look even worse, intractable wars in the middle east and a hugely imbalanced global economy that seems to be constantly threatening to come crashing down.
It looks to me like the age in which the 3 poisons - greed, anger and ignorance - have truly taken hold. To be fair, it's probably seemed that way in many a previous time.
By contast the technology is soaring ahead and as a consequence we now have something akin to a global mindset. On the whole, people are wealthier than any other time in history.
What's missing is the attitude that can realise the benfits of our material wealth. In the uk in particular, the intellect is denigrated (in france, 'intellectuelle' is a compliment, here almost an insult) in favour of supposed pragmatism. Idealism is regarded as a sin of youth, something you grow out of into a dull, unrewarding middle age. No surprise then so many people suffer a mid life crisis.
The only solution I know is surprise, surprise, buddhism, to awaken the 3 buddha qualities of wisdom, courage and compassion that are inherent in all our lives.
We have the possibility of a true golden age just around the corner. We only have to believe in it and to choose it.
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posted by Les the Spaceman @ 11:10 am