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What used to be the reserve of the aged, to complain about how bad things are now, is quickly becoming the reserve of young adults, with one major difference. Young adults have not yet lived decades to acquire the personal history that may justify the claims of the elderly.
A 2022 study shows 40% of adults 18-22 reported anxiety, compared to only 16% of adults over 60.1 The reasons are many including our constant exposure to instant global messaging by major platforms targeting audiences with “bad news,” because it sells. Others point to addictive screen times and dependence on social media leading to reduced interpersonal one on one human interaction.
It cannot be said enough times - putting Buddhist teachings into practice is not easy. But what I find, in my own experience, is the more I explore putting them into practice, the easier it becomes. I know I am better off for it. This “Buddhist Path” in practice offers the Buddhist Dividend of greater peace and equanimity.
Even Buddhists who live with the Buddhist teachings fall into the trap of losing perspective and wandering off the path when inundated with constant information overload. We do have a choice.
We can hang onto the shrinking perspective of me and my problems. Or we can choose to try to put things into perspective by seeking the path again. We become attached to the unending chatter in our heads about co-workers, family, neighbors, even politicians, and what they should or should not be doing. Data shows social media engagement, responding to news dings on our cell phones and wanting to be surrounded by distractions are all addictions. These addictions destroy us, they are our ego self in control. And, at once, we come full circle and come face to face with the Four Noble Truths.
How do we get back on our path? Who hasn’t taken a walk on a wooded trail and felt better for it? Who hasn’t sat on a waterfront wharf at the ocean or lake contemplating the power of the ocean waves or the calm of the lake? Who hasn’t seen a sunset that took your breath away or a full moon bathing a snowy winter’s night? Nature is a powerful antidote offering us paths outside our ego self.
But we don’t even have to leave home. We can play a little game of looking at our own home address while we sit cozy with a cup of hot chocolate looking out the window on a cold winter’s morning.
By expanding our simple little address to its full location, we see the Buddhist teachings of interconnections, interdependence, impermanence and illusions. And like that walk on a wooded path or seeing a sunset, finding our full address may help us put “me and my problems” into a different perspective. It is this change in our path, once recognized that opens us to the full potential of the Buddhist teachings.
For example: the simple address of our Cleveland Buddhist Temple is worked out to its fullest location in today’s Nightstand Buddhist. As we close out 2024, we don’t have to sit in meditation or go to awareness training classes at mental health clinics. We can look at the real form of the universe without illusions, without attachments and come closer to the awakening that brings peace, the Buddhist Dividend.
Namo Amida Butsu
Namo Amida Butsu
Namo Amida Butsu
Rev. Anita
1 https://news.llu.edu/health-wellness/feeling-anxious-understanding-rise-anxiety-disorders-among oungadults#:~:text=However%2C%20anxiety%20affects%20young%20adults,16%25%20of%20adults%20over%2060.
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