生活: East vs. West

Games that People Play


The Eastern view is just the opposite – the first of the four noble truths of Buddhism is that life is suffering. 印度教, which gave birth to Buddhism, says things like this world and the cycle of life are very difficult (Iha Samsare Bahu DustareBhaja Govindam, 例如). Our job is to ensure that we don’t get too attached to the illusory things that life has to offer, including happiness. When we pray for our dead, we pray that they be relieved of the cycle of life and death. Deliverance is non-existence.

当然, I am vastly oversimplifying. (Let me rephrase that — this oversimplified version is all I know. I am very ignorant, but I plan to do something about it very soon.) Viewed in the light of these divergent stances against the conundrum of life, we see why westerners place such a premium on personal happiness and glory, while their eastern counterparts tend to be fatalistic and harp on the virtues of self sacrifice and lack of ambition (or its first cousin, 贪心).
