Someone says, “I want to save the planet” and so I think to myself, has this person sufficiently first saved himself? Our first duty, according to the Buddha, is to work out our own salvation with diligence. This doesn’t mean deferring this task to some global project first and then when it is complete (most likely never) switch back to working out my own salvation.
It makes more sense to say that our planet will be saved when we really begin to dump our outworn life harming values taking up, instead, a proper spiritual path that leads us to seeing our true nature. I should mention, also, that it is possible to pursue a proper spiritual path, become a member of the Sierra Club, use energy saving light bulbs, recycle, and get rid of the gas guzzling SUV or pickup.
What I have noticed lately is that we are always trying to find some clever way to dodge our main task, that is, to work out our own salvation. In fact, there are countless ways we can put off doing what, deep down inside, we know we should be doing. If there is one diversion, there must be tens of thousands more. This is also to say, I can always find some matter that requires my attention which means my spiritual practice has to be postponed again.
To make up a term on the spot, we have importantized and made essential, the nonessential which means we’re really living bizarrely. We spend a great deal of our lives postponing engaging with the spiritual side of our being whence comes our real strength, intelligence, and wisdom. Another way to picture this, we are like a country that lets its infrastructure fall into decay and disrepair choosing, instead, to indulge our desires all for the greater glory of our vanity.
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