To live a life without suffering, the Buddhists preach that we must follow the 8-fold path. This requires the right outlook on knowing and avoiding suffering, the right resolves to renounce the world and do no harm, the right speech without slander and lies, the right acts abstaining from murder or thievery, the right livelihood to support this way, the right endeavors, the right mindfulness in realizing what the body is and what it requires of us, and the right rapture of concentration to find aloofness that removes us from our bodies and its desires.
This path is centered on the principle of “Ahimsa;” the principle of nonviolence toward all living things. But when one looks back at this plan, it is clear that a successful leader may struggle to stick to it. But this does not mean the ideal should be abandoned completely. An American leader can, and should, embrace this ideal and strive to implement it in all aspects of his life. But he must also be aware of the fact that he may not always achieve perfect Ahimsa.
A leader is someone who can take charge when charge needs to be taken; someone who can make the hard decisions when they have to be made; someone who can take the burdens of an action so others don’t have to. We discussed in a previous class the idea that one cannot live a life entirely of service and still be successful. When one acts and functions for other people, always making decisions in others’ best interests, we are walked over, ignored, and forgotten. A leader who is acting for other people is not grounded in what is necessary for the group, task, or situation at hand. But to lead in this sense goes against many steps in the 8-fold path. A leader is taking on suffering, rather than abandoning it. A leader is making decisions that could be against the desires of a portion a group, thus causing them harm – but these are the decisions necessary to advance the organization or group.
Most divergent from the Buddhist ideals and Ahimsa, leadership in the American sense is fulfilling a desire of the body rather than a desire of the soul. The aim of American leadership is not to eliminate suffering but to find success. To Americans, economic, financial, and leadership successes are thought to eliminate suffering. However, in Buddhist teachings, these successes are what we must eliminate to reach enlightenment for these are the things that bring us suffering. Buddhist leaders are to help followers eliminate the aspects, thus the principle of Ahimsa.
Rather than attempt to change the practices of American society and align them with the Buddhist teachings in order to achieve proper Ahimsa, American leaders can attempt to adapt the Buddhist ideals of Ahimsa and meld them to American practices. They can work to eliminate most suffering – they can embrace the Buddhist ideals and work with Buddhist intentions while working towards American achievement and success. Thus, the damages and suffering cause by the American way of life can be minimized.
The truth is that someone, or something, will always get hurt if we play by the rules (or lack of rules) in American society. It’s a similar case to the fight for political correctness – it’s nigh impossible. When take out all religious connotations of the Holidays, the Holidays themselves lose their meaning. The non-religious may be satisfied, but the religious feel suppressed. Either way there is harm. It may not be physical harm like a broken limb but, rather, a psychological harm like a broken soul. But we can seek to reduce this damage by recognizing that our way of life causes suffering and seeking to reduce it – even if we can’t remove it completely while still leading successfully.
This path is centered on the principle of “Ahimsa;” the principle of nonviolence toward all living things. But when one looks back at this plan, it is clear that a successful leader may struggle to stick to it. But this does not mean the ideal should be abandoned completely. An American leader can, and should, embrace this ideal and strive to implement it in all aspects of his life. But he must also be aware of the fact that he may not always achieve perfect Ahimsa.
A leader is someone who can take charge when charge needs to be taken; someone who can make the hard decisions when they have to be made; someone who can take the burdens of an action so others don’t have to. We discussed in a previous class the idea that one cannot live a life entirely of service and still be successful. When one acts and functions for other people, always making decisions in others’ best interests, we are walked over, ignored, and forgotten. A leader who is acting for other people is not grounded in what is necessary for the group, task, or situation at hand. But to lead in this sense goes against many steps in the 8-fold path. A leader is taking on suffering, rather than abandoning it. A leader is making decisions that could be against the desires of a portion a group, thus causing them harm – but these are the decisions necessary to advance the organization or group.
Most divergent from the Buddhist ideals and Ahimsa, leadership in the American sense is fulfilling a desire of the body rather than a desire of the soul. The aim of American leadership is not to eliminate suffering but to find success. To Americans, economic, financial, and leadership successes are thought to eliminate suffering. However, in Buddhist teachings, these successes are what we must eliminate to reach enlightenment for these are the things that bring us suffering. Buddhist leaders are to help followers eliminate the aspects, thus the principle of Ahimsa.
Rather than attempt to change the practices of American society and align them with the Buddhist teachings in order to achieve proper Ahimsa, American leaders can attempt to adapt the Buddhist ideals of Ahimsa and meld them to American practices. They can work to eliminate most suffering – they can embrace the Buddhist ideals and work with Buddhist intentions while working towards American achievement and success. Thus, the damages and suffering cause by the American way of life can be minimized.
The truth is that someone, or something, will always get hurt if we play by the rules (or lack of rules) in American society. It’s a similar case to the fight for political correctness – it’s nigh impossible. When take out all religious connotations of the Holidays, the Holidays themselves lose their meaning. The non-religious may be satisfied, but the religious feel suppressed. Either way there is harm. It may not be physical harm like a broken limb but, rather, a psychological harm like a broken soul. But we can seek to reduce this damage by recognizing that our way of life causes suffering and seeking to reduce it – even if we can’t remove it completely while still leading successfully.
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