Ed Gabrielsen

Many years ago, when I first began Buddhist studies, I read a book by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, edited by Laura M. Roth and translated by Ngodup Burkhar and Chojor Radha called Dharma Paths. It was published in 1992 by Snow Lion.

Khenpo Karthar’s book was formative for me. I read it sometime around 1993, when I lived in Tucson, Arizona. It was the year I first took refuge and started sitting with a Buddhist group. Khenpo Karthar’s book was simple and clear. It was meant for beginners. And as part of my introduction to Buddhist practice, the book has always held a place in my heart.

Today, it’s 33 years later. I was thinking back, remember how this book was helpful, and so I picked it up again. The following exchange really caught my attention. A student asked Khenpo Karthar about his experience of life in the United States. What he said rang true:

“Frankly, if I am not mistaken, the biggest problems in the United States seem to be a lack of moderation and a sense of competition. To some degree these are problems everywhere, but they are especially strong here. There are many admirablee things about this country. Most people are very well educated, intelligent, and efficient, and the country is very advanced materially and technologically. However, in the midst of this, there is a sense of comeptition and a lack of moderation. Everyone seems to want to get ahead of other people in status, material things, and any other way possible, regardless of their talents.” (page 22)

I’ve been thinking about this all week. Competition and lack of moderation. Of course, I can see this in myself, too. I certainly have gotten caught up in the speed and confusion of chasing the American dream. All along the Buddhist path, for the past 33 years, I have struggled with the causes of suffering in myself, even while studying them in the context of the Buddhist teachings. These things are deeply ingrained and our culture here in the United States is not helpful in the struggle to break free from them.

For example, driving. Competition and a lack of moderation show up on the road immediately as soon as I start driving to work each morning. The way people drive and the vehicles they drive tell the story of what is going on in our country right now. There is a lack of moderation and an intense sense of competition revealed out there on the highway. What is the urgency? Is it really necessary to pass on a double yellow line just because you want to go a little faster than the car ahead?

But this is a lack of moderation. And it is competition. The highway becomes a race track where all the suffering of America, the greed, attachment and ignorance, are expressed. This is suffering. There is such tremendous suffering in the United States. Suffering in the guise of affluence. And the more I recognize it, the more I want to be done with it. I have seen through the game. There is nowhere to run to. We are always here.