Middle Path and New Car

It’s been way too long, way too long. It’s been, what, two weeks, since my last confession? Man, sometimes my Catholic upbringing definitely scares me.

So anyway, these past few weeks have been nothing short of completely nuts. I’ve been getting to work around 7:30 everyday, still staying past 6:30, trying to workout as much as ever, also trying to relax, go out with friends, make weekend trips, keep in touch with family, stay grounded, stay healthy, sleep enough, eat enough, not eat too much, not drink too much, stay cool, manage more responsibility at work, move into an office, establish a candy bowl so people visit me, be there for other people when they need me, throw a party, clean my apartment, do laundry, did I mention stay grounded?

That’s the hardest part.

And, sometimes, it takes a day like this past Sunday to really make you stop… and think. It was one of the hottest days of the summer so far. Typical DC humidity, heat index over 100. Plus it was a Sunday, so on top of the standard hangover that descends upon Adams Morgan’s streets on such a morning, it was hot as hell. No one was out. And if you were, you weren’t talking. And you moved reeeeeeeaaaal slow too.

It takes a day like that to physically slow you down. How crazy is that? Do we really live in a society that does not allow us to think? To slow down? Are our lives that hectic that we can't enjoy the present without the constant worry about the future? I would argue that the answers are all "yes." Because if we did, in fact, slow down, we'd fall behind. Other people would gain advantage and we'd end up in the dust. Crazy materialism. Crazy capitalism.

It was at that moment that I found myself in a used bookstore, searching through the Eastern philosophy section. I decided I’d become a Buddhist. Yeah, you heard me right. That was the answer! No? Not the answer?

Life is suffering, says Buddhism. But we can all still be happy by avoiding our cravings and our desire for material possessions. We must live a simple life. We must try to modify our “wanting” so that all we want is to continue to exist. Then we hit the enlightenment, and all is well. Then we have more time for others and we learn to live one day at a time, enjoying what is the “present.”

Interesting… but I think the most interesting concept in Buddhism is the “middle path.” Bear with me on this one. Buddhists talk a lot about wisdom and compassion. One extreme is when you’re an emotional fool (too much compassion) and the other extreme is when you’re super smart, but kind of a dick (no emotion at all). The correct way is somewhere in the middle… hence “the middle path.”

And that’s my new goal. Call it Buddhism if you want, but whatever it is, I hope to attain it someday. It involves things like open-mindedness, flexibility, wisdom and patience. I’d like to add “new car” to that. Ha. Maybe I'm not really cut out to be a true Buddhist. To be continued…