Page 130 - Applied Buddhism
P. 130

More and more people readily
                                                                                                                               apply the yardstick used in

                                                                                                                              Greedbalisation to measure
                                                                                                 Challenges                   the success of temples and

                                                                                                                               organisations – the funds
                                                                                             Facing                             they possess, the size of


                                                                                             Buddhism                           the temples, the political
                                                                                                                                connection, the height of
                                                                                                                              the images, etc.  Becoming a
                                                                                                                              Buddhist has now become a
                                                                                                                              costly affair since one has to

                                                                                                                              contribute endlessly to fund
                                                                                                                                  mega-infrastructures






                                                                                                 Let me begin by telling you a story.  When you put a frog in a
                                                                                             beaker and gradually warm up the water, the frog would not notice
                                                                                             it, and would happily swim inside the water. At a particular point of
                                                                                             time the frog may struggle a little, giving you the wrong impression
                                                                                             that it is very active, but soon after, it swims slower and slower and
                                                                                             finally stops swimming – dead! Now, if you put another frog into
                                                                                             this hot water, the frog would immediately jump out of the water.


                                                                                                 What’s the morale  of the  story? If you do not realise  your
                                                                                             challenges, and happily indulge in some seemingly good signs of
                                                                                             progress, you may eventually perish, without even knowing why.






           118    Applied Buddhism                                                                                                         Applied Buddhism   119
   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135