sagesex

Avid sagesex readers ought to have noticed by now that I have taken an active interest in Buddhism lately. In fact I have taken what Buddhists call refuge more than two months ago. In this series of posts I want to give a very subjective account of what I am experiencing in this often misunderstood new world.

So what is this refuge I have mentioned? I think this might be one of the most appropriate entry points, since not only does this mark the typical beginning of the Buddhist path, but from what I understand this ritual also unites most if not all of the countless Buddhist sects. More on these sects in another post.

I’ve taken refuge. This might sound a little cowardly to you at first. Far from that. I’m not fleeing from anything. But I’ve started a journey towards liberation, one that might be long and tiring. At least the direction feels right. From what am I taking refuge, and to whom or what? I’ve been told that the Tibetan term for refuge literally means “protection from suffering”, and in a way, this is what Buddhism is about. You might have heard of the four noble truths. The first one is: There is suffering. This first truism is probably the reason why so many in the west, including myself, used to believe that Buddhism is a rather pessimist religion. Here’s why it isn’t.

The second truth says that there is a cause for all the suffering. Still not very optimistic, is it? But it’s getting better, because number three says there is an end to suffering! And, differently from say Christianity or Islam, Buddha says in truth #4 that there is a means to that end, and we might reach the end of suffering even in this life.

If you think about it, though there are many pleasures in life, in the end they all result in suffering. I’m sure that you can think of many ways in which this might happen. One of these is the simple fact that all good things in life end (at the latest when your life ends), and thereby create suffering. That is why, even though we look for refuge in all these wordly things all the time, they can never be a lasting solution. If you are clinging to money, drugs, sex, relationships, family, ideology, people, whatever gets you high, very soon it will let you down.

That is why Buddhists take refuge, or seek protection from suffering. But what could provide lasting refuge? More on that in tomorrow’s installment.

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In the far west of Germany there’s a custom according to which in the night before the first of may, young men put up festively decorated birch trees in front of their loved one’s house. The girl is supposed to return the favor by giving a cask of beer or a huge paper heart to the boy later on. I’d always dismissed this kind of stuff as rural, supplicating bullshit. Jodie, however, like most any girl, was really into that kind of validation, asking me months before if I would put up a tree for her. Like any self respecting guy, I said no. Read the rest of this entry »

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