Connecting Modern Texts to the Ancient World: Buddhism

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04 December 2016
Connecting Modern Texts to the Ancient World: Buddhism
The storyline begins in Singapore where the protagonist has traveled to after her boyfriend decides rather abruptly, to stay and join the Hindu monks. That was in October during Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights and the Chinese full-moon festival. She is quite angry and hurt, over this turn of events. It was the end of the harvest, and everyone was partying. She had spent all of her money, and stalking an American tourist couple for an opportunity to steal their cash. They all stopped at the Hard Rock Café on Orchard Street. She was waiting at the bar when she caught the eye to two men of Indian descent. As they stared at her, she thought “It was like looking into the abyss and the abyss stared back.” (Peynado, 171). She ignored them at first.They asked her to come to the beach with them, why not she thought. It was then that she planned to steal one of their wallets. Anil, the taller one, spoke of Hinduism and happiness, while the other man spoke of Anil’s unhappiness. Suffering, all of them. Fate has brought them together and in the frame of Buddhism, one will have an epiphany. These next paragraphs will analyze who that is.
The protagonist is also unhappy, but she agrees to hang out on the beach with these two strangers while they drink local wine, and share information about their personal lives. She decides she will steal someone’s wallet. Desperation tends to lead to poor choices.

This is where the comparison to religion comes about. All humans come to a point in their lives where good and bad collide. Most religions have an ongoing theme of what is right and what is easy.
“Buddhism focuses on four principles of suffering.The truth of suffering (Dukkha), the truth of the origin of suffering (Samudāya). The truth of the cessation of suffering (Nirodha). The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (Manga)” (Reddy, 1). Buddhists ponder the meaning of life and how it relates to suffering. Singapore is a crossroads where religions intersect. Humans must learn to focus on the pursuit of each of the four truths, in order to move up to the next level in pursuit of inner peace and enlightenment” (Anderson, 2).
The protagonist is a great example because she is suffering the loss of her boyfriend. She has spent all of her money and preying on others. She takes the chance of going to the beach with two men she barely knows. She does steal from them but has second thoughts after they discover the loss of the wallet. Anil bemoans the loss of a picture of his family. When they are going looking in the rain for it, she “finds” it. Not knowing she is the thief, they offer to let her stay at the apartment they share. Riddled with guilt, she is truly staring into the abyss, and she sees what she has become.
Her epiphany of this abyss is she has wronged these two innocent men, who meant her no harm (Paynado, 184). After leaving the apartment, she sits on a bench facing the beach and burns with shame. She truly has past the four truths of Buddha. Life is the Wheel of Fortune, and what goes around , will come back and take roost in one’s backyard. Humans will come full circle many times in their lives.
“Thus the Buddha taught no concept of a sin of disbelief. One is not damned because of a lack of faith, but rather suffers from one’s own ignorance when one acts contrary to natural law. The Buddha never claimed divinity or a monopoly on truth. The truth was there for any man to find. His authority lay only in the fact that he had discovered it and could show others the way to this discovery” (Princess Poon Pismai Diskul, 4).
The path to enlightenment is a journey of one. It is about learning who and what we are. The suffering is a major part of human lives. Suffering makes one grow as a person. Without it, people would never know when life is good. Buddhism is exactly that premise. Reaching the fourth truth requires a lot of meditation to focus on all that inner turmoil. The protagonist has stumbled along with her way to enlightenment. She has also put herself in great danger while traveling alone in Singapore. She faces trials and tribulations and is somehow very lucky to meet these two good men or the results could have dissolved into more suffering. Instead, she feels the guilt of her actions and learns many important truths about life, others, and her own personal hell on earth. As she sits watching the waves roll onto the short, she finally has the big epiphany and now understands the meaning of happiness. This changes her outlook on life. In the respect, the protagonist understands true suffering, now looks at the world differently, and now likes what she knows about herself. In which case, she is a great example of the fourth truths of Buddhism. She found herself and can now move on with her life.
Works Cited
Anderson, Carol S. Pain, and its Ending: The Four Noble Truths in the Theravāda Buddhist
Canon. Edited by Charles S. Prebish and Damien Keown, Curzon Critical
Studies in Buddhism Series Richmond, UK: Curzon, 1999. Accessed 03 December 2016
Pismai Diskul, Poon, 2010. The Relevance of Buddhism in the Modern World BPS Online
Edition Web Accessed 03 December 2016
Peynado, Brenda. The History of Happiness 2015 Web Accessed 03 December 2016
Reddy, Ravichandra, 2014 Buddhism and its Relevance in Modern World, Social Science Indian Journal Volume 3, Issues 7 Web Accessed 03 December 2016