Buddhism and the Winning Life
Today, success is so often defined as the achievement of wealth and fame. True happiness, distorted by a celebrity culture glorifying youth and beauty, seems to forever elude our grasp. When very real hardships and sufferings of life make a mockery of these delusions, where can we turn for those enduring truths and values that makes life worth living?
How do we get to that place where we’re no longer combatants in a cynical game of survival but individuals who lead rich and fulfilling lives. How can we work for a brighter future for all? How do we transform ourselves so that we’re no longer simply the passive consumers of other’s achievements but active producers of our own?
Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Peace laureate said, “Every person who has ever achieved anything has been knocked down many times. But all of them picked themselves up and kept going, and that is what I have always tried to do.” Buddhist scholar and peace activist, Daisaku Ikeda encourages, “Real happiness is not the absence of any problems, difficulties, or suffering. Whenever you find yourself beset by some new harsh trial, adopt a positive attitude and face it bravely as an opportunity to strengthen yourself. This fighting spirit, this willingness to take on a new challenge, is the key to true happiness, victory, and fulfillment”.
Buddhist philosophy can provide the answers and a fundamental solution to these universal questions. In contrast to the narcissism of our age, its message of compassion celebrates the human capacity for self-transcendence and value creation, our intrinsic ability to create lasting value or meaning for ourselves and others under even the most trying circumstances.
Please join us at an introductory meeting where you can learn more about this life-affirming philosophy and how its practice can awaken you to your highest hopes and dreams. We have two meetings in January: (1) Norman Murray Community and Senior Center, Veteran Way, Mission Viejo on Wednesday, January 14 at 7 pm. For more information call 714-444-9580 and (2) Glenwood Recreation Center, 25422 Cedarbrook Drive (between Glenwood and Aliso Viejo Parkway) on Sunday, January 25 at 11 am. For more information call 949-472-3810.
