Okay, so I had a little turkey at Thanksgiving, completely blowing my vegetarian commitment, but in the grand scheme of things, it was good because it made me realize something about myself: I am NOT cut out to be an ascetic.
Hinduism has a long tradition of asceticism—just think of Gandhi and his extreme fasts. All I can say is that I am no Gandhi. I like to eat. A lot. I like to enjoy the occasional alcoholic beverage (or two or three . . .). And I just don’t have the patience or endurance to sit for hours in peaceful, solitary meditation. I start going crazy after just a few minutes.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean I can’t be a good Hindu. Hinduism says that people can lead their lives based on two alternate paths: desire and renunciation.
The Path of Desire encompasses more than just having fun, eating good food, and avoiding hard work or pain. It also includes the drive for worldly success. So you can walk the Path of Desire without turning into a useless hedonist. Trying to achieve great things in your career or hobby is just as valid a lifestyle choice as turning away from the world and focusing on prayer and meditation (which is a good thing, because it seems to be the only way I’m able to function—at least at this stage of my life).
Eventually, however, even the greatest achievements and the most sumptuous pleasures no longer seem to be quite so fulfilling, although Hindus are careful to remind us that not all of us will get sick of worldly pleasure during our current lifetime. We’re simply not all at the same place in the progress of our souls. As Huston Smith puts it, “Two people, both forty-six, are the same age chronologically, but psychologically one may be still a child and the other an adult.” Yup. That sounds right to me. In fact, I have to say that I don’t know a whole lot of “adults.”
It’s important to stick with the Path of Desire until you truly and deeply feel the need for something more. Turning away from the pleasures of the world too soon would be like being a child who never gets the chance to play with toys—which would be a really crappy existence. Only when life’s “toys” no longer hold any interest for you are you ready to embark on the Path of Renunciation.
People seek the Path of Renunciation when they become convinced that there’s more to life than working to make more money and living a lifestyle filled with pleasure, when the things you once valued begin to seem trivial. When that happens, Hindus say, we renounce our self-centered quest for success and fun and look for something greater—which usually turns out to be service to the community.
People on the Path of Renunciation feel a duty toward the community around them, and they use their lives to try to make the world a better place. This sense of duty to others is one of the noblest aims of our existence, according to Hindus. It turns our desire to “get” into a desire to “give.”
Fulfilling this duty to the community requires hard work and sacrifice, but it’s kind of like being an athlete: You give up small pleasures (like lying around watching TV and eating junk food) in order to get greater rewards later (like a win in a big game or an Olympic medal). In the long run, the sacrifice brings a satisfaction that is greater than any petty, everyday pleasure.
At least, that’s the theory. Me? I’m still firmly on the Path of Desire, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Now, I’m going to go watch some TV and maybe eat a bag of potato chips. Hey, I told you I wasn’t Gandhi.
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