| I've been a student of Zen and the martial arts for | | | | produces, that it is religiously required, has helped |
| many moons. | | | | people to endure continuous hardships and sacrifices. |
| And I've enjoyed myself; I have no complaints. | | | | Benjamin Franklin, among others, admonished his |
| Well, that's not exactly true. Maybe there's one little | | | | contemporaries to "Plow deep while sluggards sleep, |
| issue that has been chipping away at me, and heck, I'll | | | | and you'll have enough corn to plant and to eat!" |
| never get to Enlightenment, or even into the | | | | "What does it matter?" some followers of |
| neighborhood of that blessed state, until I get this off | | | | non-occidental philosophies wonder. |
| my chest. | | | | We're all destined for the grave and you can't take |
| There's something vexingly un-American about a | | | | your toys with you, though as we know some get |
| philosophy that says, more or less, that winning and | | | | closer than others by being buried in their exotic sports |
| losing are really two sides of a coin that comes from a | | | | cars. |
| bankrupt treasury. | | | | Perhaps Americans need two philosophies: (1) The |
| That in the greater scheme of things putting out an | | | | work ethic when things are going great and we're |
| astonishing amount of effort in your life is no better for | | | | doing well in business and in our careers; and (2) A |
| you or for anyone else than kicking back or simply | | | | Taoist or Zen belief system when we're suffering |
| letting entropy wear us and our monuments down. | | | | reversals or stuck in the doldrums. |
| Are these ideas doing us any good? | | | | That way we can celebrate our victories, taking full |
| After all, the "Work Ethic" helped to build America! | | | | credit for them, while shrugging off our setbacks with |
| A little research reveals that this handy concept | | | | comforting thoughts that could have come from the |
| emerged from a few different sources, one of which | | | | lips of Buddha, himself, such as "Hey, let it go!" and "No |
| was that radical theologian, John Calvin, who asserted | | | | big deal!" |
| that there are TWO paths to paradise: (1) By being a | | | | If they happened upon the historic Buddha, encamped |
| member of the "elect," those who the Almighty had | | | | under the bodhi tree, most Americans would look at |
| already tapped for a wonderful afterlife; and (2) | | | | him and instead of smiling in gentle admiration would be |
| Through a "life of works;" with the sweat of your | | | | tempted to bark, "Don't just sit there; DO |
| brow, you could demonstrate that you belonged up | | | | SOMETHING!" |
| there in Heaven with the best of them, and be | | | | Yes, we're rude and shallow and often out of touch |
| elevated to their ranks. | | | | with nature, but we get things done. |
| This notion that work is more than a positive activity in | | | | As philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand once remarked, |
| itself, that it is more meaningful than the earthly fruits it | | | | "No pessimist ever built a skyscraper. |