A few questions

With palms together


Good Morning Everyone,



Zen Master Seung Sahn asks, “What is our function?”



Let’s look around. A table I am writing on is made from the wood of a tree killed in the forest. The food in my refrigerator was grown and killed for me to purchase. The clothes I am wearing, the fibers, the dye, the weave, all done on a massive scale, shipped to my store in boats, trucks, and trains. The air I am breathing is filtered. The water I drink is processed and then filtered. The coffee comes from large plantations grown on what was rain forest. Yes, when I look around, it would seem my function is to use and not just use, but also to use in excess and at any cost. Who am I that this is should be the case? Am I alone in this abuse? No. At last count (a few seconds ago, according to the World Population Clock) there were 6,855,134,658 persons on this planet. Who are we that this should be the case?



Is using the planet and its resources truly our function or are we simply out of control? Do we just not know how to live simply and without excess? Would we want to?



How much do we really need to live well? Do we need two or three cars? Do we need two or three or four pairs of shoes? Do we need to eat in excess to the point that our girth expands at the rate of the population of our species? No. We want this. Is this our function, to want? To want so badly and so mindlessly that we are willing to end life as we know it on planet Earth?



I consider this question often. I am often speechless.