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Venerated
Citizen
Ignorance, Greed and Arrogance -- Western or Eastern? by Sophia Barkat Coming from the East myself, I have a tendency to look down on the West. The West is arrogant and ignorant, powerful and foolish, a consumer-driven society with no other values. Of course I'm wrong, even when the proof is staring at me in the eye, standing on the lawn of the White House telling me he's a compassionate conservative. I have many American friends -- people who are normal, functional, dependable, loving creatures. Some I am amazed by. Some I confide in every day. But recent developments in the world are bound to make me rush to judgement, now and then. And it happens. It's at times when I am reminded of the bright and generous people walking on the American soil that I am reminded how special human beings are all over the world, give or take a few. For ignorance makes anyone bad company -- no matter which corner of the world theyy are from. And arrogance makes people do stupid things -- no matter where they are from. America has it's fair share of idiots, but the East is not done rid of them yet. I come from Bangladesh -- land of rivers, lakes, Muslims, Bangla, land of much pride, stupidity and arrogance. They don't say we have a huge illiteracy rate for nothing. Life experience -- whether it's grazing the field to grow rice or whether it's selling fish at a local bazaars is only going to make you aware of the world "this much". You have to get an education. You have to read books and ask questions and exercise skepticism. "No the Qu'ran may not be the word of God. It may be the word of an epileptic man who thought he was the messenger of God, even if he did a lot of social justice at the time, united Arabia and all that." But that's Bangladesh for you. Ignorance abounds. Not just in the hearts of the poor and middle class, but in the minds of educated elite. Why should we be free of something the world's most powerful nation couldn't get rid of? No. We, Bangladeshis may get better International News and have a more open Media, but we make up for our extra know-how with other deficiencies. We promote western philosophy in our Science, Arts and Government and have no clue what our own heritage is. I say this because I am learning about Buddhism and finding out that I knew not much about it's principles even though Bangladesh has Buddhists and Buddha was Indian. Can I completely blame the whitey for his ignorance and arrogance when I am as much ignorant and observant of Western values? Buddha was born in India. His values and ideas broke tradition with Hinduism, but did I know that living in Bangladesh? No. It's simply not part of our curriculum. We have no system of educating children about Indian or Asian philosophies. A history lesson may cover dates and time but that's it. Shouldn't there be more education in the Indian heritage? Why are we bothered with observing a religion that came from the Middle East? As more and more people worldwide try to return to their roots, I wish we South Asians would return to ours too. We should open our hearts to the philosophies and ideas that were ours and not forced upon us by conquerors. Buddha for one spoke up against the status quo in Hinduism -- the problems with caste system, himself born a ruler and breaking from tradition by becoming a priest. He also directed his focus on healing people without bringing into the process any need for a God. God is never discussed. Buddha doesn't consider God crucial to healing of the mind. As I read more about Buddhism only one thing occurs to me -- I have been Buddhist all my life, unknowingly, but so. I'm not Muslim, though I grew up in a Muslim family and love the traditions and practices, if you allow for healthy skepticism. My family is not religious, nor are they very skeptical. They just "are"-- fitting into the bourgeois culture that consumes and depends on social acceptance, much like an average American family. And yet, my values, are and have always been Buddhist. I wrote earlier about feeling guilty about eating meat, as one entering into Buddhism and wondering if one has a conscience. Imagine my surprise when I learnt that Buddha had died of dysentery from eating a piece of dried wild boar! Clearly, I knew nothing about this religion that had been born on Indian soil. I feel ignorant. Ignorant, though happy to have found my way, albeit thanks to a whitey called Huston Smith, the author of The World Religions. It's apparent to me now that the West is not ignorant, that people in general are ignorant. We learn what we have time for and sometimes only under dire straits. Clearly I would have remained ignorant had I been craving acceptance in this materialistic world, that I'm confirmed is the face of hell. It's easy to feel superior to Bush Jr. It's easy to think America is full of bull shit. It's easy to look away from the ignorance and arrogance within. The East is as much to fault as the West. The East has become the West. |
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