The Difficulty in merging Eastern philosophy with Western lifestyle - Part one

Hi Everyone,

Most people in North America, and I am not sure about some of our other blog followers from other countries, but most North Americans usually end up on one extreme or the other about this topic. Eastern philosophy and culture is either so beyond a place of comfort, that it is disregarded as useless to everyday life OR it's adopted and used as a partial philosophy that doesn't quite translate into current western society.

For instance, the higher ideals of "letting go" "going with the flow" and using love and harmony toward all - are concepts that are sometimes not used with discipline. To use these concepts without training and discipline can actually make a mess of things. To have compassion for all beings is essential, to harmonize with others is essential but this does not mean that we don't use discipline, morals, virtue and awareness. For example,having empathy can be different than having compassion, to give when the receiver will waste your giving is not wise. There are times and places and appropriate ways to use these concepts.

Another way westerners sometimes use Eastern philosophy in a way that does not bring out it's full potential, is to talk about it more than to understand it. There is a saying that "those who know, speak and those that understand, teach." It's best to teach from example before you talk a lot about what you've just learned. Something western people love to do, is practice a little and then talk a lot.

But the real difficulty in merging East and West lies in some core concepts. Eastern philosophy values cooperation,respect for elders and parents, and cause and effect. Western society values independence, opinions, expression, freedom from any restraint and confidence in the self. If we look at these concepts, they are all quite good. So then where is the trouble in merging them?

I'll give some more examples on this in Part two, coming in a few days!

Laoshi Erin Markle
Head Instructor Gold Summit Institute
President GSODEC
Director of Buffalo-China Sister City Affairs

"Everyday in the pursuit of learning,something is acquired. Everyday in the pursuit of the way, something is dropped" ~LaoTzu