The Recent Economic Downturn - A Buddhist View

Emotional sufferings emerge as a result of the loss of jobs, home, retirement and investment savings during the recent troubling economic times. Even if we are fortunate, perhaps family members or friends have lost their jobs. We are expected to work more without additional pay to pick up the work left by workers that were let go. The future remains uncertain despite statements from the Federal Reserve that this deep recession will end soon.

It is difficult to bear the pain of losing our possessions, our money, our home, our job, and our style of living. Detachment from these things becomes insurmountable as we are so attached to our social and economic status as viewed by ourselves, our family, friends, colleagues and community. However, our difficulty in letting go of our attachments blinds us from the realization that attachment is the root of suffering and we should simply accept things as they are as we have no control and everything in this universe is constantly changing – nothing is permanent.

According to Buddhism, everything is impermanent and interdependent. The economy will decline. The values of our home and investment will decline. We simply cannot expect them to grow indefinitely. Our failure to recognize this fact kept us fully invested in the seemingly ever rising stock market despite its impermanent nature and inherent risks. However, we need to resist the temptation to withdraw money completely from the market in fear that current market condition will continue to fall. Remember, nothing is permanent and the market will recover eventually.

To overcome suffering, we must accept the way it is – the ever changing nature of all physical and mental phenomena. We have to face our fears and disturbing emotions directly, change our distorted views shaped by our experience and upbringings, and open our hearts to discover our true nature - loving kindness, compassion. Meditate to relief stress, let go of negative and unproductive feelings, and feel fortunate of what you already have. We have the freedom to choose how we feel about ourselves and others. We can choose love over hatred, joy over sadness, and generosity over greed. We will succeed if we persist.