Francesco Gimelli

This is a post I originally wrote on my blog, but I wished to share it with the community here.

The past six months have without a doubt been the most transformational in my life. Experiences of all shades have made this a time that has provided rich opportunities for growth in all areas of my life.

So, where have I been? I spent the majority of my time in Thailand, but also visited Myanmar (Burma) and Sri Lanka. I didn’t do many tourism-related activities, but spent the majority of my time in monasteries practising meditation and connecting with people in their own environment and cultural milieu.

Now that I am back home, I feel that many of the dots of the last six months are connecting. Broad themes of experience are revealing themselves to me, and I find that many of my attitudes and perspectives have changed. I would like to share some of these shifts with you, and some of the important lessons that I have learned in this time. My aim is not to state universal facts that may be relevant and equally true for all people, but simply to put some of my experiences ‘out there’ for anyone who wishes to ponder and share.

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One broad realisation that has become evident to me is that we are all the same.

This realisation may seem unusual on the surface; yes, in Thailand the food is spicier, in Myanmar greasier, and in Australia ‘meatier.’ Of course, we all speak different languages, practice different religions, value different personality traits, and look somewhat different; the differences are certainly many, but even more numerous are the similarities.

My recognition is that we ultimately all want the same thing; wherever I went, whatever I saw and with whomever I spoke it was clear that all people want to be happy, comfortable, and avoid unnecessary suffering. Obviously this aspiration takes shape in myriad ways, according to the factors of culture, religion, and other elements that shape its expression. Nevertheless, beyond the surface details lays the same basic foundational aspiration.

I left Australia with a somewhat disparaging view of my own country. I felt that Australia (and Australians) was generally too materialistic, often shallow, and consumerist compared to the romanticised vision of Asia that I had developed. I felt that my journey would lead me to a place where life was simpler and people more genuine. In some ways this has been true; the Thais (I here refer to the Thais since this is where I spent the bulk of my time, although this is as true in my experience of other peoples) value sabai (being OK, relaxed) a great deal, and often their material aspirations take second place to this aspiration. Apart from the minority – mostly in Bangkok – who live life in the lap of mega-luxury, the majority of Thai people live more simple lives. I did not see many people lacking any of the basics anywhere in Thailand, as opposed to a place like India or Myanmar, for example, but most people by no means have a home to the standard of the average suburban dwelling, or a luxurious car, or all the material commodities that we can often take for granted in rich nations. Nevertheless, what became clear is that just as all other things in the universe arise according to certain causes and conditions, so too are such realities due to certain causes and conditions. Australia and other rich nations have developed according to certain causes and conditions, and this has meant that their inhabitants have expressed the aspiration to be happy and comfortable according to these. In nations where raw materials and commodities became more readily available this aspiration expressed itself in the pursuit and accumulation of more material goods.

Without diverging into some sophisticated socio-economic analysis (which is beyond my capacity), I could see that many Thais, Burmese, and Sri Lankans – regardless of the varied cultural and social elements – all aspired to the same thing, just as we in rich nations do: to be happy and comfortable. If all states had the same resources and similar conditions, they would pursue this more uniformly; but this is not the case, so the expressions of this aspiration differ somewhat. While in Australia we beautify our gardens in certain ways, such as landscaping them, in Thailand and Myanmar people tie various types of orchids planted in coconut shells around the trees naturally growing in their vicinity. Is there such a fundamental difference in the desired outcome of these actions? In Australia on average we have have greater financial resources, so we can often afford to landscape our gardens, but if we did not, is it not likely that we would take similar approaches as the Thais and the Burmese in making our environment more pleasant and beautiful?

These are but small examples, of which I could cite many more. If I were to base my realisation on just this one simple fact then my realisation would be fairly fragile; but in fact I experienced the fact that every action that human beings take, within whichever sphere of life – whether spiritual, economic, social or familial – is aimed at fulfilling this same aspiration towards happiness and comfort.

This is very fundamental in our experience of human beings; this is, in fact, one of the most common threads that unite us. The Buddha himself based his entire teaching on this recognition of the universality of this basic human aspiration, and therefore based his quest on the search for an end to dukkha, a term which denotes stress, dissatisfaction, suffering, awkwardness, and that subtle feeling of something being ‘not quite right’ or ‘not what I expected’ beneath the surface at all times. In seeking to overcome dukkha the Buddha recognised the validity of this basic human aspiration towards happiness, and in my opinion showed that when approached with wisdom this aspiration can be fulfilled.

In the Dukkha Sutta (“Dukkha Sutta: Stress” (SN 38.14), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 1 July 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....014.than.html . Retrieved on 27 October 2011.), the Venerable Sariputta, the Buddha’s chief disciple, made this point clear:

“On one occasion Ven. Sariputta was staying in Magadha in Nalaka Village. Then Jambukhadika the wanderer went to Ven. Sariputta and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After this exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to Ven. Sariputta: “‘Stress, stress,’ it is said, my friend Sariputta. Which type of stress [are they referring to]?”

“There are these three forms of stressfulness, my friend: the stressfulness of pain, the stressfulness of fabrication, the stressfulness of change. These are the three forms of stressfulness.”

“But is there a path, is there a practice for the full comprehension of these forms of stressfulness?”

“Yes, there is a path, there is a practice for the full comprehension of these forms of stressfulness.”

“Then what is the path, what is the practice for the full comprehension of these forms of stressfulness?”

“Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path, my friend — right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the path, this is the practice for the full comprehension of these forms of stressfulness.”

“It’s an auspicious path, my friend, an auspicious practice for the full comprehension of these forms of stressfulness — enough for the sake of heedfulness.”

As has been the case ever since I began walking the Buddha’s path in earnest, his experiential recognitions have always proved to be true in my experience also. The superficial distinctions that seemed so pronounced before have now moved to the background. Of course, just as when looking at the ocean one sees the waves first, one is bound to see the surface of a thing before diving in and being able to experience what lays within it. Returning to Australia I now perceive the superficial differences as less relevant; I have met kind and polite people, rich people, not-so-rich people, and other kinds of people here, just as I did in Asia. People are these ways because of certain causes and conditions, but they are seeking exactly the same thing as you and I: happiness and as much ease in our lives as possible.

A few months ago I could not have imagined returning to Australia. Asia seemed to offer a much more ‘genuine’ experience, as I heard from a fellow traveller echoing my perception. But now I realise that there is no fundamental difference between the ‘genuineness’ of the experience in Asia and that in any other place.

Yes, the superficial differences are there, and do not necessarily need to be pasted over; but such differences should not obscure the fundamental unity that lays at the depth of our experience as human beings.

With metta.