I have been reading a bit recently from a book entitled [”The Art of Happiness”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1573221112/103-7817508-3779032?v=glance) by the Dalai Lama and have been fascinated with some of his thoughts on life and existence. I have yet to finish this book, but it does offer some really interesting and wonderful points of view. Here’s a guy who went from being the undisputed head of his country to complete exile and is happy to have had the experience. He comments on how if he was never removed from his country he would not have had a chance to see and meet so many people from all over the world and he would not have had a chance to learn more and more about other cultures and religions. I only wish I had the capacity to turn everything that happens to me, no matter how horrible, into a positive experience like that. Possibly more interesting is the following quote:
>*”The idea that everyone should be Buddhist is quite extreme. And that kind of extreme thinking just causes problems… Even if we tried to make the whole world Buddhist it would be impractical…”*
How many religious icons do you know of that will openly admit that its impractical and unreasonable for everyone to believe in one undisputed religion? Of course many believe that their religion is the only one that matters, and if you don’t believe it then something horrible will happen to you. And so it goes… The Dalai Lama offers another way of viewing religious differences which I find astonishing in its elegance and simplicity:
>*”It’s like going to a restaurant—we can all sit down at one table and order different dishes according to one’s own taste. We might eat different dishes, but nobody argues about it”*
Why can’t it be this way? I’m not saying that I’m any better. Sometimes I want people to appreciate and respect the same things I do just because if I think its good, so should you damn it. But he’s right, everyone should be able to choose as they please, and should it offend me if you chose pizza over sushi? My opinion is just that… and what works for me, might not work for you for any number of reasons. I will work on this…
For anyone who is curious, no I am not Buddhist, and have no particular attachment to the Dalai Lama.
***Update**: My buddy [dan](http://www.bemetal.com) responds: ([link](http://www.baudburn.com/mt-admin/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=49))*
>I only look down on people who prefer pizza over sushi if they haven’t actually tried both. People who stick with one thing because that’s all they know, and won’t even taste a California Roll because it seems strange and foreign to them, those are the people who bother me.
>Food, religion, same thing.
I agree. It’s those same people who scare me the most. The ones who blindly follow and never think for themselves scare me. From my experiences, most people I know who are extremely religious never are doing it for the right reasons. You have your god fearing type who are totally into it because they genuinely believe in an afterlife and want to make sure that they aren’t left out of the party. So it really becomes a matter of inclusion rather than an “I want to be a good person and help my fellow man” type of reason. I have fundamental problems with that line of thinking that I really don’t want to delve into at this time. There’s also the social scene religophiles who are into it for vanity reasons. “All my friends are into it, so should I. If they find me out, I won’t be cool anymore.” This type of thought is also flawed. Now don’t get me wrong, I think there are plenty of genuinely good people out there who honestly believe in their religion and try to be kind to one another. I just think that there are way too many people out there who front like they are holier than thou but can’t walk the walk.
It reminds me of a fact that a server friend of mine once shared. She told me that it was interesting to her to see that the so called “immoral” people who are maybe not wealthy, and go out to the bars a lot, and smoke, and drink, etc. were often the nicest people and the biggest tippers while the religious crowed typically would drive her around like a slave and then leave very little tip. Of course, one experiment does not an experiment make, but it is funny how the “morally depraved” are kinder to their fellow man than the people who prance around claiming to be wonderful people.
Now that you mention it, “food, religion, same thing.” makes alot of sense to me.