Hungry Ghosts

Here's the outline for my Dharma talk I'll be giving on Monday for the Dharma Zephyr Insight Community. It needs some polishing, but it's a good start, I think. (Sorry for the funky formatting. It didn't transfer well from Word to here.) I'm nervous about doing my first Dharma talk, but I'm looking forward to discussing issues I find so interesting.

Hungry Ghosts: Buddhism and American Consumerism

I. Buddhist teachings relating to consumerism
A. Hungry ghosts – caricature of American culture; the hungry ghost festival
B.Causes of suffering – acquisition does not lead to an end in suffering, the cycle of suffering
C. The ego self – The need to define oneself through one’s acquisitions
D. Interdependence – The interrelationship between one’s actions and all other beings
E. General mindfulness – Americans consume mindlessly; mindfulness teaches awareness of one’s consumption habits
F. The four noble truths -

Problems with consumption
Global
i. Globalization – causes decline in culture and self-esteem of oneself and one’s culture
ii. Environmental concerns
iii. War
iv. Increase of poverty
Societal
i. Priorities
ii. Religion
iii. War
Personal
i. Spiritual neglect
ii. Continuation of suffering
iii. Time
iv. Addiction
1. To acquisition
2. To other addictions

Solutions:
1. Focus on the desire – when we seek an acquisition, it isn’t the item we want; it’s the feeling of satisfaction we get from the acquisition. This is transitory, and focusing on this will help us let go of the desire to consume
2. Engaged Buddhism
3. Small-scale activism
4. “Practicing greater generosity” – Joseph Goldstein: “The practice of generosity can serve as a corrective to addictive consumerism.”

Other relative issues
1. Marketing the Dharma
2. Consumption of knowledge