Peter Hunter and the Minions of Mara

Chapter 2 - Right View

"Okay, I'll buy that," Peter agreed, bobbing his head to the rhythm of his drumming.

Sensei reached out and placed a hand on Peter's to stop his movement.

"Now, the way of Buddhism," he lectured, "is called the eightfold path. Today, we're just going to discuss the first of the eight steps, which is called Right View, sometimes called Right Understanding. It means getting the right view of the world, an outlook, a belief system."

"Like religion or something?" Peter asked warily.

"It could be," Sensei Rob said. "It's more how you believe the world works. What's the purpose of life? But first, there are many belief systems: Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Why do you think it matters that you find the right one?"

"I don't think it does," Peter responded plainly.

"Why not?"

"Let's say your favorite color is green and mine is blue. It's not like one of us is right. I don't have to go to war to force you to choose blue."

"That's a great view." Sensei thought a moment. "But let's say that because I like the color green, and I have more money, that clothing stores start selling only green shirts. Suddenly, there are no shirts in your favorite color."

"So what? I'd just wear green. And what idiot shirt maker would only make clothes in one color?"

"It's just an analogy."

"But it's a weak analogy."

"It was your analogy!" Rob reminded him.

Peter thought a second. "Well, it wasn't weak when I said it."

Sensei shook his head. "Alright, let's try another one. Let's say you believe cows are sacred animals."

"But I don't."

"But the rest of America slaughters cows for food."

"Wait, do you think cows are sacred?"

"Beliefs determine actions! Okay?" Sensei Rob said quickly. Then he took a calming breath. "What you believe drives the choices you make. If a person thinks money is the most important thing, he'll make choices to make money even if it hurts someone. And if a person believes people are the most important thing, he'll make choices to help people even if he loses money. Beliefs shape our actions and our actions shape the world. Get it?"

Peter shifted, leaning back on his hands. "Okay. But you could've just said that to begin with."

Rob's lips tightened and he took another breath. "So what do you believe in?"

Peter squinted in thought. "I think people should be nice to each other," he said. "Like no stealing or killing."

Sensei nodded. "That's a start. I want you to think about it more. A lot of people assume they can worry about what they believe later, when they grow up, but there's this thing called karma."

Peter sat up. "Oh. I've heard of that. When you do good things, good stuff happens to you, right?"

Sensei nodded. "Yes. And when you make harmful choices, it comes back to you. It makes sense, right? People will most often treat you according to how you treat them."

Peter started bouncing his feet, wishing they could just get to punching and kicking already.

"So you see?" Rob asked. "Even if you're not worrying about what you believe and you're just having fun, there are still going to be consequences to all of your actions."

"So what am I supposed to believe in then?" Peter asked with a sigh.

"Whatever you think is right."