In the March 2010 issue of Shambhala Sun, Judith Simmer-Brown describes romantic love as “the primary symptom of cultural malaise, the central neurosis of Western civilization”. In class we discussed that if romantic love is the primary symptom; what could be the primary cause of this cultural malaise? One thought was our misconceptions about money are the greatest causes of dukkha. My thoughts are when we have a preconceived idea of romantic love, chances are its not going to live up to our expectations. I think this is similar to the point you make about money. Money is typically portrayed in the media as bringing happiness and because our society has this expectation of how money should make us feel, we are confused when money does not make us happy. In my opinion this would make romantic love a cause of the malaise as well. Like money, our definition of romantic love is constructed from our experiences and what others tell us. Do you think love a reality symbol like money, that we use to define ourselves, make a statement to society, instead of genuinely enjoying for how it makes us feel? What do you think the primary causes and symptoms of cultural malaise are?
Cary
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