The Capacity to Connect to Others

by Sharon Salzberg
onbeing.org

When the Buddha introduced the idea of intention 2,500 years ago, the prevalent social structure in India was the caste system. All individuals were thought to be born to fulfill a certain duty or purpose in their lives; even inanimate objects and elements of the natural world belonged to categories that had specific natures to be realized. It was in a rock’s nature, for instance, to be hard, neutrally-colored, and textured, for grass to be green, grow, and require water. These were considered to be absolute truths.

The sense of morality underlying the caste system was, unsurprisingly, even more a thread when it came to the social roles and responsibilities of people in Indian society. Individuals born into the ruling caste weren’t merely candidates for leadership. To realize their nature as rulers was the thing that would make them good and worthy members of society.

Brahman males were expected to be the mediators with the divine. Caste lines were rigid: a member of the warrior caste couldn’t devote himself to reading scriptures, as that would dip into Brahman territory. Acting in accordance with expectations outside of one’s caste was seen as inappropriate, and even immoral.

Within the caste system, the answer to the question “What makes a good person good?” wasn’t a universally acknowledged truth. A Brahman being a “good” person was completely different than an outcast being “good.” Expectations were completely different between these two castes, and were very strict. (Similarly, men and women in a given caste had different criteria for “goodness.”) But the Buddha’s teachings came along, and basically said all of this was irrelevant:
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