Rising Cost Of Living Forcing More Buddhists To Continue Working Years Into Reincarnation

DHARAMSHALA, INDIA—Calling the trend an alarming indicator of the global economy’s fragile state, a report released Thursday by the Tibetan Institute for Economics revealed that the rising cost of living was forcing more Buddhists to continue working years into reincarnation. “Unfortunately, increased housing, food, and healthcare expenses require many Buddhists to hold down a job long after their rebirth,” said Chhime Rigzing, a Dalai Lama spokesperson and Tibetan official who co-authored the report, adding that while older followers of the Buddha’s wisdom had been able to extinguish all suffering much earlier, younger souls were toiling longer in the form of field mice, hungry ghosts, or other sentient beings. “These days, if you’ve been recently reborn as, say, a hummingbird, there’s virtually no chance you’re going to emancipate yourself from attachment anytime soon. Your best bet is to clock as many hours as possible pollinating flowers to keep yourself from winding up in [Buddhist realm of punishment] naraka. Unfortunately, for too many, the dream of building up enough good karma to attain enlightenment and escape the cycle of samsara is no longer within reach.” Rigzing added that the majority of Buddhists now reported being forced to work three or more existences just to make ends meet. 

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