The four cultural stages that dictate how we react
Good morning, everyone! This is Dharma Espresso for today(9/15/2017).
I once talked about Mr. Lawrence Kohlberg. He was best known for his theory of the stages of moral development. From birth till adulthood, our moral concepts keep changing, not staying the same. He categorized them into six stages, with two stages making up one level. These levels of moral development are called preconventional, conventional, and post-conventional. I will not repeat what I have said before about his works. However, I want to help today’s Buddhists understand it and apply it more easily. I will speak of the terms that I created so that you can understand how it works in our daily cultivation.
In general, we experience four stages of culture which coincide with Lawrence Kohlberg’s six stages of moral development.
The first stage of culture is the “culture of obedience”. Growing up in Vietnam, you can see clearly the pattern. We need to obey our parents. We have a mold to follow. We cannot resist it. So, when we study Buddhism, we absolutely believe in what is written in the scriptures. We cannot make any change. Hence, there are things written in certain sutras that are scarry such as iron dog breathing out red fire in hell. We listen, we accept and we obey. We cannot contradict. Thus, some people would abuse this culture and create what we call superstitions. The culture of obedience is very influential since we have to believe and cannot go against it. Those who propagate the culture of obedience are often people with power and authority. We neither have an opportunity nor the ability to oppose them. If we do, we may be considered dissenters, heretics, pagans, unfillial children, or nerds, etc.
Migrating to America from Vietnam, you have a chance to see that American culture is very unique since it allows us to ask questions. To learn is to ask questions, and that is a high cultural value. When you go to classes, if you see there are people in class who ask many deep questions, you know the level of their intellectuality is very high and open. So, the second stage of culture is called the culture of openness. We are not superstitious, believing in what we hear, but we need to ask questions, to clarify things, to find reasons why things are like this or like that. Questions such as why there is hell, where it is, why there is a fire dog or an iron dog, why it exists and who created it. Now, we have Artificial Intelligence (AI). Is that dog created by Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or those who made computers? Those are the questions that we need to pose. When a question is asked, an answer is needed. The discussion between the two parties is called the “culture of openness”. The questioner has the right to ask questions. The respondent needs to find the answer. Once an answer is given satisfactorily, both parties feel relieved.
We are going from the culture of obedience – the culture of listening and believing with no question allowed, to the culture of openness – the culture of being able to ask questions and being entitled to answers. The only trouble is when we receive the answer, we believe in the answer, and our mind becomes very rational. We are no longer superstitious, and we are against things that are irrational. From this culture of openness, arise science, philosophy, logic, and psychology. It is very important, very interesting. Your children belong to the culture of openness, and they do not often listen to you. You ask them to go sweep the floor since it is dirty but they do not do it; they do not obey you. And, why don’t they? It is because your request is not reasonable nor at the right time. You ask when they are studying,
and of course, they protest. In fact, they need an answer to the question “why”. For example, “Why do you want me to sweep the floor when I am studying?” So, if you have children or grandchildren in the ages of 6, 7 or teens, you need to be careful with anything you say. You need to be ready to answer the question “why”. “Why do we say that? Why do we do tha