ABSTRACT
Life is difficult, Buddhism teaches, and soul surgery becomes a constant necessity. Henry David Thoreau's wisdom brings into sharp focus Erich Fromm's distinction between being and having. In a state of obsessive materialism people are determined by inner and outer circumstances, needs, desires and constraints, so they can be busy but unproductive. It is good therapy to talk things through with people as well as properly listen to them. Trust tames troubled waters, and doubt creates havoc. The discontent of Shakespeare's Othello began when Iago sowed the seeds of doubt in his mind about his wife Desdemona's love. In Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman Willy Lornan, a sixty-three-year-old disillusioned and penniless travelling salesman, deceives himself because he values the superficiality of material success, good looks, athletic ability and personality. Faith will provide the philosophical and psychological foundation upon which one can build a confident defence against fear and so make change exciting.
