Something Missing...

Over the past month, I have oft blogged about the issue of Chinese and their sense of loneliness. I have mostly reasoned this as a sort of cultural/social bind, but I think I have missed the spiritual aspect about all of this.

Granted, the average Chinese is too engrossed in their work place to really develop any relationships, prioritizing monetary needs and a hunger for power above something as traditional a value as family. Ignored and lost in an education system that simply drills government-approved information (I do not say knowledge, because this is not really learning) into their heads, it isn't hard to see that these people are lonely. Yet, they are empty inside, and I think it is this spiritual emptiness that makes them nervous of being by themselves.

Since religion is virtually nonexistent in China due to the Cultural Revolution, something is seriously missing in their lives. Regardless of whichever religion it may be--though I myself believe that there is only one true way, I think religion often gives people a purpose, a reason for being, and a conduct of both the physical person as well as the spiritual self. Since the average Chinese is missing this one key component, they feel lost and helpless in this pointless cycle of climbing to the top, when in the end, all the material gains they have made will simply fade away. I think it finally hit me that it is really this religious void inside them that makes them so lonely and desperate for attention of any sort. They don't want to be by themselves, because they fear they will discover how pointless their lifestyle is in the end. For some, to compensate, they drink it away, smoke their lungs out, and drown themselves in the noise of the party life, but they come out empty nonetheless. For others, they are alone by themselves in an empty room on the weekend without knowing what to do with themselves other than play an online game that will virtually "connect" them with someone somehow. It is all rather tragic, and it pains me to realize this somehow. I honestly want to reach out to them somehow, but it's hard to know how to respond appropriately.

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On a separate tangent, religion related, today, Kamla and I had dinner at Sculpting in Time. As I talked to Kamla, I watched her eyes narrow into slits as her expression grew darker by the minute. I have never seen her so angry, but as we left in a hurry, I found out that in the table behind me, a bunch of college-aged students were pointing and laughing at Kamla's headscarf, essentially making fun of her religion. It was really all too rude, but I think it is their ignorance that caused it. Granted, ignorance is no excuse for being completely rude, but since they have so little interaction with religion of any sort, I think that what they could not understand, they decided to make sport of. I felt terrible for Kamla. I honestly think she has it the hardest here in China. Being an American-born Chinese is hard enough in China, but combined with being Muslim, it is sometimes unbearable. The pointing and curious expressions she could deal with, but today was probably the last straw when they blatantly were making fun of her religion. Indeed, Kamla only had 2 hours total of sleep (nap included) today, but if I were in her shoes, I would have had an equally difficult time. While she did not dwell on it, or tried not to, I could visibly tell that she was distraught. I often wish that I could shield her from such prying eyes, but it's tough when she's more sensitive to their looks and stares (as she probably has already gotten in the American society). I really should have been more observant, and will keep an eye out for it next time. I'll stand up for her, if that's what it takes. I just wish that this experience will simply fade away soon in her mind. I don't want it to scar her experience here in China.