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Lama Choyin Rangdrol

| arun

I’ve mentioned writing by Lama Choyin Rangdrol a couple of times before (here and here). He has a number of blogs which I enjoy following primarily because they provide a much different perspective on Buddhism (and more) than you get in, say, TheBigThree.

Voices of African American Buddhists are still relatively muted in mainstream Buddhist publications—in my experience, certainly not representative of the great diversity in our community. I’m glad that Lama Rangdrol has been updating these blogs fairly regularly as of recent. Definitely a recommended addition to your blogfeeds.

Teaching Imperfections

| arun

A post by Brad Warner touches on the notion of imperfect teachers, including his experiences with his own teacher.

I guess it had to do with trust. I knew the old man wouldn’t steer me wrong. By then I knew full well he was no saint. I saw the old man’s students bickering with each other. I saw the old man himself do things I didn’t entirely approve of. I heard him express opinions I could not agree with. I was there when he burped and when he farted. I knew he sometimes – gasp! — fell asleep on his cushion during early morning zazen.

But I trusted him. I knew that whatever else he did, he always told me the truth. And that’s what counted. I knew him more than as a teacher. I knew him as a friend.

On the Dangerous Harvests blog, Nathan expounds on these thoughts with some of his own experience. I’ve touched on this topic before, and it’s one that’s important to reflect on in any and all Buddhist groups. Odds are that our teachers are not perfect, most especially if they claim to be. So how do we practice with imperfect teachers? If you do your due diligence, you’ll find that there are already a good many answers out there.

American Buddhist Artists

| arun

Barry Briggs has been celebrating American Buddhist visual art on his blog this week, so I figured it would be fitting to celebrate this celebration in turn.

This week, Ox Herding will focus on American artists who are also Buddhist practitioners. This short survey makes no attempt to be exhaustive; rather, it’s quite personal. Either I have a direct connection with the artists or feel a strong affinity with their work.

He has so far introduced Jakusho Kwong Roshi, Anita Feng, Mayumi Odaand Brice Marden. The first three artists are also all Americans whose Buddhist practice plays a central role in their lives. Jakusho Kwong Roshi is the founder and abbot of Sonoma Mountain Zen Center. Anita Feng is a Golden Wind Zen Dharma Master and also a member of the Buddhist blogosphere. When not traveling to an art exhibition or speaking out to save the world, Mayumi Oda resides at Ginger Hill Farm and retreat center on the Big Island.

Supreme Hypocrisy

| arun

In a UPI piece, Chak Sopheap speaks frankly about Grand Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong and his apparent attitudes towards morality in the Khmer sangha.

Several reports of monks having sex, watching pornographic materials and other social misconduct have largely gone unnoticed by the supreme patriarch. Recently a chief monk reportedly got drunk and beat some of his followers, who did not file a complaint out of fear for their safety.

Unlike the case of Tim Sakhorn – a monk who was charged with misconduct and defrocked in 2007 for allegedly destabilizing relations between Cambodia and Vietnam – the supreme patriarch has not reacted to the recent issue involving the drunken monk. This shows that the decision to defrock Sakhorn was politically motivated, and that the Buddhist leader is unconcerned about the decline of morality among the monks under his charge.

Behind this article are complex stories of epic proportions, such as what does it mean to be a supreme patriarch of Cambodia? (There are three!) Or where in the world is Tim Sakhorn?

Bat Nha Perspectives

| arun

Not long after my previous post, Dr. Scott Mitchell relayed a comment he received in an email, which presents another side to the events at Bat Nha monastery.

The criticism is, in short, that there may be more going on here than meets the eye or that we are only getting one side of the story. This person suggests that the monks and nuns in Vietnam may be “making nuisances of themselves” and that the locals had had enough, driving off the “elitist followers” of Thich Nhat Hanh.

The government press releases that I’ve seen don’t exactly piece together an alternative narrative. But it’s important to understand that this situation can be viewed from multiple perspectives, and they’re all worth honestly discussing. My real concern here is that the monks and nuns—regardless of their affiliation—should be entitled to due process under the law, which is apparently not an option being afforded to them. I have never been all too enthusiastic about Thich Nhat Hanh or the Order of Interbeing (another story for another time), but this situation really hits home for me. For some reason, I cannot silently condone the breach of human rights against the monks and nuns at Bat Nha monastery. It’s them today, but who’s next?

TÌNH HÌNH CÁC THẦY CÔ HẾT SỨC KHÓ KHĂN

| arun

The teachers’ situation is extremely difficult. This headline—the translation of the post title—is what drew me into a post on Pháp nạn Bát Nhã, which alerted me to current actions by the Vietnamese government to forcibly remove monks and nuns from Bát Nhã monastery. At the bottom of the page was a link to a list of YouTube videos that report directly on recent events.

Monks sitting in the rain after being forced outside by thugs.

Monks being forced outside by thugs.

Another video of monks being forced outside by thugs.Regardless of what you think of Thích Nhất Hạnh or Vietnamese people or Angry Asian Buddhists, this situation involves basic violations of human rights on many levels. Qui tacet consentit—if we do not speak out about this situation, we are effectively condoning the oppressive actions by the government in Vietnam, and by extension, those of governments elsewhere.

You can learn more about the situation of Bát Nhã monastery at the Help Bat Nha Monastery website, and also through recent posts on Shambhala Sun Space, The Buddhist Blog and Barbara’s Buddhism blog.

Is Mindfulness the Same Thing as Meditation?

| arun

Yesterday, Shambhala SunSpace featured Rev. Gibbs of the Oregon Buddhist Temple talking about the nembutsu or “saying the name of the Buddha of Limitless Wisdom-light.”

I am a Jodo Shinshu minister. Mine is the Pure Land school of Mahayana Buddhism, founded in Japan in 1224. (I trained both here and in Japan.) In my school of Buddhist spirituality we often say we don’t meditate.

However, our practice of saying the name of the Buddha of Limitless Wisdom-light and Endless Life may strike some of you as meditative. We, as do hundreds of millions of Buddhists in various streams of tradition, say aloud or hold silently to Amida Buddha’s name. The most common form worldwide is “Namo Amida Butsu” — literally, “I rely on Amida Buddha” or “I rely upon the Awoken source of limitless wisdom light and endless life.”

It’s always good to see Shin Buddhists with the opportunity to write in the high profile Buddhist publications. I always learn something new about a tradition that I am (geographically) very, very close to. Hopefully others will also pick up something new about one of America’s oldest Buddhist traditions.

Buddhists on Purpose

| arun

On the way home tonight I heard Craig Ferguson on the radio talking about his book American on Purpose. That title really got me thinking. Wouldn’t Buddhist on purpose be a great label?

I’ve never been a fan of the term convert Buddhist. The very word “convert” emphasizes change as an integral part of identity, which honestly doesn’t strike me as fair. In contrast, “Buddhist on purpose” asserts a meaningful and engaged claim to one’s identity without dwelling on the past. It also describes those of us who may have been born into families where Buddhism was embedded in our identity, but who later became Buddhists on purpose. In a larger context, this term underlines a common bond among people who otherwise would be separated by labels like “convert Buddhist” or “heritage Buddhist.”

Buddhist on purpose also has its own downsides. The strength of this term lies, in part, in the implicit converse: those who are Buddhist, but not on purpose. The accidental Buddhists. The purposeless Buddhists. It’s pretty insulting when it’s implying your mom was a Buddhist by accident (even if it may be true in a strict sense of “accident”). This antonymity makes a lot of otherwise great labels sound pretty bad, and probably explains why terms like “convert” and “heritage” are still in common currency for all their drawbacks. So what if it’s implied you’re a non-convert or non-heritage Buddhist?

Of course, there’s my mother’s favorite alternative label. You can always call them by their given name.

Become New by Becoming Old

| arun

Over on Dharma Folk, John presents an illuminating discussion on how Buddhism becomes new by becoming old—by presenting new teachings as reformulations of even earlier ones—and how this dialectic may be less applicable in our modern world. But presenting new ideas as old ones isn’t the only way to market them.

The other option for religions to grow and change is simply to call what’s new new. To change the way we practice because it fills a need, whether personal or societal. The only problem with the new being new is that it then operates on the periphery of what Buddhism is. Without a myth to explain how something is Buddhist, or even more Buddhist than what is out there, people who practice in their own way and dance to the beat of a different drummer may not get lumped in with Buddhism at all.

So I’m curious about the point at which novel practices undermine the (apparent) authenticity of one’s lineage.