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Emerging Trends in “Western” Buddhism

| arun

Over on Wandering Dhamma, Brooke Schedneck writes about new trends in ‘Western’ Buddhism and provides some thoughts on the Buddhist blogging community.

There is a whole close-knit community thriving on debate and discussion of a diversity of issues almost daily. This community of course, is the buddhoblogosphere. Tackling similar issues as recent scholars such as race and racism, the dynamic between culture and religion, and the secularization of meditation teachings, among others. This community comments on online and print Buddhist media and is more and more moving toward incorporating ideas of recent scholarship. The buddhobogosphere is on the cutting edge of what is going on within Buddhism in the West, and they will have increasing importance for scholarship about contemporary Buddhism.

Brooke also provides a list of some general trends in this emerging scholarship.

  1. New Age vs. Hard Core Dhamma
  2. Mindfulness Meditation and the Secularization of Meditation
  3. Is Buddhism a religion? (Buddhism and religious identity)
  4. The dialogue of Buddhism and science/psychology
  5. Buddhism and youth
  6. Buddhism and pop-culture
  7. Buddhism and happiness
  8. Modern-day commentaries of traditional Buddhist teachings
  9. Prison Dharma
  10. Racially Diverse Buddhism

These trends are discussed in more detail across posts here and here.

Intermittently Unplugged

| arun

Until last week, surfing the web had been the first and last of my daily routines. The installation of my new internet service seemed sure to deepen my addiction, but the new box proved to be an unexpected failure. My personal computer has been unable to connect. Instead of picking up the phone and dialing for service, I decided to cook some Japanese eggplant—which I had never done before. My life has begun to change from there. It’s as though entire hours of my daily schedule have been redevoted to cooking. Contacting people in the community has involved more personal phone calls, fewer mass mailings and more delegation of responsibility than I would previously have felt comfortable with (and sometimes more than others feel comfortable with assuming). Meditation has returned to being the first routine. In the meantime, my blogging has taken the biggest hit. But it’s been a wonderful experience.

A Most Buddhist State

| arun

Today, Hawaiʻi celebrates 50 years of statehood. Lawrence Downes writes in the New York Times:

Hawaii has given a lot to the Union. It got its own native-son president in January. Only 21 states are in that club. The guy who really invented baseball is buried in Honolulu. And if you could go to any of the 50 states right now, which would it be?

That list could be much, much longer, but the item I’d like to add is that Hawaiʻi is also the most Buddhist state! To be precise, Buddhists make up a greater proportion of the Aloha State than any other in the Union (in contrast, my home state has the largest number of Buddhists). In the United States, Buddhism is strongest in the West—its frontier is in the East.

Couldn’t Tell a Banyan Tree from a Bodhi Tree

| arun

Ven. Shravasti Dhammika today provides a delightful clarification on the difference between the bodhi tree and the banyan tree, and why this is important.

Saying that the Buddha was enlightened under a Banyan tree is a bit like saying Jesus was born in a milk pail or that he was nailed to an octagon, that a water melon fell on Newton’s head, that Santa’s slay is pulled by aardvarks or that the jolly swagman jumped into a bath tub. On one hand it’s not really that important, on the other it shows a superficial and casual attitude to clearly discernable differences and easily discoverable facts. In 2008 Time ran an article on corruption at Bodh Gaya entitled ‘Big Trouble Under the Banyan Tree.’ The August 8th 2009 edition of the Economist commenced a column called ‘In the Shade of the Banyan Tree’ in which it stated that the Buddha was enlightened under a Banyan. An excellent ecological website called Eco India (‘brings you down to nature’) says that Bodhi is another name for the Banyan (‘just brings you down’). Another website, Science Museums of China, gives a picture of a Bodhi tree, has its correct botanical name, lists its proper colloquial names and then spoils it all by calling it a Banyan tree. The tourist website for Phimai in Thailand gives a slightly different version of the muddle, stating that the Buddha was enlightened while ‘standing’ under a Banyan tree. Wikipedia, as I have come to expect by now, also buys into the confusion, at least in its article ‘Banyan Tree’. Out of 40 websites I logged on to at random, 36 got it wrong.

Now you can’t say no one ever told you.

Hongwanji Place

| arun

While walking down San Pedro to the newly-opened multeepurpose café in Little Tokyo (where I am typing this post) I happened to spot the new Hongwanji Place nested in the Teramachi housing complex.

SDDSTL Hongwanji Place is a non-profit organization sponsored by the Southern District Dharma School Teachers’ League. It was formed in 1985 (initially as SDDSTL Special Projects) to provide Jodo Shinshu and other Buddhist traditions materials, such as books, Obon odori media, gifts, nenju (ojuzu), nenju (ojuzu) repair, butsudans and novelty items to the Sangha.

I assumed it had closed and it was quite nice to see it’s still there. It’s a great place to buy a Dharma gift whether in person or by correspondence. As gifts go, I’m generally one to buy my friends a simple nenju.

Faces of the Cultural Elites

| arun

I just spent four and a half hours on the phone talking with a Buddhist friend about race, status, privilege and—of course—Buddhism and meditation. I wish we’d taken notes. As people of color, we both hanker for more of our own communities to be represented in mainstream American Buddhist institutions, but my friend was quick to point out our different perspectives. The barriers that I discuss regarding Buddhist Asian Americans are different than the barriers for Buddhist African Americans. For one, Asian Americans comprise the outright majority of the American Buddhist community, while African Americans are a clear minority. Most African Americans also have deep cultural and emotional ties to Christianity and church than your average Asian American. Since many Asian Americans come to Buddhism as a cultural heritage—as a family tradition or otherwise—their interactions with the convert white Buddhists who dominate American meditation centers are different than those of African Americans, who are largely themselves converts. My friend stressed that broader socioeconomic factors play a huge role in why we see so few African Americans in, say, meditation centers. These centers cater to a cultural elite, those who have more experience shopping in Wild Oats than living in the projects. This description is nothing new, but my friend suggested that perhaps the “diversity” of American Buddhist meditation centers simply mirrors the faces of America’s cultural elites. Poor American Buddhism.

When Non-Violence is the Wrong Way

| arun

Over at Progressive Buddhism, Kyle suggests a violent solution to the situation in Burma.

The time for non-violent, peaceful civil disobedience is quickly coming to an end, and in my opinion the truly compassionate route for the populace of Burma to take, including the monks, is to take off their robes, pick up a rifle and decapitate the despotic, tyrannical and repressive leadership of the current Burmese regime. The good people of Burma have been abandoned by the rest of the world and therefore should join the remnants of the rebel guerrillas and other repressed minorities such as the Karen, Karenni, Shan, Tavoyan, and Mon, and take the most unpleasant route of armed confrontation. The Burmese people can not afford another Cyclone Nargina [sic], they can not afford 40 more years of quietly waiting while their young girls continue to get sold into the human sex slave trade and their small children are forced into hard labor. They can not afford 40 more years of hunger and disease, of poverty and repression, 40 more years of wasting away into a black hole of endless suffering. No longer does the path in Burma lay in peace and civility; the way to end this suffering, unfortunately, lies in the gun.

When I was much younger, I held opinions not too far removed from Kyle’s, but these sentiments are both naïve and misguided. As I mentioned in comments to a previous post, I feel very conflicted about the situation in Burma, especially from a “Buddhist” perspective (whatever that means). Hopefully I’ll be able to set aside enough time to discuss these issues more thoroughly (and yet succinctly) over on Dharma Folk…

Vegetarian Mohingar

| arun

A common complaint about Southeast Asian food is that it’s vegetarian unfriendly. The mainland Theravada countries are typically poor players in the league of leaf eaters, with meat or fish product forming an indispensable ingredient to almost every dish. Vegetarianism becomes a renunciation of certain cuisines entirely. Countering this stereotype, a number of vegan Thai restaurants have been popping up in Southern California in recent years (my favorites are Bulan Thai, the Wheel of Lifeand My Vegan). But when it comes to Burmese or Khmer cuisine, it’s hard to find a good substitute for ngapi or prahok. That is, until I ran across this recipe for vegetarian mohingar. Mohingar is a classic breakfast or lunch. When working in Culver City, I would often go for a (non-vegetarian) bowl at the Burmese market in West LA. This vegetarian recipe and 99 more are all available in the Burmese cookbook Hsa*Ba. Now all I have to do is find a vegetarian prahok!

Metta Sutta Politics

| arun

As with many other concerned newswatchers, I was dismayed to hear that the Burmese government banned numerous monasteries from reciting the Metta Sutta on the past full moon day. It is a shame that the words of Lord Buddha have become so politicized. In response, Rev. Danny Fisher posted a YouTube video of himself reading the Karaniya Metta Sutta. His act of solidarity with the Burmese monastic community was publicized on Shambhala SunSpcace, Barbara’s Buddhism blog, Precious Metal, Go Beyond Words, and Bodhipaksa also recorded himself reading the Metta Sutta. But I worry that this act comes as a reaction to the Burmese junta, that we might be a little too trigger happy when it comes to dragging religion into defining political boundaries. After all, this sutta belongs to all of us. I certainly encourage you to recite the Metta Sutta every day, but when we chant in solidarity with the Burmese monks and nuns, we should also be emanating goodwill toward the very military dictatorship that oppresses them. We should wish them happiness, freedom from stress and suffering, freedom from animosity, freedom from oppression, freedom from trouble, and that they may take care of themselves with ease. When we recite words of loving kindness, it should be with the goal of emanating sincere loving kindness. We should be wary of hijacking Buddhism for the sake of political backlash.