Wheel of Dharma
Prayer Beads
I emailed a friend's relative who is a Buddhist, Jonathon Ashton, to find out about Buddhism on a personal level:
1. How long have you been a Buddhist?
You could say: on and off since 1993.
Often people would say "I'm a Buddhist" when they've decided to "go
for refuge" and maybe even done a formal ceremony to acknowledge that.
(I'd personally say,though, "How far are you really going for
refuge?") In 1993, I got to the point of saying, "Yes, I am going for
refuge now I believe from experience that Buddhism must be true. Even
though I haven't really experienced its depths, I can see they should
be there and that there should be a path to them and I'll try and
follow it. However, I personally think of myself of a Buddhist to the
extent that I'm practicing - it's not like Christianity where you can
sign up and that's it, you're either following/trying to follow the
path, or act in accordance with what you discover as the true nature
of reality, or you aren't doing any of that. And when you're doing
so, you're still only doing it to the extent that you're doing it. So,
for me, the question would be "How far am I a Buddhist - at the moment
and in general?" That's the kind of way someone from the Triratna
Buddhist Community might see "being a Buddhist", btw.
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche says that, given that most of Buddhism isn't
accessible to people at the start, the only thing you really need to
believe to become a Buddhist is that you can change. He's one of my
main teachers, but I don't personally find that a complete enough
answer.
2. What type/ kind /division of Buddhism are you involved in?
I'm basically a Tibetan Buddhist. The practices I do, the teachers I
go and see and by and large my "religious" thoughts about life and
dealing with it are Tibetan Buddhist. However, I've done some
practice in the Therevaddin, the Triratna Buddhist Community and Zen
traditions, as well. (I know various other people who've done the
same.)
A word on the differences. Enlightenment is enlightenment, the basic
nature of things is the basic nature of things. (Perhaps not everyone
would 100% agree on this, but it would be a commonly held viewpoint.)
However, the ordinary human mind is hard to work with and there are
many different approaches and views about doing so. There are many
different things that are thought helpful in "waking up". So, one can
have a difference of opinion about what's most useful, or an evolution
of techniques over time. This is the kind of sense in which the
schools of Buddhism are different. My teacher Lama Yeshe Rinpoche has
put it this way: 'Some people make great pasta and pasta is great.
Some people make great porridge and porridge is great. However, you
wouldn't want to be making pasta and porridge as the same dish. You
have to choose which you are going to make and learn from someone who
knows how to make it." Occasionally you'll meet Buddhist
fundamentalists regarding their way of doing things - just as you'll
meet teachers who passionately regard their approach as the most
effective. However, the respect for other schools that Lama RInpoche
shows above is pretty common in the West. Another point about
different schools and lineages. Buddhist teachings are passed in a
chain from teacher to student. So again, there are lots of different
chains of transmission.
By the way, the most common language used in the West is "school" of
Buddhism, which I think is helpful. In the West there is a commonly
shared view that there shouldn't be too many beliefs in Buddhism (as
evidenced by the great popularity of a book titled "Buddhism Without
beliefs"!) - it's about learning how things are, principally in the
West from experience, though logical analysis can be used. It's then
about what to do about how things are, again from experience. In
countries where Buddhists grow up in a widely shared popular religious
culture that is almost in their bones, it tends to operate differently
(I suspect they might get quicker results with their students that
way).
3. Why did you become a Buddhist? What got you into Buddhism?
Firstly, aged 16 I stepped back from Christianity because I thought it
would be hard to view the issue of religion and values objectively
while I was practicing. (This is not to nay say Christianity. I
actually now have a very high opinion of serious, practicing
Christians such as my Mum as a result of my Buddhist practice. I have
read some very inspiring interviews with leading Christians, esp.
Christian mystics and enjoyed working in an administrative role at The
Salvation Army.)
Secondly, I suffered quite badly from depression on and off in my
first year at university, drinking heavily, having problems with
suicidal thoughts, etc - and then again later, after I left. (I've
never told Roxanne that, btw, but you are welcome to mention it if you
want, I'm not embarrassed.) Buddhism did three things that helped with
my mental health:
* The practices helped me to handle, or with other practices to
overcome, my depression (which has been good for my faith - meaning my
ability to trust Buddhism and put some weight on it, if you like). In
particular, I did a lot of practice to generate more loving kindness
towards myself and all other beings. It's not possible to
simultaneously be angry and destructive and to be loving. So, as you
can imagine that was one thing that helped a lot in uprooting the
seeds of the depression.
* The depression was aggravated by a nihilistic sense that there was
no reliable, final value in the world. I'd been a very postmodern
young man and had found the idea that everything I believed was
dependent on my own history cultural background to be very threatening
to my foundations for believing there's a meaningful reason to do good
and be good, rather than it just being something that people do, maybe
out of convenience or misunderstanding. My experience as a Buddhist
gave me an anchor and (mixing metaphors) a compass for my life as a
would-be good person. Even when, to my mind, I'm not a Buddhist in
the sense of doing lots of meditation or something, I can now still be
doing good in the world for an unchallengeable reason - and that's of
great value to me.
* Buddhism also made my depression useful. I could actively
incorporate it into my practice (as a way into empathy with others in
the same situation) and I could become a better person through it.
Having a grasp of depression, anxiety, low self worth or despair has
since become very useful: I've worked for a number of charities and
had various mentally ill friends where it helped. My practice has
helped that been a gateway to being able to do that without my
memories and traces of those feelings being so much threatening things
that I had to avoid. When the possibility first started to become
real of being able to transcend and include depression as part of a
meaningful life, through my practice, it was very beautiful and
wonderful and extremely good for my faith!
Thirdly, I was very Green at the time and Buddhism was a good
philosophical fit with my strong interest in holistic worldviews and
systems theory. (I can go into that if you want, but it might be a bit
abstruse!) Buddhism fits well at a gut level with Postmodern
sensibilities, too - though the language hasn't fully caught up, yet.
(I can go into academic attempts to do so, if you are at all
interested.)
> 4. Do you attend any places of worship? How often? What is involved in these visits?
>
Right now, no. I'm not practicing very much and have been avoiding my
local temple out of embarrassment!
However, since 1992 I'd generally have gone to a Buddhist group at
least once a week. There, a typical session of each school in the
West that I've attended would be composed as follows:
a. Tibetan Buddhism
Either -
Some silent meditation - either guided by the teacher or using your
own practice. Sometimes the silent practice might be composed or
interspersed with period of walking meditation. There will always be a
short prayer at the start and the end, to help develop the best
motivation for the meditation and so that you dedicate the benefit of
it in a useful way, too.
OR - a talk - which is usually didactic in approach. Some teachers
tack a bit of meditation onto the front of the talk. Again, initial
and final prayers would be the norm.
OR - a "puja" such as "Chenrezig", "Amitabha", "Tara" (look "puja" up
online) - once a month with tsok (offerings). This is the very
colourful end of Tibetan Buddhism and the kind of practices that
aren't (or often aren't) in the other traditions.
People generally hang out and chat a bit either before or afterwards.
Occasionally this is actively encouraged through a break in the
middle, but not generally.
b. FWBO
Two sessions with a tea break in the middle.
1. Meditation, which is usually silent and may be guided or not
2. Either
* More meditation
* Or a teaching - which is generally more discursive and less didactic
than in Tibetan Buddhism generally is
* Or occasionally a "puja" (look it up)
c. Zen
I haven't practiced this so much, but it has been:
Two sessions with a tea break in the middle. Whether this is a
standard thing I don't know, it's just been my experience.
1. Meditation, which is silent and may be guided or not
2. Either
* More meditation
* Or a teaching - which is generally more didactic
d. Therevaddin Buddhism
Either -
Some silent meditation - either guided by the teacher or using your
own practice. Sometimes the silent practice might be composed or
interspersed with period of walking meditation. There will always be a
short prayer at the start and the end, to help develop the best
motivation for the meditation and so that you dedicate the benefit of
it in a useful way, too.
Or (in the Forest Sangha tradition):
Silent meditation. Prayers at the beginning to help develop an
appropriate frame of mind would be the norm.
Plus a talk, if there is a senior monk present - which is usually
didactic in approach. .
Plus generally maybe 10 or 20 minutes of traditional prayers
People generally hang out and chat a bit either before or afterwards.
Note: the range of meditation practices used in the different schools
is maybe the single biggest difference between them.
5. What would it take (attitude / lifestyle) to become a Buddhist?
See Q.1. and Q.7
Another important issue is not to take so much regarding how things
are for granted. The assumptions we consciously and subconsciously
make are an important problem that Buddhism seeks to overcome and an
important challenge to effective practice.
6. Why would you recommend about the Buddhist lifestyle?
The Dalai Lama said "My religion is kindness" and I do believe that's
the whole point of doing it.
Buddhism is about training the mind and practicing virtue well. One
should do the things that are part of it that work for the individual.
You have sometimes to treat yourself as an experiment - trying things
out for a while to see if they do genuinely help in your own case.
However, it's supposed to be about what you find works. If you aren't
doing much that is clearly Buddhist you'd have to ask yourself "Am I
really a Buddhist or am I just kidding myself?" However, after
accepting that, for me personally, "the Buddhist lifestyle" is what
makes you a better person.
People today are very outwardly focused - except in exceptional
circumstances, such as when they try and grapple with something like a
major emotional upheaval. However, when it comes to why we choose to
do things and how we go about them, it is hugely important where we
actually come from and how we perceive, including emotionally perceive
- things. To take an extreme example: to me, a lot of very selfish
people, or very blinkered and materially driven people, are completely
wasting much of their whole lives - and they may go through their
whole life barely noticing that how they spend their time is not just
bad but even completely irrelevant and meaningless. They couldn't
comprehend that that might be the case because they are locked into it
at a deep level and don't even realize that they have no freedom. You
can see that from the Big Mind sessions. However, Elizabeth
Kubler-Ross, the great figure in the hospice movement, observed that
even very successful people, when they are dying, usually have no
interest in their achievements. Their preoccupations about their
lives are more "Have I loved?" and "Have I been loved?" In the face of
impermanence, everything else starts to fall away. (Btw - my
experience is that if you want to think deeply about death and what is
of value in the face of it, I recommend you do so only in small doses
and when relaxed.)
At the moment I'm living a pretty worldly life, with lots of
distractions with very little point. If there really is meaning to
life, then all I'm doing is getting older - and even going backwards
in some respects terms of spiritual progress. In a sense, that's a
monumental waste of time, which I do find troubling. The spiritual
life is sometimes hard (my main teachers wouldn't want it to be hard
most of the time) but done properly I've almost always found it at
least interesting and fulfilling. Paradoxically, even the boredom that
comes with sitting for long hours on retreat becomes interesting!
7. How different is a Buddhist lifestyle to a none-religious lifestyle? (If you've known both, of course)
Firstly, see Q1.
A fairly serious Buddhist practitioner living in the West might well
gradually build up to doing at least one session of meditation a day,
which often might be between 45 minutes and a couple of hours a day
depending on factors such as the tradition and their teacher's view.
They may well go on retreat once or a number of times a year. They
will probably go to a Buddhist Centre of some kind once a week. They
may well have take various training commitments that help to live well
- such as not to tell lies. Most likely it will impact on the other
life choices they make - for example, practitioners tend to lead lives
that seem socially useful. They are usually more generous as
individuals (something that would be encouraged). Most choose to be
vegetarians.
This is a key difference between most Christians and most genuinely
pretty committed Buddhists, for example - when you start trying to
change your mind and your heart to become a better person, a common
experience is to find that it's possible but requires a lot more time
commitment than expected.
The art is not to let it become oppressive! If you're "a better
person" then of course that is time consuming but it is oppressive,
you're very likely doing something in some sense wrong (and wasting a
lot of time in just generating suffering and a fixed mind!) Kindness
to oneself and others gradually comes to be seen as simply
commonsense. I feel one should make commitments from a state of
wealth - that actually,you have precious things you value and you are
much better off not messing yourself around because you feel better
and everything feels more meaningful. Take generosity. Being
generous can often seem like a burden in the West - something you do
out of or obligation, maybe. If you find you can do the Big Mind
process on your own, try being the voice of generosity. Trungpa
Rinpoche said "Generosity is self-existing openness, complete
openness". You'll find that there's nothing constricted or oppressive
about being the voice of generosity. Loving kindness is usually a
warm, grounded, open and commonsensical experience and generosity is
close to that.
That said, as a practitioner one is sometimes put in positions where
one may be exposed to the worst of oneself within the training and one
has to grow by meeting it with love, wisdom and (in a sense)
acceptance. That can be horrible at the time, however you only do it
according to your skills and sense that you can do it - and it isn't
necessarily horrible, sometimes it can be utterly amazing. However,
you do it only because it is an opportunity to grow, not out of
religious faith, duty or some kind of wierd masochism.
A few points to balance the emphasis on the demands on time, above.
Firstly, many teachers have said to me that ten minutes of meditation
a day is better than nothing. Also,I have heard a few very senior
teachers recommend particular practices as particularly well suited to
and transformative for people living packed, busy lives. Also, even
though I'm not doing much right now, I'm still in various ways a very
different and better person as a result of my previous efforts.
8. Are you required to wear anything specific for your practices? Why?
Personally,not really. It's usually key to try to relax. So, less
restrictive garments are generally recommended.
Monks and priests and in some traditions sometimes people on retreat
do have particular clothing. I don't know why, really.
9. Are there any important pilgrimages specific to Buddhism? Do you have any personal pilgrimages?
I've never done any, so I can't comment. Some people have done them
and found them very useful.
10. And finally, anything else you'd like to tell me!
Thubten Chodron did a very clear book, that I could annotate with
notes about how the other traditions differ and send you.
He also sent me a few videos on Buddhism:
Links to Big Mind process
The Big Mind Process is is not classical Buddhism. It doesn't exist in
any of the ancient, mainstream traditions and you would need to be a
little careful where you might cite it in an essay, if you did.
However, it was developed and has been tested by Zen practitioners
with excellent credentials and it does gives little glimpses of
transcendent experience, which mean you can better answer many of your
own questions about Buddhism! I suggest you try a couple of videos
and have a go. I personally stop such videos at appropriate points and
try and speak as the voices (e.g., you can say out loud "As
seeking/non-seeking mind, I..." and speak about what you observe as
that voice. Fake it 'til you make it, as Genpo Roshi says!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYjknUXy6hM This is a super-short one,
which will take you ten mins - maybe 20 if you start and stop the
video a lot. It's not a bad starting point, if you can get it. Note:
the states that you access might only be a small aspect of the
enlightened mind, but it does help a bit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkNrvs6ay0g This is a much longer one,
going into, for example, the nature of compassion a bit more.
Important note: the sections about worldly mind states such as "The
Gatekeeper" are not Buddhism in the way that it would normally be
understood. They're more like therapy or Western psychology. They do
happen to be very useful for facilitating the Big Mind Process, in the
sense of touching the transcendent states, though. The sections that
involve integrating the mundane and the Big Mind-type states are also
very useful for appreciating what it's really like to be successful
spiritual practitioner.
http://www.meditationplex.com/big-mind-meditation/big-mind-meditationat-the-buddhist-geeks-conference/
Also a long one!
The Conception of the Buddha:
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