Below is my final reflection paper on my trip.  This was a tough exercise because for the first time ever I was writing to an audience more familiar with Buddhism than Christianity.  So it might read a bit woodenly, and grossly stereotypical, but I found this to be my only recourse when discussing two traditions with such limited common experience/language.  I'm afraid the figures didn't come through either, which is a shame, but hopefully my descriptions will suffice.  In any case, enjoy and feel free to shoot me any thoughts.  Namaste and blessings friends!

Stuck in the Middle with You 

The middle, by definition, is between poles.  In its simplest form, the middle is between just two poles.  My personal experience has led me to believe that two-point polarity is the only simple thing religious traditions do.  Any particular tradition’s middle tends to be defined in this simplest form – one dimensionally (Christian middles are between Christian denominations, Buddhist middles between Buddhist schools).  Christianity's middle was initially between Sinai and Bethlehem, but through integration of the Gentiles “the middle” was recentered between the Mt of Olives and Mt Olympus.  Later the center found itself between Constantinople and Rome.  Most recently, those who claim to be "the middle way" reside between Rome and Wittenberg (Anglicanism is known as the middle way in Christian Reformation history thanks to Elizabeth’s compromise between Roman ritual and Protestant piety).  From my limited exposure, I sense Buddhism has its own roaming middle.  First it stood between Lord Krishna and Mahavira.  As time passed the poles kept moving, Theravada to Mahayana to Vajrayana.  It even appears that there is a middle way to the Middle Way, Madhyamaka, and this middle way has poles at Prasangika and Yogācāra-Svatantrika-Mādhyamaka.  My point is that “the middle” is a dynamic entity, and any group, which adopts the title of “Middle Way,” should be weary about unpacking its bags. 

One dimension of expression has been the norm for defining religious middles, but occasionally coordinate systems becomes unable to cope with new data, and a single axis is no longer sufficient to express "the middle."  A quick geometry review can illustrate what I'm talking about:

 

1

-1

0

2

2

4

0

1

0

 

 

 

Traditional definition of the middle appears as above.  As poles shift so does the middle.  All definitions of middle are determined on one axis.  However, interaction with other cultures sometimes bring on dimensions that cannot be plotted on the current axis alone.  One culture functions according to the x-axis while another uses the y-axis.

 

 

 

When significantly different cultures come into contact, neither culture’s previous middle, (0,1) or (1,0) is able to lay sole claim to a composite middle (1,1).  Relatively speaking, the new middle may still only be one unit away from its poles, but compositely speaking, the new middle is now roughly 1.41 units away from any pole (D[1]).  The point being, with each new dimension considered, the composite middle changes, and no one axial view can claim their middle as identical with composite middle.

I say all of this because I feel like globalization has upset religious coordinate systems worldwide.  As an Episcopalian I feel like I stand in the middle of the Christian axis (y-axis).  And this trip has shown me that the Rangshung Yeshe Institute considers itself near the middle of the Buddhist axis (x-axis).  However, over the course of seven weeks it has become apparent to me that neither one of our middles seem fully capable of articulating a new, composite middle.  This paper is the rather awkward attempt to catch a glimpse of this composite middle.  I seek this new middle in coarse terms, by attempting to balance Buddhist and Christian axes with regard to human nature, the nature of justice and the nature of knowledge.  My following comments are simple observations and meager evaluations.  All is not equal.  In some respects Christians have a much longer way to go to find the new middle, and in other respects Buddhists seem to have a lengthier road.

I would like to begin by introducing “Buddha nature” and “original ignorance” to “image of God” and “original sin.”  The new middle of human nature probably lies east of Eden and west of the Pure Land.  In this respect, I believe Christians have a longer trip to the new middle.  When the Buddhist dimension is introduced to the Christian coordinate system, it becomes painfully obvious that Christians have skewed center in favor of the Fall.  Buddhists hold as primary the knowledge that all beings are Buddhas by nature, and potential Buddhahood lies buried in all of us.  Humans[2], by nature, are perfect goodness.  With this idea in the fore, compassion and loving-kindness become easier to manifest in action and intention.  There is no us and them, there is only us, and we all have Buddha nature.  Christians, by contrast, unite all of humanity with its departure from perfect goodness.  Humans, by choice, are not perfectly good.  Every being, save one, has chosen departure from perfect goodness.  Whether one holds to the Fall as a past event or something that happens in every human heart, the bottom line remains that humans, in actuality, are flawed beings.  So loving one's neighbor as one self becomes a bit harder when one knows his/her neighbor is, in actuality, a broken being.  I will omit the embarrassing list of atrocities that has taken place due to regarding one's neighbor as actually flawed, but suffice it to say, the concept of “us” and “them” has killed many people.  Christianity has elevated actual imperfectness over potential perfectness, and highlighted volitional rebellion over natural goodness.  In short, Christianity tends to  forget that all beings are made in the image of God.  Hopefully, by taking on the Buddhist dimension and focus on innate Buddhahood, Christianity can make the long overdue move from obsession with sin to development of Imago Dei.  This is a much needed centering.  I speak from a much less informed position when I turn to the centering need for Buddhism.  However, I sense that there may be the need for Buddhists to be more cognizant of the fact that most sentient beings have not reached Buddhahood.  Where as original sin may be too harsh, original ignorance may be too lenient.  Future Buddhas can still be present despots.  A point that finds more traction when viewed from the aspect of justice. 

Concerning the valuation of justice, I would like “faith and works” to make the acquaintance of “intention and action.”  In this respect I feel like it is the Buddhists who have the tougher journey to the center.  If Christianity offers any indication, this will be a difficult journey (one that actually tore the Church asunder).  Christianity has found faith and works to operate on two levels; theory and practice.  In theory, and in scripture, these two entities are addressed separately, but recognized as inseparable.  St Paul declares that, “we have been justified through faith,” (Rom 5:1) yet St James reminds us that, “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:17).  The Christian canon has declared both of these writings true.  Faith without works is not faith at all, yet works without faith are just empty movements.  Christianity must live in tension according to both of these theoretical truths. 

Practically speaking, earthly living in tension is tough business.  The whole of Christian history is awash with the ebb and flow of undue primacy given to either faith or works.  The ancient church relied solely on the intention of the heart and individual honesty to determine church membership and readmittance to the table post sin.  Practically, this meant liars sat in the pews while the truthful slept at the church doors.  Recognizing that short of mind reading church leaders had no real way to evaluate sincere repentance, the move was made to link sincerity with action.  The truly repentant demonstrated repentance.  And so the pendulum swung towards "works,"  finding its apogee in the medieval penitential system.  This predominantly works-based system reduced Christianity to a perverted economic system, yoking the spiritual to the material in a most abominable way.  Erasmus recognized the disastrous results of this overemphasis of works and attempted a re-centering dialogue that only found an audience when Martin Luther and the German princes moved to action.  Luther advanced quickly through the center before moving the pendulum almost 180 degrees with his declaration of solas fidelis (faith alone).  Of course, this line of thought reinforced the German feudal system, led to the suicide/genocide of the Anabaptists and, taken to its logical conclusion, ends in double predestination (Calvin's Institutes, Book 3).  In practice, Christians learned that justice according to faith alone, in the hands of humans, became a justification for all kinds of atrocities (crusades, inquisitions, imperialism).  For people who thoroughly understand faithfulness like St Paul, "all things are lawful," (1 Cor 10:23) but Christianity has discovered that most humans are more like Corinthians and less like St Paul.  Conversely, a system based solely on works undermines the core of Christianity, and reduces salvation to the domain of the material rich.  

To this day there still is no proper balance between faith and works with respect to earthly justice.  The best Christianity has come up with is the separation of church and state.  Augustine posited two cities, Charlemagne benefited from two swords, and most modern Christians recognize a distinction between divine and human justice.  God will judge according to the intentions of one's heart, but in order for society to function, humans must judge according to one’s actions.  The result is the Christian idea of not being “of the world”, but being “in the world.”  An imperfect solution to be sure, but the best that can be managed to date.  Christians have painfully learned the following: 

There is no democracy in theocracy.

The separation of church and state is done not so much to protect the integrity of the state, but to preserve the purity of the Church.

Christendom is not the same as the Kingdom of Heaven.  

During our classes and in our readings over the last few weeks, I have come to believe that Buddhist theory heavily favors intention over action.  Karma is dictated by intention alone, and there seems to be a distinct lack of a St James in the Buddhist tradition.  I have yet to hear of a lama who pointed out the fact that intention, by definition, presupposes a following action.  While I have recognized that Buddhists encourage generosity and virtuous actions, I have also noticed the secondary status given to these actions.  It seems to me that where Christians hold the relationship between faith and works as integral, Buddhists hold the relationship between intention and action as product and byproduct.  Theoretically it seems that Buddhist intention can exist apart from action. 

The practical application of this theory tends toward disaster in human society.  When intention alone is coupled with a karmatic system that insists justice can, and does, ripen beyond this lifetime, the resulting earthly government can be justified in any action.  If bodhisattvas can be butchers, what prevents the Tibetan head of state from being one?  The feudal or caste system seems to be the logical end to this thinking.  One's past life determines one's birth, and those born to power were meant to be there.  Can Tibetan Buddhism afford to be linked to even an unofficially caste-driven government?  I believe Tibetan Buddhism has had the luxury and privilege of living free of political association and responsibility in a modern historical sense.  If the current Dalai Lama is successful, a Tibetan Buddhist state will come into being.  When that day comes I hope Tibetan Buddhists are able to learn from the mistakes of Christianity, both in favoring intention or action too heavily here in the human realm, but especially in linking the Sangha to a nation.

I believe with respects to a composite middle, the person who spends all day crying on a river bank, feeling compassion for all beings without ever doing something about the suffering is as useless as the person who serves the poor 24/7/365 while hating everyone he/she serves.  In this re-centering process, Buddhists can help remind Christians that capitalism is not Christianity, and Christians can remind Buddhists that good intentions without good actions are not good at all.   

I now come to the issue where the new middle moves the farthest for both traditions...epistemology.  Concerning the nature of knowledge, Christians heavily favor the investigation of the external, while Buddhists turn their exploration inwards.  Both traditions have pursued their respective paths to the severe detriment of the "other" option.  What started for Christians as exploring creation to understand God has ended in materialism and the death of God.  For Buddhists, I sense, that what started as exploring the mind's relationship to the world has ended in mind-only and complete denial of the conventional.  To borrow the Buddhist analogy, Buddhists opened their eyes and saw the ground covered with thorns in front of them.  Only two options occurred to them, cover their feet with leather or cover the world with leather.  They quickly deduced the former would be much easier, and set out to find a goat.  Christians too opened their eyes and saw nothing but thorns in front of them.  Only two options occurred to them as well, find a way to get rid of the thorns or go to a place where there were no thorns.  So they set off in search of a thornless land and created thornology.  As both groups are discovering, the world is not all thorns, bare feet are always sensitive, and neither sandals nor weed killer completely remedies the situation.  My point is that the most skillful response involves addressing both the external and the internal; landscaping and hiking boots,.

The Buddhist philosophy of science is impressive, but the Buddhist knowledge of science is medieval.  For the most part, correlation is still causation, repeatability is unimportant and the paranormal is incontrovertible proof.  The Buddhist khempo can use quantum physics to justify emptiness, but I strongly doubt he can do the math for even high-end Newtonian physics.  In short, putting a man on the moon for Christians is good science, for Buddhists, it is sorcery.  The good news is that science has found Buddhism, and for the most part, Buddhists have incorporated it into their worldview.  The path to the middle for Buddhists is long, but much of the trail has been cleared.  Science is a corporate entity, and what took the West 500 years to develop can be assimilated in a single lifetime.  Science is a function of amassing data, where introspection is a function of amassing experience.  The former is much easier to transfer than the latter. 

Christian theology posses an adequate framework for introspection, but Christian knowledge of introspection is medieval.  The last Christians to practice introspection, as primary, lived 500 years ago (St John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich).  For contemporary Christians, the mind is purely material, consciousness does not affect matter and anything that cannot be explained by science must be untrue.  Benny Hinn can cure cancer with "the spirit," but I strongly doubt he has the meditative concentration to raise his body temperature a single degree.  In short, remaining in a meditative position, free of decay, for seven days after death, is for Buddhists good introspective practice, for Christians, it is charlatanism.  Science has come to Buddhism quicker and more successfully than introspection has come to Christianity.  The field of medicine (particularly psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience) has begun to realize introspection as a legitimate and successful methodology for healing.  Contemplative Christian practices have started to resurface, and mindfulness meditation groups have gained popularity for therapeutic reasons.  Yet the majority of the Christian population seems uninterested and unconvinced of the truth and value of introspection.  Additionally, introspection is individually tailored and realized.  So while Buddhism can offer Christians methods and instruction, the fact remains that each Christian needs to take the time to find his/her correct path.  Introspection is a system understood to take lifetimeS, and it is much harder to incorporate into a system dominated by the word lifetime.  Nonetheless, the value of introspection cannot be denied, and Christianity would be better for developing this internal science under the experienced tutelage of Buddhism. 

A new, composite middle lies somewhere between the y-axis’s science and the x-axis’s introspection.  However, in the end, all the talk of coordinate systems and geometric analogies is hugely oversimplified.  Our composite existence is made up of innumerable dimensions, but I believe that my theory is sound.  With each new dimension recognized, the middle will change, and those self-attaching to any “Middle Way” should change with it.  The idea I am positing is for each tradition to recognize truths in other traditions and adjust accordingly. However, centering is not syncretism.  We are all somewhere on an axis, and we will all see the composite middle from a relative stance.   I staunchly believe that a person cannot genuinely hold to both the vows of baptism and the vows of refuge.  I do not want to be a Buddhist, I want to be a better Christian, and I suspect the same sentiments from my friends on the x-axis.  The goal is to move ever closer to a composite middle, but we all must recognize that the sites along the Way of the Cross will be a little different from the vistas on the Path of Bodhisattva.[3] 

---

[1] D=square root(1^2 + 1^2).  Just a friendly reminder of how to find the hypotenuse of a triangle.

[2] Buddhists wouldn’t limit this idea merely to humans, but bringing all sentient beings in to this equation at this point would just muddle things.

[3] Of course, this entire paper could just be me obsessing over subject/object relationships.  I recognize that “the middle” could be, by definition, the starting point, which establishes the poles.  This primacy of the relation over the relaters is probably truer to the Buddhist idea of interdependent origination, but I find this concept beyond my logical skills to extrapolate into Christianity and a composite worldview.  Perhaps after a little more study and retreat, I’ll be better suited for a paper from this perspective.  Till then I’ll live with “clowns to the left of me and jokers to the right.  Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.”

"I'm rockin the stupa, just like Quiet Riot did."

"I'm rocking the stupa, except they were talented." A big shout out to one of Nashville's own Ben Folds...man, I miss Lightning 100. I actually watched a band shoot a music video on the Boudha stupa today. It was another haunting spectacle of west meets east. On a different note I also witnessed a 5'0'' Nepali guy half-bike a ball from 20m out along the sideline w/ 2 defenders on him. The shot just carried the outstretched hands of the goalie before diving under the crossbar...simply stunning. I'm getting ready to head into retreat for 2 weeks so this will be my last post until August. I plan on hand writing the rest of the practices of the bodhisattvas so look for a deluge of posts when I get back. As I've been sick for a couple of days, and this being my last post, be prepared for a mailbag-like ride.

First and foremost, Happy Birthday to Kelley and Dad! I miss you both immensely and I can't wait to celebrate with you all when I get back. If you look closely at the picture it looks like I have a big party hat on w/all kinds of streamers. The two ladies in the picture were good sports too, as they were guests on the rooftop cafe :)

What has happened to golf since I left? The US Open I wrote off as a fluke, but the British Open is turning into a googlefest as well. I half expect to see Roy McAvoy's name on the leaderboard!

A big shout out to all the delegates and Bishops at the Episcopal Church's General Convention. Following the action has been tough, but I look forward to hearing all about it when I get back.

Good luck to Dan and Russ on the century ride from Casa de Lewis to Chateau Wilson. My butt hurts just thinking about it.

I finished the classroom part of my stay on Friday. A huge thank you to our instructors Lopon Lodro Rabsel and Khenpo Jampa Dhonden. An appreciative nod to our translator James Gentry too. It was a wonderful experience learning from you all, and something I'll not soon forget. Our test is next week so I'll reserve any further comments until after experiencing that piece of Tibetan pedagogy :)

So now I turn to the part of this trip that I find most exhilarating and frightening. 2 weeks in a relatively secluded retreat meditating and reflecting. Lama Gerry has prepared us well over the last month. I feel like I can sit for an hour at a time if need be, but I am still a bit worried about how my legs will take four such sessions a day.

I am also looking forward to a lot of reading time. It is my goal to finish the Brother's Karamazov, The Clash of Civilizations and at least one other book. Additionally, I am looking forward to memorizing a few more prayers and possibly a few poems. The Prayer of St Francis has been a real boon to my memory, and there are a few Keats verses that I have my eye on. Wish me luck!

However, the major focus of this part of the trip is stripping away distractions, and getting in touch with deeper forms of existence. I find that the Buddhist traditions have done a better job of developing introspection and meditation than my own particular Christian background. I believe this inward science can be a real benefit to any tradition, and so it is with a hopeful heart that I embark on this retreat. Perhaps by the end of this fortnight I might have a little better understanding of the mystical aspects of my own faith. If this idea of Christian introspection piques your interest, may I recommend that over the next couple of weeks you peruse works of one of the following authors; St John the Cross, St Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila or Julian of Norwich.

All right folks, I'm off for possibly one more bout with chili momos. Have a great 2 weeks and I look forward to catching up with you all when I get back.

Compassion and Wisdom - Truth and Love,

Christian

Sermon on the Mount...Everest Style

I saw Mount Everest this morning and it was awe inspiring (it's the peak on the left). There is something sacred about mountains. All of creation is breathtaking, but mountains and oceans have a special capability to convey peace and majesty.

Perhaps that's why I like Matthew's idea of the Sermon on the Mount. No offense to Luke, but delivery from a mount seems way cooler than delivery from a plain. So it is from Matthew that I will pull from today, Chapter 5 verses 38-48 (I'm a KJV guy, pardon the English). But I get ahead of myself.

Tibetan Buddhists value pithiness (the ability to express truths with the fewest amount of words). American Christians really like fully developed explanations to truths. So I chuckle when I think to myself that the words of Jesus fill a pamphle,t while the words Sakyamuni fill a library. It almost seems like our cultures got our sacred persons confused. While I read many Buddhist text I recognize many of Jesus' words. It has happened a number of times that the Buddhist text help me understand a little more of what JC had to say. As an example, I give a little Buddhist expansion on a part of the Sermon on the Mount.

Matt 5:38-39: Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Bodhisattva Practice #13: Even if someone were to cut off one's head, though one is free from the slightest fault, it is the practice of bodhisattvas to take all wrongdoing upon oneself through the force of compassion.

Matt 5:40-42: And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away. (note: twain is two)

Bodhisattva Practice #12: If someone, swayed by great desire, steals all one's wealth or incites others to do so, it is the practice of bodhisattvas to dedicate to that person one's own physical body, enjoyments and virtues of the three times.

Matt 5:43-44: Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you (practice #14), do good to them that hate you (practice #15), and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you (practice #16).

Bodhisattva Practice #14: Even if someone proclaims all kinds of defamation about me throughout the three thousand fold universe, it is the practice of bodhisattvas to praise that person's qualities repeatedly with a loving attitude. (note: Buddhist cosmology includes multiverses, which has some really interesting ties to modern physics)

Bodhisattva Practice #15: Even if someone, amid a crowd of many people reveals one's faults and utters harsh words, it is the practice of bodhisattvas to bow to that one respectfully with the notion that this one is one's spiritual teacher. (The idea here is that we can not see our own faults, and those who point out our faults help us to become better people. So those that hate us and defame us are actually doing us a great favor, and we should regard them as we would spiritual teachers.)

Bodhisattva Practice #16: Even if someone for whom I have cared for as dearly as my own child perceives me as an enemy, it is the practice of bodhisattvas to love this one devotedly, just as a mother loves her child stricken by disease.

Matt 5:45-47: That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just an on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans do so?

Bodhisattva Practice #17: Even if a person equal to or inferior to myself defames me due to the force of pride, it is the practice of the bodhisattvas to venerate this one, like the master upon the crown of my head.

Matt 5:48: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Bodhisattva Practice #18: Even if I am deprived of livelihood, constantly belittled by everyone, and stricken by a severe illness or demonic influence, it is the practice of bodhisattvas to take upon oneself all the suffering and evil of all beings without becoming fainthearted.

That last bit sounds really familiar, perhaps we should emulate someone like that...

Tong Len

This practice is easy to understand and tough to execute...should sound familiar.

Practice #11 Cultivating the Exchange of Oneself for Others

All Suffering, without exception, springs from the desire for one's own happiness;

Perfect enlightenment is born from a mind intent on benefiting others.

Therefore, it is the practice of bodhisattvas

To authentically exchange one's own happiness for the suffering of others.

Regard others as more dear than oneself. By means of taking upon oneself all the suffering and evil that may be in the mindstreams of other sentient beings, one exchanges happiness and suffering. Santideva says it best, "However much happiness exists in this world, all of it springs from wishing for the happiness of others; However much suffering exists in this world, all of it springs from desiring one's own happiness. What need is there for lengthy explanations! The childish work for their own benefit, the sages act for the welfare of others. Consider the difference between these two!"

When it comes to a life maxim I usually default to Matt 22:39ff, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self." That's pretty tough stuff, but then I reflect on the 11th practice and I think, "Jesus let us off easy. At least we don't have to love our neighbor more than ourselves." Not so fast my friends (I can't believe I just quoted Corso). I make a rather common mistake by thinking that Jesus summed up the law with one commandment, but that's not true. Going back to verse 37 I find it necessary to give the Christ's full quote, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self. On these two commandments hang all the law of the prophets." I dare say that to love the Lord with all my heart, soul and mind entails me loving like Christ. And Christ authentically exchanged his happiness for the suffering of others (something about a cross). This is the great commandment folks, we should strive to love our neighbors more than ourselves. If we fall short and love them only as much as ourselves, well, at least we kept the second commandment.

There is a great meditation called Tong Len that helps us cultivate this Christ-like/bodhisattva-like spirit. You begin by picturing a dear friend or family member. Then you imagine that you are inhaling all this cherished person's pain in the form of black smoke. On the exhale, you imagine returning all of your happiness, strength, virtue and good qualities to this cherished person in the form of white light. Do this for a while holding nothing back. Next attempt to picture someone you feel neutral about, and again exchange their black-smoke-pain for your white-light-goodness. After doing this for a while, picture an enemy in front of you and repeat the process (at first I didn't think I had any real enemies, but the leaders of N Korea and Iran soon filled that void). As you feel able, increase your audience. Think of all the pain throughout the world from Somalia to Iraq, battered women's shelters to nursing homes, orphanages to animal pounds, and inhale that suffering while returning white light. This can get rather emotionally intense, so take on as much as you can, but don't overdo things. The idea is to soften one's heart and engender compassion, not to send one into an emotional meltdown. I have struggled mightily through this meditation every time, and each time, when it ended, I felt better for having done it. I hope you too find it helpful.

Man Capris, Monkeys, Goat Farming and other Ridiculous Things

Friday is a good day for random thoughts and pictures so enjoy this eclectic little mix.

I am a staunch and vehement denouncer of man capris. My ire for this particular fad is only surpassed by tight jeans for men and fanny packs. However, I find myself retracting all my previous slander. Monsoon season in Nepal has made me see the functionality of man capris. It is low class and inappropriate to wear shorts around the monastery, and yet it is impossible to keep full pant legs dry while wandering through flooded streets. After the first two days of meditating on wet pant legs I decided to roll them up and effectively make all my pants, man capris. I even rolled up Carhart's...my hypocrisy knows no end.

I have attached a picture of a monkey because, well, monkeys are funny.

An older Tibetan woman walked by my friend Maggie and then turned around, walked back up to her and, completely unprovoked, smacked her on the arm. She then turned to another friend of mine, Elena, and took a swipe at her (Elena had cat-like reflexes and managed to dodge the octogenarian assault). Upon asking Lama Gerry what might have caused such a response, we found out that older Tibetan folks have reservations about white people because they think they might be ghosts. The only apparent way to prove your corporeality is to stick out your tongue and show that it isn't blue. I have so far resisted the urge to buy any blue raspberry blow pops...

I have attached a picture of goat herding because it brings back fond memories of my old goats. Bo and Luke RIP.

We have been trying a number of different meditations these last few weeks and have just finished with some breath control training. In one particular type of meditation the practitioner is asked to pucker his/her butt, take a deep breath, seal off the breath in the lower lungs and then breathe shallowly from the upper lungs. This is a fascinating method and it really keeps one's attention. Upon having done it for about 20 minutes our class took a break and Lama Gerry asked what we thought. My friend Zain replied, "Is this something we should be doing right after breakfast?" I second Zain's concern as my bowels don't need any help moving things along:)

The sixth Dalai Lama once visited with a family whose son was headless. They fed him through a hole on the top of his neck.

That's all I have for now folks have a fantastic Friday!

I see your 9 hells and raise you 9 more.

There is no denying my fascination with Dante's works. The mixture of imagery, humor and theology is the perfect blend for my palate. Much to my delight, I found many of the same elements of Dante in the descriptions of the Tibetan Buddhist hells. However, instead of Dante's 9 hells, Tibetan Buddhists have 8 hot hells, 8 cold hells, and two ephemeral hells. Additionally, they have the realm of hungry ghosts, the animal realm, the human realm, the demigod realm and the god realm. Each realm brings its own kind of suffering. The hells bring extreme physical suffering, the hungry ghost (preta) realms bring unquenchable thirst and hunger, the animal realm brings savage brutality, the human realm brings death, old age and sickness, the demigod realm brings constant conflict, and the god realm is excruciatingly painful to leave, which is inevitable. Generally speaking, hells are the result of hateful actions, preta realms the result of desire, animal realms the result of ignorance, and the upper three realms the result of good actions done with attachment to samsara. However, all existence within samsara is suffering, even the outwardly blissful realms of the gods. The only way to escape all this suffering is to escape samsara. I bring all this up because it is really fascinating, but also to frame the next three practices of the bodhisattvas.

Practice #8 The Path of Lesser Beings

All the sufferings of the lower realms, so extremely difficult to bear,

Are taught by the Sage to be the fruit of one's evil actions.

Therefore, it is the practice of the bodhisattvas

To constantly refrain from evil actions, even at the cost of one's own life.

Practice #9 The Path of Mediocre Beings

The happiness of the three realms is like a dewdrop on the tip of a blade of grass;

It perishes by itself from one instant to the next.

Hence, it is the practice of the bodhisattva

To strive for the supreme level of liberation, always unchanging.

Practice #10 The Path of Great Beings

When all our mothers, who have cherished us since beginningless time, are suffering,

Of what use then is our own happiness?

Therefore, it is the practice of bodhisattvas to engender the mind of enlightenment

For the sake of liberating sentient beings beyond limit.

Karma is perfectly just. Good actions return good results and bad actions bring about bad results. However, karma is not bound by one lifetime. A bad human action may not bring about a bad result in the human life. Instead, the unvirtuous action might not ripen until a few rebirths later. What is sure though, is that enough bad actions lead to a rebirth in one of the lower realms (hells, pretas and animals). So the path of the lesser beings is basically to take up Buddhism as a means of escaping a rebirth in the lower realms. The motivating factor is fear and selfishness. Good actions are done simply with the hope of avoiding bad results.

The path of the mediocre beings is slightly more complex, but essentially the same. A clever individual realizes that all levels of existence in samsara are about suffering. Humans suffer (this is evident to all of us), demigods might have physical pleasure, but are tormented by infighting, and gods might have a blissful existence for 500 years, but upon exercising the positive results of positive actions the god will fall back into one of the lower realms, possibly even a hell realm. All the wise are frightened just as much of the higher realms as they are of the lower realms. These mediocre beings take up Buddhism as a means to escape suffering all together - to liberate themselves from samsara completely. In the end though, it is still fear and selfishness that motivate this pursuit of enlightenment.

Accepting that karma is beginningless, and given a finite number of beings (although innumerable), one can reason that over an infinite timeline every being has been our mother or father at some point in time. So Tibetan Buddhism teaches its practitioners to treat all sentient beings as they were one's mother. What good is one's own liberation if all of one's mothers are left behind in all the suffering realms? There are beings that were their mothers who are suffering in the lowest hell as we speak. So how can one seek his/her own enlightenment and abandon one's mother to hell. The path of the greater beings is about seeking liberation not for one's own sake, but seeking liberation so that one may help liberate others. These greater beings take up Buddhism as a means to relieve the suffering of all beings. It is love and compassion that motivates this pursuit of enlightenment.

I am a big fan of Dante's Inferno/Purgatory/Paradiso because it is multifaceted and capable of dealing with varying situations. Accordingly, I am a big fan of CS Lewis' "Great Divorce" because it not only gives multiple ends, but also movement between ends. And I dig S Mark Heim's, "The Depth of Riches" because his eschatology considers positive ends for other life-promoting traditions. All of these great thinkers propose a myriad of ends depending on how an individual lives one's life. In short, I believe that if free-will exists in any form (conventionally, corrupted, impaired, etc) than there are a lot more endings than just lakes of fire and cities of gold. It is with this mind set that I turn to the 8th, 9th and 10th practices of the bodhisattvas from this Christian's view.

Faith from fear results in partial salvation. Fire and brimstone keeps one out of the depths of hell, but as a primary form of motivation it also keeps one out of the heights of heaven. It is almost directly analogous to the path of lesser beings.

Faith from the love of Christ for one's own benefit also results in partial salvation. One may maximize one's own capability to commune with the Trinity, but is still not experiencing the fullest sense of salvation. Unless your Chritianity is heavily based on Origen, the path of the mediocre beings is not directly analogous here. However, the point remains that good done for one's own sake does not result in the fullest sense of salvation.

Faith from the love of Christ for Christ's own sake results in full salvation. However, to love Christ for Christ's sake means one must love like Christ. Only through complete abandonment of the self can one reach this kind of love. All is done freely, and with the express benefit of other beings. The highest endeavour one can take on is the salvation of every other being, that is the mind of Christ.

If each being communes with Trinity in its own unique way, than no one being can fully experience the Trinity on its own. However, if each being is in communion with the Trinity and every other being, than each individual being is able to experience a more intimate relation to the Trinity through other beings. Salvation is synergistic, and complete salvation is not reached until every being is in communion with the Trinity and every other being. Full salvation is corporate, not individual. In terms of intention, the Way of the Cross is indeed the Path of Great Beings.

Taking Refuge

The last couple of days have been pretty exciting. Two pool parties on the 4th, a fantastic hike in Shivapuri National Park (complete w/ a trip to Nangi Gompa), and a day off for the Dalai Lama's birthday. Due to a little local turmoil I wasn't able to get over to Swayambhu Stupa for the celebration today, but I did make it to a local gompa for the tail end of the birthday festivities. The pictures I've included are all from Nangi Gompa up in the mountains over looking the Kathmandu valley. A very cool little community who even made us some butter salt tea (great for energy but an acquired taste). I also figured today was a good day to talk about "Taking Refuge."

Practice #7

Bound themselves, in the prison of samsara,

Whom are the worldly gods able to protect?

Therefore, it is the practice of the bodhisattvas

To go for refuge in the three unfailing Jewels.

(Note: the three Jewels are the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha (Note inside of note: the Dharma are teachings consistent with the Buddha, and the Sangha is the community of believers))

The Buddha encouraged everyone to test everything, take nothing at word, and seek to directly experience truths. Upon testing the world Sakyamuni found everything wanting and this dissatisfaction eventually produced the 4 Noble Truths and enlightenment. Today, people interested in Buddhism are encouraged to test the world in the same way. If they find the world wanting, then they are encouraged to test the Buddha's teachings. If the Buddha's teachings stand up to scrutiny then they should seek refuge. Refuge is the total trust in the Three Jewels alone that comes from the knowledge that they are the only unfailing refuge, always and in all circumstances, whether we are happy, sad, in pain, ill, living or dead. Just as taking refuge opens the gateway to all teachings and practices, it is faith that opens the gateway to taking refuge. If you have no faith and devotion at all, you will get absolutely nothing. However, absolute truth is only realized through faith.

Taking refuge is a worldview shift. Part of taking refuge includes not paying homage to any other deities, not harming others and not getting involved with people who denigrate the faith. Additionally, it means respecting and honoring the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha in all their forms. A broken statue of the Buddha should not be regarded as trash, scriptures should not be placed on the ground and even items the color of monks' robes should be handled with care. The Three Jewels are to be the focal point of one's life from refuge until enlightenment. A person should picture the Buddha on his/her shoulder as he/she walks around, every bite of food should be an offering, and one should even train one's mind to seek refuge in the Three Jewels during nightmares. The path to enlightenment might be long and difficult, but unless one seeks refuge he/she is trapped in the cycle of suffering known as samsara.

In the past, I was both bored and disillusioned with Christianity. Baptism was an event I couldn't remember, confirmation was something my parents' made me do, and church was a building. Ritual lost meaning and became mundane. I don't think I was alone in these feelings. I have since come to fall in love with liturgy and ritual all over again, but only after a re-infusion of faith and understanding. One of the things that brought me to this rediscovered love affair was a total lack of faith in the world. Upon finding the world wanting, I turned to the teachings of the Christ and found truth. And so I sought to be reconfirmed in the Episcopal Church at age 28. I "took refuge" in a different kind of Three Jewels; the Trinity, the Bible and the Church. I find the methodology of "taking refuge" brilliant, and I believe Christianity would benefit from similar thinking. I am going to basically recopy my Buddhist explanation of "taking refuge" and insert Christian nouns, sayings and nuances, see if it sounds true to you.

St Paul encouraged everyone to test everything, take nothing at word, and seek to directly experience truths. "Test everything and hold on to that which is good." (1Thes 5:21) Upon testing the world Paul found everything wanting and this dissatisfaction eventually led him to proclaim to the Corinthians, "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." (1Cor 2:19) And in contrast to the world, Christ said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. (John 16:4) Today, people interested in Christianity should be encouraged to test the world in the same way. If they find the world wanting, then they are encouraged to test the Christ's teachings. If the Christ's teachings stand up to scrutiny, then they should seek refuge. Refuge is the total trust in the Three Jewels (Trinity, Bible and Church) alone that comes from the knowledge that they are the only unfailing refuge, always and in all circumstances, whether we are happy, sad, in pain, ill, living or dead. Just as taking refuge opens the gateway to all teachings and practices, it is faith that opens the gateway to taking refuge. If you have no faith and devotion at all, you will get absolutely nothing. However, absolute truth is only realized through faith.
Taking refuge is a worldview shift. Part of taking refuge includes not paying homage to any other deities, not harming others and not getting involved with people who denigrate the faith. Additionally, it means respecting and honoring the Trinity, Bible and Church in all their forms. A broken statue of the Christ should not be regarded as trash, scriptures should not be placed on the ground and even items imprinted with symbols of a church should be handled with care. The Three Jewels are to be the focal point of one's life from refuge until glory. A person should picture the Christ on his/her shoulder as he/she walks around, every bite of food should be an offering, and one should even train one's mind to seek refuge in the Three Jewels during nightmares. Pray without ceasing. (1Thes 5:17) The path to glory might be long and difficult, but unless one seeks refuge he/she is stuck in suffering. The gate is narrow and the way is hard. (Matt 7:14)

While the above paragraph might not suit all those knocking on the Church's door I believe it would save folks like me 3 or 4 years of wandering and wondering. I find the spirit of honesty, the openness of invitation, and lack of sugarcoating refreshing. Kudos to the Buddha for such an honest, straightforward and engaging invitation to a faithful life.