Technical Difficulties and the Road to Damascus

I am having a little trouble w/ my laptop so I am writing to you all from a place called cyber connections, which just edged out the cyber dharma cafe as a place to get on line. I am going to attempt to make a series of posts today to catch back up. This post along with the 3rd and 4th practices of the Bodhisattva were actually written on 29 Jun, the 5th and 6th practices on the 30th and the 7th practice on 1 July. So now that I'm back some quick thoughts on how we portray religions.

29 Jun 09
As one of my assigned texts I am reading "The Words of My Perfect Teacher" by Patrul Rinpoche, and it is a great overview of Tibetan Buddhism. This book fills in a number of literary, historical, mythological and cultural pieces that I was unaware of through purely academic exposure. I thought I came to Nepal with a basic understanding of Buddhism. I have taken classes both on the undergraduate and graduate level, read traditional texts and even practiced Mindfulness meditation on a daily basis. I know very, very little. Watching how a tradition takes life in people and practice is simply stunning, and until one has been exposed to that experience one cannot say that he/she has even the vaguest idea of what the tradition is about. (For instance, Tibetan Buddhism comes with its own system of penance complete with confession and a rosary!) Differences really start to break down as the foreign becomes familiar and the other becomes a friend.
So I watched a film called Milarepa last night with folks from the school and monastery. Milarepa is a highly regarded being in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. His story is one of how a black magician, guilty of mass murder, becomes a bodhisattva. Since today is the feast day of St Peter and St Paul I can't help but recall Saul's conversion to Paul. It appears that in at least a couple of traditions people find solace in knowing the vilest of us still have a shot at redemption.

Give up your homeland?

Practice #2 of the Bodhisattva

 Toward friends, attachment rages like a river;

Toward enemies hatred blazes like fire.

Therefore, it is the practice of Bodhisattvas to give up that home,

Where the darkness of stupidity, of forgetting what to accept and reject, prevails.

 

If one’s primary preoccupation is to focus on the Dharma than one’s homeland is counterproductive to that end.  Focus inevitably shifts back to loved ones and friends.  Meditation gives way to conversation, study gives way to family outings, focus gives way to pleasant distraction.  And so like a river of attachment we are carried down stream to the lower realms.  We are pre-occupied by worldly, temporary relationships that subsequently keep us from practicing the Dharma.  While pleasant attachment to friends distracts us, anger toward our enemies destroys our merit.  Like a wildfire, even a little anger can completely incinerate any seeds of merit we may have been sowing.  So it is better for us to move away from our homelands and free ourselves of these ingrained attachments and aversions.  If the Dharma is the path one chooses, than it is more advantageous to become a homeless renunciate than a householder.   

 

This is a tough lesson for me to hear.  Yet something rings true here, something that I’ve heard before.  “And another of his disciples said unto him.  Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.  But Jesus said unto him, ‘Follow me; and let the dead bury the dead.’” (Matt 8:21-22)  Wow!  Now that seems a bit harsh, but if our focus is the Gospel than all else is secondary. Is following the Way of the Cross any less demanding or radical than the Path of the Bodhisattva?  Consider the Gospel of Mark, about the only thing the disciples did right was drop everything to follow Jesus (the Way), “And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.  And straightway they forsook their nets and followed him.  And when he had gone a little father thence he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.  And straightway he called them and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants and went after him.”  (Mark 1:17-20). Furthermore, homeless renunciate sounds an awful lot like, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath no where to lay his head.”  (Matt 8:20).  Sometimes we get a little complacent with the Gospels from familiarity, and that is why I find it so wonderful that I can glimpse these treasured testaments through different eyes.  Following Jesus demands of us to give up our homelands.

However, it is to one last Biblical reference that I make my final peace with this, “There came then his brethren and his mother, and standing without sent unto him, calling him.  And the multitude sat about him and they said unto him, ‘Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.’  And he answered them, saying, ‘Who is my mother or my brethren?’ And he looked round about on them which sat about him and said, ‘Behold my mother and my brethren!  For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother and my sister and mother.’”  (Mark 3:31-35)  Jesus isn’t lowering his family to mere stranger status, He is raising the mere stranger to family status.  It’s not about loving your mother less, it’s about loving everyone as you love your mother.  That’s how God loves us and how He wants us to love each other.  

Over one of the doors to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame Du Lac reads the inscription, “God – Country – Notre Dame.”   This has always stuck me as a simple and powerful declaration of priority.  And while I might re-arrange the order a bit to include family in there, God will always be at the top.  This is an ardent thing to say, but it is a tough thing to live.  The Second Practice of the Bodhisattva and Christ’s demands of his disciples are concrete reminders of what it means to put one’s faith at the top.  Good things to reflect on before we act.

Monsoons

It’s been a week of inevitability.  The rains have come and so has the Pepto Bismal dance.  I was reading a review of the new Transformers movie, “Revenge of the Fallen,” and the critic said there hasn’t been a Revenge this bad since Montezuma’s.  I can attest to the latter as it is keeping me from going hiking today L Enough diarrhea humor though.  I was able to watch a movie this week called “The Cup”.  It’s a funny little film about a bunch of young Tibetan monks living in Northern India who are obsessed with the World Cup, and sneak out of the monastery to watch games.  Film as a medium of religious expression is far more prominent than I had imagined.  I will be watching Milarepa on the morrow (that’s another way of saying tomorrow that I’ve been dying to work in somewhere).  Additional Buddhist movies on my list are Himalaya and Samsara.  I’d also like to give a shout out to skype.  It was wonderful talking to my family this morning and chatting w/ Tyler and Brandy.  One final kudos goes to orange fanta.  I’ve rediscovered this little treasure, and am thoroughly enjoying it on a daily basis.  I’ve attached a photo of monsoon effects for your viewing pleasure…stay dry J

Saints and Bodhisattvas

Some of you might be wondering why in the world I am in Nepal studying Tibetan Buddhism.  Once upon a time I think I would have come here out of sheer curiosity and sense of adventure.  And while I have to admit my sense of adventure is rather piqued, we all know a Jedi craves not these things J My primary reason for coming out here is to study a tradition that I find to hold some real insights and truths.  My faith is deeply rooted in Christ, but I am thoroughly convinced that Christianity can learn a lot from other traditions about Christ’s teachings, God’s Kingdom and how the Spirit moves.  So on a personal level this trip is about learning and acquiring Buddhist tools, truths and insights so that I can deepen my own knowledge and wisdom about the Trinity and the nature of reality.  On an academic level (and perhaps someday professional level), this trip is about learning how another tradition arranges its world both metaphysically and practically.  It’s about studying emptiness and playing soccer with monks.  Globalization has made us all neighbors and forced us to interact on a planetary level.  Yet most of our “worldviews” are at best, “regional views”, most likely, “national views” or most honestly, “Fox News’ or CNN’s views.”   This trip is about understanding our neighbors and what makes them tick.  It’s about discovering their treasures, acknowledging their challenges and figuring out how to work with them to make the world a better and more efficient place.  My little mantra for this trip is TINT TIOS [There Is No Them, There Is Only uS].

With all that being said I am going to attempt a little experiment.  As this is a personal blog, I plan on focusing on how the Buddhist teachings interact with my Christian beliefs.  I will be engaging each of the 37 Practices of the Bodhisattva (which are actually 37 stanzas) from the Buddhist view, and then how I find that view speaks to my own faith.  If this sounds interesting to you read on.

 A very quick piece of background.  I will be drawing my Buddhist information from the book “Uniting Wisdom and Compassion” by Chokyi Dragpa as well as my classroom experiences. My Christian comments come from my own limited storehouse of knowledge.  For the “very new to Buddhism” a bodhisattva is a being that has attained enlightenment, yet foregone liberation in order to remain behind and help all other sentient beings attain enlightenment.  So without further adieu, the first practice.

1) At this time of having obtained the rare great ship of freedoms and riches,

   Without any distraction day and night,

   In order to liberate oneself and others from the ocean of samsara

   Is the practice of the bodhisattvas 

The theme of this practice can be summed up by, “making the freedoms and riches meaningful.”  A human life is a precious thing in the Buddhist worldview.  Of the six realms of existence the human existence is the most rare, and a precious human existence is a statistical anomaly.   A precious human life is characterized by 18 conditions ranging from birth in an epoch where a Buddha has appeared to a place that has heard of the Dharma to having a mind capable of grasping the teachings.  The chances are likened to a blind sea turtle, which only surfaces once every hundred years, putting its head through a yoke that is floating on the ocean in a storm.  To experience such a birth is a highly, highly treasured thing, and so each and every human should make the most of this life as possible.  “The most” means taking up the path of the bodhisattva.  Seeking enlightenment with the infinitely pure and compassionate motivation of freeing all sentient beings from samsara (suffering).  A life full of chasing worldly riches and temporary pleasures is a monumental waste.  The bottom line is, appreciate this gift of life you have received and make the most of it.

I love the focus of this first practice.  Before we even jump into “the doing” we take pause to recognize and appreciate “the being.”  We Christians are typically activators not meditators, so this is one of those practices that we might need to reflect on a little longer.  This idea of a precious human life is not totally foreign to our tradition.  St Augustine laid out four periods of human existence: Before the Law (preceding Moses), Under the Law (from Moses to Christ), Under Grace (after Christ and before Glory) and Under Glory (communion with God).  Each of us reading this today that calls him or herself a Christian has the good fortune to be born “Under Grace.”  We live in a time when the Christ has appeared, to a place that has heard of the Gospel and with a mind capable of grasping the teachings.   And while I probably could propose another 15 conditions, my point is that we have truly been given a precious human life.  Reflecting on that miracle alone should give us pause to think about how we are spending our days.  Are we chasing worldly goods and temporary pleasures, or are we putting this life to good use?  Perhaps an even more pointed question is, “Are we using this life for our own selfish ends, even selfish spiritual ends?”  What does “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” mean to us here on earth?  There is an old saying that the only prerequisite to becoming a saint is the desire to be one.  I would say saints and bodhisattvas are not much different in this way.  Meditating on the gift of our precious human life before we act is probably a good thing.    

Who you callin Stupa?

I am staying in a part of Kathmandu called Boudhanath.  It is outside ring road (reminds me of Houston) but close enough that all cab rides are under 3 dollars (it’s ridiculously cheap).  What sets Boudhanath off is that it is a burb that has grown up around one of the largest circular Buddhist Stupas in the Nepal (or so I’ve been told).  I’ve attached a couple of pictures so you all can get a feel for it.  The stupa is a busy place early in the morning with everyone circumambulating (walking around turning prayer cylinders) and during the many religious festivals, ceremonies and remembrances.  It is also a popular tourist/pilgrim site so the associated shops and restaurants flourish here as well.  Just outside the main area is where I am staying in the presence of about 20 monasteries, gompas, institutes and temples.  

A day in the life of a guy named Christian in a Buddhist Studies program

4:56 AM Nepalese Standard Time (which is something like 9 hours and 45 minutes ahead of EDT):  Wake up.  Usually to the sound of either dogs fighting in the alley or the 120 decible gongs ringing out monastic orders.  

5:00: Open the door to my room to let the light and cool breeze pass through.  Stand on the balcony looking out over a monastery (see photo) and reflect a wee bit.

5:01:  Read a little Forward Movement to set the tone for the day.

5:05:  Push ups and sit ups to get the blood pumping.  It is also the only time I allow myself a little Ipod action.

5:10:  Read a little.  Currently reading the Life of Milarepa for class or the Brothers Karamazov for pleasure.  I just sit out on my balcony and watch the day break, pretty sweet.

6:00 Head for the shower.  The bathroom is shared and about 4'x8'.  The shower is a faucet opposite the sink.  However, there is hot water so life is still pretty good.  Shower time is no longer an automatic function though.  Teeth need to be brushed with bottled water and TP needs to be thrown in a basket not the commode.  Interesting note, most guesthouses don't provide toilet paper, each person carries their own "important papers."

6:20 Head back and read a little more or if I'm feeling really industrious, translate a little Greek New Testament.

6:50 Gather Dave the Danish Public Affairs Officer and Zeid the British Boy genius and head for breakfast at another guest house.

7:00 Meet the breakfast crew: Julia from Chatanooga, Zain from Berkley, Elaine from the States along with Karen from Frankfurt and Nicki from Texas.  Breakfast is around 200 rupees (77 rupees to the dollar).  I have had banana/coconut/cinnamon porridge and a banana/apple pancake so far and both have been some of the best ever.  It also included a small pot of Nepali coffee which is also very good.  Discussions range from classroom review to breakdancing exhibitions in Thamel.

8:00 Meditation starts with Lama Gerry.  Thankfully we are moving slowly and don't do more than 15 or 20 minutes per session.  I am not limber, and even with my extra big cushion my feet go numb at about the 15 minute mark.  The meditations are open eyed which, surprisingly, I find really enjoying.  

9:00 Stretch like I'm about to run a marathon.

9:15 Class on the 37 practices of the Bodhisattva (more to come later)

10:45:  Stand up tentatively and let my feet and legs regain feeling, then stretch like I'm going to run another marathon.

11:00: Tibetan Buddhism overview (Lots more to come here.)

12:00 pm: Stretch and take and advil before heading to lunch.  Lunch is provided at the school's own restaurant and has been delicious.  Today was Momos but yesterday was rice and beans with Nepali cornbread...delicious.  

1:00: Review session with translator.  The poor guy gets bombarded with questions.  There are 14 of us in the class and we are all in way over our heads.

2:00: Read some more.  The monsoon season still hasn't set in, so the afternoons are almost intolerable due to dust and heat.  Catching up on the internet has also become an afternoon pastime.  

5:00: Run the neighborhood or work out a little in the room.  Lots of strange looks from people on the streets as the Westerner in shorts goes jogging by.  Tomorrow we're headed to a movie at this time and I imagine in the future this will be a timeframe for city exploration.

7:00: Head to dinner.  Usually something light and vegetarian (meats are a bit suspect around here).  I've taken to having a Carlsberg with dinner which is a nice way to round out the day.  My favorite restaurant is the Garden Kitchen which is very reasonable and has a secluded outdoor patio.  The place is usually crawling with students so this is where I catch up with all those folks in the Tibetan and Sanskrit language classes, pretty cool stories.  

8:30:  Head to house.  This usually consists of a bunch of westerners wandering the streets dropping each other off at varying guesthouses.  There are rolling blackouts every evening usually from 8-10 pm.  

9:00:  Read, reflect, pray and head to bed, the gongs come early! 

 

If I ever get out of here, I'm going to Katmandu

It's actually Kathmandu, but to be fair to Bob Seger many folks pronounce it Katmandu.  So, Nepal at first blush has been mind boggling.  From the moment I got off the plane I felt like I was on the far side of the world.  The Kathmandu valley is much larger than I anticipated and the city is more chaotic.  The land dominates the scene but humanity dominates one's attention.  In the distance mountains rise on all sides, but in the fore people are in constant motion.  Motorized tillers converted to low speed cargo wagons (the MacGyver in me was impressed) are hauling grain to roadside stands, cows and dogs are wandering aimlessly through the streets, monks are deep in conversation oblivious to cab drivers going three or four wide on the wrong side of the flow of traffic (Kyle Busch can't pass like these guys).  I would call it organized chaos but organized really doesn't apply.  The artisan trades only slightly outnumber western services and goods.  The juxtaposition of handmade brass statuary shops and internet cafes is surreal.  But as always it is the people who make the place, and the Nepalese folks have been delightful.  Early to bed, early to rise, soft spoken and hard working.  I am currently staying in a guesthouse in a burb called Boudha, which is centered around a high holy stupa for Tibetan Buddhists.  So in addition to Nepalese citizens I also find myself interacting with a number of Tibetans.  These mountain people are more laid back and remind me a little of folks from Appalachia.  Needless to say, I feel really comfortable around them.  

For all the natural and human beauty Nepal is still a developing country, and as such the poverty and pollution are heart-wrenching.  Sacred rivers look like neglected sewers, beggars and street kids appear on every block, and animals run rampant defecating in the middle of the dusty, rutted, dirt side streets.  The smog here might be the worst I've experienced (worse than Vog for my HI friends)

I personally have been oscillating between reverent awe and poignant shock.  In any case it is a phenomenal country with fantastic people and I look forward to sharing more of it with you all.