Some anonymous person “asked” me

First:

How about forgetting all about Buddha and everything that you have learned so far about any religion? How about forgetting to meditate for a while? How about honestly look (not buddhist looking or nonduallity looking or sufi looking), just looking to find out where is the you? Where are you located? Something, an entity with volition, the doer of things, one that thinks she is a Buddhist, mystic etc?? This is the only ‘practice’ darling rest fooling around :) Love

And then:

Embrace life - there is only one. There is nothing to learn, nothing analyze they will not let you go beyond your cortical region. Who cares about “Cognitive defusion” for example? Who? Do you know who? And why? Because it feels good? This is a example of fooling around! They keep you far from where you want to be. Love .

To which I would respond: and who cares about what this particular entity with volition chooses to read and be and do? Or with what language it communicates and to whom? Who cares what or who it is that finds a way of operating in the world which allows an integration of being and doing, and which happens to be in academia at the moment? Why do you care? And why do you think it’s appropriate to tell me what I am or am not doing right with how I’m living? 

There will be no more anonymous questions on this Tumblr. I don’t appreciate being patronized by anyone, much less someone who hides behind sugared words that, in fact, have nothing to do with love.

Interconnectedness: A Buddhist or Romantic Concept?

Anonymous asked you:

Hi, I was hoping you could help me. I read “The Roots of Buddhist Romanticism” by Thanissaro Bhikkhu and was a little confused. Is he saying that the idea of interconnectedness was not a part of the Buddha’s teachings originally? Thank you.

Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you. I was in the midst of finals when your question came through and I didn’t check out the essay until after I was done. Now I’m disappointed I didn’t sooner because it would have been fodder for one of my papers!

Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff), for those who don’t know, is an American-born (1949) monk in the Thai forest tradition. He was ordained in 1976 in Thailand and is currently the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery near San Diego, CA.

To answer your question most simply I believe that he is saying that our understanding of the Dharma is filtered through and deeply influenced by our particular lens, in this case, the European philosophical tradition of Romanticism. Specifically, Thanissaro Bhikkhu argues that the ideas of the Romantics have lived on in American culture through psychology and psychotherapy (a key bridge being the work of William James, then Carl Jung and Abraham Maslow), which have been shaped by the Romantic tradition.

A key point in the essay comes when he says:

Asian teachers — many of whom had absorbed Romantic ideas through Westernized education before coming here — found they could connect with Western audiences by stressing themes of spontaneity and fluidity in opposition to the “bureaucracy of the ego.” Western students discovered that they could relate to the doctrine of dependent co-arising (Pali: paticcasamuppada) when it was interpreted as a variation on interconnectedness; and they could embrace the doctrine of not-self (Pali: anatta) as a denial of the separate self in favor of a larger, more encompassing identity with the entire cosmos.

He furthers his argument saying: “In fact, the Romantic view of religious life has shaped more than just isolated Dharma teachings. It colors the Western view of the purpose of Dharma practice as a whole.” While he concedes that there are similarities between Romanticism and Buddhadharma, he stresses that “they disagree sharply not only on the nature of religious experience, but also on the nature of the mental diseases it can treat and on the nature of what it means to be cured.” Because of this, he says, it is crucial that we understand and critically examine how Romanticism shapes our understanding of Buddhist practice. He goes on to detail the differences in religious experience, spiritual illness, and spiritual cure in the two traditions.

Fundamentally, Thanissaro Bhikkhu contends that the Romantic lens limits our understanding of Buddhism. Arguing from a more traditional Theravadan perspective, he says that “true happiness has to go beyond interdependence and interconnectedness to the unconditioned (Pali: nibbana)…[and the] radical areas of the Dharma designed to address levels of suffering remaining even when a sense of wholeness has been mastered.”

Back to your question: Is he arguing that the concept of interconnectedness was not a part of the original Buddhist teachings? Maybe. Certainly, interdependence and interconnectedness are more often found in Mahayana teachings, and I am not enough of a Buddhist scholar to be able to demonstrate how these more Mahayana concepts pre-dated Romanticism. However, I have to presume they did. Further, a more nondual understanding of the Dharma which you find in the northern Buddhist countries could just naturally be more consistent with a Romantic interpretation than a Theravadan one.

Is there some truth to the fact that we are culturally conditioned to such an extent that we cannot interpret Buddhism entirely independent of that conditioning? Yes. But I don’t think that Thanissaro Bhikkhu is arguing that; rather he wants us to critically reflect on how we are conditioned by our philosophical ancestors (again, in this case, Romanticism—arguably, not everyone’s ancestors!) and how that might limit our understanding of the Buddhadharma. Whatever the case may be, I think we should be critical ourselves in reading this essay, recognizing Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s particular conditioning as an American, educated at a liberal arts college (Oberlin), and someone of European heritage.

—-

Reference: Thanissaro Bhikkhu. ”The Roots of Buddhist Romanticism.” Access to Insight, 13 July 2012.

See also: Dhamma Talks & Writings of Thanissaro Bhikkhu 

Interested in Buddhism but don’t know where to begin?

A recent question in my inbox reminded me that I have responded to variations on this question on a few occasions and so I thought it might be nice to share the links with you in case you’re wondering the same.

Also, in terms of books, you can search the tag “books” on this Tumblr or check out this page with some of the titles that I would recommend more generally.

Another great resource that I’m not sure I’ve mentioned elsewhere is Dharma Seed (if that interests you, there are links to additional audio resources here).

What is Shin Buddhism?

taoistophers asked you:

What is Shin Buddhism? I am curious.

It’s interesting you ask this just after posting the quote from John Tarrant, who is a Zen teacher, deeply steeped in western mythology/psychology, but sounds quite a bit like a Shin practitioner with these words (minus the pronoun “you”, if Shin, probably would be “we”):

You are flawed, you are stuck in old patterns, you become carried away with yourself. Indeed you are quite impossible in many ways. And still, you are beautiful beyond measure.

The San Fernando Valley Hongwanji Buddhist Temple has some great pages, and I grabbed this from them, which highlights the difference in perspective of Shin:

Rather than trying to eradicate the three poisons [greed, anger, and ignorance], we cultivate the understanding that we, just as we are, are already embraced and supported by the ineffable, whether we call it boundless wisdom and compassion, suchness or thusness, or ultimate reality. With this awakening or realization, we can live with gratitude and humility, knowing that we are interconnected with all living beings and all things. [my emphasis]

I love the pure form of Zen and Theravada meditation (shikantaza/zazen and vipassana), but as my spirituality has deepened, I have opened myself up to other practices that maybe emphasize different things and provide training in other areas. Shin Buddhism has become more attractive to me both for its communal/congregational emphasis, making this reality of interdependence much more real, and for its devotional aspects, which teach me greater and greater humility. Not to mention that it’s a more developed integration of East-West, and a more diverse and welcoming community as a result, than the more recent Buddhist practices in America.

I’m still a total beginner when it comes to Shin, despite having some of my most formative years (15+ years ago) spent with a mentor who is a Shin Buddhist priest, Mark Unno. And because I am far from an authority on the subject, I hope you will consider looking further into Shin Buddhism with the many resources available to you online, etc. I would recommend reading Taitetsu Unno’s book River of Fire, River of Water for a very accessible and heartfelt glimpse into Jodo Shinshu. Here are some excerpts from the book at DharmaNet as well, which will give you some history and basic tenets of the school. Editing to add a link to an online version of Ocean: An Introduction to Jodo-Shinshu Buddhism in America by Kenneth Tanaka, which has been recommended to me but I have not read.

I will also refer you to this recent post (by Scott Mitchell, see below) at the Dharma Realm, a podcast on Shin Buddhist practice. Additional resources to consider include: Alfred Bloom’s blog, Shin Dharma Net; the Rev. Patty Nakai’s blog, Taste of Chicago; Scott Mitchell’s, aka @djbuddha’s, blog (I think he’s now pointing people to his faculty page); and Echoes of the Name and offshoots. Also, the organization of Buddhist Churches of America and the Institute of Buddhist Studies. You might even want to check out a Shin Buddhist temple. The BCA website will tell you where you can find one.

Hopefully some other folks more schooled in Jodo Shinshu will add comments here as well!

tricycle-tumbles replied to your post: Something really didn’t sit well with me since…

I’ve enjoyed reading your comments, but would love some clarification, like how you construe Rodney Smith’s comments to be blatantly racist. If you get the chance, pls post these comments on the discussion on Tricycle blog. maybe we can get it going!

Thanks for the request for clarification. Though, I’m rather resistant to creating another online account so you’re getting a reply here! (I am owning my aversion.)

Read the text carefully. Talking about PoC as being at that “stage of development” and that hopefully “at some point they will be relaxed enough within their humanity” is really not cool. Some people might call this unconscious or subtle racism. Technically, the words might also be called racist microaggressions. To me, it’s just blatant. And it’s violent. And whose responsibility exactly do we think it is to address racism?

While it may seem that I am calling Rodney out on this, I don’t mean to do that and it’s certainly not personal. I suspect his intentions are good, as are those of the leadership in many communities who are beginning to address these issues (see, e.g., IMS). But, my concern is that we are not looking at the details like this in the first place. And we’ll never begin to heal and transform if we don’t.