Apologies

My apologies for not having updated for such a long time. Things have been quite busy, even at the beginning of the Honours year. I have a research proposal to write as well as an independent study unit of a 10000 word paper. But this academic year may well turn out to be the most meaningful yet.

It’s interesting… change. So much has changed, and many things will continue to change. It’s a slightly melancholy thing, thinking about all the people that have come and the people that have gone. The chances you missed, and the chances you seized. Even the sweetest victories feel pensive, wistful. Like love. Love is never just “one thing” – it is more complex than what we would like to tell ourselves. I don’t think a human never knows what it’s truly like to live until he or she falls in love – whether with another human being, or with the Buddha, or with God. Love is our true purpose and is the ultimate key to unlocking the mysteries of the universe.

Does the human condition possess more drives than that which flies towards food, sex, and survival? I think it does. I think there is the drive, the flight to meaning. To be capable of relating to and talking about the world with true meaning, means you are living the life of the masters. There is no room for tripe references to God or to righteousness. You already embody it – or attempt to. The attempt is already admirable.

Enough ranting. Research goes on. Life goes on. Love goes on. I’ll be back.

The best way to worship the Buddha

Tradition often gets confused with convention, in Merton’s words. Merton distinguishes between tradition, which is participation in an ancient, ever-evolving, majestic life, and convention, which is stale repetition of words and hollow gestures that can barely maintain someone’s attention for more than five minutes. Many traditions of Buddhism fall into this trap. A few bows here, a few sympathetic (more like simpering) words there, paid lip service and this constitutes certain habits of Buddhism, along with superficial meditation and little true study.

Let us reclarify what is most important in the canonical Buddhist doctrine. Venerable Master Chin Kung says, “Nowadays, most people enshrine and worship him [the Buddha], making daily offerings to his image on an altar. Is this the right way to repay him? No. These are only rituals to remind us not to forget the Buddha’s kindness. The Buddha’s wish is for all sentient beings to hear the truth, practice accordingly and receive the benefits to attain Buddhahood. The only way we can repay him is to take his heart as our own.”

And from the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the renowned Chatral Rinpoche says: “There is no better prayer or worship we can offer to Lord Buddha than being thoughtful, kind, compassionate and abstaining from taking the life of any fellow human being, animal, bird, fish or insect… The virtue of compassion is the principal foundation stone of Mahayana Buddhism.”

This is the tradition. Living and alive, it is not cheap convention. It is a constantly evolving, ebbing, and advancing entity. And it is composed of disciples that have shaken off the shackles of worldly convention, because convention, in Merton’s words, is sterility and death.

Fundamentalist, evangelical Christianity: mere superstition

There are certain brands of religion which are really just very rich institutions of superstition, fearmongering, and guilt and self-deception. I am, of course, referring to fundamentalist/evangelical Christianity, or the vociferous minority of Christians that drown out the majority of reasonable and placid voices within the nation. The Venerable Sharvasti Dhammika is particularly good at rooting out at the ad hominem, poorly researched, and often outright false and misinforming works of writers like Steve Cioccolanti and calling them for what they really are: “confused, dishonest and hardly worth the paper it is printed on.”

Link here. Indeed, much of the charges levelled against Buddhism, I have never even heard of (as I hail from the Chinese Mahayana tradition, not the Thai Theravada tradition. But it’s quite typical of Ciocollanti not to know the difference).

To my shame, Cioccolanti is based in Australia. There is religion… and then there is mere superstitions and lies, backwater heresies that should have died out long ago. But human delusion is still around, hence there will always be lies.

German smuggling bastards

RENDER UNTO EGYPT WHAT IS EGYPT’S!

But seriously, if it was taken by trickery, then it doesn’t matter which country it’s from, it must still be returned. I’m always favouring Egypt so I’d probably get Germany to give Egypt IT’S historical artifacts, but on a more reasonable note, ANY artifact taken by a colonial power by guile or essential theft and lies must be returned to the country it was stolen from.

Doctrinal Inclusiveness

By doctrinal inclusiveness I don’t mean the idea that a doctrine finds equal validity in other doctrines. Inevitably a certain teaching will always see itself as more complete than the other, and this goes for Buddhism as well. No matter how respectful (as you should be) towards adherents of other faiths, *in terms of strict systematic doctrine* it must be held that the truth of the Buddha contains a more complete truth than other teachings – and debate about that is welcome! Because asserting the overarching importance of teachings within your tradition is far better than recognizing “rival” teachings as false or inspired by an evil power, which must be eradicated, if not physically, then psychologically and culturally (a strategy colonialists adopted).

By doctrinal inclusiveness, I mean the benchmark of how far your doctrine stretches to encompass the world. Consider these lines from Santideva’s “The Way of the Bodhisattva.”

“Oh, but how could I become enlightened?” / Don’t excuse yourself with such despondency! / The Buddha, who declares the truth, / Has truly spoken and proclaimed / That if they bring forth strength of perseverance, / Even bees and flies / And gnats and grubs will gain / Supreme enlightenment so hard to find.

- 7: 17 – 18

The message in here is quite unique insofar that conventional religion in the West does not address the ultimate destiny of non-human beings – whether they be animal, plant, or possible alien lifeforms. I suspect it’s the Greek tradition of anthropomorphism that superceded Pythagoras’s ideas on soul transmigration into different creatures, or perhaps it’s the spiritual ailment that is plaguing our environment this very day – the refusal to see the world as an interconnected spirituality, and a desperate, childish desire to see us as the only creatures worthy of – and journeying to – a special salvation of our own, unique to anything else.

Santideva and the Buddhist tradition sees differently. There is one ultimate destiny, for human, flies, bees, gnats and grubs alike – but that is not death, nor a mere decomposition into the soil. Those states, like everything in samsara, temporary. No. Our ultimate destiny – for each and every creature – is one – that of Buddhahood.

This is doctrinal inclusiveness.

Fathers and spirituality

My Honours supervisor this year worked as a pastoral counsellor and is an ordained Reverend in the Uniting Church of Australia. He’s written numerous articles that focus on the relationship between therapeutic practice and theology. Obviously, he’s well aware that I’m a Buddhist and I’m well aware that he’s a Christian. But on the same token, I’m well aware that he is interested in the psychological studies within the Buddhist tradition, and he knows of my interest in the philosophy and theology of Christianity.

To me, this is pretty much the best form of rapport a student and teacher can have, and hence (unlike past years) I’m looking forward for the academic year to begin.

This is one of his articles. Here, he looks at narratives concerning the spirituality of paternal availability. To him, the spirituality of fatherhood, especially its “silence”, is grounded in the love of Christ as the foundation for commitment to persona availability. An important read.

Link here.

Religious cooking

Prior to this year, it was difficult to be vegetarian because I lived at college, where there were very little (and pretty much inedible) choices for vegetarians or aspiring vegetarians. Then when I moved out, my housemates operated around a “menu” system of weekly meals, where we decided what meal we would have each night for a week before going shopping again. In a house of three others who did not care about vegetarianism (whether for moral/environmental/religious reasons), it was difficult to slip in more than one vegetarian meal per week since I did not want to impose anything on uninterested people. But this year, three new people whom I know have moved in, and they are of the more common school of thought that it’s better to buy one’s own groceries and cook their own meals. Which means, I also do my own shopping now, and it is a perfect time to be vegetarian. It’s been two weeks now.

I do consume other animal products such as dairy and eggs because I don’t see the religious reasons for not consuming them as valid or as compelling as those for not eating meat. Furthermore, because I do a lot of physical activity such as martial arts and sports, I can’t plunge into vegetarianism without “weaning” myself off my reliance on protein. Some say that beans, legumes, nuts, etc. followed by supplements is all you need, but I can’t digest beans very well, and I dislike legumes and nuts with a passion. The interesting thing is that eggs are in many ways a superior form of protein to red and white meat, which makes it a perfect Middle Way choice. Gram for gram, they offer more protein than animal flesh like steak.

Cooking has also been simplified and groceries are cheaper. No more defrosting or microwaving. In fact, in theory, scrambled eggs is all I need to actually cook: two large egg salad sandwiches really requires: 4 slices of bread, servings of fresh (uncooked) tomatoes/beetroot/capsicums/lettuce of your choice, and scrambled eggs of your preferred equivalent. Add a cup of milk (or eat a further serving of beans if you’re stricter than me) and you will be satisfied, especially if you don’t hold back on the veggies.

A question for the aspiring vegetarian is how to diversify. This one irks me because it’s so true. The simplest way would be to become a salad connoisseur. I, for one, have always hated salads. But they are simple and easy to prepare, and the best way of getting all the vitamins/antioxidants you need in one sitting. Don’t listen to those “experts” who say salads are complex and difficult things; they just mean “expensive” because they want the top choices in fresh veggies from the best vendors possible. For the average supermarketer, average veggies will always taste fine with a small amount of salad sauce (remember that salad sauce is full of fat and calories). There are also stir-fried vegetarian noodles, vegetarian fried rice, but that’s all I can think of right now.

I don’t aspire to be a vegetarian because of environmental issues because that aspect of the debate is far more complex than my religious reason for doing so. The major challenge I face right now is when I’m eating out or at others’ homes. I succumb to the horribly diverse and mouthwatering choices of beef, chicken, pork, and fish out there. I would say that the only times I have ever kept a vegetarian observance for the entire day was when I made breakfast, lunch and dinner myself.

The only thing I can do is look back on my photos from India and Egypt (or just look at the snapshot of the lamb I took in India which is my WordPress header image) and ask myself if I want that little one to be killed to serve as food for anyone. The answer is, of course, no. And the Buddhas propose a very practical way of voicing that.

I still like milk, though.

Buddhism: A prince’s therapy

I borrowed a book by David Brazier recently. It’s called simply “Zen Therapy.” I greatly admire it. It really highlights, for me, the vitality of the Endless Knot: the union of discerning wisdom and warm, unclinging compassion in helping patients recover from mental illness. Here are some passages that I felt were particularly inspiring and insightful.

“Shunyata is innocent. A child picks up an unfamiliar object and turns it over in his hand. He looks from this side and from that. We can do the same. Pick up a stone. Turn it over in your hand. Become familiar with it. Notice its colour, its contours, its crevices. As you do so, the stone becomes real for you. It becomes something… Thus tenderness grows. We start to care about the stone. Just like a child, we invest caring in the object. From a materialistic viewpoint this is absurd. The rock has no monetary value and minimal utility. But is this not precisely the nature of caring? We do not care in order to get something back… We simply appreciate the thing itself. In some ways a stone is particularly easy to care for since it asks nothing in return.” pg. 206

“Allison told the therapist, at the end of a session, that she was going to commit suicide. The therapist was immediately filled with strong feelings and said that he would not allow her to do any such thing: that, if necessary, he would not let her leave his office. She protested that it was none of his business whether she killed herself or not. He retorted that it now felt like it was very much his business – how could he live with himself if he let her go and she were dead the next day? Eventually she promised not to kill herself before seeing him again and left. Later she told him that this encounter had made a great impression on her because she realized that her being alive made a difference to someone else. She stayed alive that week because she did not want to inflict hurt upon him. In due course she found more reasons.” pg. 198

I am still in the middle of reading it. Possibly, more will come later.

Must-travel to places

I have a list of recommended places to travel. I have procrastinated on putting Egypt on my Airport Lounge list, so in repentance, I will list Egypt as the first location on planet Earth that is a must-travel to destination.

Egypt: Of particular note in Egypt is Abydos, the legendary burial site of Osiris’s head and the oldest site of pilgrimage for all the Pharaohs of the empire. Tragically, this place does not receive many visitors, mainly because tour packages are lame and don’t care about the spirit of the nation, only its monetary value. Egypt is a venerable land of exceptional beauty, grace, and hardiness. Please stop by Cairo to enjoy some serious culture shock – in particular, the main downtown areas. Luxor and Aswan is filled with smiling, friendly children but also with beggars – a tragic but somehow, I cannot help but shake my head in awe despite everything. Don’t forget to cruise down the Nile River and watch the sunset and sunrise.

In Egypt, you find life and death, perfectly balanced like the scales of Ma’at.

Japan: I am quite interested in Japanese pop culture. I’ve been to this magnificent nation twice, and I underwent an almost sacred experience at the Peace Park in Hiroshima. Don’t get me wrong, Hiroshima in itself is a fantastic city, along with my favourites: Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. But something about the sombre graveness and hopeful sadness of Hiroshima touched me almost to an even greater extent than my pilgrimage to India. I would say that the tragedy that happened there made it hallowed ground, and the truly heartbreaking thing is that sometimes you don’t want places to be hallowed for that very reason.

India/Nepal: I went to both Nepal and India for a pilgrimage to the four sacred sites of Buddhism. Here, I found an overjoyed willingness to kneel before images and motifs of the Supreme Teacher. But at this time, I wasn’t a committed Buddhist. I still had my doubts. I’ve come to believe that while these holy sites reorient your life’s direction, their significance radiates everywhere across the world, so that there is no limit to where and when you can one day spread your arms and proclaim to the cosmos, “I take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha!”

An essential article on the current crisis in Gaza!

In today’s session, please take the time to read this important article by a Jew on the situation in Gaza. It is indeed a horrid way to start the new year, with air strikes and burning children – but in order to understand what Israel – and Hamas – are getting themselves into, surely one must understand how their God abhors their senseless violence.

“The reality of fear, death, and destruction is beyond all this. A father weeps for his five daughters who died in their sleep, “collateral damage” in the heart of Gaza City. A daughter cries out for her mother, lost in a Hamas rocket attack on the town of Ashdod.  Multiply that scene by a thousand. See yourself right in the midst of it. In this latest round, to date, more than 400 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli attacks. The Israeli government counts 19 fatalities from Hamas rockets since 2002.

There is, of course, something pointless to the algebra of comparative suffering.  But Israel’s attack on Gaza is like shooting fish in a barrel. The body count and vast disproportion of weapons, technology, and killing make me ashamed to acknowledge that my government supplies so much of Israel’s weaponry and ashamed to be a Jew, even as I fear for the future of the people I was born to.”

The author of this article urges us to petition the United States to take decisive action. In my opinion, because George W. Bush is better known for starting and maintaining wars rather than stopping them, he has no competence – nor any motivation – to end the conflict in Palestine. They claim they “understand” Israel’s desire to “defend itself”. Defend itself? 400 Palestinian civilians in THIS offensive alone to 19 in Israel since 2002??? Even the most delusional pro-Israel dominionist can see that there is a horrible, horrible disproportionate loss of life that cannot be justified just because Hamas are “using” human shields. They may be, but considering how awesome Israeli weapons systems are, they’re doing an insufficient job of breaking the militants. Maybe they’re aiming at the wrong targets, like schools and hospitals. Just maybe.

Or maybe, just maybe, they don’t realize… that they’re just – doing – it – wrong.