more more on Tiger

Here's an article that asserts it was a Buddhist moment, not a Christian moment, when Tiger apologized.

Another pastor feels threatened by Buddhism and puts it down. Tiger Woods is stirring up a lot of presumptive Christianity.

More on Tiger

The Dali Lama has commented on Tiger Woods. I find it so fascinating that the leader of one of six Tibetan groups, is seen as a kind of pope of Buddhism, when in fact Buddhism has been very good at resisting a central authority. Even in my own realitively small fledgling group, the former FWBO, now know as Triratina Buddhist Community. I wonder what other Buddhist leaders are going to be questioned by journalists.

I can't be bothered to verify if this is true, but according to this article, the home of Brit Hume, Fox has edited out his statement about Buddhism. I like it, in the comments someone calls it "Faux Noiz".

This article quotes Tiger as saying he doesn't believe in Enlightenment.

I believe in Enlightenment. Today on our practice day I'm going to talk about the 3 Fetters, which if they are broken, lead to stream entry. Your being has a momentum that will end in Enlightenment. It is seen as a realistic goal.

Tiger might consider this lovely talk to help clarify his ideas of Enlightenment.

And here's a link that collects links on this subject.

Tiger

He says in his statement today,

"I have a lot of work to do, and I intend to dedicate myself to doing it. Part of following this path for me is Buddhism, which my mother taught me at a young age. People probably don't realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years. Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously I lost track of what I was taught."

I can't help but think of Brit Hume and his suggestion that Tiger move to Christianity for the forgiveness. I wonder if Tiger was specifically addressing that, or if he was just saying what was important to him.

I think it's interesting he called it a "Faith". I think of it more as a path, faith isn't really emphasized in Buddhism.

This inside and outside distinction is interesting too. Security? I think it's more about happiness. Anyway, it's not far off.

So our most famous Buddhist continues to retain the label.

Wildmind Book Review

It is my utmost honor to be published in Wildmind for a book review. Bodhipaksa is an excellent editor and an awesome writer. I can't wait till his book comes out. I read some drafts. I think after The Essential Sangharakshita, it will be the second most important book of the decade. I don't think I like the book because he's a friend and editor. Sometimes he freaks me out with his intelligence, stillness and wisdom, in a good way.

You know, I'm just one person, and the way I feel about books from within the order is different from books produced outside the order. I've been totally dragging my feet on a book review on Milarepa by Sangharakshita because the book just freaks me out it feels so deep. I have a feeling this by book Bodhipaska will be in my all time top 10, which include Vessantara's Meeting The Buddhas, A Survey of Buddhism and Know Your Mind by Sangharakshita, Stephen Batchelor's Buddhism Without Belief, The Hundred Verses of Advice by Dilgo Khyentse & Padampa Sangye, A Deeper Beauty by Paramananda, Touching Enlightenment by Reginald Ray, Zen Mind, Beginners Mind, and Nothing Special.

Mantra

It came as the biggest surprise to me that mantra and puja would effect me. On the last retreat, a new one infected me. I think in a way that's the power of a rock and roll chorus. I've been singing, from Neil Young:

Old Man, take a look at my life
I'm a lot like you
I want someone to love me
the whole day through
take one look in my eye
you can see it's true

Now what does that mantra say? It's about indentification with the father. It's about the desire to be love, but to be loved all day. It's about looks in the eye, but I think it's also being loved for your true self, being a subject and not an object that functions for other people. For someone to want to know how you feel, regardless if it hurts them a bit, so that there's greater intimacy.

It's poetry that can't be reduced, like "jewel in the lotus" with is "om mani padme hum" I can't help but look as popular music as worldly and sometimes not good mantras. Sometimes.

I can't help add in, after the fact, this posting about song fixing the damaged mind.

quote from a spiritual memior

I enjoyed this quote from This Side of Nirvana by Sara Jenkins:

"Looking back at how others seem to have guided and eased my journey, those who were the most helpful were not (as far as I know) attempting to do anything for me. They were simply following their own path." (p210)

I find it interesting how we influence each other and what fosters positive change in people.

I have read probably 8 Buddhist memoirs, and I'd say this is the best one I've read: Good writing, good storytelling, spiritual insight and friendships, not too long. I like Sangharakshita's 5 memiors, but they are so long and really try to cover his long life, they are not as focused as this single volume. This is an honest account of an average person's struggles in practice on the path.

I think the other memoirs don't give away as much of the struggle, they were people who just took off. Sangharakshita's story is amazing in many ways, but also not so much of our times. To actually go forth the way Sangharakshita did, without any possessions. All the famous people and famous times he lived through are cool.

How did I get into Buddhism?

A friend asked me: How did I get into Buddhism?

There are some factors that contribute to that fatal day in the summer of 2002, when I first took a meditation class with Vajramati. I mark that day as the beginning of more actively becoming a Buddhist through meditation and spiritual fellowship.

Growing up, my mother and father were atheist secular humanists. I think that’s still what they are. One set of grandparents were Baptist, the other Episcopal. So I spent my summers going to church and learning the Christian doctrines. I love my grandparents. They were trying to inculcate me in their tradition. But I never cottoned to Christianity. Never felt it. As soon I can could think I was justifying why I didn’t believe in God. In part it was what drew me to philosophy. How can you say that god does not exist? Now let me be clear. I have friends who do embrace a theistic spirituality and I see the beauty it has for them. I'm not saying people shouldn't embrace the spirituality they find works for them. I'm not saying it can't be beautiful. I'm just saying it did not work for me, and that that was important because I would later find something that did work for me.

In college I read some Zen stuff. I think I understand where they are coming from now, I enjoy the perfection of wisdom, like the idea of transcending dualism. My mother was born in Japan during the occupation; my great grandmother was called “Ba”, short for obasan. But it seemed like an exotic confusing aesthetic, and I didn’t have the context to really understand it. I had no spiritual community or meditative experience.

I watched my stepfather meditate twice a day since about the age of 8, and I’d always wanted to try it. So at the tender age of 35, the age the Buddha became enlightened, I tried a meditation class. Every step I have taken has confirmed me it is the right path. After a month, I stayed after the meditation class for the free Dharma discussion. I happened to be unemployed at the time, and I read a lot of Sangharakshita. In my opinion he has the best exposition of Buddhism. I’d say The Essential Sangharakshita is an instant world spiritual classic, virtually a Mahayana sutra.

I’d also note that I had read some more Buddhism along the way, especially Charlotte “Joko” Beck. I think that’s when I realized the psychological benefits of meditation without actually doing it. I collected little Hotei statues every time I went to a Chinatown. Why was I drawn to these statues? Why was that the thing I collected? Not sure. Now I know Hotei is a folk hero. Now maybe it’s a superficial act, but I feel it’s a kind of response to an icon of Buddhism. There are all kinds of responses. There are many paths and many techniques and many practices that are useful on the path to enlightenment. I feel opening up to that has really helped me.

So I take meditation class in 2002. All spiritual traditions can use meditation, but Buddhism takes it further. The insights can be parroted, but you gain insight only when you grok these meditative insights. You can learn the mindfulness of breathing and be of any denomination.

So the more and more I delve into it, the deeper I’m drawn toward it. I’m a fairly incredulous person. What I like about the practical spiritual teachings that lead to enlightenment is that it’s not a philosophy, nothing to quibble about. Does it work for you? Then it’s Dharma. The idealism of the Yogacara is a kind of way of being that leads to enlightenment, not something to refute philosophically. What you’re experiencing matters. You test it in your own experience. Your experience is part of the equation. Yogacara makes sense with meditative experience.

Reading Stephen Batchelor’s Buddhism Without Belief, I realized there was a path in Buddhism that doesn’t force me to believe in reincarnation. All Buddhist traditions have reincarnation, and I don’t want to dismiss it because it’s foreign. But the point is, it’s a pragmatic course of action, and belief isn’t really what is important. I had found a spirituality that didn’t require me to swallow something I didn’t believe in. I’m not motivated by getting a good rebirth. If that works for someone, well, more power to them.

I also liked Batchelor's confrontation, even if sometimes you want some consolation in spirituality.

I got into meditation. I did a practice day where we meditated a few times consecutively, and then I went on a weeklong retreat at Aryaloka. That blew my mind. I’m still trying to process what happened. I highly recommend going on retreat.

So I became a mitra (friend) and then asked for ordination, and gone on the most awesome retreats, with the most awesome people. Every step I take makes me more confident this is the path for me. This blog is about my journey towards ordination, and hopefully beyond.

I suppose I’ve gloss over the revelations of the spiritual friendship, Bodhisattva Ideal, the use of archetypal Buddhas, mantra. Up till I took the meditation class, all was preparation to make me receptive to the Dharma, spiritual friendship. Sangharakshita’s exposition of the Dharma has clarified so many things for me; he’s a spiritual genius. So many friends along the way have added to my understanding, all the generous teachers who have come. I’ve learned so much listening to Dharma talks from Free Buddist Audio. I happen to be listening to Subhuti's Rambles Aroudn the Yogachara. I have an old post that lists my favorites (at the time, but still holds up pretty true).

That’s an answer to how I became a Buddhist, how I found Buddhism and a little about what it does for me.

The Brit Hume of Singapore?

There's a post on Shambhala SunSpace, that has videos of ministers slagging off Buddhism.

In the end, I think of section 64 of the patience chapter of the Bodhicaryavatara, is my ultimate response:

"My hatred toward those who revile and violate images, stupas, and the sublime Dharma is wrong, because the Buddhas and the like are free of distress."

this side of nirvana

In Sara Jenkins spiritual memoir, she writes, "I tried to pretend that it was all as wonderful in the moment as I knew it would be in retrospect." (P.28).

I think quote captures Jenkins' style, she's honest in her yearning and where she is. What is this feeling that we could be a better person, and yet we need to stay grounded in who we really are?

I find how we work with spiritual ideals really interesting. It's so tempting to just ape being a good Buddhist, for me. The more silent you are the more others can project spiritual depth onto you. The challenge is to open your mouth and create a real relationship with others, who really know you and have a sense of what you can be. It's lovely to be seen not for just what you are, but also what you would like to become. This is something you have to be in tune with someone else to really grasp more or less accurately. Finding these deep relationships is not easy in this world of distraction and struggle for existence, which really means a comfortable existence with the right about of entertainment gadgets (for me, for me, I'm always just really talking about my experience, I can't really presume to know you, dear reader). Writing this I think I need to think more about my digital distraction! I'm going close my laptop and go meditate!

PS--Over at Bodhi Tree Swaying, he shares his lovely musical taste.

Also just read Jayarava's lovely post.

And I just found this lovely new blog: Insight Young Voices, about Dalit youth in India.

500th post: Name change

The name change is something that's going to be going on throughout the FWBO entities, but the hope is that it's going to all go down on Wesak Day, though obviously each entity could not change. There is no central authority, per se. The College of Precepts decides who and when people get into the order. Of course since Sangharakshita founded the order, people tend to listen to him. He has said he's just another order member, perhaps modestly. He's also relinquished his formal roles. The history of the name change is a convoluted one, but basically since the Western Buddhist Order is not just in the west, it's also in the east, they wanted a more neutral name. Similar problems happened in India, where a name would mean something for one group, but not another. They began to discuss this around 1995. It's hard to create a consensus, though many thought the name should change. A name was agreed on, and then it turned out that there were 2 other sanghas with the same name. So recently some India order member have asked for the change. And now it's trying to be implemented. And the FWBO/TBMSG News has reported on it.

Please note I'm outside the heart of things, and I'm not an order member, so you it's the view of a a mitra being expressed here.

fund raiser

Last night we had a gathering of the NYC sangha and friends to raise money for Vajra to go on a 6 month sabbatical. He's leaving next week for 6 months and will be back in August. So many people put in a lot of work, and people spent money and time to make it a lovely event. I saw a lot of people I haven't seen in a while, and met a lot of interesting new people.

Here's a photo on facebook.

Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu

We've got 3 new mitras in NYC! What a great going away present for V!

We had a great practice day, sending metta and karuna to Haiti. We read this excellent article on kamma.

Soulful Singing

This looks like so much fun.

Mahasukha has a new CD out.

More about name changes

The Western Buddhist Order was changed to Triratna Buddhist Order. Instead of Friends of the Triratna Buddhist Order, Sangharakshita and the order want to just call it Triratna Buddhist Community. So instead of the WBO and FWBO, there's the TBO and TBC. I await the offical announcements on FWBO/TBMSG News. Thus I have relied on e-mails to the order, which were shared by order members.

A friend had trouble adding the first R in, because there's a mantra that has a similar word. Here is a link to the mantra.

More on change to follow.

Another order member blogs...

vajrasattva - aloka

vajrasattva - aloka
Originally uploaded by FWBO photos

Final Words on Brit Hume?

There are a few more articles, things are getting deeper, the initial reactions were a little reactive, but I think things are flowing more deeply now. I can't claim to know all the article, but here are 3.

First is Karen Maezen Miller's assertions, which seems pretty deep.

Second is John from Sweep the Dust, Push the Dirt.

Finally is an article from 2004, by Father Joseph S. O'Leary.

Ann Coulter steps in to defend Brit Hume

Here's the link to what she has written (printer friendly version without her adverts).

I question the premise that you need a God for forgiveness. And if there's no God, what is God given forgiveness? What's great about Coulter is that she's so sure she's right. Bold assertion as argument.

She writes: "Is Buddhism about forgiveness? Because, if so, Buddhists had better start demanding corrections from every book, magazine article and blog posting ever written on the subject, which claims Buddhists don't believe in God, but try to become their own gods."

She so boldly rails against ignorance, um, but I don't think Buddhism is about becoming your own god.

She writes: "On MSNBC, David Shuster invoked the "separation of church and television" (a phrase that also doesn't appear in the Constitution), bitterly complaining that Hume had brought up Christianity "out-of-the-blue" on "a political talk show."" (I added the link to Wikipedia.)

Yes.

She quotes the Bible to prove her case. She doesn't realize she's arguing above the system, about different systems? To argue within the system of thought is absurd. Does she have any sense of modernity?

I never really learned to hate Ann Coulter. People rail against her and what she represents. I'm afraid she's living up to her reputation.

Further Links:

(Sweep the dust, Push the dirt blog has a response as well.)

Tom Shales asks for an apology at The Washington Post. You have to sign up to read articles, but it's worth it probably.

a fellow Buddhist

There's a woman in my book club, run by the school my son go to, and she's from Sri Lanka. So we had a conversation. She likes Buddhism because it gives an ethical foundation. She doesn't meditate, and she doesn't go to the temple, but she has a Buddhist necklace. She runs a summer camp where the monks teach and play with the children. I'm going to see if I can get my kids to go to that. I found it interesting that she find the ethics to be the most important thing about Buddhism.

I was listening to a patient the other day, and he'd cleared the decks ethically, so to speak, and he was feeling good. It reminds me that in the path of ethics, meditation and insight, we need a grounding in doing well in life, to move on further. I read once, perhaps I'm misplacing it, but "the gladdening". You just get happy because the clouds have parted to a certain degree and there's a new level of clarity.

Another patient of mine has gone on such a spiritual journey, but he's fickle, he flits from one path to the other, and has chosen paths that were more short cuts. It confirmed me with sticking to my tradition, now renamed.

Envirnonmental? Simplifying?

We're all connected, and it's unBuddhist to bury your head in the sand. Our environment is struggling to adapt to the expansion of human population. Joanna Macy has instructed us in her lovely book Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems Theory: The Dharma of Natural System that our connection to each other means that we do have influence. At times I've thought humanity is too stupid to stop our course of destruction. But there are things you can do.

Henry David Threau has pointed out that so-called time savers must take into account the amount of time you spent working to buy the "time saver." So I'm keeping this in mind as I "buy" the 3 following things.

Aside from biking to work, or using public transportation, and that kind of stuff, I've worked to reduce my amount of possessions. Reducing the clutter in my house is a way of simplifying my life. To that end, I have found 3 things to help reduce.

1. I don't like the idea of buying something to reduce objects, but the Kindle at Amazon can hold up to 1,500 books according to their own estimates. I don't want to advertise the kind, but I have read a book on it, and used it, and I feel it's a way to reduce the amount of paperbacks and books in my house. Plus you can just get books right away, which actually makes it easy to spend a lot of money. But you can send PDFs to yourself and read them on the Kindle. So I can send all the excellent PDFs available by Sangharakshita and from freebuddhistaudio.com. I uploaded the Diamond Sutra, the Puja, Bante's recent letters, and some seminars. I didn't realize before I bought it, I didn't know that to store documents on the Amazon website, they charge 15-30 cents according to the size. But you do have the option of putting it on the Kindle straight from your computer, so you can do it for free. You can upload the Pali Cannon, though I haven't found it all in one PDF so I just upload my favorites. It's a bit of a hassle, but the Pali Cannon has much of it available free on line. Also things like Yeats poems, Jane Austen and others are free because their copywrite has expired, so there's a lot of free content. I think free content is a big seller, plus the reduction of use of paper I might use in printing out a seminar or other items. They thought computers would cut down on the use of paper, but it's actually increased the use of paper. I think Kindle will definitely cut down on the use of paper. And you can use with your laptop and iPhone. There is also a very slow internet connection, so in a jam you can use it to look things up on Wikipedia. I haven't tried to upload MP3 yet, but it say you can do that too. I could become a fairly complete Dharma library with talks and texts. The books are cheaper than hard copies, though not every book in in the format. Unfortunately Windhorse hasn't used the format yet, though Sangharakshita's books on his website on PDF can be read for free.

So I would say the that most books aren't printed in an electronic version, and the fact that Kindle hasn't totally won the reader wars, yet, leaves it possible that something could come along and win the format wars, the way VHS beat Betamax. I've used Amazon for a long time, loving how easy it is to get a book, and they have won the early race. Apparently they rushed the Nook to market, and the Sony reader isn't as attractive, with even less available than the Kindle. But it's not a definitive victory so far, so there is risk involved. It takes a lot of books to make up the cost of the device, but I think ultimately it does pay for itself in book savings by itself.

2. www.paperbackswap.com is another way of changing your used books into unread books you haven't read. There was a point in my life when I was trying to create a library. But the reality of NYC living is that there's just not the space. In my last move (and I've moved a lot in my life) my friend was annoyed at the "trophies" that filled box after box. When I was in social work school, I started filling my backpack with books to sell at The Strand, to pay for my lunch. And now I'm trying to reduce my library by exchanging books I'm likely not to read again. I save Dharma, Psychotherapy books and poetry, but I'm letting go of other books.

The way it works is that you list 10 books, and they give you 2 books credits. After that you get a credit every time someone gets a book. You can also buy a credit. So when someone wants your book, you send it to them. It costs about $2.50 or less to send a book by mail in the USA. I think it's confined to the USA and I'm not sure if there are version in other countries. I've improved my son's library, my wife orders books when I don't need a book. Again, selection is limited. You can't get the complete works of Freud here, there's only one Sangharakshita book. So the 4 million books are mostly best sellers, but that's as usual the fun, to find the gems amongst all the drek.

3. Netflicks: If you're like most people after a certain age, storage of books and DVDs has become a problem. Joining Netflicks solves that problem, you no longer need to buy a DVD, and it's slick and quick. I've seen so many movies on DVDs. But I think the thing that puts Netflicks over the top, is that you can watch movies on line. I have a laptop and have watched so many cool movies on line, it's awesome.

Conclusion: I think these 3 things reduce and simplify, and that helps the environment. I'm not sure if the energy of computers to support these 3 services makes it not helpful. Maybe it's just more simplifying technology, though without the environmental factor it's not that simplifying. Please express your opinion in the comments!

A new name

The Western Buddhist Order has always had trouble with it's name in the east, where it has had various names, and so the order has changed it name so that it can have a global name: Triratna Buddhist Order. Sangharakshita changed it January 6th 2010. I'm still trying to get used to it.

Vishvapani wrote a paper suggesting as such 15 years ago.