About.com Buddhism

Protecting the Serenity of a Mountain

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:19:20 +0000

Recently China's Mount Wutai was added to the list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. "Overall, the buildings on the site present a catalogue of the way Buddhist architecture developed and influenced palace building in China over more than one millennium," UNESCO says. "Temples have been built on the site since the 1st century AD to the early 20th century."

To pave the way for the recognition of Mount Wutai, the government of China "pulled down" much of the historic village of Taihuai. The Guardian reported over a year ago that the people of Taihuai were being displaced. Exactly what has happened to bhe people of Taihuai since then I do not know.

Today Xinhua, the Chinese government's news agency, says of Mount Wutai,

The increasing population around the mountain in Taihuai Town had undermined the landscape and the religious atmosphere, said Han Ruijie, director of the world heritage office of Wutai Mountain ... Since 2006, the government pulled down many inharmonious constructions to protect the "Buddhism atmosphere," Han said.

"The mountain has became more serene after the 'pulling down', which is good for religious practice," said Jamyang Molam, director of administration of the Pusading Lamasery.

Nobody likes agitated mountains, I suppose, so I am glad Mount Wutai is more serene. But I am curious about what happened to the people of Taihuai.

Monastic Science

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:05:26 +0000

Amy Yee reports for today's New York Times that Tibetan monks and nuns in Dharamsala, India, are getting an intensive education in science. Yee writes, "they learned about Galileo�s law of accelerated motion, chromosomes, neurons and the Big Bang, among other far-ranging topics."

The monks and nuns were engaged in "a four-week crash course in physics, biology, neuroscience and math and logic taught by teachers from Emory University in Atlanta." Although the students were accustomed to spending many hours every day studying Buddhism and philosophy, most had never been exposed to science before, and some barely knew basic mathematics.

There are plans to incorporate a regular science curriculum into Tibetan monasteries and convents in India. Emery professors have created a science textbook in Tibetan and English. At a recent science fair, "monks gave presentations on sound waves, the origins of the universe and how the brain works."

Retreat Resource

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:41:07 +0000

It may be a bit late to schedule a Buddhist retreat for this summer. But for future reference, bookmark Tricycle's guide to the top 11 Buddhist retreat centers in the U.S., as chosen by readers. Most are in the northeast or Pacific coast, but the Southern Dharma Retreat Center of Hot Springs, North Carolina, made the list, as did the Shambhala Mountain Center of Red Feather Lakes, Colorado.

There are links to some websites to help you check out the schedules. I learned that Cloud Mountain Retreat Center of Castle Rock, Washington, has upcoming retreats on Vipassana, Tonglen and beginner Qigong, for example.

I would love to create a find-a-retreat-center resource for this website, too, so I've set up a "Recommend a Retreat Center" page. If you want to recommend a retreat center that's not on Tricycle's list -- or comment on one that is -- please share your experiences there.

Buddhism Outperforming "the Abrahamics"?

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:39:20 +0000

There's a book review in the New York Times Sunday book review supplement that says something curious about Buddhism. The review, titled "No Smiting," is by Paul Bloom, a professor of psychology at Yale. The book is The Evolution of God by Robert Wright, which I have not read.

The book is about monotheism, which normally wouldn't be a topic of this blog, but bear with me on this. I take it that Wright explores how concepts of God grew and "mellowed" as human civilization came to value "goodness." I infer that Wright sees the evolution of human civilization and sensibilities as the driver of this process, not God. I infer also that Wright is not a God believer, and that he sees humans as creating God in our image. This God-creation process is ongoing.

Here's where Buddhism comes in. Book reviewer Bloom writes,

For Wright, the next evolutionary step is for practitioners of Abrahamic faiths to give up their claim to distinctiveness, and then renounce the specialness of monotheism altogether. In fact, when it comes to expanding the circle of moral consideration, he argues, religions like Buddhism have sometimes �outperformed the Abrahamics.� But this sounds like the death of God, not his evolution.

If something doesn't exist, how can it "die"? Anyway, this reminds me of Albert Einstein's famous essay on the evolution of religion, in which he argues that religion goes through three basic phases. The first is primitive, in which people evoke a god to save them from things they fear. The second involves a "social" or "moral" concept of a god who offers mankind guidance and support.

In the third stage, humans go beyond the need for gods and dogmas and toward what Einstein calls a "cosmic religious feeling." That description is pretty limp compared to Buddhist teachings on the nature of enlightenment, but English wasn't Einstein's first language. I take it Robert Wright is sorta kinda reaching in the same direction.

Whether the third stage is a "death" or an "evolution" of God seems to me a meaningless distinction. Reading the review further, I think reviewer Bloom doesn't grasp the potential of nontheistic religion.

Pakistan's Buddhist Heritage

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:58:53 +0000

Here at last is a glimpse into what is happening with the Buddhist art and archaeological sites of Pakistan's Swat Valley. Adnan R. Khan writes for Maclean's (Canada) that some of the Buddhist heritage of Pakistan remains intact, in spite of the Taliban's determination to destroy it.

In brief, centuries ago, an area in what is now northern Pakistan and Afghanistan was a Buddhist kingdom called Gandhara. In its day Gandhara was a great center of Buddhist civilization, respected for its art and scholarship. This art includes the earliest depictions of the Buddha in human form, the first oil paintings, and the recently destroyed giant standing Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan.

The area of Pakistan now called the Swat Valley once was home to many Buddhist monasteries and stupas. After the arrival of Islam in the 7th century, for the most part Buddhism and Islam peacefully co-existed there until Buddhism faded away, sometime after the 12th century.

Since then, most of the Muslim people of Swat respected the Buddhist art and historic sites left behind as part of their history. In the 20th century the art and ruins became tourist attractions. Some of the ruins are recognized by the United Nations as World Heritage Sites.

In recent years the Buddhist heritage has been threatened by the Taliban, which in the recent past has occupied large parts of the Swat Valley. Adnan Khan writes that some sites remain as they were, and the Buddhist art museum outside Mingora has been protected. Many historic sites are still in danger, however, and Pakistani officials don't yet know what might have happened to several of them.

Photo: Public domain, Wikipedia Commons

"Buddhism Is Based on Undermining Itself."

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:48:19 +0000

Writing for the Kansas City Star, Vern Barnet has a noteworthy perspective on the Heart Sutra.

The Heart Sutra may be the most commonly chanted Buddhist text. In English, it is less than 300 words long.

Halfway through is the astonishing claim that there is �no truth of suffering, of the cause of suffering, of the cessation of suffering nor of the path� � in effect denying the Four Noble Truths that the Buddha himself taught.

So here is a Buddhist text that seems to undermine the very foundation of Buddhism. I know of no parallel text in any other religion.

But Buddhism, at least in theory, is based on undermining itself. It is an ancient post-modernism, calling into question any description of reality, including its own, because humans crave descriptions of reality more than reality itself.

I had never thought of that passage of the Heart Sutra that way, but ... yes. What do you think?

The Heart Sutra is from the Mahayana canon and is said to be the distilled, perfect expression of enlightenment. It is part of the daily chanting liturgy in many Mahayana schools, including Zen. Those of you who are unfamiliar with the Heart Sutra can find countless translations on the Web. Here is one Heart Sutra translation. If you have never been exposed to it before, I caution you not to form opinions about what it means. It's better to just live with the sutra and let it explain itself to you over time.

Last Week in Lhasa

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:06:17 +0000

A Tibetan Buddhist monk prostrates himself in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. The Potala Palace was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala, India, in 1959.

(Photo taken June 20, 2009 by Feng Li/Getty Images)

Religious Values Are Human Values

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:18:19 +0000

A radio personality named Peter Heck writes that America is being ruined with too much religious diversity. He doesn't say it quite that way, but that's pretty much what his column boils down to. Specifically, he objects to a recent statement of President Barack Obama: "Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of non-believers."

Heck says this is not new; "this country has maintained populations of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and atheists for generations." But, ultimately,he continues, it is still a "Christian" nation because it was founded on Christian principles. And what are those? "[R]espect for life, private property rights, charity, frugality, stewardship, benevolence, peaceful living, responsible liberty."

Me, raising hand: Um, Mr. Heck? Those are Buddhist principles also. And Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Taoist, Pagan, and atheist principles as well.

Heck quotes some of the Founding Fathers, such as John Adams and Benjamin Franklin (the latter of whom was not always all that orthodox in his thinking), who spoke of the superiority of Christianity over all other religions.

They were suggesting ... that for our culture to survive and endure, it would take a unified recognition amongst our people that not all belief systems are equal, and Christianity stands above them all.

It's safe to say that Adams and Franklin were never exposed to Buddhist teaching and knew nothing about it; likewise most of the other great world religions. Their thinking of Christianity as the only virtuous religion may have been excusable in the 18th century, but in the 21st it is not.

Heck concludes (emphasis mine),

Mr. Obama is right in saying that this country is made up of people of varying beliefs. But there's a reason that peaceful Muslims have found it safer to live in this country than in those founded on Islamic law. There's a reason atheists have found it safer to live in this country than in those founded on the absence of moral authority. It's because our founders made Christian principle our cultural foundation. And that's something that if we're wise, no amount of diversity will ever change.

In other words, Heck says, outside of Christian principles there is an absence of moral authority. And I think some atheists might argue about whether they are "safer" here than in some other places. Anyway, Mr. Heck is Exhibit A in why we need more religious diversity in America.

Monks Escape From China

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:07:03 +0000

In the New York Times, Edward Wong tells the gripping story of three monks from Labrang Monastery who took part in a protest in front of foreign journalists. To avoid punishment they left the monastery, hiding for more than a year and, eventually, escaping to India.

The protest was in April 2008, after the crackdown on the March 2008 Tibetan uprising. Chinese officials were taking 20 Chinese and foreign journalists on a media tour of Labrang when about 15 monks came forward to protest religious oppression, holding up banners and a flag of Tibet. Edward Wong writes that the monks scrawled their wills on the back of the flag because they believed they might be killed.

Before that day, the monks had been forced to take daily "patriotic education classes" in which they read tracts denouncing His Holiness the Dalai Lama. �As a Buddhist monk who believes in the Dalai Lama as our foundation, it was unbearable to read this,� said one of the three monks, Lobsang Gyatso. After the protest, some Labrang monks were arrested and beaten.

Two nights later, another of the three named Jamyang Jinpa left the monastery and went into hiding. For months he wandered, often sleeping outdoors or in nomad tents. Lobsang and Jigme Gyatso left a few days later. The three arrived in Dharamsala, India, only last week.

For previous posts with more background on Labrang Monastery, see "Life in Labrang Monastery" and "Labrang Monastery Update."

Buddhist Chaplains in New York

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:46:13 +0000

In the Los Angeles Times, Tina Susman reports from that far-away, exotic land called New York about the Buddhist chaplaincy program at Beth Israel Medical Center. In this program, "more than 20 Buddhist chaplains and chaplains-in-training offer bedside meditation, interdenominational prayers and other assistance to pregnant women, dying cancer patients and even stressed hospital workers," Susman writes. This is a lovely article, well worth reading.

The Beth Israel program is the first Buddhist chaplaincy program accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. It is a partnership program of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.