Awakening the Buddha Within _ Eight Steps to Enlightenment - Lama Surya Das [174]
The Dalai Lama teased us about the way we Westerners had taken up old-fashioned Asian ritual instruments, clothing, furniture, and decor. He pointed out that this was not the heart of Dharma, but mere culture that had changed in each country throughout the centuries as Buddhism moved from its homeland of India to the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, China, and Japan. He was reminding us once again that the Dharma is timeless and not culture bound. The essential truth of the Dharma, the heart of enlightenment, is not limited by the trappings of culture, language, or time.
Today, Buddhism is at a critical juncture as it encounters the West. It is no surprise that there have been formidable cultural, linguistic, political, and material barriers to overcome in the transmission of Buddha Dharma from East to West and from the past on to the present and the future. This is a transition through time as well as through space, spanning continents and oceans, from a traditional Oriental world to a scientific postmodern Western culture.
We have inherited from Asia the three major Buddhist traditions and their various offshoots. They have been translated, synthesized, and distilled into user-friendly forms here in the West, especially by teachers of the Zen, Vipassana, and Dzogchen practice lineages. Now this wisdom is undergoing the rich and fascinating phase of transformation and adaptation while we facilitate and midwife its rebirth into liberating and viable contemporary forms. At the same time, ethnic Buddhist groups have formed pockets where the Buddhist traditions of their Asian homelands are being transplanted almost intact.
Strong bridges have been built from East to West, and the Dharma has arrived in the New World. This inevitably raises all sorts of interesting questions and challenges and even a certain degree of confusion, contradiction, and paradox. This is the first time all of the extant schools of Buddhism have existed together, closely rubbing shoulders, in one place at one time.
Many of us study and practice with more than one teacher, each of whom may represent different traditions. It is conceivable that someone could attend a silent sitting group on Tuesday and a chanting or visualization group on Friday. This need not necessarily be considered superficial, dilettantish, or pop Buddhism. We in the West have the opportunity to sample various teachings and practices to see what best fits our own aspirations and interests. In the initial spiritual “shopping phase,” we can try any number of paths and techniques before settling down and committing ourselves to one practice. The social mobility in our culture can be a wonderful catalyst to the spiritual search. We each have the opportunity to choose for ourselves, to find something that resonates and connects with our experience.
WE ALL COME TO BUDDHISM FROM
DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS
A few years ago, a sincere guy from the southern part of the United States came to be in a long-term practitioner program at a large meditation center in Massachusetts. After several months, he came for a private meeting with an instructor, and in the course of the meeting, she realized that every morning when the group chanted the three-fold refuge prayer, he had been chanting, “I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sun God.” But his mistake didn’t seem to matter. It hadn’t interfered with his meditation practice, which was coming along fine. If he was having a few problems with a mere matter of translation it was simply par for the course.
As Westerners we are all coming to the Three Jewels—Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha—from different directions. I think it’s fair to say that few of us learned about Buddha Dharma or meditation from our parents. As children, some of us went to Sunday school, some sang in church choirs, some studied Catholic catechism, some learned Hebrew prayers and lit Shabos candles, some were brought up in the religion of science, and some were raised in families