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Tibet Update

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Today marks the first of a week-long series of meetings for Tibetans living in exile in Northern Tibet. During the next few days, about 500 of that nation’s leaders-in-exile will discuss, with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, their political and spiritual leader, what next steps they might undertake.

Last summer’s Olympics were a time of sadness for many reasons. Those long two weeks showed the world that bullying and oppression were good spectacle. No way could I sit and enjoy anything about them, from the Olympic Village, to the opening and closing ceremonies, when I knew they were created from blood and iron.

Now that the dust has finally settled on those horrible games, His Holiness the Dalai Lama is at last speaking again about his profound sadness at the outlook for his native Tibet. Since his forced escape in 1959, he has longed for a better situation for Tibet and Tibetans. Instead, the Chinese government has moved in more ethnic Han Chinese people, bombed and bulldozed sacred Buddhist temples in Lhasa, beaten and harassed monks and commercialized the Tibetan lands once known as Shangri-La.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has watched and suffered. He has heard from Tibetans who call for the use of force to reclaim their land. Yet he has consistently advocated a peaceful solution worked out with Chinese officials known as the Middle Way.

A few days ago, His Holiness issued a message announcing that talks had collapsed, and a meeting of Tibetan people would take place soon. Those meetings began today.

His message said, in part,

Taking into account the inspiring courage being shown by people all over Tibet this year, the current world situation, and the present intransigent stance of the government of the PRC, all the participants, as Tibetan citizens should discuss in a spirit of equality, cooperation and collective responsibility the best possible future course of action to advance the Tibetan cause. This meeting should take place in an atmosphere of openness, putting aside partisan debate. Rather, it should focus on the aspirations and views of the Tibetan people. I appeal to everyone concerned to work together to contribute as best as they can.

This Special Meeting is being convened with the express purpose of providing a forum to understand the real opinions and views of the Tibetan people through free and frank discussions. It must be clear to all that this special meeting does not have any agenda for reaching a particular predetermined outcome.

His Holiness has demonstrated to the modern world that saints and prophets live among us, but they are unfortunately as routinely scorned and put to death as in ancient times.

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Excessive Desire, Excessive Harm

Friday, November 14th, 2008

Figuratively Speaking Friday

In all the world, one human trait is to be feared above them all: Greed.

So today, let’s look at that simple word, and figure out why it covers such a tangle of lethal drives.

Greed is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, holding a place of dishonor with Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Anger, Sloth and Pride.

Mohandas Gandhi, also known as Mahatma or “great souled” spoke of the Seven Blunders of the World that Lead to Violence. Among them are “Wealth without Work” and “Commerce without Morality.” Aka, Greed.

Greed is also known as avarice, and is one of the Ten Things to be Avoided in Tibetan Buddhism.

The great-souled Milarepa, one of Tibetan Buddhism’s holy teachers (1052- 1135 c.e.) writes,

If ye do not obtain the Light of Inner Peace,
Mere external ease and pleasure will become a source of pain.

If ye do not suppress the Demon of Ambition,
Desire of fame will lead to ruin and to lawsuits.

The desire to please exciteth the Five Poisonous Passions,
The greed of gain separateth one from dearest friends,
The exaltation of the one is the humiliation of the others.

As often the case, this word Greed, so harsh and full of consonant sounds, has a Germanic origin. It is derived from the primary word greedy, from the Old English graedig, from the German.

Greed means and intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power or food. Greedy means an intense and selfish desire for something.

The operative qualifier here seems to be “selfish.” We all like having things, making money, enjoying material pleasures. But, however, when a person places desire for material pleasure or gain, especially excessive gain, above other human welfare, it becomes greed. That’s where the danger lies — in causing harm to others. Not harming others (ahimsa) is a another basic principle valued throughout the world.

Avarice is extreme greed for wealth or gain. It comes from the Old French, from the Latin avaritia, from avarus “greedy.”

As if regular greed weren’t bad enough!!!

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‘Empty Words’ Part 2

Friday, November 7th, 2008

FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING FRIDAY

Today, more words from the Buddhist tradition.

In his introduction to Buddhist thought appearing in The Essential Dalai Lama, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama describes two types of reality.

There is the immediate physical reality, which is apparent reality or relative truth, and absolute reality, or absolute truth.

One describes the world that’s seen, felt and tasted — apparent reality. One describes the unseen world, which as Christians we might call the spiritual world, or even the world where miracles occur. This is absolute reality, with absolute truth.

Components of apparent reality include what’s called the 18 constituents, the 12 sources, the five aggregates, and describe the qualities of what we see, feel, taste, hear — the sensuous world.

Absolute reality begins with the idea that everything changes — and consequently, it has no permanent, or real, nature. This is what the Buddhists call “emptiness.”

Some of us feel uncomfortable with this eastern insistence on emptiness, but really, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Emptiness in the Buddhist sense doesn’t mean nothing’s there: Instead, emptiness means there is nothing that doesn’t change. Therefore, there is nothing with one nature — and consequently, there is nothing, because it’s all changing, all the time.

As a simple example, consider an ordinary object, your desk or home phone. What could be more unchanging?

But look closely. My phone was bright white when I bought it; now it’s yellowed. It was once sterile and new; now it’s dusty. There is grime on the cord; the buttons don’t work.

What’s more, there’s static, the volume comes and goes and the wall cord is nearly shot.

So what is the true nature of that phone? In the sense of apparent reality, the nature of the phone is white plastic.

But as for absolute reality, well, it just goes “poof” when you try to pin it down. There is no absolute nature to the phone, and therefore it is empty.

So if you try to call me today, don’t be surprised if no one answers. It is Friday, you know.

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‘Empty’ Words

Friday, October 31st, 2008

FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING FRIDAY

If you’ve ever spent more than 10 seconds with Buddhist teachings you’ve come across them.

The words.

Buddhism has a complex language and dense vocabulary that work together in a rich interplay to create a world of concepts that has no toehold in the seen world. For that reason, it rivals philosophy for complicated concepts that require page after page of descriptions. Yet many of these words aim to describe not meaning, but lack of precise meaning: that is, emptiness.

It’s not for the feint of heart. For that reason, Jack Kerouac, with his trademark verve and energy, put together a compendium of ideas, definitions and examples from his Buddhist studies. It was published in 1997 as Some of the Dharma, and at more than 400 pages, it’s a dense book … and as Kerouac says, only “some.”

Let’s start with the term karma. It’s part of our ordinary language, but what does it really mean — and how is it commonly used?

In the Buddhist sense, karma has to do with the sum of actions taken by a person, not just in this lifetime, but over several lifetimes — forever. That explains why bad things happen to good people — and vice versa — there are ghosts in our closets.

In popular usage, karma usually refers to performing acts of kindness, doing right by other people, helping out dogs and defenseless animals, with the hoped for possibility that something good will come back to you. Not a bad way to live.

Call me a true believer of karma. Once in the early 90s, in a new job, new town, not a lot of money, I accidentally walked out of a store without paying for my chocolate-covered raisins. Ka-ching! I thought. I win!!

That night, my car was broken into. Ka-I-ching!! Karma. I pay for everything now, and if I find a dime on the street, usually I’ll either leave it or give it to someone else.

Karma brings up the idea of reincarnation, which to the Buddhists is an integral part of the relative, or physical, world and the authentic, or unseen, one.

There is the concept that at death, a person’s soul or consciousness passes into another life form. To have human form is a supreme achievement, showing that a person’s past live has been noble and good. That’s why His Holiness the Dalai Lama is so greatly respectful of any other human being, even the Chinese leaders who torment him and his fellow Tibetans.

Yet even for those of us who don’t ascribe precisely to this idea can find meaning in the concept of rebirth and reincarnation. In my nearly half a century, I have been many people — school teacher, graduate student, 4-year-old, 14-year-old drama queen, moody 20-year-old, preppy (sorry, it was the ’80s) and waitress.

These incarnations are episodes and experiences that are long gone, not to return (especially the waitress days, but out of karma-awareness, I always leave big tips!)

There are other terms, for other Figuratively Speaking posts — paramita, tathagata, buddhadharma, ahimsa, parinama, samadhi ….

TO BE CONTINUED

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Brothers, Sisters

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

One of the first messages you’ll read in most books by His Holiness the Dalai Lama is his recommendation that we all remain faithful to the religion of our family, our childhood, our culture.

When I first read that line, I thought: What, you don’t want me as a Buddhist?

At the same time, it was incredibly refreshing. No pressure to convert!! No doom of damnation hanging over me!!

Having grown up in the Bible Belt I was used to people trying to “save” me. Never mind that I was baptized as a Christian; there are hundreds of people on any given day trying to tell me, well, where to go.

So HH the Dalai Lama basically sets us free from requirements of terrestrial religion. But he does not release us from our obligation to respect other living beings and to make sure we cause no harm (ahimsa). He commonly refers to his audience as “Dear Brothers and Sisters.”

He asks us to be humble and modest, and never to take credit for our good deeds; but rather to be mindful of the many good people who have gone before us and who will come after us.

One of the meditations he recommends is to imagine ourselves at our worst, our most clutching and greedy (Yes, try it sometimes. It’s quite humbling).

We imagine this greedy self to one side of us, then, at the other side, we imagine someone who’s desperately poor, starving, homeless or sick.

The first time I did this mediation I nearly wept. It is still one of the most grounding meditations I can do.

In keeping with His Holiness’s guidance, I have not given up my Christian faith. Rather, it is now a larger spiritual practice, multi-dimensional, because it includes meditations on compassion. Larger in meaning because I now include great teachers like Buddha, Zoroaster and other prophets in my meditations on good. More profound because I think on great leaders like St. Frances, Mohandas Gandhi, Dr. Martin King and Nelson Mandela.

Recently, attending church, I have found new enlightenment in the sanctuary, among my companions in faith worshiping together. This connection arises, doubtless, because I better see our unity in light of the struggling monks in Tibet, China and Burma, who are willing to be jailed and beaten for their faith.

I attend the Episcopal Church because I believe we are deeply faithful to the teachings of Christ. My church welcomes people of all backgrounds and walks of life, and have ordained an openly gay minister, which for me, represents Christ’s instructions to include and embrace each other.

Having spent many hours with my Buddhist books, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings last year and his books regularly; and my readings of Old and New Testament scripture, I no longer see conflict among them, only an ever-growing picture of the human desire for the divine.

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A Prayer

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

Today, some words from a prayer by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. You can find the entire poem in The Essential Dalai Lama, (Viking, 2005).

I believe we can feel deep affinity and kinship as human beings with the People of the Land of the Snows. In this poem they represent our unified struggle to remain peaceful and compassionate in the face of brute strength and the bullying of power and wealth.

A PRAYER

… Please consider the truth of my anguished pleas…

O holders of the Dharma: scholars
and realized practitioners;

May your tenfold virtuous practice prevail.

Humble sentient beings, tormented
by sufferings without cease,

Completely suppressed by seemingly endless
and terribly tense, negative deeds,

May all their fears from unbearable war, famine,
and disease be pacified,

To freely breathe an ocean of happiness and well-being,
and particularly the pious people

of the Land of Snows who, through various means,

Area mercilessly destroyed by barbaric hordes
on the side of darkness,

Kindly let the power of your compassion arise,
to quickly stem the flow of blood and tears.

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Once More, With Feeling

Monday, October 6th, 2008

This morning despite having five million items on my “to-do” list I sacrificed all for a long run. For more than a week I’ve longed for a big run, but I spend my mornings working and by 5 or 6 p.m. who wants to run seven miles? And then wake at 4:30 a.m. to start over again?

Sundays are usually my big run days, but the past few weeks I’ve actually spent at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church … in the sanctuary, doing the rituals, confessing, reciting and singing hymns.

It’s not as strange an exchange as it may seem, running and church. Running is my church — a time of profound reflection and focus. Moreover, running fills me with ecstasy and peace — and that’s worthy of the best church service.

Church and worship, however, can lead to an even more sublime moment as we are able to share the very air with a presence greater than ourselves — the hymns, the beautiful sanctuary and stained glass windows, yes, even the robes and all the formality. They give a sense of immaterial being, bliss and hallowedness.

There is also a sense of connecting with the best parts of myself. Prayers are said not to a paternalistic father “God” or lord (sounds so feudal and harsh); rather, those prayers are sent out to the universe and back to me — so I can manifest these positive effects and also so they will take shape among all mankind.

During my Buddhist studies I continued to see myself as a Christian Episcopal. I take seriously the advice given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who suggests any disciple of spiritual enlightenment hold true to the religion of their upbringing.

Now I see the wisdom of his advice. We are shaped and formed by the cultures and frameworks of faith that vary by region and nation. We must, however, find the commonality. Only by probing our own native faith will we be forced to find that commonality.

The world’s faiths are many languages: Different words for the same experiences and longings.

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HH the Dalai Lama

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

In October 2007 I traveled to Atlanta to see His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama. He spoke at Emory University and at the downtown Centennial Park during two days of teachings. It was profoundly moving to experience the presence of this great man of peace and compassion.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama
His Holiness
Posted 22 October 2007

I spent yesterday listening to His Holiness and it was probably one of the best days of my life. He does radiate joy, peace and love — I was prepared for disappointment, because really, no hero is genuine, right? The difference with His Holiness is that he’s a hero for his humanity, and not because of other reasons, like so many of our heroes, who are presented as flawless, beautiful, unerring demi-gods.

No, His Holiness is simply a human being and arrived at his place of wisdom through a lifetime of hard work. That work has allowed him to develop deep understanding and acceptance for the world and all of us sharing it.

A few moments before he was scheduled to appear, the gymnasium fell silent,the colored lights that were twirling everywhere stopped and no one moved.

I hardly knew how to prepare myself, so I just said let me have a clear mind to understand this great man of peace.

When His Holiness walked onto the stage, I knew my fears that I would somehow be disappointed were groundless. How could I be disappointed?

He walked with a gait that reminded me of my grandmother, only quicker and more steady. Still, there was a sense of age to his step. He smiled constantly as he held the hands and hugged the monks there, bowing to them, as if they were the honored guests and he just an ordinary visitor.

He wore the saffron yellow and burgundy robes of a monk and on his feet, flip flops. They made no noise, however, as he walked around the stage greeting everyone.

I felt warm inside, deeply reassured not only that my hero was genuine, but somehow that the entire world wasn’t such a bad place after all.

In the afternoon a peacebuilding summit took place … more tomorrow … but when I left the gymnasium, I walked into a bright, crisp autumn afternoon. Everywhere I looked, I saw joy — people playing soccer in a field, friends walking together to the Tibetan bazaar that’s set up under the white tents, people carrying their small children. I felt awed by the beauty of everything.

Tibet for a Day
Posted 23 October 2007

The clouds came down to turn Atlanta into a little Tibet, and Centennial Park into Lhasa. A fresh, cool day, the buildings surrounding the park shrouded in mist became mountains, shedding their concrete nature for a few hours and giving us a break from the known world.

More than 7,000 people crowded the park and they sat on blankets, many with their children, other couples and people of all ages and walks of life.

His Holiness spoke of love and the importance of inner values, compassion and kindness, and said he would serve others until his death.

I have been in the presence of an enlightened human being. It gives me hope of what is possible by strengthening inner values and positive human emotions — compassion, affection, love — and discouraging the bad ones.

Today I pack up and head home, the long, eight-hour drive back to Greenville.

TOMORROW: Seeing Jack Kerouac’s original scroll MS of On the Road.

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