Saturday, April 05, 2008
Buddhism is beautiful
I had the opportunity to spend some time at Tampa's Buddhist temple, and yes, Tampa does have a Buddhist temple, Friday night. My Non-Western Religions class gathered for a visit to Tampa's Buddhist vihara. We had an opportunity to chat with the resident bhanti (monks), then participated in an half hour meditation. The bhanti and the vihara's regular attendees then recited a brief series of chants. The bhanti blessed gifts of fruit and water for those of us who were interested in partaking, then the elder monk gave a brief discertation on Buddhist Dhamma, Dhamma being the way of the Buddha as laid out in the Buddha's original teachings and sermons. He spoke specifically about elements of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eight Fold Path, both of which are cornerstones of the Buddhist faith.
Following bhanti's Dhamma talk, the vihara's most experienced lay-Buddhist (non-monastic practitioner), whose name escapes me now, stayed on to have some tea and answer questions. We sat on the temple floor and listened to his personal experiences in the US and in India. He is an American-born woman's trauma councilor who works in Tampa. His religious background is rooted in Lutheranism, but he has been a practicing Buddhist for nearly 20 years. As it turned out, most of the temple regulars are US-born practitioners who converted from Protestant and Catholic Christian heritages. Of course, that is not surprising given the pervasive nature of the Christian faith in America. While the meditation was a highlight for me personally, the entire experience was very enjoyable. Having had an on again, off again connection to Buddhism since the age of 18, I was familiar with much of what was discussed, but there is a massive amount to learn. The entire canon of Buddhist writings is hundreds, if not thousands of times larger than the Bible, so no one could hope to master it in a single lifetime.
There is no denying that Buddhism makes more intrinsic sense to me than any other world religion I have ever been exposed to. Its focus on dispelling the illusion of self, the infinite possibilities of causation, and a life of minimal harm all make inherent sense to me. Whereas other religions require belief in an all powerful, all seeing, supernatural entity, Buddhism (like other Eastern religions) believes the Universe always has been and always will be. Buddhist doctrine denies the world's many Creation myths, and generally dismisses the importance of how the Universe came to be. Ultimately, all that matters is that the Universe is and that we are intrinsically interwoven into it. The Noble Eightfold Path lays out a path toward Nirvana through a life dedicated to living mindfully and morally. Each element within the path refers to an aspect of the personality contributing to one's wisdom, conduct and mental development.
There is no Hell beyond rebirth and no limitations to who can or cannot achieve Nirvana (Nibbana to a practicing Buddhist). Interestingly, the Buddhist Sangha, which refers more to the community of Buddhist practitioners than a formal church, dates to the 5th century BCE, making it the longest, continuously operational religious organization in human history. The entire faith was founded on the idea that seekers will come, so recruiting in the fashion of Western religions is unheard of. We talked about all of these things and as the conversation progressed, I was reminded of all the reasons I had come to think of Buddhism as the world's most beautiful religion. No money, no power, no selfishness, no sexism, no racism, no hierarchy of power, no controlling dogma, no "put it on Sunday, forget about it on Monday" conveniences; Buddhism is absent nearly every negative aspect of Humanity's prevailing religions, which allows for a focus on openness and possibility. In my mind, that is what religion and faith should really be about.
Labels: spirituality
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