Buddhism makes it into the White House

Amber Larson (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly; Danny Fisher; Bearing Witness/Zenpeacemakers

Bring up Tibet and China! The Dalai Lama would have, but he's so nice. (phayul.com)

Bhikkhu Bodhi and Danny Fisher in Washington, D.C. to visit White House (ZPS)

 

Danny Fisher's visit to the White House in the historic first Dharmic Religious Leaders' Conference 
Co-hosted by the White House Office of Public Engagement and White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships with Hindu American Seva Charities, the conference brought together a large group of religious and institutional leaders from Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, and Jain communities to discuss service with various government departments and agencies.

I gotta go meet with some Buddhists NOW.

[In 2012] I had an interesting weekend: I was in Washington, D.C., at the White House as a participant in the historic first Dharmic Religious and Faith Leaders Conference: Community Building in the 21st Century with Strengthened Dharmic Faith-Based Infrastructures.

 

The conference brought together a large group of religious and institutional leaders from Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, and Jain communities to discuss service with various government departments and agencies. [Did the Conference find signs of the Dharma already at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?]

Michelle's Way [in the White House]: Lessons in Buddhism from the First Lady
Ed and Deb Shapiro (Huff Post); Pat Macpherson and Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly

Michelle loves all the children! (HuffingtonPost.com)

Tonight, for the first time in history, our First Lady will attend a Passover Seder in the White House with her two daughters, as the president honors the Jewish people. For the last week she has been electrifying Europe with her warmth and her fearlessness in showing that she cares. She is adored wherever she goes for one simple reason: She brings hope. The hope that the world can be a caring and compassionate place, and the hope anyone of any color or background can fulfill their dreams.

[That was 2009, the heady days before the world found out that Michelle's husband, B.S. Obama, was following in the footsteps of Dick Cheney, George Bush II, George Bush I, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, John Ashcroft, World Banker Paul Wolfowitz, and other alleged war criminals.]

It brought tears to our eyes when the children at the school Michelle Obama visited in London jumped up and down and hugged and hugged her, and she hugged them back. We could see in their faces that, because of her, they too felt they had a chance. Her charisma and confidence make others feel comfortable in her presence. Deb, being English, was delighted to finally see someone arm in arm with the Queen!
 

A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things that renew humanity.

-The Buddha

Greening the White House lawn (HP)

When we read this quote we thought the Buddha could have been saying this about Michelle Obama! She is setting an extraordinary example by doing things her own way and being true to herself.
 
From having bare arms [which is what arms are for, hugging not war], to serving lunch to the homeless [in a planned photo op that serves as an example to us...to get an official photographer to follow us around until we do something nice then send it out with a press release] in a soup kitchen, to planting a vegetable garden [hooray for organic Nature] at the White House, she is making us take a fresh look at the role of the First Lady and at our own prejudices and opinions about what we think is right and wrong [right and left, black and white, implicitly-racist and what is just a function of white-privilege].

 

A person who gives freely is loved by all. It's hard to understand, but it is in giving that we gain strength. But there is a proper time and a proper way to give, and the person who understands this is strong and wise. By giving with a feeling of reverence for life, envy and anger are banished. A path to happiness is found. Like one who plants a sapling and in due course receives back shade, flowers, and fruit, so the results of giving bring joy. Through continuous acts of kindness the heart is strengthened by compassion and giving.

- the Buddha

 
[For more awesome, freely translated "quotes" without citations, echoes of the Universalist Mahayana/Hindu school of Buddhism beloved by many and by disaffected Jewish people in particular, see here.]

• Dick Cheney sticks it to Colon Powell; Rumsfeld get award
• VIDEO: Relatives Cheney and Obama on waging war on Iraq
• VIDEO: Saying NO to our U.S. war criminals! (Code Pink)
• Hospital program coaches parents to deal with toxic stress

Danny and Dharma in the White House

Anti-Tar Sands/Keystone XL protest at WH

Among others, we met with representatives of the Department of Education, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

We also heard from and dialogued with a large group of interesting speakers, including Joshua Stanton, founding co-editor of the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue, co-director of Religious Freedom USA, and co-editor of O.N. Scripture - The Torah; former U.S Senator Harris Wofford; and Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.

 

Overall, I concur...that the gathering was hugely important symbolically: to see Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains gathered together at the White House to spend a day in dialogue with the government about service and community-building felt like a huge step forward in terms of addressing the lack of attention to and representation of Dharmic religious practitioners in Washington.

The Buddhist Delegation (with White House and Seva Charities representatives), D.C., April 20, 2012. Author is in the back row, second from the left (Phil Rosenberg/SGI-USA).

 

(In Religion Dispatches in 2009 I talked about the lack of a Buddhist representative on the White House’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. See article).

 

The conference agenda [felt] a little overstuffed to me. And things were done in relatively broad strokes. I think we might have benefited more from smaller groups and more precise focus on unique issues in particular communities, with some attention to broader concerns. But it was certainly a great start. And I thought Joshua Stanton did a really nice job of illustrating the effect the conference had on one person outside these communities looking in. See his piece at State of Formation.

Burmese Democracy Leader, The Lady, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at White House (AFP)

 

The Buddhist Delegation (BGR)

In addition, here is the official press release about the conference, as well as a substantial post at Hindu American Seva Charities’ official blog.

 

[UPDATE: Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, the American Theravada scholar-monk, offers his take at Buddhist Global Relief.] And I have pictures to share at DannyFisher.org.

 

What a thrill to be in the White House, a joy to see old friends and make new ones, and participate in something so important. Many thanks to the White House Office, Hindu American Seva Charities, and my friend Bill Aiken at Soka Gakkai International-USA. I’m humbled and at your service.

First-Ever White House Conference of Dharmic Faiths

Bhikkhu Bodhi (BuddhistGlobalRelief)

Bhikkhu Bodhi and monks (BGR)

Until recently conferences on interfaith cooperation in the U.S. have almost always centered on the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Yet, over the past 40 years America has become a much more diversified and pluralistic society.

WH celebrates many Jewish holidays (AP)

The relaxing of restrictions on immigration, followed by the post-war upheavals in Southeast Asia in the 1970s, has dramatically transformed our population.

 

Large numbers of Americans now have religious roots that go back, not to the deserts of Judea and Arabia, but to the plains, mountains, and villages of ancient India.

 

Buddhist flags on Lantau (m.gin/flickr)

For convenience, these are  grouped together under the designation “the Dharmic faiths.” They include Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs, and their national origins range from Pakistan to Japan, from Burma to Vietnam, and from Mongolia to Sri Lanka. Not all are immigrants. At least one whole generation of people of Asian descent has been born and raised in America and think of themselves principally as Americans following a Dharmic religion. More

"Life is a Playground," comedian Kyle (video)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Kyle Cease (evolvingoutloud.com)

• Join Kyle at Evolving Out Loud LIVE, June 27-29, 2014 in LA: A comedians way to meditation and money
• Listening Party with Roy of Hollywood Tuckman, Buddhist Radio: Alan Watts' "Ecological Awareness, Part 4"; "Mine Enemy: German POWs in America in WW II"; Oliver Stone's "Untold History of the United States"; Christine Blosdale with Kyle Cease Something's Happening - A (PLAY), Something's Happening - B (PLAY)
• Pacifica, LA with Christine Blosdale (KPFK 90.7 FM)

 

"Comedy Meets Purpose" is about Kyle Cease's previous 3-day event in

Los Angeles, which took place July 19-21, 2013 (KyleCease.com).

Indian Film Festival, L.A. (April 8-13, 2014)

Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; IndianFilmFestival.org, IFFLA on Facebook, IFFLA

India's Bollywood comes to Hollywood, Indian Film Festival of L.A., April 8-13 (IFFLA)

OM (aum) is the sound of the cosmos (EO)

FAITH CONNECTIONS: Every three years Hindus and yogis and others gather at one of four rotating sites for the Kumbh Mela, the world's largest religious celebrations of faith and devotion, marked by bathing in the sacred waters of the river Ganges. With 100 million participants in 2013, these pilgrimages are said to be the largest organized gatherings on the planet for any single purpose. While never losing site of the enormity and scope of the event, it brings viewers the individuals, sharing their unique stories: How did they come to be here to share in their belief in the divine?

(FC) Every three years 100 million Hindus and others gather at one of four
rotating sites for the Kumbh Mela, a devotional celebration at the Ganges.
  

Through stories of pilgrims searching for lost children, marijuana-smoking ascetics, adoptive father yogis, mind-bending physical acts, and a special lost boy who dreams of becoming a sadhu (Indian holyman), IFFLA alum Pan Nalin crafts a moving and unique view of the mass gathering. This vision of the ancient tradition  is rarely seen in the West, bringing the Kumbha Mela to human scale. More
  

Love.Love.Love

But kids?

SOLD: Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jeffrey D. Brown adapts Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold -- a National Book Award finalist about child sex trafficking -- into a vivid, harrowing, and inspiring story of a 13-year-old girl’s resilience in the face of unspeakable cruelty. Young Lakshmi travels to India with the promise of a job and money to send back to her family in Nepal. She quickly learns the terrible truth: she has been sold into prostitution and must work for years to pay back her parents’ debts. While Lakshmi contends with abuse from the brothel’s tyrannical madame and its lustful customers, a nearby activist organization struggles to work against corrupt officials to bring the brothel down. Ultimately, she must resolve not to lose hope and use her wits to escape. More

 

Kashmir(s) in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India

SHEPHERDS OF PARADISE: Nomadic herder Gafoor has to lead his large flock of horses, cows, goats, and sheep across Jammu all the way to the natural wonderland valley of Kashmir (J&K) so they can graze. An already difficult journey of nearly 200 miles done by foot covered in 21 days, Gafoor faces the added challenges of military checkpoints and impenetrable terrain in blinding winter conditions. At 75, Gafoor also carries on a way of life for his family that the young seem less and less interested in following. More
 

Shorts Program 1 (IFFLA)

LIAR'S DICE: Geetu Mohandas steps behind the lens for a bracing and unforgettable directorial debut, which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. The film follows the journey of Kamala (Geetanjali Thapi), a woman living and working in a remote Himalayan village with her young daughter Manya.

Kamala's husband -- gone off to work in Delhi -- has been out of contact for several months, and Kamala fears the worst. Determined to find what's happened to him, she gathers Manya (and the family's pet goat) to set off for the city. Hardships ensue, as Kamala struggles with directions, money, and the dangers of being a woman alone in a strange place. She hires a guide -- the unfriendly and possibly criminal wanderer Nawazuddin (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), whose interest may lie more in his own personal gain than in any help he can offer others. More


JADOO: Set in Leicester [Lester], England, Amit Gupta’s delicious and delightful comedy charts the chaos that ensues when young Shalini gets engaged to her longtime boyfriend Mark. The fact that Mark is not Indian is the least of Shalini’s concerns. Her father Raja and uncle Jagi have been at war for years. After a big falling out that caused them to close their family restaurant, each man opened his own establishment -- directly across the street from each other!



Shalini’s dream wedding would see both men put aside their differences and prepare the wedding feast together. But resentment runs deep, and neither man can so much as hear mention of the other’s name without a spike in blood pressure. The prospect of disappointing their beloved Shalini -- and the threat of a new, hip restaurant opening in the area -- forces Raja and Jagi to work together, but for how long? In this uproariously funny and heartfelt exploration of family bonds, shared history, and culinary perfection, Gupta’s cast is relentlessly charming. Plus, there’s enough mouth-watering Indian food... More

 

SKIN DEEP: Sanjay and Sushma plan to elope to escape a looming arranged marriage. They are in love, and their future together shines brightly and perfectly, filled with possibility -- that is, as long as an extra piece of skin that complicates their sex life gets fixed in what should be a routine medical procedure. But Bombay/Mumbai’s electricity gods have other plans in store for them. More 

SIDDHARTH: Barely able to support his family fixing chain zippers, Mahendra is hopeful their lives will improve now that his 12-year-old son, Siddharth [the Hindi form of the Sanskrit name Siddhartha], has found work 200 miles north of Delhi. When the boy fails to return for Diwali, the "Festival of Lights," a few months later, Mahendra and his wife Suman are simply told he ran away. The parents' nightmare is only made worse by indifferent authorities more interested in lecturing them than finding out what happened to their young child. As Mahendra and Suman find out more of the truth, it becomes clear that no one cares what happened to their son but them. More

BOMBAY TALKIES: A quartet of short films celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema in the charming omnibus film featuring work from Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, and Anurag Kashyap -- four of India’s most exciting contemporary directors.

Starlet Katrina Kaif, FHM cover

Each one crafts a tale of ordinary people, whose love of movies profoundly alters the course of their lives: secret lovers who bond over a little girl’s performance of their favorite Bollywood song, an out-of-work father plucked from a crowd to perform a brief role in a Ranbir Kapoor film, a little boy who dreams of being a dancer like the luminous Indian starlet Katrina Kaif, and a son whose ailing father sends him on a quest to receive a blessing from megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

Shorts Program 2 (indianfilmfestival.org)

The brightest stars of Bollywood invite us to share in the joy, heartbreak, and reverence we feel in a movie theater. Each story beautifully captures how lovers of cinema can’t help but carry that fascination into their day-to-day life. Haven’t we all wished, at one time or another, that our lives were more like a film? (For this selection, admission is restricted to guests 21+).

• 2014 FILM GUIDE

New society from the ashes of the old (sutra)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Narada Thera (trans.), Buddhist Publ. Society, Dighajanu Sutta: "Conditions for Social and Spiritual Wealth" (AN 8.54)

Towering Buddha monument in Theravada Thailand (happySUN flickr.com)

 

"See the candle burning low. [It's] the new world rising from the shambles of the old."
- "The Rover," Led Zeppelin

Translator's note: In this discourse, the Buddha instructs rich householders on how to preserve and increase their wealth and how to avoid harm to their prosperity. Wealth alone, however, does not complete a person nor make for a harmonious society. Great wealth all too often multiplies our desires and sends us spinning in pursuit of senselessly amassing more and more wealth and power. Our unrestrained craving leaves us deeply dissatisfied, stifling inner growth, and more often than not dealing with regrets. Craving creates conflict and societal disharmony -- inspiring the resentment of the underprivileged who become aware that they are exploited by the effects of others growing rich at their expense. The Buddha, therefore, follows up his advice on great material wealth with four essential conditions for spiritual wealth: confidence (in the teacher's enlightenment), virtue, liberality, and wisdom. These four instill in a person a sense of values. We then not only pursue our material concerns but also become aware of our duty (obligation, dharma) toward society. One implication of a liberality informed by wisdom and generosity is that it reduces tensions and conflicts in society. So observing the Buddha's enlightened advice on the necessary and sufficient conditions for material and spiritual welfare makes for an ideal citizen in an ideal society.

Sutra

Phan Tao Temple, Thailand (arztsamui/flickr)

Thus have I heard. Once the Exalted One was dwelling among the Koliyans in a market town named Kakkarapatta.

• [The Koliyans were the rivals of the Buddha's family, the Sakyans. But Queen Maha Maya, the Buddha's mother, belonged to the Koliyan clan, whereas his father, King Suddhodana, belonged to the Sakyan clan.]

Then Dighajanu [a banker, “long-kneed”], a Koliyan, approached the Exalted One, saluted him, sat respectfully to one side, and asked:

"Venerable sir, we are laypeople enjoying worldly pleasures. We lead a life focused on spouse and children. We use sandalwood of Kasi [a fragrant cosmetic from Varanasi]. We deck ourselves with garlands, perfumes, and creams. We use gold and silver [money and trade]. To us and those like us, O venerable sir, let the Exalted One teach the Dharma, teach those things that lead to wealth and happiness in this life and to wealth and happiness in the next life."

Conditions of Worldly Progress

Ancient alabaster Buddha in Sukhothai, Thailand (Ted Richardson/flickr.com)

 

"Vyagghapajja [Dighajanu's family name, literally, "Tiger's Path" so called because his ancestors were born on a forest path infested with tigers], four conditions conduce to a householder's wealth and happiness in this very life. What are the four?

"The accomplishment (attainment) of: (1) persistent effort (diligence), (2) watchfulness (vigilance), (3) noble friendship, and (4) right/balanced livelihood (defined below).

"What is the accomplishment of persistent effort?

"Herein [within this Dharma and Discipline], Vyagghapajja, by whatever activity a householder earns a living -- whether by farming, trading, rearing cattle [for milk], archery, royal service, or by any other kind of craft -- at that one becomes skillful and is not lazy. One is endowed with the power of discernment (wisdom) as to the proper ways and means. One is able to carry out and delegate (duties). This is called the accomplishment of persistent effort.

"What is the accomplishment of watchfulness?

"Herein, Vyagghapajja, whatever wealth a householder is in possession of, obtained by dint of effort, collected by strength of arm, by sweat of brow, justly acquired by right means -- such one cultivates well by guarding and watching so that rulers do not seize it, thieves not steal it, fire not burn it, water not carry it away, nor ill-disposed heirs preemptively remove it. This is the accomplishment of watchfulness.

Golden Buddha under the enlightenment tree in a magnificent hall (t3cnica/flickr.com)

 

"What is noble friendship?

"Herein, Vyagghapajja, in whatever village or market town a householder dwells, one associates, converses, engages in discussions with householders or householders' children, whether young and highly cultured or old and highly cultured, full of confidence [verifiable-faith based on knowledge rather than any kind of blind-faith], full of virtue, full of generosity, full of wisdom.

"One acts in accordance with the confidence of the confident, with the virtue of the virtuous, with the generosity of the generous, with the wisdom of the wise. This is called noble friendship.

"What is right/balanced livelihood?

"Herein, Vyagghapajja, a householder knowing the measure of both income and expenses leads a balanced life, neither extravagant nor miserly, knowing that thus one's income will stand in excess of expenses and not expenses in excess of income.

"If your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall."

- American saying on personal finances

 

"Just as a goldsmith [tuladharo, literally, a “carrier of the scales”] or a goldsmith's apprentice knows, on holding up a balance, that by so much it has tilted down or by so much it has tilted up, even so a householder, knowing one's income and expenses, leads a balanced life. One is neither extravagant nor miserly, knowing that in this way income will stand in excess of expenses and not expenses in excess of income.

"If, Vyagghapajja, a householder with little income were to lead an extravagant life, there would be those who say -- 'This person enjoys property like one who eats wood-apple.' [The Commentary explains that one who wants to eat wood-apple shakes the tree, with the result that many fruits fall but only a few are eaten, with a much greater number going to waste]. If, Vyagghapajja, a householder with a large income were to lead a miserly life, there would be those who say, 'This person will die like a starveling.'

Losing Money

"The wealth thus amassed, Vyagghapajja, has four sources of destruction:

"(1) Debauchery, (2) drunkenness, (3) gambling, (4) or friendship, companionship, and intimacy with wrongdoers.

• [The Buddha defines "false friendship" in the Sigalovada Sutra (DN 31: A Brief Code of Buddhist Ethics) -- four foes in the guise of friends, who take things, make fake promises, flatter, and encourage ruin, all of which the Buddha details.]

"Just as in the case of a great tank with four inlets and outlets, if a person should close the inlets and open the outlets, and there should be inadequate rainfall, decrease of water is to be expected in that tank rather than an increase. Even so, there are four sources for the destruction of amassed wealth -- debauchery, drunkenness, gambling, and friendship, companionship, and intimacy with wrongdoers.

Making Money

"There are four sources for the increase of amassed wealth: (1) avoiding debauchery, (2) avoiding drunkenness, (3) non-indulgence in gambling, (4) friendship, companionship, and intimacy with the good-doers.

"Just as in the case of a great tank with four inlets and four outlets, if a person were to open the inlets and close the outlets, and there should also be adequate rainfall, an increase in water is certainly to be expected rather than a decrease. Even so, these four conditions are the sources of increase of amassed wealth.

"These four conditions, Vyagghapajja, are conducive to a householder's wealth and happiness in this very life.

Conditions of Spiritual Progress

Monumental statue with the Moon as the Buddha's aura (happySUN/flickr.com)

 

"Four conditions, Vyagghapajja, conduce to a householder's wealth and happiness in the next life. What are the four?

"The accomplishment: of confidence, virtue, charity, and wisdom.

"What is the accomplishment of confidence?

"Herein a householder is possessed of confidence, believing in the enlightenment of the Wayfarer (Tathagata): Thus, indeed, is that Blessed One: pure, fully enlightened, endowed with liberating knowledge and conduct, well-gone, knower of worlds, incomparable teacher of persons to be tamed, teacher of devas and humans, all-knowing [able to apply his mind to know anything], and blessed. This is called the accomplishment of confidence.

 

"What is the accomplishment of virtue?

"Herein a householder abstains from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and from intoxicants that cause infatuation and heedlessness [lead one to heedlessly ignore the preceding four precepts]. This is called the accomplishment of virtue.

 

"What is the accomplishment of generosity?

"Herein a householder dwells at home with a heart free from the stain of greed (avarice), devoted to generosity, open-handed, delighting in charity, attending to the needy, delighting in the distribution of alms. This is called the accomplishment of generosity.

"What is the accomplishment of wisdom?

"Herein a householder is wise: One is endowed with wisdom that understands the arising and cessation (of the Five Aggregates of existence); one is possessed of the noble penetrating insight that leads to the destruction of suffering. [This suggests that one is a noble disciple, that is, a progressively enlightened householder such as a stream enterer or once returner.] This is called the accomplishment of wisdom.

"These four conditions, Vyagghapajja, conduce to a householder's wealth and happiness in the next life."

Energetic and heedful in every task,

Wisely administering wealth,

One lives a balanced life,

Protecting the wealth one has amassed.

Endowed with confidence and virtue too,

Generous and free of avarice;

One ever works to clear the path

That leads to wealth in future lives.

Thus to the layperson full of trust,

In one rightly called enlightened,

These eight conditions have been told

Which now and after lead to bliss.

New Year: Buddhist Island of Celebration

A.G.S. Kariyawasam, "Buddhist Ceremonies and Rituals of Sri Lanka" (ATI), Ashley Wells, Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Pat Macpherson, Seth Auberon, Dev, Xochitl, Wisdom Quarterly

A new day dawns atop the world (Raimond Klavins/artmif/flickr.com)

Sri Lanka is the teardrop-island off India

Sri Lanka is regarded as a home of Theravada, a less diluted form of Buddhism based on the ancient Pali canon. This school of Buddhism emphasizes the Four Noble Truths as the framework of the Buddha's Dharma or Teaching and the Noble Eightfold Path as the direct route to nirvana, the final goal of the Teaching. 

Buddha, Dambulla, Sri Lanka (NH53/flickr)

However, side by side with this austere and intellectually sophisticated Buddhism of the texts, there is in Sri Lanka a warm current of devotional Buddhism practiced by the general Buddhist population, who may have only a hazy idea of Buddhist doctrine.

In practical life, the gap between the "great tradition" of canonical Buddhism and the average person's world of everyday experience is bridged by a complex round of ceremonies, rituals, and devotional practices that are hardly visible within the canonical texts themselves.

• Faith (saddha) in Buddhism
• Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines
• Going for "refuge" to Buddha, Dharma, Sangha?

The specific forms of ritual and ceremony in the popular mind doubtlessly evolved over the centuries. Likely this devotional approach to the Dharma had its roots in lay Buddhist practice during the time of the Buddha in neighboring India.

Pilgrimage (yatra): Hiking into the clouds of Sri Lanka Gunner's Point (NH53/flickr)

  

For Buddhism, devotion does not mean submitting oneself to the will of a God or a Buddha or taking "refuge" in an external savior. Rather, it is an ardent feeling of love and affection (pema) directed towards the teacher who shows the way to freedom and liberation from all suffering.

Such an attitude inspires the devotee to follow a meditation master's teaching faithfully and earnestly through all the hurdles that lie along the way to nirvana.

 

Aukana Buddha, Sri Lanka (visitserendib.com)

The Buddha often stressed the importance of saddha, confidence or faith in a buddha as the best of teachers, the Dharma or Teaching as the direct vehicle to liberation from the cycle of rebirth-and-suffering, and the Nobles (Ariya-Sangha), those taught the path all the way to success, to direct verification in this very life, to enlightenment.

Unshakeable confidence (aveccappasada) in the Triple Jewels -- Buddha, Dharma, and Noble Sangha -- is one mark of enlightenment. 

The Buddha once stated that those who have sufficient confidence in him (saddha-matta), sufficient affection for him (pema-matta) are bound for rebirth in heavenly worlds as a result of that (mental/heart based) karma. But the heavens are not the goal of Buddhists, who instead aim for final peace, the end of all rebirth and death. (Heavenly rebirths mean eventual falling away when the karma that led one there is exhausted). 

Buddha in Theravada Sri Lanka (WQ)

Many verses of the Theragatha and Therigatha, verses of the ancient elder-monks (theras) and -nuns (theris), convey feelings of deep devotion and a high level of emotional elation.

Although the canonical texts do not indicate that this devotional sensibility had yet come to expression in fully formed rituals, it seems plausible that simple ritualistic observances with feelings of devotion had already begun to take shape even during the Buddha's lifetime. 

Certainly they would have done so shortly after the Buddha's final reclining into nirvana, as is amply demonstrated by the cremation rites themselves, according to the testimony of the discourse on the Great Final-Nirvana (Maha-Pari-nibbana Sutta).

Relics in housed in white stupa, Ruwanwelimahaseya, Ramagama, Sri Lanka (wiki)

  

The Buddha in a sense encouraged a devotional attitude when recommending pilgrimage locations, namely, the four places that can inspire a confident devotee: where he was born, attained enlightenment, delivered the first sermon, and attained final nirvana (DN.ii,140).

 

The Buddha did discourage the wrong kind of emotional attachment to him or anything, as evidenced in the case of Ven. Vakkali Thera, who was reprimanded for his obsession with the beauty of the Buddha's physical appearance: This is a case of misplaced devotion (S.iii,119).

Ritualistic observances also pose a danger that they might be misapprehended as ends in themselves -- instead of being used as they should be when employed as means for channeling devotional emotions into the right path to the ultimate goal. 

It is when they are wrongly practiced that they become impediments rather than aids to the spiritual life. 

It is to warn against this that the Buddha has categorized them, under the term "devotion to mere rules and rituals" (silabbata-paramasa), one of the Ten Fetters (samyojana) binding one to samsara, the Wheel of Rebirth and Suffering, and one of the four types of clinging (upadana). 

Where Buddhism arrived from ancient India, Mahintale, Sri Lanka (NH53/flickr)

  

Correctly observed, as means rather than ends, ritualistic practices can serve to generate wholesome states of mind/heart, while certain other rituals collectively performed can serve as a means of strengthening the social cohesion among those who share the same spiritual ideals.

 

Ceremonies and rituals, as external acts which complement inward contemplative exercises, cannot be called alien to or incompatible with canonical Buddhism. To the contrary, they are an integral part of the living tradition of all schools of Buddhism, including the Theravada.

 

A ritual may be defined here as an outward act performed regularly and consistently in a context that confers upon it a religious significance not immediately evident in the act itself. A composite unity consisting of a number of subordinate ritualistic acts may be called a ceremony. More

Happy New Year from Wisdom Quarterly

Doubt, doubt, what about doubt?

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines (kankhā); Ven. Ñanamoli, Discourse Setting Rolling the Wheel of Truth

Buddhist novices or samaneras (wellhappypeaceful.com)

 

Monastic doll, Thailand (ChristyB30/flickr)

"Doubt" (kankhā) may be either an intellectual uncertainty, or it may be a psychologically detrimental [persistent] skepticism.

The latter may manifest as wavering indecision, which impedes progress on the path. Or it may persist as negative skepticism, which is worse than indecision. 

 

Only this detrimental skeptical doubt (called vicikicchā) should be rejected and replaced. [This can be accomplished by cultivating confidence, faith, or saddha]. It is either useless, harmful, or very karmically unwholesome. It paralyzes thinking and hinders inner development. [It is one of the Five Hindrances to meditation and enlightenment.]
 

Reasoned, critical doubt in dubious matters [when it leads to investigation] is to be encouraged.

 

The 16 doubts enumerated in the sutras (e.g., MN 2 or Middle Length Discourses, second sutra) are the following:
 

Wondering and wondering would keep one revolving in fruitless doubt (Nyanamoli)

1. Have I been in the past [in past lives]?
2. Have I not been in the past?
3. What have I been in the past?
4. How have I been in the past?
5. From what state into what state did I change in the past? 
6. Shall I be in the future?
7. Shall I not be in the future?
8. What shall I be in the future?
9. How shall I be in the future?
10. From what state into what state shall I change in the future?
11. Am I?
12. Am I not?
13. What am I?
14. How am I?
15. From whence has this being come?
16. Where will it go?"

The way to confidence

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Four ways of developing confidence and wisdom are also enumerated throughout the texts. For example, in the Buddha's first discourse ("Turning the Wheel of the Dharma," SN 56.11, see below), he focused on Four Ennobling Truths:

1. What is suffering?
2. What is the cause of suffering?
3. What is the cessation of suffering?
4. What is the way to the cessation of suffering?

These contemplations, particularly when undertaken immediately after emerging from the purifying meditative-absorptions (jhanas) are a source of progress: They lead to direct knowledge, to liberating insight, to complete emancipation (nirvana). They are ennobling inasmuch as they lead to noble attainments.

In that case, What is this thing we translate as "suffering," a translation that leads to so much confusion and debate about whether or not "all conditioned existence is suffering"? The Buddha defines the technical term in the following sutra. We try to avoid confusion by translating the very broad Sanskrit/Pali term dukkha as "disappointment" or "unsatisfactory." For all conditioned existence is unsatisfactory.

The True Wheel

Ven. Ñanamoli Thera, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Discourse Setting Rolling the Wheel of Truth (SN 56.11). Alternate translations by Harvey and Ven. Piyadassi

The Buddha delivering the first sutra or "sermon" to the five ascetics (and countless devas) in the Deer Park, in the suburbs of ancient Varanasi, India

 
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Benares in the Deer Park at Isipatana (the "Resort of Seers"). There he addressed the group of five ascetics [his former companions prior to his enlightenment].

 

"These two extremes ought not to be cultivated by one gone forth from the household life. What are the two? There is devotion to indulgence of pleasure in the objects of sensual desire, which is inferior, low, vulgar, ignoble, and leads to no good. And there is devotion to self-torment [self-mortification, severe asceticism, insane austerities as distinct from the 13 Sane Ascetic Practices], which is painful, ignoble, and leads to no good.

 

"The middle way discovered by a Tathagata ["Wayfarer," Welcome One," "Well Gone One"] avoids both of these extremes; it gives vision, it gives knowledge, and it leads to peace, to direct acquaintance, to discovery, to nirvana. What is that middle way?

It is simply the Noble Eightfold Path, that is to say, right view, right intention; right speech, right action, right livelihood; right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

 

What is "suffering"?

"The noble truth of suffering is this: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, sorrow and lamentation (crying), pain, grief, and despair are suffering; association with the loathed is suffering, dissociation from the loved is suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering -- in short, suffering is the Five Aggregates of Clinging.

 

"The noble truth of the cause (origin) of suffering is: It is the craving [clinging, attachment based on ignorance of how things really are] that produces renewal of being accompanied by enjoyment and lust, enjoying this and that -- in other words, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for [eternal-] existence, or craving for non-existence [annihilation].

 

"The noble truth of the cessation (end) of suffering is: It is the remainderless fading and ceasing, giving up, relinquishing, letting go, and rejecting [by insight not willpower] of this craving [which is always rooted in ignorance].

 

"The noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering is: It is simply the Noble Eightfold Path....

 

"'The noble truth of suffering is this.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the finding, the light that arose in regard to ideas not heard by me before. 

"'The noble truth of suffering can be diagnosed.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the finding, the light that arose in regard to ideas never before heard by me. 

"'The noble truth of suffering has been diagnosed.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the finding, the light that arose in regard to ideas never before heard by me.

 

"'The noble truth of origin of suffering is this.' Such was the vision... 'This origin of suffering, as a noble truth, can be abandoned.' Such was the vision... More