Subject: Popular Tantra: A Pair of Examples
From: [email-masked]
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern

POPULAR TANTRA: A Pair of Examples

Taken from 'Meditation' Magazine.
_____________________________________________________________

Divine Sexuality 
by David A. Ramsdale, M.A.

While it is true that Tantra does embrace sexual energy as a vehicle
for raising consciousness, that is only the beginning of the Tantric
journey.  Rather than fixating on its historical association with
eroticism, Tantra is better defined as the art of transcending the
socialized veneer to experience one's primal identity.

Just as Tibetan Buddhists today describe the absolute consciousness,
with its openness and infinite ability to nourish, as feminine, so did
the ancient Tantra turn to the metaphors of the Goddess and the Mother
for its symbols of the authentic Self.

The implication of this is that one attains by becoming a lover, not a
fighter.  To fight with one's self, to struggle with and try to suppress
the content of one's own mind, is basic to our culture.  We become so
familiar with fighting that it eventually seems natural.  We then
graduate to expecting and co-creating conflict on the outside with
each other.

Life is a Touching Experience

The Tantric fascination with the Mother has another, more concrete, 
basis.   In tribal and agrarian societies where Tantra originated thousands 
of years ago, the child stayed close to the mother.  If she was not being
held or carried with her genetic mother, she was in physical contact with
another female member of the tribe, a grandmother perhaps (remember the
Native American papoose?).  Studies of tribes that have maintained this
practice until today show an impressive lack of violence.

To enter the physical dimension is such a great shock that enormous care
must be given to the being in the womb and to the infant.  It is fear and
isolation, the result of the usual break in contact, that creates most of
our personal and social problems.  We adults have plenty of catching up
to do.  We need tactile contact in order to remain sane, not just in the
form of making love, but as massage, hugging, cuddling and tender caresses.

                 *****************************************

                           SEX IS NATURE'S LSD

                 *****************************************

We tend to forget that when Tantra first became available thousands of
years ago, its students were people raised in a non-violent, body-positive,
mother-dominated society.  So it is important for us to make an effort to set
aside our Judeo-Christian, sex-negative 'head' and instead try to look at
Tantra through entirely fresh eyes, through eyes that looked out in awe upon
Nature in Her untouched glory, not at Her waning twilight.  The 'Mother' was
then felt to be, not the biological person, but the source of life itself, the
great nurturer - and destroyer.

If we can accept this point of view at least on a trial basis, then perhaps 
we can arrive a little closer to the spirit of Tantra.  If you and your partner
are about to make love, for instance, this means jettisoning much of the 
socio-cultural flotsam that fills your skull and replacing it with this more
'primitive' view.  Our sexual 'head' is all the thoughts about sex that we have
acquired.  In Zen, we would say chop off the head and then act.

Jeff and Marie used my Just Touch technique to accomplish this.  Moving very
slowly, they focused their attention totally on just the sensations they
were feeling at the point of contact between their eager bodies.  As Jeff
explained it to me, "I was totally in the now, yet an eternity of ecstasy
seemed to stretch out before me.  When you explore your sensual communion
without thought, boredom goes out the window no matter how long you've
been lovers."

Goddess and God

Now that we have adjusted our views of Tantra, we can look at another great
innovation from Tantra, the god-goddess model.  In addition to our alienation
from the Mother and from Nature, we are burdened by a dearth of paradigms for
spiritual marriage.

The love of Romeo and Juliet was true, but it ended in tragedy.  In contrast
the Radha and Krishna of India are depicted as sporting in eternal, erotic
dalliance.  Enjoying a heaven on Earth, they celebrate each other with
undivided devotion.

When one's partner is regarded as a goddess or god, this accomplishes a 
major positive adjustment in attitude.  It facilitates surrender, engenders
appreciation and encourages respect.  For example, I regard my wife as an
emanation of a certain Hindu goddess.  To me, it is a literal fact.

To view each other as goddess and god is an intermediate step.  From an
absolute standpoint, no description is adequate.  But to positively
and consistently regard the other as Other, as god or goddess and not
human per se, is to set the stage for a heaven on Earth.  The typical
angst about the partner is diluted.  Perhaps they are a fallen goddess
or god, but their root, their identity, is divine.  And this much is closer
to the truth.  So to regard each other as goddess and god is a skillful,
exciting concept that leaves lots of room for spontaneity and creativity
while assuring a nourishing emotional tone.

Whole-Body Ecstasy

Tantra works with the sex-emotion axis in our psyches.  The full flowering
of the Tantric way is colorful, ecstatic, artistic, musical, joyful, a
celebration in, of and with every sense.  Though just as complete a path
as the one practiced by its austere cousins, the monks and nuns, Tantra
explodes the colors, tones, shapes and energies of feeling.  And feeling
cannot be separated from sexuality, from sensual expression, from, in
the broader sense, the energy of life.

Tantra does not want to suppress at all.  For this reason, it is very good
for our society.  It is an antidote.  We are victims of our own monsters, of
our suppressed energies that have been reborn in twisted form.  Violence,
for example, is just a pathological form of our need to touch and be
touched.  The forces of life cannot be denied.  That much is certain.

Sex is Nature's LSD.  At the cellular level, we sense that an ecstasy
of the whole body is possible.  When it is ignored, this spontaneous
urge for ecstasy expresses as materialistic accumulating, body weight
problems, failing relationships, sex difficulties, superficial cravings.
Tantra not only says you deserve ecstasy, the source of ecstasy lies
within you, not just as sex but in a whole-body release that ultimately
takes the form of melting into oneness.

Tantric Orgasm

Sex is the beginning, but it is not the end.  When I started with Tantra,
sex meant having intercourse with a partner.  Now, sex means a feeling
experience of the unified compassionate energy of the cosmos.  I now
view orgasm as a meditation and have learned how to achieve an orgasmic
state quickly and easily without genital stimulation.  Therefore, I have
acquired a valuable degree of autonomy from my physical lover, and
turn more and more to the great feminine ocean of beneficent energy as
my ever-present Beloved.

Perhaps you are interest in this, so I will tell you how to do it.  In a
sitting position, take a few deep breaths.  Focus in the sexual region.
Recall a very pleasurable orgasmic or other erotic experience.  Now
relive this experience in your mind, attempting to feel it again in your
body as if it is happening right now.  As you do this, continue to breathe
more deeply than usual.  Roll your eyes up and put your attention at the
center or top of your head.  Encourage a feeling of yearning for intimacy
and ecstasy.  Yield.  Surrender.  Melt.  It may help to sway side to side
slightly or otherwise to loosen up the pelvis and back to that energy
can flow freely.  Eventually you will be able to have a mild orgasm most
any time you like.

The application of this techinique to partner practice is straightforward.
Obviously, you don't have to remember an erotic experience - you are
having one!  As the energy builds up, send it to your partner.  Benefits may
include a new comfort with sexual issues, better meditations, an improved
relationship or attracting a new Tantric partner.

Follow Your Bliss

This is Tantra - taste it, feel it, live it, be it.  The successful, spiritual
life feels good, and when you feel good, you are good to other people, too.
To place a respectful twist on a familiar Bible phrase, 'What you do unto
yourself you will do unto others.'  There's no need to wait.  Go ahead.  Feel
good now.  You deserve it.  Feeling good is a sign that cosmic intelligence
is at work in your life.

There is much more to Tantra than this, but I think this is a good
introduction.  In institutional Tantra, as with the Buddhists, there are
many rules and special meditations and traditions to be honored.  But
the spirit is still the same, which encourages us to do what is truly
close to our hearts.  The late mythologist Joseph Campbell, when asked
to summarize his message, replied 'Follow your bliss.'  Do what excites
you, he elaborated, what makes you feel good.

We cannot leave meditation, the practice of being awake and aware, out
of this for it is the cornerstone.  But all too often we forget that
meditation is about joy.  Mindfulness, prayer, devotion, stillness,
pilgrimage, respecting the teacher, these are all part of Tantra too.
The heart of Tantra, though, is spontaneous and free, and no system
will ever capture it.  What is spontaneous is true.

-------------------

David A. Ramsdale, M.A., is coauthor of _Sexual Energy Ecstasy_, the new
video 'Tantra Love' and 6 audio tapes on Tantra.  He currently gives
workshops through The Learning Annex in San Diego, CA.  For more information,
call Peak Skill Publishing at (619) 222-0004 or The Learning Annex at
(619) 544-9700.
----------------------------------------------------------------

What is Tantra?
By Charles and Caroline Muir

Ancient Tantra is a spiritual system in which sexual love is a sacrament.
Modern Tantra has been developed based on tantric philosophical concepts
and techniques that are applicable to modern lifestyles.  It is a system
that can elevate a couple's relationship to the level of art.  We refer to
it as 'The Art of Conscious Loving.'

Tantra teaches important tools for today's couples who are searching
for a significantly different way of relating to each other and, as a by-
product, to heal the wounds of their past sexual traumas.  Tantra asserts
that negative imprints from sexual preconceptions and past experiences
make their home in the region of the second chakra, the sexual center in
the area of the genitals.

The first step toward healing our sexual scars is to shine the light of
our consciousness on our second chakras, so we can see what is creating
the block, fear, coldness, anger or just plain craziness.  Imagine the
second chakra as a doorway into a room filled with your personal
sexual belongings.  You must enter this rom with a lantern held high
against the darkness.  You must walk through the room, past everything
in it, in order to overcome your personal obstacles.  Each time you enter
with the light, you will eradicate a little bit of the darkness.

Western therapies require the individual to enter this room of 
preconceptions and past experiences alone.  One the other hand, Tantric 
Yoga exhorts the couple to make the journey together utilizing the 
techniques that Tantra teaches.  Their combined strength makes for an 
easier opening of those doors within themselves, thus helping them 
balance and heal each other.

In combination, the couple can nullify deficiencies by teaching one
another the secrets of their separate strengths.  They can use the art,
science, and ritual of Tantric lovemaking to achieve a powerful, healing
union.  This yoga can replace dark memories with a bright present, create
a new understanding of the meaning of sex and sexuality and partnership,
and banish jealousy, possessiveness, and other ghosts of the past in the
face of the absolute self-assurance the Tantric couple gains in the
practice of the art.

-------------------------------------

Charles and Caroline Muir are the authors of _Tantra: The Art of Conscious
Loving_ and hold seminars in Hawaii, California and Colarado.  For more
information, call (808) 572-8364.

From: [email-masked]
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Popular Tantra: Two More Examples

POPULAR TANTRA: Two More Examples

The first is from 'Tantra: The Magazine, TARA 1991'
__________________________________________________________________

Why Tantra?
By Robert Frey

The Tantric path with its diverse ways and practices, developed long ago in
several cultures, has begun to emerge from a lengthy dormant period and now
promises to flourish again.  A new Tantra is being created, blending ancient
and modern healing and transformational skills.  The current flow of history
is ripe for Tantra - why?

The nature of the modern industrialized civilization now dominating the
world is separation.  With all its focus on material possessions and the
intense preoccupation with 'getting', a deeply essential human/spiritual
need has been denied - the need to connect, to create union.  The desire to
share has been sublimated to the desire called greed, the urge to have
and control more power and possessions than others.  Getting (as
distinguished from receiving) usually precludes giving, and in doing so
disavows the honoring of Spirit, in others and in self.  Getting without
giving is the outward expression of the inner imbalance of push without
yield, assertion/aggression/control without surrender/flow/receptivity.
It is the yang without the yin.  Getting is about trying to dominate the
world without opening the heart.  The energy only flows one way, and thus
separation is created and maintained.

Separation, extreme as it has become, has begun to arouse in us all the deep
desire to be connected with others.  Separation is maintained by a thinking
aspect of the mind called the ego, whose primary motivating energy comes
from "fear thoughts", fears and thoughts of lack - ultimately lack of love,
for self and others.  Thus separation can be said to have two components:
An energetic pattern in which the open flow of energy and sensation is
blocked, incomplete, or unidirectional, and secondly, a mental state that
displaces love with thoughts and feelings of lack and fear.  In a culture
such as our modern Western materialistic society, people are conditioned
to be unaware of their energy or unskillful in commanding it, thus habitually
blocking its natural flow.  Energetically they live cut off from others and
from aspects of themselves.  Likewise, most people are trained to run their
lives from their fear-based ego thinking, accepting a misconception that
separation and absence of intimacy with others is the human condition and
to be expected.  The pain of this pervasive separation has begun to arouse
a widespread interest in understanding and healing this "dysfunction".

Tantra offers relief from the components of separation on both accounts.
The classic partner energy meditation found in the major Tantric traditions,
as well as the practices for individuals, effectively serve to train
awareness and command of the natural energetic flows both within each
person and between people.  Given awareness and command, anyone with
Tantric skill can reclaim the natural experience of union and connection.
The meditations also serve to quiet the thinking mind and with it the fears
and fear thoughts which maintain and justify separation, offering instead
moments of relief and inner peace.  From the place of peace, openness to
others is possible and through the Tantric practices, openness can lead
to connection and even to the blissful experience of union.  Indeed a
popular definition of Tantra is, "to connect, unite"; to make a deep
connection, to create unity or union is the healing of separation, the
living of "bliss function" - Tantra.

----------------------------------------

Robert Frey, M.A., Ph.D. candidate in Psychology, has 10 years experience
and teaching in a variety of Tantric schools; monthly transformational
Tantric workshops in San Diego area (619) 943-8639 and San Francisco
Bay area (415) 924-LIVE.  Private sessions and mystical nature retreats
in Sedona, Mt. Shasta, and other sites by arrangement.  Direct contact:
(602) 282-1894, or P.O. Box 2151, Sedona, AZ, 86336.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Tantra: The Magazine': P.O. Box 79, Torreon, NM 87061-0079, (505) 271-3155.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

>From 'Utne Reader', an excerpt from 'The Advocate'

Learning From the Masters: A School for Sadomasochism
By David Perry
______________________________________________________________________

Karen Mendelsohn is probably the only student of Tibetan Buddhism ever
to open a school for sadomasochism.  Mendelsohn, 46, says, "But I've
always had these schoolmarm fantasies, so..."

The school that mistress Mendelsohn oversees is Quality S/M (QSM),
a kind of community-college extension service for people interested
in exploring S/M.  Operating out of Mendelsohn's storefront apartment
in San Francisco's outer Mission district, QSM offers a wide variety
of classes, workshops, lectures, and hands-on sessions of interest to
both the novice and the expert.

"The average person's image of S/M is of crazed Nazis," says Mendelsohn.
"And certainly before I got involved in it, I thought that people who did
S/M were maladjusted and waiting around the waterfront to drink your
blood."

Mendelsohn first encountered S/M when she answered a personal ad placed
by a man looking for 'erotic adventures,' she recalls.  "There was no sexual
energy between us, but boy, did he turn me on to a bunch of groups interested
in the same thing."  She was soon a member of two San Francisco S/M groups,
Outcasts and the Society of Janus.

The magazine rack in Mendelsohn's classroom teems with titles such as
'Quim', 'Taste of Latex', 'Dungeon Master', 'The Sandmutopia Guardian',
and an especially graphic S/M 'zine titled 'Brat Attack'.  There's a
plastic apple on her desk, hooks in the ceiling - they're used in 'hanging
seminars' - and in the corner, a sturdy plastic-covered table used in the
Advanced Fisting class.

"This is not a sex club," Mendelsohn says.  "The fisting workshop is one of
the most extreme classes we offer, but we absolutely do not allow students
to participate in [fisting].  The class watches, listens and learns."

Graphic descriptions aside, one might find it hard to keep an Advanced Fisting
class quiet.  Ditto for the snapping of whips and orders barked during the
Nazi Interrogation workshop or the Branding for Beginners seminar ("There's
no sound quite like the hiss of [a hot] brand meeting flesh," the class
description reads.)

"In the same way that Eskimos have many words for snow," Mendelsohn notes
in a carefully practiced analogy, "people who do S/M should have many words
for pain.  What people not into S/M don't understand is that there is a very
strong element of playacting.  If people in this community say 'Do you want
to play?' they mean 'Do you want to do S/M?'  This is the language of
childhood, and in some ways, S/M is a grown-up version of playing cowboys
and Indians."

Mendelsohn feels "somewhat lucky" that no one has ever been physically
damaged at QSM, although it's "certainly possible," she says.  "Do I think
that S/M can be dangerous?"  Mendelsohn asks.  "Yes.  And a lot of people
see that danger as exciting.  When I was a kid, I loved scarey movies.  I
enjoyed being scared.  Why do people get on a roller coaster, scream their
heads off, and get on again and again?  Fear.  It can be a real rush."

While she is an active member of the S/M community, Mendelsohn does not
look down her nose at what some would consider vanilla sex, nor does she
believe that all people would enjoy S/M.  And she declines to draw a
hard-and-fast line between the "normal" and the "kinky."  "People into
S/M probably wear more leather than others," she says, "and enjoy a
power differential.  I mean, where does rough sex end and S/M begin?"
Mendelsohn adds that the AIDS epidemic has led to a marked increase
in S/M options and fantasies.

"There's a saying among the S/M people: They used to say we're sick,
now we're safe," she says.  "A lot of what constitutes S/M is very safe
sex and in no way involves the exchange of bodily fluids.  You don't
have to have a lot of props to do S/M.  You can practice S/M by serving
someone pizza or cleaning someone's apartment.  The defining element
of S/M is people being consciously aware that they are setting up a
power dynamic for erotic or spiritual purposes.

"Both S/M and Buddhism are about adding intensity to everyday life.
Tibetan Buddhism deals with energy - the chanting, the ceremony, the
ritual - and S/M is about bringing up energy.  And whatever else pain
does," says Mendelsohn with a grin, "it does get your attention."

---------------------------------------------

The Advocate: Box 590, Mt. Morris, IL 61054-7827; A gaylesbian biweekly.
Or call, (800) 827-0561.  This is an excerpt from the May 5, 1992 issue.

From: [email-masked] (Bill Kish)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Hakuin's Yabukoji

	Just a few passages from Hakuin's letter "in response to a
request by an eminent and esteemed lady attending on the Lord of
Okayama Castle, during his retirement into seclusion" (aka Yabukoji,
Aridisia Japonica: a small evergreen shrub).  The translation is by
Philip B. Yampolsky in "The Zen Master Hakuin, Selected Writings".
For anyone who is not familiar with Hakuin, I've also included some of
Yampolsky's introduction.

-Bill

-
On Hakuin:

	The mid-Tokugawa period priest Hakuin is known as the reviver
of Rinzai zen.  All present day Rinzai masters trace themselves to
him. The system developed by Hakuin and his disciples, their approach
toward Zen as a school of Buddhism, and their procedures for mastering
it, constitute the Zen of the Rinzai monasteries of today.
	Hakuin insisted that, for Zen meditation practice, the
practitioner must have three basic qualities: an over-riding faith, a
great doubt when facing koans, and a strong aspiration and
perseverance. The student's first task was to see into his own true
nature (kensho).  To this end Hakuin championed the Mu koan and later
in his life the Sekishu no onjo, the "Sound of the Single Hand," a
koan which he himself devised.

-

>From the Yabukoji (pg 163 - 164):

	Five or six years ago I made up my mind to instruct everyone
by saying, "Listen to the Sound of the Single Hand."  I have come to
realize that this koan is infinitely more effective in instructing
people than any of the methods I had used before.  It seems to raise
the ball of doubt in people much more easily and the readiness with
which progress in meditation is made has been as different as the
clouds are from the earth.  Thus I have come to encourage the
meditation on the Single Hand exclusively.
	What is the Sound of the Single Hand ?  When you clap together
both hands a sharp sound is heard; when you raise the one hand there
is neither sound nor smell.  Is this the High Heaven of which
Confucious speaks ?  Or is it the essentials of what Yamamba (the
mountain witch in the title of a Noh play) describes in these words:
"The echo of the completely empty valley bears tidings heard from the
soundless sound ?"  This is something that can by no means be heard
with the ear.  If conceptions and discriminations are not mixed within
it and it is quite apart from seeing, hearing, perceiving, and
knowing, and if, while walking, standing, sitting, and reclining, you
proceed straightforwardly without interruption in the study of this
koan, then in the place where reason is exhausted and words are ended,
you will suddenly pluck out the karmic root of birth and death and
break down the cave of ignorance.  Thus you will attain to a peace in
which the phoenix has left the golden net and the crane has been set
free of the basket.  At this time the basis of mind, consciousness, and
emotion is suddenly shattered; the realm of illusion with its endless
sinking in the cycle of birth and death is overturned.  The treasure
accumulation of the Three Bodies and the Four wisdoms is taken away,
and the miraculous realm of the Six Supernatural Powers and the Three
Insights is transcended.

pg 166-167

	Ah, how difficult to obtain and difficult to receive is the
body of a man !  How difficult to meet and rarely to be heard is the
Buddhadharma !  But having received it and having heard of it, men
still long after illusory fame and profit, wallow in meaningless greed
and love, and spend their whole lives in vain.  Then they return to
their despised and dangerous former abodes in the three evil realms
and receive their endless torments.  What a sad and regrettable thing
this is !  Hated, and deservedly so, is the filth of the mundane
world; feared, and rightly so, is the bitter fruit of the six paths
and the three evil ways.  In Buddhism belief in cause and effect and
fear of suffering is considered the great wisdom; those who awaken to
their own minds and penetrate to their own natures are learned sages,
Buddhas, and Patriarchs.  What a sad lot are those great fools who
possess some worldly knowledge and conceptions !  They read a few
volumes of the scriptures, listen to a few lectures, and call
themselves wise and illustrious.  Saying that they have destroyed
cause and effect and done away with the three periods (past, present,
and future), they consider themselves wise and knowledgeable.
They look at people who believe in cause and effect, fear the fact of
rebirth, recite the sutras, offer ceremonies, and practice compassion
and good works, and then clap their hands and roar with laughter at
them.  What sort of mental state is this ?

pg 168-169

	In examining well the workings of the rising and sinking of
the cycle of birth and death in this world, we see instances where
people, lacking in the power of blessings that will allow them to be
born in heaven, yet not having the evil karma to make them fall into
hell, unexpectedly find rebirth in this filthy world.  Some are noble,
some base, some rich, some poor, some wise, some stupid, some clever,
some dull.  You must bear in mind that this is a reflection of the
quality of their deeds in a former life.  Those of noble and elevated
station lack the blessings to be born in heaven; those miserable and
starving lack the evil karma that will send them to hell.  A
frightening and sobering prospect indeed !  I urge everyone to labor
and strive before this dew-like life is ended and the physical body
disintegrates, to stand in fear and trembling and seek to hear for
himself the Sound of the Single Hand.

From: "anthony p. king" <[email-masked]>
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: CTN HH the Dalai Lama Speech Text

Hello -- here's the speech text from HH the Dalai Lama's speech to the
NGO conference at the UN Convention on Human Rights that "greechie@latech"
asked for (I received this through BUDDHA-L on LISTSERV)
Peace, and of course SarvaMangalam, Tony.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1993 02:00:04 -0400
>From: Nima <[email-masked]>
To: Bod Rangzen <[email-masked]>
Subject: CTN HH the Dalai Lama Speech Text

<forwarded by:  [email-masked] >
from tibet.news

/* ---------- "The Dalai Lama text of Address to N" ---------- */ 

HUMAN RIGHTS AND UNIVERSAL RESPONSIBILITY

HIS HOLINESS THE XIV DALAI LAMA OF TIBET

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
THE UNITED NATIONS WORLD CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS

15 JUNE, 1993
Vienna, AUSTRIA

  Our world is becoming smaller and ever more interdependent with the rapid
growth in population and increasing contact between people and governments.
In this light, it is important to reassess the rights and responsibilities
of individuals, peoples and nations in relation to each other and to the
planet as a whole.  This World Conference of organizations and governments
concerned about the rights and freedoms of people throughout the world
reflects the appreciation of our interdependence.

  No matter what country or continent we come from we are all basically the
same human beings.  We have the common human needs and concerns.  We all
seek happiness and try to avoid suffering regardless of our race, religion,
sex or political status.  Human beings, indeed all sentient beings, have the
right to pursue happiness and live in peace and in freedom.  As free human
beings we can use our unique intelligence to try to understand ourselves and
our world.  But if we are prevented from using our creative potential, we
are deprived of one of the basic characteristics of a human being.  It is
very often the most gifted, dedicated and creative members of our society
who become victims of human rights abuses.  Thus the political, social,
cultural and economic developments of a society are obstructed by the
violations of human rights.  Therefore, the protection of these rights and
freedoms are of immense importance both for the individuals affected and for
the development of t! he society as a whole.

  It is my belief that the lack of understanding of the true cause of
happiness is the principal reason why people inflict suffering on others. 
Some people think that causing pain to others may lead to their own
happiness or that their own happiness is of such importance that the pain of
others is of no significance.  But this is clearly shortsighted.  No one
truly benefits from causing harm to another being.  Whatever immediate
advantage is gained at the expense of someone else is short-lived.  In the
long run causing others misery and infringing upon their peace and happiness
creates anxiety, fear and suspicion for oneself.

  The key to creating a better and more peaceful world is the development of
love and compassion for others.  This naturally means we must develop
concern for our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate than we are.  In
this respect, the non-governmental organizations have a key role to play. 
You not only create awareness for the need to respect the rights of all
human beings, but also give the victims of human rights violations hope for
a better future.

  When I travelled to Europe for the first time in 1973, I talked about the
increasing interdependence of the world and the need to develop a sense of
universal responsibility.  We need to think in global terms because the
effects of one nation's actions are felt far beyond its borders.  The
acceptance of universally 

  binding standards of Human Rights as laid down in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenants of Human
Rights is essential in today's shrinking world. Respect for fundamental
human rights should not remain an ideal to be achieved but a requisite
foundation for every human society.

  When we demand the rights and freedoms we so cherish we should also be
aware of our responsibilities.  If we accept that others have an equal right
to peace and happiness as ourselves do we not have a responsibility to help
those in need?  Respect for fundamental human rights is as important to the
people of Africa and Asia as it is to those in Europe or the Americas.  All
human beings, whatever their cultural or historical background, suffer when
they are intimidated, imprisoned or tortured.  The question of human rights
is so fundamentally important that there should be no difference of views on
this.  We must therefore insist on a global consensus not only on the need
to respect human rights world wide but more importantly on the definition of
these rights.  

  Recently some Asian governments have contended that the standards of human
rights laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are those
advocated by the West and cannot be applied to Asia and others parts of the
Third World because of differences in culture and differences in social and
economic development. I do not share this view and I am convinced that the
majority of Asian people do not support this view either, for it is the
inherent nature of all human beings to yearn for freedom, equality and
dignity, and they have an equal to achieve that. I do not see any
contradiction between the need for economic development and the need for
respect of human rights. The rich diversity of cultures and religions should
help to strengthen the fundamental human rights in all communities.  Because
underlying this diversity are fundamental principles that bind us all as
members of the same human family. Diversity and traditions can never justify
the violations of human righ! ts.  Thus discrimination of person
s from a different race, of women, and of weaker sections of society may be
traditional in some regions, but if they are inconsistent with universally
recognized human rights, these forms of behavior must change.  The universal
principles of equality of all human beings must take precedence.

  It is mainly the authoritarian and totalitarian regimes who are opposed to
the universality of human rights. It would be absolutely wrong to concede to
this view.  On the contrary, such regimes must be made to respect and
conform to the universally accepted principles in the larger and long term
interests of their own peoples.  The dramatic changes in the past few years
clearly indicate that the triumph of human rights is inevitable.

  There is a growing awareness of peoples' responsibilities to each other
and to the planet we share.  This is encouraging even though so much
suffering continues to be inflicted based on chauvinism, race, religion,
ideology and history.  A new hope is emerging for the downtrodden, and
people everywhere are displaying a willingness to champion and defend the
rights and freedoms of their fellow human beings.

  Brute force, no matter how strongly applied, can never subdue the basic
human desire for freedom and dignity.  It is not enough, as communist
systems have assumed, merely to provide people with food, shelter and
clothing.  The deeper human nature needs to breathe the precious air of
liberty.  However, some governments still consider the fundamental human
rights of its citizens an internal matter of the state. They do not accept
that the fate of a people in any country is the legitimate concern of the
entire human family and that claims to sovereignty are not a license to
mistreat one's citizens.  It is not only our right as members of the global
human family to protest when our brothers and sisters are being treated
brutally, but it is also our duty to do whatever we can to help them.

  Artificial barriers that have divided nations and peoples have fallen in
recent times.  With the dismantling of Berlin wall the East - West division
which has polarized the whole world for decades has now come to an end.  We
are experiencing a time filled with hope and expectations.  Yet there still
remains a major gulf at the heart of the human family.  By this I am
referring to the North-South divide.  If we are serious in our commitment to
the fundamental principles of equality, principles which, I believe, lie at
the heart of the concept of human rights, today's economic disparity can no
longer be ignored.  It is not enough to merely state that all human beings
must enjoy equal dignity.  This must be translated into action. We have a
responsibility to find ways to achieve a more equitable distribution of
world's resources.

  We are witnessing a tremendous popular movement for the advancement of
human rights and democratic freedom in the world.  This movement must become
an even more powerful moral force, so that even the most obstructive
governments and armies are incapable of suppressing it.  This conference is
an occasion for all of us to reaffirm our commitment to this goal. It is
natural and just for nations, peoples and individuals to demand respect for
their rights and freedoms and to struggle to end repression, racism,
economic exploitation, military occupation, and various forms of colonialism
and alien domination.  Governments should actively support such demands
instead of only paying lip service to them.

  As we approach the end of the Twentieth Century, we find that the world is
becoming one community.  We are being drawn together by the grave problems
of over population, dwindling natural resources, and an environmental crisis
that threaten the very foundation of our existence on this planet.  Human
rights, environmental protection and great social and economic equality, are
all interrelated. I believe that to meet the challenges of our times, human
beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. 
Each of us must learn to work not just for one self, one's own family or
one's nation, but for the benefit of all humankind.  Universal
responsibility is the key to human survival.  It is the best foundation for
world peace.

  This need for co-operation can only strengthen humankind, because it helps
us to recognize that the most secure foundation for a new world order is not
simply broader political and economic alliances, but each individual's
genuine practice of love and compassion.  These qualities are the ultimate
source of human happiness, and our need for them lies at the very core of
our being.  The practice of compassion is not idealistic, but the most
effective way to pursue the best interests of others as well as our own. 
The more we become interdependent the more it is in our own interest to
ensure the well-being of others.

  I believe that one of the principal factors that hinder us from fully
appreciating our interdependence is our undue emphasis on material
development.  We have become so engrossed in its pursuit that, unknowingly,
we have neglected the most basic qualities of compassion, caring and
cooperation.  When we do not know someone or do not feel connected to an
individual or group, we tend to overlook their needs.  Yet, the development
of human society requires that people help each other.

  I, for one, strongly believe that individuals can make a difference in
society.  Every individual has a responsibility to help more our global
family in the right direction and we must each assume that responsibility. 
As a Buddhist monk, I try to develop compassion within myself, not simply as
a religious practice, but on a human level as well.  To encourage myself in
this altruistic attitude, I sometimes find it helpful to imagine myself
standing as a single individual on one side, facing a huge gathering of all
other human beings on the other side.  Then I ask myself, 'Whose interests
are more important?'  To me it is quite clear that however important I may
feel I am, I am just one individual while others are infinite in number and
importance.

  Thank you

Released by the Tibetan Delegation to the United Nations World Conference on
Human Rights, Vienna, Austria.

From: [email-masked] (Tawit Chitsomboon)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Buddhadasa's Natural Method for Enlightenment
Date: 1 Aug 1993 01:34:59 -0700
Approved: [email-masked] (Aaron Nabil)

Buddhadasa's Natural Method for Enlightenment.

I feel that I did Ajahn Buddhadas a disservice in describing his
natural method as the path of working. Actually, work is just
a part of the method. Allow me to elaborate more.

He taught that a natural method must be balanced in Sila (Morality),
Samadhi (right concentration), and Panna (right wisdom). First
and foremost of all there must be a form of Panna which is the
first of the noble 8-fold path, i.e., right understanding (SammaDhitti).
It is not by coincidence that this point was put as the first by the
Buddha. Without right understanding, Sila and Samadhi will not be right
either. With right understanding, all the rest 7-folds will fall
into their rightful places automatically but they were spelled out
for the sake of guidance and completness.

Now when one has a right understanding (of course initially it's only
on an intellectual level), one would try to be as moral as one could.
In the initial stage, the worldly morality will serve as a strong base
to develop right samadhi. In a deeper sense, Sila is nothing but a
normalcy of the mind. When one is naturally moral, the mind is in its
state of normalcy (i.e., it won't swing back and forth towards positive
or negative extremes.)

The state of normalcy of the mind then serve as a strong base for
samadhi. Samadhi that is developed thru the un-natural method of
'meditation' is often too strong and often result in undesirable
side effects (like realistic hallucination). Samadhi in the natural way
is better in at least two aspects: 1. It is just about right for the mind
to perform its duty, not too weak or too strong; 2. It is productive. 
We should develop our samadhi by being mindful of our actions all
the time in our daily chores; that is we are careful about our
physical action, speech, and thought according to the right Sila. And 
when we work, we do it with a total samadhi and the right understanding 
that we are performing a rightful human duty to make human society to be 
a rightful place to live. To be able to do that, we must work with 
emptimindedness, without attachment. When there is any production 
from our work we dedicate them all to Emptiness.

When we work which such purity of the mind we will see that it is
the most productive way to work and we will gradually come to
respect our own selves so much so that we can pay homage to our
own selves (of course this is a dangerous practice ).

The right Sila and the Right Samadhi in a natural way like this will
finally lead to Piti and Pramote ( bliss and Rapture?) At this stage,
if the mind contemplate dhamma (which would come naturally as well)
or listening or reading an appropriate teaching,
it will be very easy to understand. All the rest of the factors of 
enlightenment will come naturally to complete the factors of enlightenment
in such a way that we will have a 'right knowledge' to understand that all 
things are impermanent, suffering, and without self entity 
(Anicca, Dhukkha, Anatta). A permanent liberation is thus gained
naturally and easily. Most of the people in the Buddha's  time
attained Enlightenment this way, not by the brute force technique of
meditation.

So we see that a lesser Panna is needed to start with to guide
the Sila and Samadhi to be on the right track so that the greater 
Panna could develop. 

When I was a young man in my teens, i often wondered that Buddhism
is not a practical religion in that we all have to sit in meditation.
I reasoned: If all people of this world become Buddhists and all are
so devout as to doing nothing but sitting in meditation, what do we eat?
Ajahn Buddhadas's natural method really expels my doubt. It should be
the method that every buddhist follows . Supplementing it with
established meditation techniques from time to time as conditions permitted
will surely help accelerate the process.

The Buddha never taught things that are far removed from every day
practical needs of human being. It seems so though as more and more
barks are added to cover the real core of Buddhism. Thanks to
Ajahn Buddhadas for restoring this natural technique; the world
needs this technique more than ever before.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Live a proper live, and this world will not be vacant of Arahats."
	-Siddhattha Gotama.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [email-masked]
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: Tibetan Monks and their Chanting methods
Date: 3 Aug 1993 14:02:13 -0700
Approved: [email-masked] (Toshi Takeuchi)

[email-masked] (QUADZILLA) writes:

> I was wondering if anyone knew any details about the chanting     
> methods of the Tibetan monks.  The monks supposedly have a strange 
> chanting method, whereby an unusual chord is produced.  Does anyone know  
> how to produce this chord?  What about the reason for producing this        
> chord...does it facilitate the meditation/visualization process?  Thanks    
> in advance.  

Theodore Levin writing about David Hykes Harmonic Choir (which employs
the overtone chanting used by Tibetan monks as well as the 'Hoomi' singing 
indigenous to Western Mongolia and the Tuvan region of the Russian Far East) 
writes (I abridge slightly):

"In harmonic music, singers produce a fundamental tone and then by 
precise modulation of the abdominal muscles, chest and vocal apparatus
-- larynx, tongue, jaws, cheeks and lips -- project simultaneously a higher 
tone or tones, related in frequency to the fundamental tone by whole number ratios. Such high freqencies are called "overtones" or "harmonics."

"Each fundamental tone has potentially infinite harmonics. For any starting frequency, which can be called "one," the first overtone (or second harmonic)
is twice the rate of vibration of the first. The third hamonic is three times
the frequency of "one", and so on. A well trained singer can melodically
articulate from 1 to 7 harmonics concurrently, ranging from 2 to 15 times the 
frequency of the fundamental tone, and can resonate much higher tones, up to
48 times the frequency of the fundamental.

In relation to the meditative aspects of this chanting Lobsang Lhalungpa
and David Lewiston (writing in relation to some of the recordings made
by the latter of the Drukpa Kagyu Tibetan monks) write (again I abridge):

"The liturgy and music are composed by lamas, or by yogins who live in mountain 
solitude. They sing spontaneously in their illumined state, and disciples 
record these compositions in wriiting or commit them to memory. For group 
performance, the master first teaches the chants -- consisting mainly of free 
verse or poems -- to the monks or disciples, and then the instrumentalists are 
brought together and taught the orchestral passages. The chanting is conducted 
by the uzay (master of the liturgy) while the lopon (cheif instructor)
supervises the ensemble performance of ritual and dance.

"In Tibetan music theory, the primordial sound 'A' is recognized as the 
source of all sound and speech as well as the substratum of silence. 
It is an all pervasive medium through which the inherent unity of all 
things may be realized, transcending the duality of "I" and "other", 
good and bad, and the like.

"Infinite varieties of sound and speech arise from the primordial 'A.'
The basic sounds with their tonal ranges are 'ae' (stressed), 'i'
(sharp), 'o' (high), and 'oo' (low). The chanting is based upon these 
pitches. However, for more complex chants, as many as twelve pitches may be 
used.

"Chanting is recognized as a powerful medium for inward transformation, 
since it is a dynamic form of meditation. It's character is determined
by emotional states, intellectual vision, and by the intended purpose.
For instance , a slow gentle chant is used to pacify the mind's disquiet.
A tune with a forceful rhythm, in fast temp, is used to destroy inborn 
evils. Some of the pitches sung by male vopices are likened to the sound
of a celestial dragon, a great waterfall, or the roaring of tigers and lions,
while female voices resemble heavenly singers and nightingales. The lowest
and highest pitches are said to be identical with a celestial drum, and 
with the voice of Brahma -- creator of the world according to ancient 
Indian mythology. 

"Usually, the orchestral interlude marks the end of each section of a
sadhana -- a ritual based upon a Tantra. A typical Mahakala sadhana consists
of the following sections: invocation of the deity; offerings; prayers and
eulogy; invocation to Mahakala as protector; sharing of the merits
accumulated by the performance of this ritual. Each of these sections is 
followed by an instrumental interlude, which gives the participant an opportunity to perform the vizualization described in the text. Thus the first
section, the invocation, describes the form in which Mahakala is to be 
visualized, and the actual visualization is performed during the instrumental
interlude.

If you wish to lern much more detail about this method of singing, its
meditative and contemplative aspects in Tibetan Buddhism, and so on, I 
suggest you write to:

The Harmonic Arts Society
25 Claremont Ave.
NYC, NY   10027

They also have tapes and CDs of Hykes' superb Harmonic Choir. The recordings
of the Gyuto and the Drukpa Kagyu Monks (readily available at many better
record stores) are also evocative and informative.

Happy listening!

C. Majka
[email-masked]

From [email-masked] Tue Aug 24 09:50:33 1993
Date:     Mon, 23 Aug 1993 16:02:37 -0400
From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Subject:  BUDDHA-L Digest - 21 Aug 1993 to 23 Aug 1993
To: Recipients of BUDDHA-L digests <[email-masked]>

There are 3 messages totalling 129 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. The Bodhisattva: reluctant or ready (2)
  2. The Bodhisattva and Nirvana

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:    Mon, 23 Aug 1993 10:11:53 EDT
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: Re: The Bodhisattva: reluctant or ready

Dan Lusthaus, in addressing my input to the inquiry begun by Alan Sponberg's
question, says:
>That anyone at Nagarjuna's time -- much less Nagarjuma himself -- would be
talking about an "original vow" is more than unlikely.

Without debating this point (and, in any case, this is not necessarily the
original vow of the Pure Land Sutras, since the Prajnaparamita Sutras also
talk about a Bodhisattva's vow), it does not matter whether Nagarjuna
actually wrote this or whether somebody else living at the same time or
later did.  Mr. Sponberg raised the question of the possibility that the
emphasis on a Bodhisattva rejecting nirvana is that of Western comentators
rather than that of the Mahayana tradition itself.  Whether Nagarjuna wrote
the BODHISAMBHARAKA or not, someone quite a few hundred years ago -- not a
western comentator --  stated that the Bodhisattva turns his back on nirvana
(not on enlightenment) in order to remain in samasara to lead others to
nirvana.  A considerable number of Mahayana devotees consider this work --
and this idea -- to be authoritative and have done so for some time.

Also, to cite another source:  In Edward Conze's translation of THE LARGE
SUTRA ON PERFECT WISDOM, "...He did not even care about Nirvana...Nor does
he enter final Nirvana prematurely, i.e. before he has fulfilled the
Vows..." (p. 102); "...they enter Nirvana in accordance with their ORIGINAL
VOW [emphasis mine]..." (p. 251).

Steven Zaveloff

------------------------------

Date:    Mon, 23 Aug 1993 10:12:37 EDT
From:    "Randall R. Scott" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: The Bodhisattva: reluctant or ready

With regard to our continuing discussion of the bodhisattva, again, does
it not seem at least plausible that we are peering into the strange
lingering nature of he/she who is enlightened but not "in" nirvana
(words bend and break!) through
the perhaps liminal literature of Japan and particularly that of Suzuki,
who appears to have written on all sorts of Buddhist inflections,
including Jodo Shinshu, in which the bodhisattva as vicariistic savior is
especially pronounced?  With the dark days of the Kamakura period in Japan
(1185-1332) Buddhism took on of course a religious vicariism, whereby the
Difficult Practice (Nangyodo/Sacred Way, etc. of earlier Abhidharmika and
Madhyamika) was eclipsed by the Easy Practice (Igyodo), a main inflection of
which
became the Shin Buddhism of Shinran.  His writings, late though they are,
are full of notions of the depravity of human beings and their consequent
need for an externalized and cosmically derived salvation.  Amida is the
savior, who seems to be both bodhisattva and buddha -- enlightened on the
one hand yet attached nevertheless to the Saha World, where he is and yet
is not.

Compassion (karuna) it seems always gets reduced into "doing," and,
unfortunately, "doing for others at the expense of one's own inner work."
The East, it seems, is perhaps no less immune to this phenomenon than is the
West, where we have all been trained since birth to "help others" even
when such practice precludes gaining the slightest glimpse of who we as
individuals are.  Jung, R.D. Laing, Kierkegaard, Shopenhauer, and even
Nietzche all in variegated fashion bemoan this fact.

Perhaps bodhisattvahood is the opposite extreme of the arhat.  The latter
seeks to escape while the former attaches himself or herself in most
"unBuddhist-like" fashion to the the lives of others and the outcome of
his work in their behalf.  I prefer a Middle Way betwixt and between these
two "extremes."

Randy Scott
Washington University, St. Louis

------------------------------

Date:    Mon, 23 Aug 1993 10:16:40 EDT
From:    Manjuvajra <[email-masked]>
Subject: The Bodhisattva and Nirvana

I have recently subscribed to BUDDHA-L and have found the recent
discussions on the Bodhisattva's relationship to Nirvana very interesting.
I understand that BUDDHA-L is a discussion forum for academics and
'practioners.' It seems that broadly - and somewhat crudely - one could
identify academic Buddhists  as those who seek to understand Buddhism but do
not wish to put its teachings into practice and especially they do not want
to get emotionally involved with the Dharma.  Actual Buddhists on the other
hand want to understand the Dharma *and* put it into practice, in
particulary they want to develop an emotional response to the Three Jewels.
On the lowest level this is a feeling of respect, which deepens to sraddha,
which deepens to Karuna - the emotional component of Prajna. Some, maybe
many, practioners are weak on their understanding and stand to learn a lot
from their academic friends.  Some academics can miss the point completely,
yes completely, because the Dharma is above all else a path to be practiced
and experienced.

So, how is this relevant to the discussion on the Bodhisattva and his -
delayed? - entry into Nirvana.  The Bodhisattva Ideal and the Bodhisttva
Vow are Buddhist doctrines and as such - like everything else in Buddhism
they are there to attempt to communicate the experience of the Buddha's
Enlightenment.  Enlightenment is very difficult to 'get' because it involves
the whole being - intellect and emotion - and it transcends our limited human
perception of Reality. For us humans it is difficult to experience the
transcendence of self and other but this is what we have to do.  The
Bodhisattva is one in whom the Bodhicitta has arisen, the full ripening
of the Bodhicitta in a being is perfect Enlightenment. The Bodhisattva is
a being who experiences the ambiguities of the Enlightened state. He (or she
or both or neither or none of these) knows that Enlightenment is acheived
individually (acheiving Nirvana) and yet at the same time involves all
sentient beings (Building a Pure Land).  A Bodhisattva feels such a powerful
compassion that his (etc.) heart cannot bear the thought of abandoning all
other beings, and yet his liberation is unimpeded.  The Bodhisattva attempts
the impossible, as expressed in the Great Vow - no, he *acheives* the
impossible, because his experience is transcendent.

In one of his recent messages Richard Hayes says the "If it doesn't hurt, you
haven't started thinking yet."  Thinking about the Bodhisattva Ideal and the
Bodhisattva Vow and trying to put them into practice creates tensions but it
is the struggle with these tensions that generates spiritual growth. May we
all continue to stimulate deeper thinking and experience the consequences.

with metta,
Manjuvajra
<[email-masked]>
--
Manjuvajra
160 Cutts Street
Portsmouth, NH  03801-3557

------------------------------

End of BUDDHA-L Digest - 21 Aug 1993 to 23 Aug 1993
***************************************************

From [email-masked] Tue Aug 24 16:08:43 1993
Date:     Tue, 24 Aug 1993 16:00:10 -0400
From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Subject:  BUDDHA-L Digest - 23 Aug 1993 to 24 Aug 1993
To: Recipients of BUDDHA-L digests <[email-masked]>

There are 10 messages totalling 346 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. thanks, bodhisattvas
  2. Mind-only (2)
  3. Bodhisattva ideal: a Theravadan view
  4. hiatus (2)
  5. An academic question
  6. Why not remain in nirvana?
  7. Birth of La Vallee Poussin
  8. DEER PARK CENTER

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:    Tue, 24 Aug 1993 10:01:21 EDT
From:    "Jacqueline I. Stone" <[email-masked]>
Subject: thanks, bodhisattvas

Many thanks to Steven Heine, Will Bodiford, Jamie Hubbard, Dan Lusthaus, Randy
Scott and others for your responses to my queries on Dogen and "topos."  Your
comments were most helpful.

    RE the bodhisattva issue, I see that the Lotus Sutra says: "If a good man
or good woman shall receive and keep, read and recite, explain or copy in
writing even a single phrase of the Scripture of the Dharma Blossom....Let it
be known that that person is a great bodhisattva who, having achieved anuttara-
sanmyaksam.bodhi, taken pity on living beings, and vowed to be reborn here, is
is preaching the Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma with breadth
and discrimination" and "Those who can receive and keep/The Scripture of the
Blossom of the Fine Dharma,/Having forsaken their pure lands,/Have been reborn
here out of pity for the multitude"  (Leon Hurvitz, *Scripture of the Lotus
Blossom of the Fine Dharma,* pp. 175, 176; *Miao-fa lien-hua ching* 4, T.262.
9:30c, 31a).

   The point here seems to be not so much to define the bodhisattva state as
to praise the Lotus Sutra, but these passages do seem to be drawing on some
sense that bodhisattvas do indeed relinquish a recompense to which they would
otherwise be entitled, in order to benefit others.
                                                    --jackie stone

------------------------------

Date:    Tue, 24 Aug 1993 10:02:29 EDT
From:    "You can't drown a man who's born to be hanged."
         <"ICCGCC::WALSHA"@beast.cs.hh.ab.com>
Subject: Mind-only

I found the following thought-nugget in a pamphlet by Ole Nydahl.

  "Nothing really exists except the open, clear and limitless state of mind.
   Only this truly is."

I like it, and assume it conforms to the Yogachara school of Buddhism.
(Do the Kagyupas conform to this school more than the other Tibetans?)

But I'd like to know: what's the ultimate source in Buddhism for this
thought? In what Sutras does the Buddha talk about this view of mind, if any?

 thanks for any info,
   andy

------------------------------

Date:    Tue, 24 Aug 1993 11:21:15 EDT
From:    Ben Lawrence <[email-masked]>
Subject: Bodhisattva ideal: a Theravadan view

        I don't think the Bodhisattva ideal of forgoing Nibbana
was taught by Buddha because he had spent 45 years teaching
people the Path to the cessation of suffering which >is<
Nibbana.  This means that I agree with others (Alan Sponberg,
Wong Weng Fai, Jamie Hubbard) who cast doubt on the
correctness of regarding this type of vow as a legitimate
Buddhist principle.  I am a practicing Buddhist but on the
Theravedean side, so please forgive my Pali spellings and
lack of knowledge of Mahayana.  I present a Theravedean view:
        The Buddha taught a Dhamma that is "immediately
apparent", "timeless", "of a nature of a 'come and see!'" and
"progressive".   It is progressive in the sense that it is a
maturing of wisdom, of insight into the impermanent nature of
all things.  It is also progressive in that wisdom is gained
gradually.  The first step is seeing impermanence in oneself,
and so letting go of the soul concept.  When this happens the
practitioner no more clings to rites and rituals because he
has seen for himself that this is indeed the path to the end
of sorrow and not just a belief of faith.  With no more
doubts, the first three lower fetters are broken and
practitioner is, what the Buddha called, a Stream-enterer.
The Stream-enterer's wisdom progressively matures such that
he or she will realise Nibbana within a maximum of seven
lives.  There is no differentiation between "Nibbana" and
"enlightenment", just two words to express the same
realisation.
        Hence, to refuse Nibbana, for whatever reason, is to
refuse to realise the impermanence of all conditioned things
which is the cornerstone of Buddha's teachings.
yours sincerely,
Ben Lawrence.

------------------------------

Date:    Tue, 24 Aug 1993 11:22:16 EDT
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: hiatus

To members of Buddha-L:

Beginning Friday, August 27th I will be off-line for a short period (probably
about a week) while I relocate in Calgary where I will hold the Numata Chair
in Buddhist Studies for the Fall Semester 1993. I will rejoin the network as
soon as I go on-line at the University of Calgary.

If you need to contact me, please do so prior to my departure. After August
29th, messages can be left at the Department of Religious Studies office in
Calgary (403/220-5886).

A special note to Dick and Dan: Please stay out of trouble, be nice to each
other, and don't force me to conscript my Penn State colleague Steve Heine to
be a peacemaker in my absence.

Dr. Charles S. Prebish
Pennsylvania State University           E-Mail: [email-masked]
Religious Studies Program               Voice Mail: 814/865-1121
216 Weaver Building                     Fax: 814/863-7840
University Park, Pa. 16802

------------------------------

Date:    Tue, 24 Aug 1993 11:25:50 EDT
From:    Wong Weng Fai <[email-masked]>
Subject: An academic question

Hi folks,

OK, got an academic question, at last ;-) ...

The Pure Land (or at least the Japanese Pure Land) folks attributes
Nagarjuna as one of their founding fathers. They also claim that
Nagarjuna recommended Nembutsu as the "easiest means to Enlightenment".
I would like to know where he said this and what is the context within
which he made this statement. Where can I find out more about this ?

Thanks a zillion ...

with Metta,

W.F. Wong.

------------------------------

Date:    Tue, 24 Aug 1993 11:28:32 EDT
From:    Richard P Hayes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Why not remain in nirvana?

The following passage from Kama"siila's first Bhaavanaa-krama has
some discussion of the bodhisattva's acquisition of wisdom and the
decision not to remain in nirvana. Note how rich in quotes the text
is; this is part of what makes reading Kamala"siila worth the ten or
fifteen years it takes to learn Sanskrit.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
In the Sarva-dharma-sa.mgraha-vaipulya Suutra, the Bhagavan said:

   `The foolish people, Maitreya, will speak as follows to one who
   has acquired the six perfections for the purpose of the awakening
   of the bodhisattvas: ``The bodhisattva needs to practise only the
   perfection of wisdom; what is the use of the other perfections?''
   They believe the other perfection, namely the perfection of
   tactics [upaaya], is blameworthy. What do you think, Ajita? Did
   the King of Benares, who gave his own flesh to the hawk for the
   sake of [saving] the dove, have inferior wisdom?'

   Maitreya said: `No, most certainly not, Bhagavan.'

   The Bhagavan said: `Maitreya, in practising the bodhisattva's
   practice I have accumulated the wholesome roots associated with
   the six perfections. Was any harm done by these wholesome roots?'

   Maitreya said: `No, most certainly not, Bhagavan.'

   The Bhagavan said: `First of all, Ajita, you became expert in the
   perfect of giving for sixty aeons. [You became expert in each of
   the remaining perfections] until you became expert in the perfect
   of wisdom for sixty aeons. About that the foolish people will
   speak as follows: ``Awakening is [attained] by only one means,
   namely, by means of emptiness.'' '

And it is said in the Vairocanaabhisa.mbodhi:

   This knowledge of the omniscient one has compassion as its
   root, the thought of awakening as its cause and tactics as its
   conclusion.

Therefore, the bodhisattva should practise both [wisdom and
compassion] at all times.

For in this way is the nonabiding nirvaa.na of the Bhagavans
achieved. Thus the Bhagavans do not remain in nirvaa.na, because
the tactic of giving and so forth conduces to the wealth which
results in the great enjoyment of such things as the material body,
agricultural lands, a retinue and so forth. And they do not remain
in sa.msaara because they abandon all false beliefs through
their wisdom, for sa.msaara is caused by false beliefs. And the
middle path is generated by abandoning the extremes of affirmation
and denial by this path whose essence is wisdom and tactics, because
one abandons the extreme of affirmation by means of wisdom and one
abandons the extreme of denial by means of tactics. Therefore, it is
said in the Dharma-sa.mgiiti [Suutra]:

   There is attachment to the perfections of the physical body
   [adorned]  with [the thirty-two] marks and [eighty-four] minor
   signs; there is no attachment to the body of Dharma, which
   consists only of understanding.

And it is also said:

   The birth of Tathaagatas owing to their concern for others
   should be understood to arise from wisdom and tactics.

And this also was said:

   The virtues themselves are to be given up by those who
   understand the discussion of the dharma comparing it to a
   raft; how much more the vices!

This was said meaning that they ought to be given up by those who
give up their attachments to distortions. And thus it is said:

   The dharma is to be accepted; it is not to be exalted.

The meaning is that it should not be taken in the wrong way. And
that charity and so forth which is in some places described as
having consequences in sa.msaara is the charity without wisdom that
is mentioned first; and it [scil., the worldly charity] is for the
sake of prompting the higher wholesome roots with respect to those
who are content with wholesome roots that extend only that far [that
is, only so far as sa.msaara]. Otherwise, every treatise such as the
Vimalakiirti would be contradicted. Therefore it is established that
both wisdom and compassion are to be cultivated. In that case, the
charity and other things that are aided by wisdom receive the
designation of perfection; not otherwise. Therefore, after
concentrating the mind for the sake of purifying charity and so
forth, one should make an effort to acquire wisdom.

In that context, the first kind of wisdom that should be aroused is
that which consists of listening. For it is by that that the
meaning of the tradition is determined. After that, one
distinguishes the literal from the metaphorical meaning [of the
tradition] by means of wisdom that consists in reflection. Then,
after deciding by means of that [wisdom consisting in reflection],
one can cultivate the true and not the false meaning. For
otherwise, as a result of cultivating that which is opposite [to
the truth] and as a result of not removing doubt, there will be no
arising of right cognition. And the Bhagavan said in the
Samaadhiraaja Suutra:

   Let one investigate dharmas as lacking a self. And having
   investigated them, let one cultivate oneself. That is the
   cause of attaining the result which is nirvana. There is no
   other cause of peace.

Therefore, after making an investigation by means of reasoning and
tradition, one should cultivate only the true essence of things by
means of wisdom that consists in reflection.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Background of the text: Kamala"siila's dates have been estimated to
be 742-797. The Bhaavanaa-krama (Grades of cultivation) is reputed
to be the text of his arguments against the Chan master Hoshang
Mohoyan in the celebrated debate at bSam-yas monastery, sponsored by
King Khri-srong-lde-btsan in the 790's. (Hey, is anyone planning a
1200th anniversary celebratory re-enactment of these debates? I
nominate Dan Lusthaus to play the role of Kamala"siila, reputedly
the greatest debator of his generation.)

This translation is my own; it is far from ready to publish, but I
hope some sense can be made of it even in its present crude form. It
is based on the Sanskrit and Tibetan versions of the Bhaavanaa-krama
edited by Giuseppe Tucci, _Minor Buddhist Texts_ Part 2, pp. 197-199
(and pp 243-245) The translation

Richard Hayes                                   <[email-masked]>
Faculty of Religious Studies                           McGill University

------------------------------

Date:    Tue, 24 Aug 1993 15:42:58 EDT
From:    Mathieu Boisvert <[email-masked]>
Subject: Birth of La Vallee Poussin

Once again, I'll use this list to get some information which would
normally be difficult to obtain.  A friend of mine is doing a
bibliographical research on religious studies writer of the XIX Century.
He's been unsuccessfully searching for the birth-place of Louis de la
Vallee Poussin (the exact place in Belgium).  If anyone could help, it
would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mathieu Boisvert
[email-masked]

------------------------------

Date:    Tue, 24 Aug 1993 15:43:41 EDT
From:    DanLusthaus <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: hiatus

>A special note to Dick and Dan: Please stay out of trouble, be nice to each
>other, and don't force me to conscript my Penn State colleague Steve Heine to
>be a peacemaker in my absence.

Chuck, we'll behave ourselves (or maybe we'll talk about YOU while your
back is turned!). Only kidding. Say hi to Leslie, Howard and all the gang
when you get there.

Dan Lusthaus
[email-masked]
Bates College

------------------------------

Date:    Tue, 24 Aug 1993 15:44:23 EDT
From:    Jeanne Tolmasoff <[email-masked]>
Subject: DEER PARK CENTER

Does anyone have an address/phone or e-mail address to the
DEER PARK CENTER (a Tibetan Buddhist Center) near Madison, Wisconsin?
Thank you for any help you can provide.
                                          [email-masked]

------------------------------

Date:    Tue, 24 Aug 1993 15:45:07 EDT
From:    Lefty <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Mind-only

>I found the following thought-nugget in a pamphlet by Ole Nydahl.
>
>  "Nothing really exists except the open, clear and limitless state of mind.
>   Only this truly is."
>
>I like it, and assume it conforms to the Yogachara school of Buddhism.
>(Do the Kagyupas conform to this school more than the other Tibetans?)

This seems similar to some rDzogs-Chen teachings I've heard.

--
Lefty ([email-masked])
C:.M:.C:., D:.O:.D:.

------------------------------

End of BUDDHA-L Digest - 23 Aug 1993 to 24 Aug 1993
***************************************************

Date:     Thu, 26 Aug 1993 16:01:06 -0400
From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Subject:  BUDDHA-L Digest - 24 Aug 1993 to 26 Aug 1993

There are 14 messages totalling 471 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. Bodhisattva ideal: a Theravadan view
  2. Who's Anyone in Chinese Religion and Literature?
  3. Birth of La Vallee Poussin (2)
  4. Nirvana without remainder/the bodhisattva
  5. An academic question
  6. Tricycle (3)
  7. BUDDHA-L delays
  8. CALL FOR PAPER: AAR EIR
  9. Tricycle magazine details
 10. The Bodhisattva ideal: a Theravadan view
 11. "topos"

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:    Wed, 25 Aug 1993 18:51:34 EDT
From:    Alan Sponberg <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Bodhisattva ideal: a Theravadan view

On Tue, 24 Aug 1993, Ben Lawrence wrote:

>
>         I don't think the Bodhisattva ideal of forgoing Nibbana
> was taught by Buddha because he had spent 45 years teaching
> people the Path to the cessation of suffering which >is<
> Nibbana.  This means that I agree with others (Alan Sponberg,
> Wong Weng Fai, Jamie Hubbard) who cast doubt on the
> correctness of regarding this type of vow as a legitimate
> Buddhist principle.

Just a quick point of clarification. My point in suggesting this topic was
not suggest that there is no textual support for the notion of a
bodhisattva vowing to remaining longer than necessary in samsara--nor was
it to doubt the correctness of such a vow as "a legitamate Buddhist
principle." What I question rather is whether this notion was ever taken
by the tradition (or parts thereof) as a necessary or defining
characteristic of the bodhisattva ideal. Similarly, I do not mean to suggest
that the "reluctant bodhisattvas" were invented by Western interpreters.
Clearly the Mahaayaana literature does record some instances of bodhisattvas
who chose to forego or at least delay their buddhahood. The question is
why in so many western accounts these occurances are generalized into an
essential feature of the bodhisattva ideal, especially given the
conspicuous absence of such a defining feature in either the Theravaada
tradition or the later Indo-Tibetan Mahaayaana/Vajrayaana tradition.

Putting the question differently might help: Is the basic bodhisattva vow
to forego nirvana until all other sentient beings are liberated? Or is it to
seek liberation for the benefit of all sentient beings. The first may
entail the latter, but the latter certainly does not entail or require the
former.

------------------------------

Date:    Wed, 25 Aug 1993 18:52:09 EDT
From:    John McRae <[email-masked]>
Subject: Who's Anyone in Chinese Religion and Literature?

A colleague of mine is interested to know who's working in the field of
Chinese religion and literature.  Who's out there besides Anthony Yu?

-- John McRae, Cornell

------------------------------

Date:    Wed, 25 Aug 1993 18:52:52 EDT
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Birth of La Vallee Poussin

Louis de La Vallee Poussin was born in Liege in 1869. He attended the State
University of Liege from 1881 to 1888. Eventually, of course, he went to Paris
and studied with Sylvain Levi, Emile Senart, and Auguste Barth. For a complete
picture, check Guy Richard Welbon, _The Buddhist Nirvaa.na and Its Western
Interpreters_ (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968), pp. 257-283.

Dr. Charles S. Prebish
Pennsylvania State University           E-Mail: [email-masked]
Religious Studies Program               Voice Mail: 814/865-1121
216 Weaver Building                     Fax: 814/863-7840
University Park, Pa. 16802

------------------------------

Date:    Wed, 25 Aug 1993 18:53:54 EDT
From:    Nobuyoshi Yamabe <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Birth of La Vallee Poussin

Louis de la Vallee Poussin was born at Liege on the new year's day of 1869.
My source being: Narendra Nath Law, The Late Prof. Louis de la Vallee Poussin,
The Indian Historical Quarterly, 16(1): i-xiv, 1940.

Nobuyoshi Yamabe (yamnoba@yalevm)

------------------------------

Date:    Wed, 25 Aug 1993 18:55:47 EDT
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: Nirvana without remainder/the bodhisattva

I have just signed on to this forum and have been reading the cor-
respondence amongst the different discussants. It must be made
mention that there is a problem if the discussion is principally
confined to Indian and East Asian materials of the early period of
Mahayana Buddhism. If one were to explore the literature contained
in Tibetan, especially that concerned with the subject area of Dzog-
chen "The Great Perfection" it would seem that there are clear dis-
cussions of where a bodhisattva attains complete liberation to the
point of leaving nothing behind yet attains the status of a perfect-
ly liberated one. This type of literature discusses this matter un-
der the topic of Tregcho and Togyal teachings with specific refer-
ence to the jalu or rainbow body. In due course I will look up the
references and submit them to this discussion. Also in the Dzogchen
system of teachings there are curious references to a bhumi sy-
stem not of ten referred to in such Mahayana works such as the "Da-
sabhumika-sutra", but to thirteen and even twenty-five bhumis.
Dzogchen does not see itself as a system requiring the apparatus of
the Mahayana or even the Tantric view. According to Padmasambhava in
his "Precept which is the Garland of Views", it stands outside them.
It is a direct approach showing directly the true state of reality
(dharmata) and the individual while still in this life and in this
body consequently is liberated. Through the methods of tregcho and
togyal and also to some excellent in the system of Chod one can be
instantly liberated. There is no mention of having to first sub-
scribe to the bodhisattva-samvara only that one directly and com-
letely is liberated. In fact in the "Great Testament on the Perfec-
tion of Wisdom" by Machig Labdron she refutes all views tirthika
as well as buddhist in favour of her own. This view is still in the
buddhist fold, yet she regards it as being the highest. Moreover,
the lineage of this transmission comes by way of a siddha named,
Phadhampa Sangye and in turn through a linege going back to Arya-
deva and the foundational work authored by him called, "Prajna-
paramita-Upadesa". (Iam currently preparing a translation and study
of this work for publication, and would be glad to make it available
to anyone interested). This work seems to link prajnaparamita, ma-
dhyamaka and Dzogchen-type doctrine all into one. I hope this lit-
tle bit of information may help in opening up a new side to the dis-
cussion.

                               Dwight A. Tkatschow
                               Ritsumeikan Institute
                               University of British Columbia,
                               Vancouver, B.C.

------------------------------

Date:    Wed, 25 Aug 1993 18:56:35 EDT
From:    "Jacqueline I. Stone" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: An academic question

In response to Wong Fen Fai's question about the putative connection between
Nagarjuna and Pure Land Buddhism:

     I believe the claim for this connection is based on the *I-hsing p'in*
(Jpn. Igyoo-hon, "Chapter on easy practices"), the ninth chapter of the
*Shih-chu p'i-p'o-sha lun* (Jpn. Juujuu bibasha ron, Skt. reconstructed as
*Dashabhuumika-vibhaa.saa-shaastra*, "Treatise on the Sutra of the Ten Stages")
.  The "Easy Practices" chapter advocates chanting the names of the Buddhas in
order to go their Pure Lands and there attain the stage of non-retrogression
(T. 1521.26:41b).  It also sets forth two paths for attaining the stage of non-
retrogression: the "difficult practices" of self-effort, likened to journeying
over land, and the "easy practices" likened to riding a boat over water
(41a-b). "Easy practices" here means devotion to a transcendent Buddha such as
Amitaabha.  Modern scholarship has questioned Nagarjuna's authorship of the
*Shih-chu p'i-p'o-sha lun*. Another view suggests that the passages on reciting
 the name of a Buddha were the interpolations of the translator, Kumaara-
jiiva (see Kagawa Shoyu, "Shoomyoo shisoo no keisei," *Indogaku Bukkyoogaku ken
kyuu* 11-1 (1963):45-46.  I believe there is also some reference to Pure Land
practices in the *Ta chi tu lun*, though, as you know, Nagarjuna's authorship
of that treatise has been questioned as well.  However, he loomed so large in
the minds of many East Asian Mahayana thinkers that virtually everyone managed
to claim his as a patriarch; hence his epithet "founder of the eight schools."

     Best wishes and please let us know if you find out anything more,

                                         --jackie stone

------------------------------

Date:    Wed, 25 Aug 1993 18:57:27 EDT
From:    "[email-masked] (Greg Fitzpatrick)" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Tricycle

Well, I've never sent to a mailing list before, so this will be a good
test. But, I *am* really interested in the answer to the following:

I've heard reference to a publication called 'Tricycle', ostensibly
a magazine on the topic of Buddhism. I've never run across it, though.
Is anyone familiar with it and, if so, can you give:

1) a brief description of its contents?

2) info regarding subscription information (address & phone) and cost,
   if you know?

Thanks.

------------------------------

Date:    Wed, 25 Aug 1993 19:09:34 EDT
From:    Richard P Hayes <[email-masked]>
Subject: BUDDHA-L delays

Dear BUDDHA-L subscribers,
During this week, messages sent to BUDDHA-L may be delayed for several
hours before being forwarded. Jim Cocks, who normally edits the list
Mondays through Fridays, is on vacation and has turned list management
over to me. I am advising students and attending meetings for most of
the day and will not be able to attend to the list as regularly as usual
until the weekend. Messages will be forwarded every evening and early
every morning, but only rarely during normal working hours.

So for the rest of this week, BUDDHA-L has adopted the motto of my
favourite restaurant: "Same day service is promised, but not necessarily
guaranteed."

We apologize for the abominable service but would like to remind
everyone that you really should be in samadhi all day long instead of
writing messages to BUDDHA-L anyway.

Richard Hayes                                      [email-masked]
Religious Studies           McGill University           Montreal, Quebec

------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1993 07:21:48 EDT
From:    BOISVERT MATHIEU <[email-masked]>
Subject: CALL FOR PAPER: AAR EIR

        AAR EASTERN INTERNATIONAL REGION
        ANNUAL MEETING: APRIL 22-23, 1994
        UNIVERSIT'E DU QU'EBEC `A MONTR'EAL

        CALL FOR PAPERS
The AAR Eastern International Region will hold its annual spring
meeting on April 22-23, 1994, at l'Universit'e du Qu'ebec `a Montr'eal
(UQAM).  Suggestions are welcome for sessions and panels.  Since 1994
will be the year of the 25th anniversary of l'UQAM (coinciding with the
2000th anniversary of Jesus' birth!), we particularly invite submission of
papers related to Religious Studies in Qu'ebec.  We also encourage
topics related to teaching, Religious Studies translation issues, ecology,
comparative religion, and other topics.  Abstracts of no more than 150
words should be received before November 7 1993 in order for the
program committee to review them at the Washington AAR meeting.
Abstracts can be submitted through regular or electronic mail; we will
also attempt to offer an E-Mail registration facility for those wishing to
use this service.  Since papers can be presented in French or English at
the meeting, you are welcome to submit yours in either language; we will
translate all abstracts.  The participation of graduate students is
welcome!  For further information please contact the 1994 Program
Director.

Mathieu Boisvert, Program Director
Departement des sciences religieuses
Universit'e du Qu'ebec `a Montr'eal
C.P. 8888, succursale A
Montreal, Qc.
H3C 3P8

Phone: (514) 987-6909   FAX: (514) 879-8344
E-MAIL: [email-masked]

        R'EGION DE L'EST DE L'AAR
        RENCONTRE ANNUELLE: 22-23 AVRIL 1994
        UNIVERSIT'E DU QU'EBEC `A MONTR'EAL

        APPEL DE COMMUNICATION
La rencontre de la r'egion de l'est de l'American Academy of Religion
aura lieu `a l'Universit'e du Qu'ebec `a Montr'eal (UQAM) les 22-23 avril
1994.  Toutes suggestions de sujets pour les sessions et les panels sont
bienvenues.  En raison du 25i`eme anniversaire de l'UQAM (co"incidant
avec le 2,000i`eme de J'esus!), nous invitons particuli
rement la
soumission de travaux reli'es `a la religiologie au Qu'ebec.  Nous
encourageons aussi les sujets touchant l'enseignement, les probl`emes de
traduction en sciences des religions, l''ecologie, et la religion compar'ee.
Pour pr'esenter une communication, faites-nous parvenir un r'esum'e,
n'exc'edant pas 150 mots, avant le 7 novembre 1993.  Celui-ci peut ^etre
achemin'e soit par courrier r'egulier, soit par courrier 'electronique.
Nous envisageons aussi offrir la possibilit'e de s'inscrire par courrier
'electronique pour ceux d'esirant utiliser ce service.  Lors de la rencontre,
les travaux pourront ^etre pr'esent'es en anglais ou en fran,cais; nous
assumerons la traduction de tous les r'esum'es.  Nous encourrageons la
participation des 'etudiants de deuxi`eme et troisi`eme cycles.  Pour plus
d'information, veuillez contacter le directeur de programme pour 1994:

    Mathieu Boisvert, Directeur r'egional du programme de l'AAR
    D'epartement des sciences religieuses
    Universit'e du Qu'ebec `a Montr'eal
    C.P. 8888, succursale A
    Montr'eal, Qu'ebec
    CANADA  H3C 3P8

    (514) 987-6909   FAX: (514) 879-8344

------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1993 07:22:48 EDT
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: Tricycle magazine details

[email-masked] (Greg Fitzpatrick) asks:

[...]
>I've heard reference to a publication called 'Tricycle', ostensibly
>a magazine on the topic of Buddhism. I've never run across it, though.
>Is anyone familiar with it and, if so, can you give:
>
>1) a brief description of its contents?
>
[..]

A file from the Electronic Buddhist Archives of the Coombspapers [anonymous
 FTP on the node COOMBS.ANU.EDU.AU] at ANU, contains the following details:
----------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: TRICYCLE Magazine No. 3 out
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 92 23:06:58 GMT

TRICYCLE: The Buddhist Review just came out with their
third issue and it's another winner.  There are interviews
with Khyentse Rinpoche and with Jerry Garcia, a book
excerpt about Buddhism in the Soviet Union, a very good
collection of articles about Buddhist-run AIDS hospices,
a series of translations & commentaries about the Heart
Sutra and much more.  Good stuff all.  I encourage American
Buddhists to subscribe and I can't imagine you would be
disappointed.

For subscription info, write Tricycle, Dept TRI, P.O. Box
3000 Denville, NJ 07834-9897.  For subscription orders,
use the above address or call 1-212-645-1143, for the
bookstore nearest you that carries Tricycle, call 1-800-
221-3148
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
end of file

- regards
-==================================================
Dr T. Matthew CIOLEK           [email-masked]
Coombs Computing Unit, Research School of Social Sciences,
Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
===================================================

------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1993 07:24:28 EDT
From:    "Randall R. Scott" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: The Bodhisattva ideal: a Theravadan view

Dear Alan,

Perhaps in answer to your question regarding why Western interpreters have
exploded the vicariistic nature of the bodhisattva into THE paradigmatic
lens by which he or she must be seen, don't you feel it MAY be largely due
to how we all gravitate toward that which is familiar.  In Judaism, the
pequdah of Abraham/Isaac is central (at least the Targums, I am told):
there Isaac is the willing, not ignorant, sacrifice.  The notion of YHWH's
grace is also heavily featured but perhaps underappreciated in the Hebraic
scriptures.  The correlative in Christianity is of course far better known.
Vicariism is attractive apparently the world over -- someone else willing
to do our own work for us and all that sort of thing.

Incidentally, regarding the Theravadan view, in my reading of the
Visuddhimagga I interpret the paradigmatic ontology here as being a
mediation between the Sarvastivadin arhat and the "Western" or even Amidist
view on the bodhisattva:  a kind of entrenched detachment, an exemplar but
not savior.  Kind of nice, I think.

Randy Scott
Washington University
[email-masked]

------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1993 07:26:05 EDT
From:    Paul Swanson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: "topos"

Jackie
  I believe the first to use "topos" was Matsumoto Shiroo in his Engi to Kuu,
but since Hakamaya and Mattsumoto are in cahoots, they probably came to it
together. Hakamaya explains in his Hihan Bukkyoo (p. 4 and notes) that he
chooses to describe the "opposition" (to Critical Buddhism) as "Topical
Buddhism (basho bukkyoo) because "topica" is the opposite of "critica", and
proceeds to identify the source for this distinction to the work of
Giambattista Vico (1668-1744). He then gives a long quote (his Japanese
translation?) from Ernesto Grassi's "Critical Philosophy or Topical Philosophy,
Meditations on the De nostri temporis studiorum ratione," G. Tagliacozzo and
H.V.White, eds., "Giambattista Vico: An International Symposium, John Hopkins
Press, 1969. (Privately I know he's a great fan of Bergson, but I don't know
if this is directly related to his choice of the word "topos")
Paul Swanson: swansonp@jpncun10

------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1993 09:56:20 EDT
From:    Beata Grant <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Tricycle

On Wed, 25 Aug 1993, [email-masked] (Greg Fitzpatrick) wrote:

> Well, I've never sent to a mailing list before, so this will be a good
> test. But, I *am* really interested in the answer to the following:
>
> I've heard reference to a publication called 'Tricycle', ostensibly
> a magazine on the topic of Buddhism. I've never run across it, though.
> Is anyone familiar with it and, if so, can you give:
>
> 1) a brief description of its contents?
>
> 2) info regarding subscription information (address & phone) and cost,
>    if you know?
>
> Thanks.

As it happens, I just got my Fall  1992 issue of Tricycle in the mail today.
It is a beautifully produced journal and I always find at least
one or two worthwhile articles. However, it is a very mixed bag of the
scholarly, the pop, the beat (beginning with the last issue, they've been
running Jack Kerouac's personal interpretation of the Buddha's life
entitled Wake Up) and the more practical (an interview with Zen Teacher
Charlotte Joko Beck). In short, I do have mixed feelings about it, but
it's certainly worth a look. Subscription (one year $20) address is
       TRICYCLE: The Buddhist Review
       Dept. TRI
       P.O. Box 3000
       Denville NJ 07834-9897
Or you can call 1 (800) 950-7008.

Beata Grant

------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1993 10:54:48 EDT
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Tricycle

If "beautifully produced" means slick, I would be inclined to agree. Many of us
indeed believe that Tricycle is a significantly "mixed-bag" that is hardly
reflective of the great diversity that is now present in American Buddhism.
>From its inception, the magazine has taken an editorial stance that is less
than flattering to Asian-American Buddhists...so much so that a number of
individuals (including Ryo Imamura and myself) have attempted to express this
concern in print IN TRICYCLE. Ryo composed a rather compelling letter to the
editor that was NOT printed, and I had a contracted article "killed". It is
certainly within the editorial rights of the magazine to reject materials for
publication, but both Ryo and I found it curious that our submissions, each of
which emphasized the contributions of Asian-Americans to the growth of Buddhism
in America, were not printed. You will notice, if you look carefully, that
Gary Snyder's name is no longer listed on the masthead under "Board of
Advisors." He recently resigned over precisely this issue, citing Ryo's letter
and my article as primary reasons for doing so.

I don't know if Ryo's complete letter will ever appear in print. However, the
most important part of it will appear in my article which WILL BE PUBLISHED in
_Buddhist Studies Review_ (published in London) in a forthcoming issue.

I have not cancelled my subscription to Tricycle. I do read it, for the worth-
while items it does present, but with a genuine awareness for what I (at least)
think are its limitations and editorial arrogance.

This will probably be my last entry for a while, as I move to Canada. Sorry to
make it an unpleasant one.

Dr. Charles S. Prebish
Pennsylvania State University           E-Mail: [email-masked]
Religious Studies Program               Voice Mail: 814/865-1121
216 Weaver Building                     Fax: 814/863-7840
University Park, Pa. 16802

------------------------------

End of BUDDHA-L Digest - 24 Aug 1993 to 26 Aug 1993
***************************************************

Date:     Fri, 27 Aug 1993 16:00:39 -0400
From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Subject:  BUDDHA-L Digest - 26 Aug 1993 to 27 Aug 1993

There are 10 messages totalling 389 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. Tricycle (2)
  2. The Bodhisattva and Nirvana
  3. Bodhisattva ideal: a Theravadan view
  4. Honen
  5. TEXTS INTERESTED IN/ BODHISATTVA FORUM
  6. African Americans and Buddhism
  7. To define a bodhisattva
  8. _Buddhist Studies Review_
  9. On lineage in Theravaada and Nikaaya Buddhism

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1993 19:54:41 EDT
From:    Ryo Imamura <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Tricycle

I thank Charles Prebish for his honest and personal appraisal of Tricycle.
he described very well the difficulties that many of us have had in
getting anything reprinted in Tricycle that does not agree with the
editor's very narrow and elitist view of American Buddhism.  Such a strong
policy of censorship certainly goes against the spirit of the
Buddhadharma.  As someone so aptly commented earlier, Tricycle is
presently the "Buddhist" version of "Vanity Fair".

Ryo Imamura

------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1993 19:55:51 EDT
From:    Bill Carter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: The Bodhisattva and Nirvana

Manjuvajra <[email-masked]> writes:
>'practioners.' It seems that broadly - and somewhat crudely - one could
>identify academic Buddhists  as those who seek to understand Buddhism but do
>not wish to put its teachings into practice and especially they do not want
>to get emotionally involved with the Dharma.  Actual Buddhists on the other
>hand want to understand the Dharma *and* put it into practice, in

  Aren't your remarks kind of presumptuous?  I think it is ridiculous
  to assume that people who make a study of Buddhist literature do not,
  therefore, have some form of practice.  I like to think of Buddhism
  as having room for lots of different approaches.  It doesn't disappoint
  me if some of them don't involve a lot of emotional involvement.

>from their academic friends.  Some academics can miss the point completely,
>yes completely, because the Dharma is above all else a path to be practiced
>and experienced.

  What isn't the Dharma?  Point some non-Dharma out for me, would'ja?

___________________________________________________________________
Bill Carter                      Thus Something and Nothing produce
[email-masked]     each other.  -Lao Tzu

------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1993 19:56:56 EDT
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Bodhisattva ideal: a Theravadan view

In response to Alan Sponberg's question about "foregoing libera-
tion"or achieving liberation first, the following can be said speci-
fically for Tibetan liberation that it is not "foregoing", but at-
taining liberation first. In almost all Tibetan sadhana literature,
practice texts end with the dedication of merit. They usually read
as follows:

          Through this (referring to the specific practice)
          and all virtuous and meritorious actions, may I
          quickly achieve liberation (or the state of such
          and such a buddha or bodhisattva), and free all
          sentient beings, etc.

There are literally hundreds of such examples that can be cited. I
will supply a few in tommorrow's mail. Also at the beginning of
most texts there is also a small prayer cited before the main prac-
ice as the "aspiration for the achieving both relative and ultimate
bodhicitta".

                                  Dwight A. Tkatschow

                                  Ritsumeikan Institute
                                  UBC, Vancouver, B.C.

P.S. Alan I will look up references in both the primary and commen-
tary liberature in Tibetan on the Bodhisattva-samvara, and also sup-
ply these in due course.

------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1993 19:58:04 EDT
From:    "Jacqueline I. Stone" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Honen

     Can anyone recommend to me any articles in journals or other academic
studies on Honen, in English or other European languages?  I am making this
request on behalf of some Japanese colleagues working in the area of Pure Land
studies who are trying to assemble a study of how Honen has been presented in
the West.

     Thanks very much,

                       jackie stone
                       [email-masked]

------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1993 20:01:41 EDT
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: Re: TEXTS INTERESTED IN/ BODHISATTVA FORUM

Dear Jeanne Tolmasoff and other interested parties,

In my correspondence, I mentioned three principal texts: Padmasam-
bhava's "Precept which is the Garland of Views"; Aryadeva's "Pra-
jnaparamita-upadesa"; and Macig Labdron's "Great Testament on the
Prajnaparamita". The first text is primarily a Dzogchen work focused
on the various "yanas". But mainly an exposition of what Dzogchen is
especially in the context of "mahayoga". The second work is the
foundational text for the "Chod" ("Cutting-off" or "Severing the
Roots of Samsara") tradition. Likewise, the third text is also from
the "Chod" tradition. In this work Macig Labdron deals extensively
with severing the four types of maras, which constitute four types
of neuroses and/or spiritual death. She also deals with the views of
the traditional philosohical schools of India, then goes on to re-
fute each of the Buddhist views from the Vaibhasikas and Sautranti-
kas to the Yogacarins and Madhyamikas to the various classes of tan-
tra and even attackes the Dzogchenpas as holding to some sort of
dualistic constructs. Her arguments rest on a nondualistic position-
less position and that one severs the base of all dualistic con-
structs which have a strong attachment to and are embedded in the
ego which in turn has its base in the body. Through the ultimate act
of bodhicitta, the practitioner of "Chod" literally destroys these
bases by offering that which is held so dear, the "body". The true
nature of the mind is projected out of the body and visualized as a
wrathful knowledge-holding dakini which proceeds to dismember the
body seen just to be a husk constituted of aggregates. These dismem-
bered parts are rendered into a sort of ambrosial stew for those
that delight in such substances or a more gruesome blood and flesh
offering for those wrathful beings that partake of such things. The
purpose of such a practice is to destroy attachment, the body fun-
tioning as a pivottal point of intersection for the ego and all its
diseases.By making the offering of one's "self" one has no founda-
tion for attachment. Ultimately, the body,ego and allthat is attach-
ed to them are viewed as being totally empty, they are "sunya".
Therefore, through this understanding one realizes the true state of
reality, the true nature of the mind, acquiring  the accumulation of
wisdom/gnosis and by the act of offering and feeding others, allevi-
ating their suffering, there is the accumulation of merit. In the
"Testament" this is explained in detail. In the "sadhana" for prac-
tice the "rite" is described. Thus you have a system for liberation
with a theory, practice, and ultimate goal. There is also described
an additional element which is possibly what you may be interested
in and may also lend itself to the bodhisattva discussion, especi-
ally Alan Sponberg's last entry concering "foregoing liberation" or
"attaining it first and then working for others  afterwords". This
element is "behavior" or "conduct". I think the issue should concen-
trated on the question of conduct and the position of the different
views. They may "seem" the same or alike, but they "are not". Each
different view dictates the course of action a practitioner must
take. The common ground is the act of generating the mind of enligh-
tenment or to be more specific the mind of enlightenment itself.
Altruism is only a "first step" not the end of the bodhisattva-sam-
vara. The intent is the realization of its ultimate nature. In fact
a bodhisattva means someone who has discerned that. If he only was
someone focused on altruism, love and compassion, he would be called
a "karunika". But his aim is the realization of that ultimate mind,
that is clear radiant and empty.Its essential nature is"emptiness",
its capacity is its "ability to reflect like a mirror", and its
"functional energy" is compassion.These are what the Dzogchen tradi-
tion in all of its writings call the base or ground. Its "ngowo",
"rangshin", and "dang" (my phonetic renderings of the Tibetan). Ac-
cording to the Tibetan Lama and scholar Namhkai Norbu, he states,
that "How can a person who is drowing aid another drowing person. We
must first work toward our own liberation, but with an "attitude" of
helping others in love and compassion." Thus one has a base in the
realization of the true nature of reality which is awareness (rigpa=
vidya) and emptiness, and from this arises the mind's energy which
is compassion (thugje or nyingje). I think there is a lot of confu-
sion over this business of "foregoing" etc. We must get out of this
mind-set by not perpetuating a "lineage of errors" following from
mistaken views of early scholarship, but look at the texts them-
selves and also the living traditions that perpetuate them. The one
drawback in this process is that sometimes the traditions have gone
on there own way interpreting the way they want. I am thinking
especially of Pure Land groups or those like Nichiren Shinshu. This
is not an attack on these groups, but sometimes some of the inter-
pretors in the past got a little too zealous, foresaking the actual
letter of the texts in favour of there own visions. The Tibetans
were no exception to this rule, but they did try to stay in line
with the original lineages, and their textual renderings, etc., be-
gun in India and surrounding regions. On yes Jeanne, if you want any
of these texts, I would be glad to send you a copy of them. I have
translated them all, and am in the progress of annotation for future
publication. In fact I am translating all of the main texts in the
corpus of "Chod" texts.

                                        Dwight A. Tkatschow

                                        Ritsumeikan Institute
                                        Vancouver, B.C.

------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1993 20:20:26 EDT
From:    Lefty <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Tricycle

>I thank Charles Prebish for his honest and personal appraisal of Tricycle.
>he described very well the difficulties that many of us have had in
>getting anything reprinted in Tricycle that does not agree with the
>editor's very narrow and elitist view of American Buddhism.  Such a strong
>policy of censorship certainly goes against the spirit of the
>Buddhadharma.  As someone so aptly commented earlier, Tricycle is
>presently the "Buddhist" version of "Vanity Fair".

I've also had a bit of an altercation with Tricycle.  Three issues ago, the
editors took Apple Computer to task for a PowerBook ad we had run featuring
Glenn Mullin and four monks representing Drepung Loseling Monastery.  Mr.
Mullin, I might point out, is a Macintosh user.  He and the monks were
quite happy to appear in the ad, in the role of satisfied customers.

To make a long story short, Tricycle accused Apple of exploiting Buddhism,
and even compared Apple to Nazi Germany for having "used" Tibetan Buddhism
to further its evil corporate goals.

As an Apple employee and a Tibetan Buddhist, I took some umbrage at these
suggestions.  I wrote a letter explaining my point of view.  I never got a
response.

--
Lefty ([email-masked])
C:.M:.C:., D:.O:.D:.

------------------------------

Date:    Fri, 27 Aug 1993 05:09:48 EDT
From:    "J. Weltman" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: African Americans and Buddhism

To Ryo Imamura:
re the discussion on African Americans and Buddhism. I do not know of any
resources for speaking or lecturing in the Puget Sound area, but we do have
some resources in the Bay Area - which is within driving distance if you are
earnest. Specifically, the Berkeley Zen Center has started a sitting group
program for people of color. Lewis Aframi, a member, has also been
organizing people of color sittings at the (Vipassana) Spirit Rock Center in
Woodacre, California. Perhaps you could contact Mr.Aframi at BZC; he might
have some resources for you.
        ([email-masked])

------------------------------

Date:    Fri, 27 Aug 1993 09:00:21 EDT
From:    Richard P Hayes <[email-masked]>
Subject: To define a bodhisattva

So far, few of the answers to Alan Sponberg's question about the
bodhisattva's moratorium on abiding in nirvana have been as
interesting as the question itself. Most answers so far have merely
tried to show that bodhisattvas are indeed portrayed in the
literature as postponing their final entry into nirvana. But this
point has never been questioned. What Alan is asking, I think, is
whether the postponement of nirvana is a defining characteristic
(lak.sa.na) of the bodhisattva. In other words, do ALL bodhisattvas
necessarily defer entry into nirvana? And do ONLY bodhisattvas do
this?

Although I did not (and still do not) have time to write a
commentary to the passage from the Bhaavanaa-krama that I sent in a
couple of days ago, I do have time to say that my purpose in sending
it was to provide evidence that the characteristic of not abiding in
nirvana is attributed to the Bhagavans (which usually refers to
buddhas), NOT to bodhisattvas (although of course bodhisattvas are
urged to imitate the buddhas). This point had already been made by
Terence Hays in his clarification of the different sense that the
term nirvana (nibbana) has acquired in different traditions of
Buddhism. I was merely trying to provide some textual confirmation
of a point that Terence had already made very well.

As is clear from classical Mahayana systematics, postponing the
final entry into nirvana is not restricted to bodhisattvas, so it
cannot be a distinguishing mark of bodhisattvas. Moreover, this idea
(as someone has already pointed out) is not even confined to
Mahayana Buddhism, since staying in the world for the benefit of
other sentient beings rather than entering into final nibbana is
both mentioned and recommended in the commentary to Buddhaghosa's
Visuddhimaggo. The bodhisattva ideal, as commonly depicted in
textbooks on comparative religion, is not even a distinguishing
feature of the Mahayana, since it percolated into Theravada about
1500 years ago.

A lot of Mahayana ideas have taken root in Theravada, even if
Mahayana texts have not been regarded as canonical in Theravada. One
innovation that was recently pointed out to me by Victor Soogen Hori
(a Rinzai monk now teaching at McGill) and Bhante Punnaji (a
Theravadin monk who until recently at least was in Toronto) is that
during the past generation or so, some Theravadins have suddenly
started talking about lineages of teachers. One finds the claim
being made, for example, that certain traditions of vipassanaa
meditation have been handed down through an unbroken lineage of
teachers from Gotama Buddha to the present. This claim is
demonstrably false (as are virtually all claims of unbroken
transmission), and it is not all all the kind of claim that
Theravadins would have made a century ago. But for all its falsity
and innovation, the claim is made in earnest by those who make it.
Bhante Punnaji's hypothesis is that claims of lineage have worked
their way into Theravada in imitation of all the fuss that is made
about lineage in Tibetan and Zen circles.

If any of you have heard tapes of Ajahn Chaa or read transcriptions
thereof, you know how many ideas that are commonly believed to be
Mahayana ideas were used by this great Thai proponent of Theravada
Buddhism. One of his favourite texts was The Platform Sutra of the
Sixth Patriarch. (What an embarrassment to all of the professors of
comparative religions who have been busily telling their classes
that the way to tell a Theravadin from a Mahayanin is that the
former is a self-centered, narrow-minded, literalistic, orthodox
purist, while the latter is concerned with the sufferings of all
sentient beings, open-minded, and much more concerned with the
spirit than the letter of the law.)

The fact of the matter is that hardly anything in the real world is
as neat and tidy as all the oversimplified mnemonics we teach our
students to recite in the classroom and to feed back on exams.

Thanks to Alan Sponberg for pointing out the limitations of the
mnemonics that many of us were fed when we were first year students
eager to learn all about how to tell bodhisattvas from arhants and
buddhas. I trust that we now know better than to feed these same
oversimplifications to our students.

Richard Hayes                                       [email-masked]
Faculty of Religious Studies                            McGill University

------------------------------

Date:    Fri, 27 Aug 1993 10:17:22 EDT
From:    Dave Tilley <[email-masked]>
Subject: _Buddhist Studies Review_

 I am looking for information (address/phone#) about the
_Buddhist Studies Review_. I would like to get a subscription (if not too
expensive).

Dave Tilley
[email-masked]

------------------------------

Date:    Fri, 27 Aug 1993 10:19:15 EDT
From:    John McRae <[email-masked]>
Subject: On lineage in Theravaada and Nikaaya Buddhism

In a recent posting, Richer Haze stated the following:

A lot of Mahayana ideas have taken root in Theravada, even if Mahayana
texts have not been regarded as canonical in Theravada. One innovation
that was recently pointed out to me by Victor Soogen Hori (a Rinzai monk
now teaching at McGill) and Bhante Punnaji (a Theravadin monk who until
recently at least was in Toronto) is that during the past generation or
so, some Theravadins have suddenly started talking about lineages of
teachers. One finds the claim being made, for example, that certain
traditions of vipassanaa meditation have been handed down through an
unbroken lineage of teachers from Gotama Buddha to the present. This claim
is demonstrably false (as are virtually all claims of unbroken
transmission), and it is not all all the kind of claim that Theravadins
would have made a century ago. But for all its falsity and innovation, the
claim is made in earnest by those who make it.  Bhante Punnaji's
hypothesis is that claims of lineage have worked their way into Theravada
in imitation of all the fuss that is made about lineage in Tibetan and Zen
circles.

(Sorry, but I haven't figured out how to put those nifty > signs in in
front of each line, but the preceding was all quotation.)

I would like to note that lineage claims similar to those reported
for modern Theravaada occur in fifth-century C.E. Sarvaastivaada texts
recorded in Chinese.  I won't suggest there's a direct link between the
two sets of claims, but rather that lineage has at least occasionally been
of crucial importance within non-Mahaayaana meditation (and Vinaya)
schools/factions.  I've discussed this data and its implications for the
origins and evolution of the early Chinese Ch'an (Zen) school in my book
on the Northern School.

In addition, note McRae's First Rule of Zen Lineages:  To the extent that
any lineage assertion is significant, it is to the same extent likely to
be false.  If it's historically accurate, it's probably trivial.

-- John McRae, Cornell

------------------------------

End of BUDDHA-L Digest - 26 Aug 1993 to 27 Aug 1993
***************************************************

Date:     Wed, 1 Sep 1993 16:01:48 -0400
From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Subject:  BUDDHA-L Digest - 31 Aug 1993 to 1 Sep 1993

Date:    Wed, 1 Sep 1993 08:47:20 EDT
From:    Mathieu Boisvert <[email-masked]>
Subject: Sri Lanka; Clarifications

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Dear Tim,
I am afraid my explanation of the passage you quoted will not be
as enlightening as you might have hoped.  I admit that the statement
itself is biased and contains sarcasm.  My intention was far from
hurting anyone's feelings, but simply to point out that we often tend
to idealize certain situations, or people, when in reality they are
radically different from the image we cherish.

In the last thirteen years, I had the opportunity to spend several
months in Sri Lanka and cultivate close ties with different monastic
communities throughout the country.  Through the friendships I had
developed with Monks and monks, I had the opportunity to realize
that there is a crucial distinction between the image I had forged of
Buddhism, and the institution of the same name.  The institution
itself, as any other large religious tradition or organization, is often
involved in politics and socio-economic strategies that often
contradict the very essence of the tradition.  The example of the
Mahaanayaka whose gun fell out of his robe is nothing but one of
these synchronicities.

Whether in Sri Lanka, Burma, Canada or United States, religious
institutions play an important role in manipulating the population.
When the country is facing an upheaval, it is not uncommon to
notice a massive increase of "religious fervor", a fervor which,
unfortunately, does not always express itself as the Dalai Lama or
Thich Nhat-Hanh would have hoped.  Look at the popularity of
"New Religious Movements" in North America: they "pop up like
monsoon frogs" and many of them are quite successful (at least in
financial or membership terms).  I am not denying the therapeutic
effects that some of these might have on certain individuals.  I am,
however, questioning myself about the power (of a person or a
group) that becomes responsible for blowing up a bus full of
Buddhist monks.  You might recall the incident that happened five
or six years ago.  A bus of Buddhist monks was blown up,
supposedly by Tiger terrorists.  I have heard (evam me suttam; with
all its hermeneutical implications) from two Buddhist monks that the
bombing was planned not by the Tigers, but by Buddhists who
wanted to increase tensions and to create an avenue to retaliation
against the Tamils.  Whether this is true or not, I cannot say, but it
sure indicates that the Sangha itself is not unified and may possibly
play according to rules we haven't fathomed of.

We should be careful not to idealize countries that officially claim
to follow Buddhism.  If one roams around Sri Lanka for a while,
one will meet many monks, but very few will fit the Western image
of a Buddhist Monk: how many singhalese monks actually practice
meditation daily?  Do most of the monks in Sri Lanka even respect
the five precepts they preach to the laity (not to mention the 217
rules that every monastic should abide to).

This said, I don't want to leave you with the impression that
"Buddhism" is not practiced in Sri Lanka or other South-Asian
countries.  I recently came back from a research on maran.asati
(contemplation on death) in Sri Lanka, and let me assure you that
certain monks do take their "job" seriously, spending more than 10
hours a day sitting in front of a skeleton (this, of course, is a small
minority...).  There are also many hermitages and monasteries open
to the laity where meditation courses are offered.  This aspect of
Buddhism is definitely present in Sri Lanka and I never intended to
deny or belittle this important (essential) part of the tradition.

By my comment, Tim, I simply wanted to stress the fact that
Buddhism also is an important socio-political force.  I hope these
few lines helped clarifying a statement that I would now send totally
rephrased.

Mathieu Boisvert
Departement des sciences religieuses
Universite du Quebec a Montreal