What Buddhist monks can teach us
Stevens, John
What Buddhist monks can teach us JOHN STEVENS MONASTICISM-life in a Buddhist monastery as a member of the sangha, observing a set of precepts and devoting oneself to meditation-is considered the...
...The focus of one's spirituality may change over the years and perhaps all religious should be able to freely experience the different stages of lay, contemplative, and active life...
...He is presently studying and translating Buddhist texts and teaching at the Tohoku College of Social Welfare in Sendai, Japan...
...As such they resemble monks in a Catholic monastery with one important difference: they are under no compulsion to stay, and indeed are not expected to do so...
...Oriental culture, entered a Buddhist seminary and was ordained a priest of the Soto Zen school...
...they shave their heads, don the ocher robe of renunciation, and make the begging rounds every morning...
...Head temples hold one or two one-hundred-day training periods each year...
...After the session ends one has some "free" time to do as he or she wishes: return home, visit relatives, talk with friends, sleep late, eat and drink anything...
...Actually, such an arrangement is not without precedent...
...terities, hard physical labor, daily confrontations with a demanding master...
...Yet it does not last forever...
...Why," they ask, "are they turning their backs on that which they have received from their own patriarchs...
...Buddhists are not interested in dialogue...
...each tradition maintains a heritage which has a place for every type of spirituality...
...Of course, some remain in the order but the majority return to lay life, occasionally visiting the monastery for brief retreats, and many become monks again upon retirement...
...they are interested in practice...
...however, Christian mystical theology is as rich and varied as any Oriental Way of Liberation, and is often better suited to modern conditions in the West...
...Many, if not most, men spend at least some time as a monk...
...If possible, participation should be open to anyone who is willing to observe the rules...
...Many are unsure of their station in life and a good dose of monastic training could help them regain their equilibrium regardless of what path they ultimately pursue...
...During these sessions the training is the most severe imaginable-hours of meditation and other ausJOHN stevens is an American who went to Japan eight years ago to study...
...When the time comes that an ascetic can no longer follow the rules naturally with a sincere heart he or she should "move on" to something else: Buddhists maintain that the fundamental principle of this world is change-no one is the same person at thirty years of age as he was at twenty...
...Within'the order rules must be accepted for the sake of discipline...
...rather the practice is shifted to a different arena...
...It is a spiritual desert that tests the outer limits of human endurance...
...An Indian scholar of the eighth century was seven times a monk, seven times a layman...
...he rest to God...
...I personally found more Zen simplicity in the Trappist monasteries I have visited than in large Zen temples which are full of golden statues, silk brocade, and expensive ornaments...
...The end of the training period does not mean mat the ascetic has graduated...
...It is not good to mix different traditions, and unnecessary...
...Buddhist vows are important, but not absolute in the sense of being eternally binding...
...What matters most is voluntary participation with total dedication...
...a modest monthly fee for room and board would not be unreasonable...
...For example, the Desert of Our Lady of Bethlehem near Cordova, Spain, consisted entirely of laymen who made annual, not perpetual, vows and were free to leave once the vows expired...
...A true monk is attached to nothing, and always acts freely whatever he may be doing...
...Japanese and Tibetan priests who are aware of the Catholic contemplative tradition are quite distressed when they see Christian monks practicing zazen or T.M...
...Sometimes monastic observance and peaceful surroundings are necessary...
...After reaffirming their primary dedication to the contemplative life, Catholic monasteries should place less stress on "permanent" vocations, and more on "temporary" vocations-that is, letting anyone who wishes join the community for either a fixed or open-ended period...
...at other times, life in the world in the midst of its troubles and temptations is the best place to meditate...
...No comment was made when he departed from the monastery, and he was accepted back each time without a word...
...What is important is to preserve the essence of the teaching-in this case, a life of private and liturgical prayer, silence, manual labor, and study...
...However, almost no one remains in the same monastery for his entire life since, as was noted above, it is thought to be both unwise and unnatural for a person not to develop different directions...
...This is the basic principle of Buddhist practice in Japan...
...I am not about to suggest that Catholic contemplative communities adopt Buddhist practices...
...Active orders could organize one- or two-year temporary vocations similar to the Peace Corps...
...on the contrary, I strongly recommend against it...
...The abbot answered, "Concentrate on practice, keep your mind in the present, and leave the rest to God...
...Earnest seekers of the Way will travel widely, attending training sessions at different temples, searching for the best teachers...
...Perhaps after taking some simple vows such as "I promise to obey the rules of this monastery," "I vow to practice diligently for the sake of all," the person would be permitted to wear a suitable habit, live with the other monies or nuns, and participate in the monastic regimen...
...A Catholic monk once asked a Buddhist abbot,' 'What is the essence of the religious life...
...they are valid under certain conditions but not universally applicable...
...Neither should be avoided, nor should one be chosen exclusively over the other...
...To be sure, there are a number of concepts in Buddhism that appeal to Western contemplatives...
...I realize that some may argue that stability is the basis of the religious life, or object that no organization can survive without permanent members, yet I believe most orders, active and contemplative, would flourish if final vows were done away with...
...There could be training sessions of a week, a month, a hundred days, a year...
...What Buddhist monks can teach us JOHN STEVENS MONASTICISM-life in a Buddhist monastery as a member of the sangha, observing a set of precepts and devoting oneself to meditation-is considered the noblest way of life throughout the Theravadin countries of Southeast Asia...
...Practicing intensively deep in the mountains one is physically and spiritually isolated from normal human intercourse...
...different stages of our lives require different practices...
Vol. 108 • October 1981 • No. 18
