Saturday, October 14, 2017

Buddhism
A Religion with or without God
October 15, 2017
UU's of North Idaho, Coeur D'Alene, Idaho


I take refuge in the Buddha.
I take refuge in the Dharma.
I take refuge in the Sangha.

This is the three-fold refuge of Buddhist faith.
It has been very meaningful for my spiritual life.

The Buddha is the Enlightened One.
Here Buddha represents the enlightenment
                      in all of us.

Dharma is right thinking,
    the understanding that the material world
         is made up of illusions.

The Sangha is the community of people
    on the path toward enlightenment.

Basic Buddhism is composed of
   the Three-fold refuge
       the Four Noble Truths,
           and the Eightfold Path.

The Three-fold refuge is as above.
I take refuge in the Buddha.
I take refuge in the Dharma.
I take refuge in the Sangha.

I learned about the refuges, believe it or not,
   as a teenager
       in my Lutheran church Sunday School.

The Four noble truths are
(1) Life is filled with suffering
(2) Suffering is caused by people's wants.
(3) Suffering can be ended  if people stop wanting things, like more pleasure or more power.
(4) To stop wanting things, people must follow 8 basic laws, called the Eightfold Path.

And...

The Eightfold path is
(1) To know the truth
(2) To intend to resist evil
(3) To not say anything to hurt others
(4) To respect life, property, and morality
(5) To work at a job that does not injure others
(6) To try to free one's mind from evil
(7) To be in control of one's feelings and thoughts
(8) To practice appropriate forms of concentration

The final step of the Eightfold path,
    To practice appropriate forms of concentration,
           is a way of describing Buddhist meditation.

A mantra is considered helpful,
         but the concentration is first and foremost
                    in Buddhism.

As Buddhist meditation is most often practiced
     in our culture,
        it is usually known as
            mindfulness meditation.

In meditation practice,
   the focus is on concentration,
      paying close attention to the present moment
          and what is happening right now.

Living in the moment is a goal of Buddhism.

With a few caveats,
    it can be a goal of UU spirituality.

The first of those caveats is basic to Buddhism, too.

One of the great Buddhist leaders of our time,
  the Dalai Lama,
    speaks of it often:
        Compassion.

As with all of us, Buddhists do not always
    live up to their goals fully
       but the practice of compassion
           has been part of their faith
              since the beginning.

(Tiger story?)

In the immediate present,
   Buddhist compassion is being profoundly tested
        in the struggles of Myanmar,
            the country formerly known as Burma.

Their esteemed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi,
     is not treating one of their ethnic groups,
        the Rohingya,
            with pure Buddhist compassion.

The Rohingya are Muslim.

They are regarded by law as ethnic Bengali.

Since citizenship in Myanmar is based on ethnicity,
    they cannot be citizens of their own country.

They are under severe persecution by the military,
   and many of them are becoming refugees
       to neighboring Bangladesh.

Aung San Su Kyi is in a position where
    she cannot criticize the military too much,
         so she is limited in what she can do.

She is being widely criticized for not doing
     or at least appearing not to do
           what she can for the Muslim minority
                in her country,

but she regards them generally as terrorists.

On the other hand, very recently,
    in a large stadium in the former capital city,
        Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon),
            there was a well attended prayer service
                 led by Buddhists, Hindus,
                       Christians AND Muslims.

A change in political climate is still possible,
     and it will happen
           if traditional Buddhist values
                of mindfulness and compassion
                      can prevail.

Another caveat about mindfulness meditation
       is sometimes pejoratively known
             as navel gazing.

If one spends all of one's life
     in the mindfulness of the moment,
          it will not be possible
               to do much good for others,

including those who are in the most need
       of one's compassion.

Like most faiths,
    Buddhism has its denominations.

Among Buddhists, those are not really divisions.

They are just different approaches,
    and they are often seen
           along national and ethnic lines.

Myanmar practices mainly Theravada (or Hinayana)
               Buddhism, the branch of the faith
                      that does concern itself
                              with spirits
                                 and Gods.

The Dalai Lama is the head of Tibetan Buddhism,
    itself often considered a branch of its own.

Zen Buddhism, maybe the best known
    and most often practiced form of Buddhism
        in the West,
            is a development of Mahayana Buddhism.

Zen and Mahayana Buddhism are a philosophy,
   a way of life,
       not so much concerned with Gods.

China and Japan are strongholds of Zen,
     and both are great examples
         of the way Buddhism can integrate itself
            with other religions and philosophies.

In China, Confucianism is no impediment
    to the practice of Zen Buddhism,
        and in Japan, Shinto is likewise
            no impediment.

One of my favorite aspects of Zen
    is the koan, a brief statment or question,
        often a contradiction in terms
            that is to be used to open the mind
                to new possibilities.

Since life seems to be made up
  of contradictions in terms,
    it is a useful tool for coping!

Probably the best known koan is,
    "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

Another is,
  "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him."

(To tame it for our Western ears,
    if you meet him on the road, he is not the Buddha;
       you will only find him within yourself.)

My personal favorite koan is
   "God does not exist. Therefore, God is."

It's my favorite because it's such a perfect summary
                of my own agnostic faith.

Buddhism, and especially Zen for me,
   is an aid to centering thought.

Sometimes, all I need to do is see or picture
   an image of the Buddha
        in his meditation pose,

and my thoughts are calmed and more centered
                     almost instantly.

Reading about Zen is helpful for anyone,
    and some practice of Zen attitudes
        can help us with spiritual growth.

Since mindfulness meditation is often focused
     on breathing in and breathing out,
        it is a helpful reminder
           that our breathing
               is at the heart of all our spirituality.

Buddhism provided a needed reform
     of Hindu spiritual practice
          when the Buddha was enlightened
               as he sat under the Bodhi (fig) tree.

Buddhism is often called the middle way,
   between the extremes of asceticism
       and licentiousness.

The concept of karma
  is a great example of reform
     of Hindu practice (not faith)
        by the Buddha and his disciples.

At the time of the Buddha, in Hinduism,
    karma was mainly the consequence
        of ritual performance
           or the lack thereof.

Buddhist teaching came to be
      that karma is the consequence
           of what we think
               what we say
                   and what we do.

Our idea of karma today is much closer
     to the Buddhist idea than the ancient Hindu one.

I would guess that most Hindus today think of karma
    more in terms of the Buddhist concept.

As I speak of reform in religion and spirituality,
   I feel compelled to recognize a significant occasion
       that is upon us this month.

On October 31, 1517, 500 years ago,
   the professor of theology at Wittenburg University,
        Martin Luther,
             posted 95 points for debate.

Those were printed
      on the newly invented printing press
           and published all over Europe
                in a matter of a few months' time.

The Protestant Reformation had begun,
    and its 500th Anniversary is upon us.

It would be an exaggeration
   to speak of Zen Buddhism
      as a true parallel of Protestantism,
         but at least in part
            because of my Lutheran background and faith,
                I have long felt an affinity
                    with Zen.

One way we can think
    of Eastern and Western religions
       is to see them as two sides of the same coin
          with many parallels
             and different emphases.

That view of different faiths fits well
     with our Unitarian Universalist commitment
          to a free and responsible search
              for truth and meaning.

 We seek to learn from all faiths
    and all forms of questioning and reform
         in finding our own way
                to truth and meaning.

I think the Buddha would approve.

Namastë