buddhism for the “spiritual but not religious”

From Shambhala Sun

Buddhism for the “Spiritual But Not Religious”

1

S“Spiritual but not religiouS”? What does that mean

exactly? it sounds so light, so non-committal.

light? Maybe, depending on the person. noncommittal?

Well, yes. and that’s precisely the point.

plenty of people today want spiritual nourishment. but

many aren’t wild about how it’s been served to them. they’re

not going to commit to a church, a leader, a fixed set of

beliefs. it’s not necessarily that they’re not ready or able to

commit. it’s that they’re not moved to. there’s discernment at

play: they want to be free to explore, inquire within, and see

what works for them.

that openness and spirit of inquiry has real confluence with buddhist thought. We

buddhists have been told by teachers like the Dalai lama—and by the buddha himself—that

if we sincerely test and apply teachings but find them to be untrue, we should discard them.

likewise, we should take any great spiritual lesson to heart, no matter its source.

buddhists strive to see wisdom wherever it manifests—among scientists, atheists, and

artists; among practitioners and teachers of the great world religions; among activists,

seekers, and ordinary people. as Joan Sutherland puts it in “is buddhism even a

religion?” (page 19), “the religious, the agnostic, and the completely irreligious, as well

as those inclined psychologically, mystically, shamanically, or socio-politically, can all

find a home in the very big tent of buddhism.”

that’s no accident. the buddha geared his teachings to his audience, knowing that

what works for some people might not work for others, but that all of us can be turned

toward awakening with the right skillful means. likewise, the late Chögyam trungpa

rinpoche, who founded the Shambhala Sun, put a premium on inclusivity. as he wrote

in the opening of his classic book Shambhala: the Sacred Path of the Warrior ,“there is

basic human wisdom that can solve the world’s problems. this wisdom does not belong

to any one culture or religion, nor does it come only from the West or the east.”

Welcome to the Big Tent

2

Yet, even among those who call themselves buddhists, there are some who don’t or

won’t recognize this. think, for example, of those in burma, Sri lanka, and thailand

who would like to do away with their Muslim countrymen and who fan the fires of

islamophobia. they may even be ordained and wearing robes, but let’s face it: they’re

fanatics who’ve lost the point of the spiritual path. people like that are surely one reason

why so many of us these days say yes to spirituality but no to religion.

it’s not that they don’t deserve our compassion. indeed, compassion could be the key

to turning them back toward civility and inclusivity. but we should let the world know

that what they’re doing isn’t representative of what buddhists value—robes or no.

i have to wonder: if i were coming up today, seeing the charlatans and religious chauvinists

in the news, where would i be? When i was younger, i had spiritual leanings, but i wasn’t merely

“not religious”; i was anti-religion, and anti-social. it was my exposure to buddhist thought,

and the practical and profound practice of meditation, that changed that. i became more

tolerant, less at odds with the world, and when my teacher spoke of the wisdom in the

world’s religions, i was open and intrigued. i’ve found some real peace there.

i’d hate for anyone to miss out on that.

So is buddhism a religion? Here, Joan Sutherland and two other panelists explore this

question, offering their own unique answers. that in itself gets right to the heart of the

buddha’s idea of skillful means. that is, the answer that matters, in the end, is the answer

that works for you—and you’ll need to figure it out for yourself. if anyone tries to tell

you otherwise, be skeptical.

So welcome to the big tent. Make yourself at home, and come and go as you please.

—roD MeaDe SperrY

Associate Editor

It wasn’t so long ago that most americans took their religion for

granted. You were born into a religion, you lived in it, and you died in it.

except for a few daring freethinkers, that’s the way it was as recently as the 1950s, and

that’s still the way it is in most of the world today. it’s the way we’ve related to religion

for thousands of years.

until now. today, a significant and growing number of americans do not identify

themselves as members of any religion. according to a pew research report, 20 percent

of americans—one-fifth of the adult population—describe themselves as religiously

unaffiliated. that’s up from 15 percent just five years ago, and the percentage goes higher

the younger you are—up to 72 percent for generation Y.

are You Spiritual but not religious?Melvin McLeod on 10 Reasons Why Buddhism Will Enrich Your Path

paintings by michael newhall

3

4

Spiritual but not religious continued

there are many different reasons why people become disenchanted with organized

religion—the litany is long and depressing—but most continue to yearn for something

more than a life of materialism, for something that gives deeper meaning and happiness,

for something they describe as “spiritual.”

about a third of the religiously unaffiliated describe themselves as atheists. but the

rest—some thirty million americans—maintain some type of spiritual belief and prac-

tice, even though they no longer feel at home in a church, synagogue, or mosque.

these are the famous “spiritual but not religious,” philosophically the fastest-growing

demographic in the u.S. generally, they’re educated, liberal, and open-minded, with a

deep sense of connection to the earth and a belief that there’s more to life than what

appears on the surface.

perhaps this describes you. perhaps, as a reader of the Shambhala Sun, you’re one of

the many people who has discovered that buddhism has a lot to offer your life and spiri-

tual practice, without some of the downsides of institutionalized religion.

to put it another way: is buddhism the religion for people who don’t like religion?

buddhism is unique among the world’s major world religions. (in a few pages we’ll

debate whether buddhism is in fact a religion, but for now let’s assume it is.) buddhism

is the one world religion that has no god. it is the nontheistic religion.

that changes everything. Yes, like other religions buddhism describes a nonmaterial,

spiritual reality (perhaps the realer reality) and addresses what happens after we die. but

at the same time, it is down-to-earth and practical: it is about us, our minds, and our

suffering. it’s about being fully and deeply human, and it has something to offer every-

one: buddhists of course; but also the spiritual but not religious, members of other reli-

gions, and even those who don’t think they’re spiritual at all. because who doesn’t know

the value of being present and aware?

First, a couple of cautions. like other religions, buddhism is practiced at different lev-

els of subtlety, and sometimes it can be just as theistic as any other religion. buddhism is

practiced by people, so there’s good and bad. We come to buddhism as we are, so there’s

definitely going to be ego involved. that’s no problem—it’s the working basis of the

path. the key is where we go from there.

also, much of what i’m saying about buddhism also applies to the contemplative

traditions of other religions. in fact, contemplatives of different faiths often have more

in common with each other than they do with practitioners of their own religion. it

comes down to how much we personify or solidify the absolute—whether it’s a supreme

being who passes judgment on us or an open expanse of love and awareness. in their

experience of god, thomas Merton, rumi, and Martin buber had more in common

5

with the buddha (and each other) than with most practitioners of their own faith.

the difference is that meditation is the very essence of buddhism, not just the practice

of a rarified elite of mystics. it’s fair to say that buddhism is the most contemplative of

the world’s major religions, which is a reflection of its basic nontheism.

buddhism is about realization and experience, not institutions or divine authority.

this makes it especially suited to those who consider themselves spiritual but not reli-

gious. Here are ten reasons why:

there is no buddhist god.

Different schools of buddhism have different views about who the buddha was.

Some say he was an ordinary human being who discovered the path to awakening; oth-

ers say he was already enlightened but followed the path to show us how it’s done. but

one thing is certain: he was not a god, deity, or divine being. His faculties were purely

human, any of us can follow his path, and our enlightenment will be exactly the same as

his. ultimately, we are no different from him, and vice versa.


1

6

admittedly, there are lots of buddhist images that look like gods and deities, all kinds of

colorful and exotic beings. the buddhist cosmos is a vast one, containing infinite beings

of different minds, bodies, faculties, and realms. Some are more subtle and awakened, and

others are grosser and more confused. Yet these are just the endless variations on the reality

we experience right now. it may be infinitely vast and profoundly deep, it may be mysteri-

ous beyond concept, it may be far different than we think it is, but whatever reality is, this

is it. there is nothing and nobody fundamentally different from or outside of it.

it’s about your basic goodness.

buddhism is not about salvation or original sin. it’s not

about becoming somebody different or going somewhere else. because both you and

your world are basically good.

With all its ups and downs, this world of ours works. it warms us; it feeds us; it offers

us color, sound, and touch. We don’t have to struggle against our world. it is neither for

us nor against us. it is a simple, vivid world of direct experience we can investigate, care

for, enjoy, make love to.

We are basically good as well, confused as we may be. in buddhism, our true nature

has many names, such as buddhanature, ordinary mind, sugatagarbha, Vajradhara, or

just plain buddha—fundamental awakeness. the thing is, we can’t solidify, identify, or

conceptualize it in any way. then it’s just the same old game we’re stuck in now. We do

not own this basic goodness. it is not inside of us, it is not outside of us, it is beyond the

reach of conventional mind. it is empty of all form, yet everything we experience is its

manifestation. it is nothing and the source of everything—how do you wrap your mind

around that? all you can do is look directly, relax, and let go.

the problem is suffering. the answer is waking up.

buddhism exists to address one problem: suffering. the buddha called the truth of suf-

fering “noble,” because recognizing our suffering is the starting place and inspiration of

the spiritual path.

His second noble truth was the cause of suffering. in the West, buddhists call this

“ego.” it’s a small word that encompasses pretty much everything that’s wrong with the

2

3


7

world. because according to the buddha, all suffering, large and small, starts with our

false belief in a solid, separate, and continuous “i,” whose survival we devote our lives to.

it feels like we’re hopelessly caught in this bad dream of “me and them” we’ve created,

but we can wake up from it. this is the third noble truth, the cessation of suffering. We do

this by recognizing our ignorance, the falseness of our belief in this “i.” Finally, the buddha

told us that there is a concrete way we can get there, which basically consists of discipline,

effort, meditation, and wisdom. this is the fourth noble truth, the truth of the path.

the way to do that is by working with your mind.

So, according to the buddha, the problem is suffering, the cause is ignorance, the remedy

is waking up, and the path is living mindfully, meditating, and cultivating our wisdom.

there’s really only one place all that happens: in our minds.

the mind is the source of both our suffering and our joy. Meditation—taming the

mind—is what gets us from one to the other. Meditation is buddhism’s basic remedy for

the human condition, and its special genius.

4


8

the buddhist path of meditation begins with practices to calm our wild mind. once

the mind is focused enough to look undistractedly into reality, we develop insight into

the nature of our experience, which is marked by impermanence, suffering, nonego, and

emptiness. We naturally develop compassion for ourselves and all beings who suffer, and

our insight allows us to help them skillfully. Finally, we experience ourselves and our

world for what they have been since beginningless time, are right now, and always will

be—nothing but enlightenment itself, great perfection in every way.

no one can do it for you. but you can do it.

in buddhism, there is no savior. there’s no one who’s going to do it for us, no place we

can hide out for safety. We have to face reality squarely, and we have to do it alone. even

when buddhists take refuge in the buddha, what they’re really taking refuge in is the

truth that there’s no refuge. not seeking protection is the only real protection.

So that’s the bad news—we have to do it alone. the good news is, we can do it. as

human beings, we have the resources we need: intelligence, strength, loving hearts, and

proven, effective methods. because of that, we can rouse our confidence and renounce

our depression and resentment.

but while no one can do that for us, help and guidance is available. there are teach-

ers—women and men who are further along the path—who offer us instruction and

inspiration. they prove to us it can be done. our fellow practitioners support our path,

while never allowing us to use them as crutches. the buddhist teachings offer us wisdom

that goes back 2,600 years to the buddha himself. We can go right to the source, because

the lineage that started with gautama buddha is unbroken to this day.

there is a spiritual, nonmaterial reality.

Some people describe buddhism as the rational, “scientific” religion, helping us lead better

and more caring lives without contradicting our modern worldview. it is certainly true that

many buddhist practices work very nicely in the modern world, don’t require any exotic

5

6


9

beliefs, and bring demonstrable benefit to people’s lives. but that’s only part of the story.

buddhism definitely asserts there is a reality that is not material. other religions say

that too; the difference is that in buddhism this spiritual reality is not god. it is mind.

this is something you can investigate for yourself:

is my mind made of matter or is it something else?

Does my mind have characteristics, like thoughts, feelings, and identity, or is it the

space within which these things arise?

Does my mind change constantly or is it continuous? is it one thing or many?

Where is the boundary of my mind? is it large or small? is it inside me looking at the

material world outside? or are my perceptions and my experience of them both mind?

(and if so, perhaps it’s the material world we should be questioning the reality of.)

but you don’t have to take anything on faith.

there is no received wisdom in buddhism, nothing we must accept purely on the basis

of somebody else’s spiritual authority. the Dalai lama has said that buddhism must give

up any belief that modern science disproves. the buddha himself famously said, “be a

lamp unto yourselves,” and told his students they must test everything he said against

7


10

their own experience. but it is easy to misinterpret this advice. our modern egos are

keen to take advantage of it.

While we shouldn’t accept what others say at face value, this doesn’t mean we should

just accept what we tell ourselves. We have to test the teachings of buddhism against our

direct life experience, not against our opinions.

and while modern science can prove or disprove old beliefs about astronomy or human

physiology, it cannot measure or test the nonmaterial. buddhism values the rational mind

and seeks not to contradict it in its own sphere. but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

Finally, it is the rare person who can navigate the spiritual path alone. While retaining

our self-respect and judgment, we must be willing to accept the guidance, even leader-

ship, of those who are further along the path. in a society that exalts the individual and

questions the hierarchy of the teacher-student relationship, it is a challenge to find a

middle way between too much self and not enough.

buddhism offers a wealth of skillful means for different people’s needs.

buddhism is not a one-path-fits-all religion. it’s highly pragmatic, because it’s about

whatever helps reduce suffering.

beings are infinite. So are their problems and states of mind. buddhism offers a wealth

of skillful means to meet their different needs. if people are not ready for the final truth,

but a partial truth will help, that’s no problem—as long as it actually helps. the problem

is that things that feel helpful—like going along with our usual tricks—can sometimes

make things worse. So the buddhist teachings are gentle, but they can also be tough. We

need to face the ways we cause ourselves and others suffering.

buddhist meditators have been studying the mind for thousand of years. in that time,

they’ve tested and proven many techniques to tame the mind, lessen our suffering, and

discover who we are and what is real (and not). there are meditations to calm and focus the

mind, contemplations to open the heart, and ways to bring ease and grace to the body. it’s fair

to say, as many people have, that buddhism is the world’s most developed science of mind.

today, people who want to explore buddhism have many resources at their disposal.

For the first time in history, all the schools and traditions of buddhism are gathered in

one place. there are fine books, excellent teachers (many of them now american), prac-

tice centers, communities, and indeed, magazines.

8


11

these are all available for you to explore according to your own needs and path. You

can practice meditation at home or go to a local center and practice with others. You can

read a book, attend classes, or hear a lecture by a buddhist teacher. Whatever works for

you—no pressure.

it’s open, progressive, and not institutional.

While buddhism in its asian homelands can be conservative, convert buddhists in the

West are generally liberal, both socially and politically. Whether this is an accident of

history or a natural reflection of the buddhist teachings, buddhist communities embrace

diversity and work against sexism and racism. identities of all sorts, including gender,

nationality, ethnicity, and even religion, are not seen as fixed and ultimately true. Yet

they are not denied; differences are acknowledged, celebrated, and enjoyed. of course,

buddhists are still people and still part of a society, so it’s a work in progress. but they’re

trying.

Many americans have turned away from organized religion because it feels like just

another bureaucracy, rigid and self-serving. buddhism has been described as disorga-

nized religion. there’s no buddhist pope. (no, the Dalai lama is not the head of world

buddhism. He’s not even the head of all tibetan buddhism, just of one sect.) there is no

overarching church, just a loose collection of different schools and communities. as you’ll

quickly discover if you go to your local buddhist center, things may run smoothly (or not),

but the atmosphere is likely to be open and relaxed. it probably won’t feel institutional.

and it works.

We can’t see or measure subjective experience, so we can’t judge directly the

effect buddhism is having on someone else’s mind and heart. but we can see how they act

and treat other people. We can hear what they say about what they’re experiencing inside.

What we find is that buddhism works. For millennia, buddhism has been making

people more aware, caring, and skillful. all you have to do is meet someone who’s been

practicing meditation a lot to know that. in our own time, hundreds of thousands of

americans are reporting that even a modest buddhist practice has made their life bet-

9

10


12

ter—they’re calmer, happier, and not as carried away when strong emotions arise.

they’re kinder to themselves and others.

but it’s really important not to burden ourselves with unrealistic expectations. Change

comes very slowly. You’ll also see that when you meet a buddhist meditator, even one

who’s been at it for a long time. Don’t expect perfection. We’re working with patterns

of ignorance, greed, and anger that have developed over a lifetime—if not much longer.

Change comes slowly for most of us. but it does come. if you stick with it, that’s guaran-

teed. buddhism works.

this is not an attempt to convert anyone to buddhism. there is no need for that. but

those who think of themselves as spiritual but not religious can find a lot in buddhism

to help them on their personal path, however they define it.

When i first encountered buddhism, what struck me was its absolute integrity. i saw

that it was not trying to manipulate me by telling me what i wanted to hear. it always

tells the truth. Sometimes that truth is gentle, softening our hearts and bringing tears to

our eyes. Sometimes it is tough, forcing us to face our problems and cutting through our

comfortable illusions. but always it is skillful. always it offers us what we need. We are

free to take what we wish. ♦


13

How It Helps MeSix non-buddhists on how buddhism has benefited their lives.

Chop Wood, Carry Waterb y K i m s ta n l e y R o b i n s o n

i don’t think of myself as a buddhist or as a particularly

religious person, but i like buddhism because it helps

me think about my day-to-day life. i like it also that i

feel the buddha and most practicing buddhists would

be fine with this use i make of buddhism. Sometimes

i call my attitude a Californian or hippie or new age

buddhism, but what i mean is buddhism feels like mine.

i use it most in structuring my feelings as i go about

daily life. i think this may be expressed best by the Zen

saying “Chop wood, carry water,” which suggests to me

that the repetitive activities of ordinary existence can be

performed as devotional acts that express the sense that

the universe is miraculous and sacred, that life is pre-

cious and we are lucky to be here. We move in a flow of

time, and nothing endures. everything is always chang-

ing, but while we are here, if we are not in too much

pain, there is beauty everywhere to be appreciated and

lived. this is a feeling to be shared and spread to others,

if possible, but first we have to feel it in ourselves.

this feeling comes to me most when i am gardening, walking, running, washing

dishes, writing, hiking in the mountains, cleaning the house, and talking with family or

friends. Since we can’t hold on to anything past its moment, including our own lives,

this sense of performing a devotional as we go through time is the best way to feel a

love of life. i call this realization a Zen perception and am thankful that my readings in

buddhism suggested it to me in my youth. it’s been a comfort and a joy ever since, and i

trust it will continue so.

A science fiction writer, K i m S ta n l e y R o b i n S o n i s a winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus

awards. His latest novel is Shaman.

14

How it Helps Me continued

the Curtain liftedb y D o n n a m . J o h n s o n

there came a time in childhood, a brief time, when i was forced to spend hours at a stretch

outdoors alone. it seems a harsh sentence for a kid of four or five. Yet when i recall the felt

experience of those days, it’s with a kind of awe at what transpired.

i passed the time playing a solitary version of hopscotch, scratching panoramas into the

dirt, and constructing rambling internal narratives to which i routinely added new chapters.

each day i came to a point where the responsibility of the made-up world exhausted me,

and my attention turned to the world around me. i became a fierce watcher of rain, clouds,

insects, birds, airborne tufts of cottonwood. When i watched something long enough, the

curtain that separated me from it sometimes lifted. an odd expansiveness rushed in, and i

experienced a sense of connectedness. With my next breath the curtain fell, and i was once

more a discrete entity, bound by skin and senses.

these experiences continued, though i never spoke or thought of them. i couldn’t because

i didn’t posses the necessary vocabulary. that changed in my teens when i first encountered

buddhist thought. the emphasis on interconnectedness caught my attention, and i won-

dered about my early experience and what it might mean. Someone gave me a copy of Zen

Mind, Beginner’s Mind, by Shunryu Suzuki roshi, a book i studied for years. i meditated and

extended my reading to other buddhist thinkers and to Christian theologians influenced by

eastern philosophy. all of this happened a long time ago, and it is still happening.

over time, buddhism has helped

me construct a spiritual framework

deeply rooted in my direct experience,

thus encouraging me to trust my

own perception. it inspires in me

a confidence that hearkens back to

childhood—to that radical knowing

rooted in the immediacy of the real

world and the wild imagination of

beginner’s mind.

D o n n a m . J o h n S o n was the organ-

ist for the apocalyptic tent preacher Brother

David Terrell. Holy ghost girl is her

memoir of growing up amid miracles and

human frailty.

15

Doctors of the Mindb y p i c o i y e R

i’ve never been eager to be part of any group or to figure out what kind of forces are at

play beyond our comprehension. We all have enough to worry about right here, right now,

with our loved ones, our bosses, our trials, and our joys.

but part of the practicality, the universality of buddhism, as i understand it, is that it’s

never been a religion. it doesn’t insist on a sense of god (or no god); it doesn’t necessarily

concern itself with ideas of nirvana or the hereafter. it simply offers a training of the mind

that encourages us to wake up to what is and, as the buddha did, to see things as they are—

not without metaphysical supplements but with open-eyed awareness and compassion.

i’ve never had a buddhist practice. but i can see how and why this training in realism

could be a help and companion to anyone, even if he or she still decides to identify as Jew-

ish or Catholic or nothing at all. (Half the friends i have these days seem to style them-

selves “buddhist Catholic” or “Jewish buddhist.”) to me, the buddha and many of his later

students—the Fourteenth Dalai lama, for example—are really doctors of the mind, offer-

ing diagnoses and prescriptions.

You don’t have to share their fundamental assumptions to accept their diagnoses.

they’re simply suggesting one response to the confusion and predicament of life, and

whether or not you take to it has nothing to do with ultimate matters.

a buddhist can be spiritual, religious, or—absolutely—none of the above.

A British-born essayist, P i c o i y e R is the author of the open road: the global Journey of the

Fourteenth Dalai lama and the lady and the Monk: Four Seasons in Kyoto.

it’s a puppy!b y s e t h g R e e n l a n D

one of the most appealing things about buddhism for

me, a non-buddhist, is the concept of beginner’s mind.

a beginner is the opposite of an expert. if you’re an

expert, everyone is looking at you. they expect you to

know everything, to have gamed out all possibilities,

to be godlike. that’s an awful lot of pressure because

humans are, well, they’re human. imperfect. inexpert.

and what expert wants to admit he doesn’t know some-


16

thing? because if he admits he doesn’t know something, then he’s not an expert. More

pressure. it exhausts me just to think about it.

but if you’re a beginner, there is no pressure. there is no expectation that you will know

anything. no one judges a beginner. they’re like puppies. You don’t get angry at a puppy

when it poops on the kitchen floor. it’s a puppy! a beginner. So cute!

being a beginner significantly decreases anxiety. and in my world—one of ringing cell

phones, deadlines, and a dog that can’t stop shaking when it rains—any way to manage

anxiety that doesn’t involve a prescription is wonderful.

to do my best work as a writer, to dig the deepest and reach a level of perception that

did not exist five minutes earlier, i need to be open, eager, and lacking in preconcep-

tion. Sound familiar? according to the renowned buddhist text Wikipedia, this perfectly

describes the condition of beginner’s mind. if i believed in tattoos i would get Openness,

Eagerness, and Lack of Preconception engraved on my bicep (next to a mermaid) so i

could check in with these ideas while at my desk.

and i like vipassana, too, but the editor told me to keep this under three hundred words.

S e t h G R e e n l a n D was a writer/producer on the HBO series big love. His novel the angry

buddhist was released in 2012.

one ordinary Dayb y c h R i s t i a n m c e w e n

this past June i was teaching on tanera Mor, a tiny island off the coast of Scotland.

one quiet afternoon, i made my way to a small hummocky islet, looking out across two

bright-eyed lochans, and settled back against a lichen-covered rock. For more than an

hour i did precisely nothing. gulls swooped and squabbled overhead. the scent of bog

myrtle carried on the breeze. a cuckoo called—once, twice!—across the hill.

i follow an eclectic spiritual path. but ever since i was a child, i’ve practiced what i

call “placefulness,” a sense-based meditation drawn from one specific place. there is no

question that buddhist practice has helped me with this.

that day on tanera, i let my eye wander and my ear too, moment after moment

unfurling with gentle authority. even in that most perfect of places, on that most perfect

of days, it wasn’t easy to stay present. So i began to sketch a little poem in honor of the

island, eager to pay witness to each passing moment, to register the subtlest and most

minuscule of changes. it was mindfulness entwined with placefulness. looking, listening,

listening out. the record of one ordinary day.


17

Wind blows the grasses, and the grasses tremble

the heather yields and crunches underfoot

tadpoles idle in the peaty shallows

a black sheep tears its fleece against a fence

one gull dabbles the bright surface of the water

another one swoops in from far away

a collared dove calls coo, roo-coo, roo-coo!

a piece of sandstone flakes off in the sun

ripples spread and glitter like a starry net

the lochan shifts from black to radiant blue

i sat for a while with the scrawled piece of paper in my lap. and then i found myself

another rock, another watching-post, and began to sit again.

c h R i S t i a n m c e w e n is the author of World enough & time: on Creativity and Slowing

Down and coeditor of the anthology the alphabet of the trees: a guide to nature Writing.


18

Fifth graders after lunchb y J e s s i c a l i t t l e

it’s tuesday and i have the fifth graders after lunch. it’s a notoriously rowdy class, and

after lunch they rarely want to calm down and spend an hour speaking, reading, and

writing their second language. but it’s my job to teach these kids english.

i always take five minutes before my classes to breathe. While i don’t consider myself

a buddhist, i am a strong believer in meditation. i don’t meditate as often or as long as

i’d like, but i never go without my pre-class “mini-meditation.” if i go into the class calm

and anchored, the children feel it, and it helps them calm down after their noisy lunch

break. So i turn off the lights, sit at my desk, and breathe.

Five minutes later, the bell rings and the kids come streaming in from outside. they are

sweaty and out of breath. one girl is chasing a boy and trying to write on his arm with

a blue highlighter. the boy tells her to quit it and races through the classroom, shoving

chairs out of his way. other students drag their feet. they ask questions like, “Can i go to

the washroom?” “Did we have homework?” and “are we doing anything fun today?”

i do exactly what i do every time i teach this class. it is a ritual. i speak slowly and

quietly. i ask them to turn to the handout waiting on their desks and read it in silence

for five minutes. it might look like regular old instruction: the teacher gives the students

work to do, and the students do the work. but it’s really a mini-meditation for the stu-

dents. Call it “silent reading meditation.” and it works. the students calm down, and we

can begin our english class. ♦

J e S S i c a l i t t l e is a teacher who lives in Montreal with her partner, Simon, and their seven-

year-old son, Zachary.


19

is it a religion, psychology, or way of life?

the “religion without god” has baffled Western thinkers

for hundreds of years. our three experts join the debate.

Religion?Is Buddhism a

20

is buddhism a religion? continued

Yesi f yo u g o t t o g e t h e R a big room of religious

studies scholars and asked each of them to offer their

own definition of religion, you’d likely get as many dif-

ferent answers as there were people in the room. there

would be similarities, but also a lot of differences.

therein lies the problem. people who say, “buddhism

is a religion” and people who say, “buddhism is not

a religion” may not be using the same standards and

criteria.

So the first challenge is finding a reasonable defini-

tion of religion. For me, the definition that has always

made the most sense is the one offered by the late buddhologist Frederick Streng. in

his classic book Understanding Religious Life, he said, “religion is a means to ultimate

transformation.”

this definition sounds almost too easy, but it really isn’t. it was designed to offer a

common set of standards by which to measure potential religions, without making value

judgments regarding theological, practical, or ethical concerns. in this definition, theism

is not favored over non-theism; prayer is not favored over meditation; one set of ethical

standards is not preferred over another.

What Streng meant to say was that for something to be considered a religion, it must

posit a clear and distinct ultimate reality. that ultimate reality can be a god or gods,

an impersonal absolute, a force of nature, a ground of being, or some other entity or

experience. but without something ultimate—beyond which it is impossible to go—the

system at hand is not a religion.

in addition, in order to be considered a religion, the system must offer some clear

and distinct path, or choice of paths, to the experience of that ultimate reality. While it

doesn’t matter whether that path is prayer, ritual, yoga, meditation, some other method,

or some combination thereof, there must be a straightforward way for the religious aspi-

rant to gain the experience of the ultimate reality.

Finally, for something to be a religion, there must be a personal transformation that

results from the individual’s experience of ultimate reality. this is most usually demon-

b y c h a R l e s p R e b i s h

21

strated by a positive change in morality and/or ethics, expressions of compassion, kind-

ness, or similar forms of conduct.

if we apply this definition, it’s clear that buddhism is a religion. First of all, buddhism

absolutely offers an ultimate reality. Some forms of buddhism may call this nirvana, oth-

ers buddhahood, and so forth, but all schools and sects of buddhism do have a

notion of ultimacy.

Second, all schools and sects of buddhism offer a clear path to the attainment of ulti-

mate reality. Whether it’s the eightfold path that we find in theravada, the bodhisattva

path of Mahayana, or something else altogether, buddhist practitioners are always pro-

vided with a straightforward series of practices that culminate in enlightenment.

Finally, are buddhists who attain the experience of ultimate reality “transformed” by

their experience? of course they are. their ethics and behaviors are changed. this may

yield more compassionate behavior or finer social engagement. the person is now mani-

festing their buddhanature.

i found in my forty years of classroom teaching that a lot of my students started off

presuming that buddhism was not a religion but a “way of life.” once confronted with

the above, most changed their opinion. those students who started from the assumption

that buddhism was indeed a religion now had some logical basis to support their as-

sumption. the same was true with practitioners i met in the various buddhist commu-

nities i visited during my time researching and practicing american buddhism.

Yet do bear in mind that some researchers, scholars, and practitioners who sub-

scribe to a different definition of religion than the one i cited may come to the opposite

conclusion.

Professor emeritus c h a R l e S P R e b i S h has written and edited numerous books on Buddhism,

including luminous passage: the practice and Study of buddhism in america.


22


i f yo u s e a Rc h “ wo R l D R e l i g i o n s ,” you’ll

find “buddhism” on every list. Does that make buddhism

a religion? not necessarily. i can argue that buddhism is a

science of mind—a way of exploring how we think, feel,

and act that leads us to profound truths about who we

are. i can also say that buddhism is a philosophy of life—

a way to live that maximizes our chances for happiness.

What buddhism is, at this point, is out of the buddha’s

hands. His teachings passed into the hands of his follow-

ers thousands of years ago. they passed from wandering

beggars to monastic institutions, from the illiterate to the

learned, from the esoteric east to the outspoken West. in its

travels, buddhism has been many things to many people. but what did the buddha intend

when he taught?

at the start of his own spiritual quest, Siddhartha left his royal home determined to

find answers to life’s most perplexing questions. are we born into the world just to suffer,

grow old, and die? What’s the meaning of it all? after years of experimenting with different

forms of religious practice, he abandoned his austerities and all his concepts about his spir-

itual journey—all the beliefs and doctrines that had led him to where he was. then, with

only an open and curious mind, he discovered what he was looking for: the great mind of

enlightenment. He saw beyond all belief systems to the profound reality of the mind itself,

a state of clear awareness and supreme happiness. along with that knowledge came an

understanding of how to lead a meaningful and compassionate life. For the next forty-five

years, he taught how to work with the mind: how to look at it, how to free it from misun-

derstandings, and how to realize the greatness of its potential.

today those teachings still describe an inner journey that’s spiritual, yes, but not reli-

gious. the buddha wasn’t a god; he wasn’t even a buddhist. You’re not required to have

more faith in the buddha than you do in yourself. His power lies in his teachings, which

show us how to work with our minds to realize our full capacity for wakefulness and

happiness. these teachings can help us satisfy our search for the truth—our need to

b y D z o g c h e np o n l o p R i n p o c h e

No

23


know who and what we really are.

Where do we find this truth? We start by bringing an open, inquisitive, and skeptical

mind to whatever we hear, read, or see that presents itself as the truth. We examine it with

reason and we put it to the test in meditation and in our lives. as we gain insight into the

workings of the mind, we learn how to recognize and deal with our day-to-day experiences

of thoughts and emotions. We uncover inaccurate and unhelpful habits of thinking and

begin to correct them. eventually we’re able to overcome the confusion that makes it so

hard to see the mind’s naturally brilliant awareness. in this sense, the buddha’s teachings

are a method of investigation, or a science of mind.

religion, on the other hand, often provides us with answers to life’s big questions from the

start. We learn what to think and believe, and our job is to live up to that, not to question it.

if we relate to the buddha’s teachings as final answers that don’t need to be examined, then

we’re practicing buddhism as a religion.

in any case, we still have to live our lives. We can’t escape having a “philosophy of life”

because we’re challenged every day to choose one action over another—kindness or

indifference, generosity or selfishness, patience or blame. When our decisions and ac-

tions reflect the knowledge we’ve gained by working with our minds, that’s adopting

buddhism as a way of life.

as the teachings of the buddha pass into our hands, what determines what they will

be for us? it’s all in how we use them. as long as they help clear up our confusion and

inspire confidence that we can fulfill our potential, then they’re doing the job that the

buddha intended.

Siddhartha was a truth seeker, nothing more. He wasn’t looking for religion, as such; he

wasn’t particularly interested in religion. He was searching for the truth. He was looking for

a genuine path to freedom from suffering. aren’t all of us searching for the same thing? if we

look at the life of Siddhartha, we can see that he found the truth and freedom he was seeking

only after he abandoned religious practices. isn’t that significant? the one who became the

buddha, the awakened one, didn’t find enlightenment through religion—he found it when

he began to leave religion behind.

A widely respected teacher in the Vajrayana school of Buddhism, D z o G c h e n P o n l o P

R i n P o c h e is the founder of Nalandabodhi and Nitartha International. His most recent book is

rebel buddha: on the road to Freedom.

24


b u D D h i s m c o v e R s many traditions, evolving

over vast stretches of geography and time and accommo-

dating everything from a statue of lord buddha on a taxi

dashboard to some of the most abstruse philosophical

treatises ever written. the religious, the agnostic, and the

completely irreligious, as well as those inclined psycho-

logically, mystically, shaman ically, or sociopolitically, can

all find a home in the very big tent of buddhism.

So is buddhism a religion? My seat under the tent is in

the Chan and Zen koan section. From this perspective,

the answer is a resounding “Yes-no-kind-of,” inside of

which might be one of buddhism’s most powerful possibilities.

at its etymological root, religion is what rebinds or reunites us with the sacred. Many

of us long for this return from exile and then discover that it leads us toward existential

danger—the deconstruction and rearrangement of our very sense of self and reality. in

common usage, religion often refers to the belief systems and institutions that surround

this longing. these religious structures can sometimes be attempts to control the inher-

ent wildness and risk of the root religious impulse. is it possible to stay true to that first

meaning of religion without calling into being the empires of the second?

the religious event at the heart of the koan tradition is awakening, which reunites us

with the sacred, or true, nature of things. the revelation of awakening is of the universe

as one undivided whole, simultaneously eternal and shimmering in and out of existence.

awakening deepens as we integrate that revelation with our experiences in the everyday

world of cause and effect, and in the nonlinear world of myth and dream. it’s an instan-

taneous reunion followed by a lifelong rebinding of our lives to the life of the world.

the koan tradition supports this by way of a culture of awakening rather than through

organized religion. instead of infallible scriptures, there’s a body of conversations, stories,

commentaries, songs, poetry, jokes—whatever has proven helpful in waking people up

over the centuries. Quotes from buddhist sutras are turned into koans, sometimes upend-

ing their traditional meanings. if there is a sacred text, it’s the world itself, which is called

the great Sutra, something we’re learning to interpret.

Kind of

b y J oa n s u t h e R l a n D

25


Zhaozhou said of reading the great Sutra, “When i come upon an unfamiliar word,

i might not know the meaning yet, but i recognize the handwriting.” We don’t always

understand why something’s happening or what it means, but we come to trust that we,

and it, are part of the same sutra. then our response in any circumstance begins with

something like Notice what happens, a deceptively simple, easily portable, and gorgeously

subversive suggestion.

this doesn’t require or deny god or any other form of divinity. the koans are con-

stantly urging us to see the radiance of each thing, galaxies to earthworms. Divinities,

spirits, and mythological figures shine with the same light as everything else. authority

comes from how clearly the voice of awakening speaks through someone, regardless of

title or position. awakening is as likely to be sparked by a tree in sudden bloom as by a

famous teacher. interposing as few filters and preconceptions as possible between our-

selves and our experiences, we become a welcoming home for all the moments of the

day, including teachers and companions in whatever forms they arrive.

being crazy in love with awakening and committed to it for every being in the universe is

a pretty strong religious impulse. Yet the koans and other traditions in the buddhist big tent

undermine attempts to solidify religion around that impulse. We don’t always succeed, but

the fact that some keep trying is one of the powerful potentials of buddhism: being deeply

religious, without religion. ♦

J o a n S u t h e R l a n D R o S h i is a teacher in the Zen koan tradition. She lives in Santa Fe,

New Mexico, where she teaches and leads the Awakened Life community.

26

minDfulness meDitation was brought to the West by buddhist teachers. it

has been widely adopted as a healthy and generally beneficial practice outside of

any religious context. Here’s basic instruction for getting started.

Choose a quiet and uplifted place to do

your meditation practice. Sit cross-legged

on a meditation cushion, or if that’s

difficult, sit on a straight-backed chair

with your feet flat on the floor, without

leaning against the back of the chair.

place your hands palms down on your

thighs and take an upright posture with

a straight back, relaxed yet dignified.

With your eyes open, let your gaze

rest comfortably as you look slightly

downward about six feet in front of you.

place your attention lightly on your out-

breath, while remaining aware of the

environment around you. be with each

breath as the air goes out through your

mouth and nostrils and dissolves into the space around you. at the end of each out-

breath, simply rest until the next breath goes out. For a more focused meditation, you

can follow both out-breaths and in-breaths.

Whenever you notice that a thought has taken your attention away from the breath,

just say to yourself, “thinking,” and return to following the breath. in this context,

any thought, feeling, or perception that distracts you is labeled “thinking.” thoughts

are not judged as good or bad. When a thought arises, just gently note it and return

your attention to your breath and posture.

at the end of your meditation session, bring calm, mindfulness, and openness

into the rest of your day. ♦

Mindfulness Meditation

buddhism for the “spiritual but not religious”

Documents