Joe's all-American Pure Land temple, reiki studio, juice bar and veggie burger emporium
October 19, 2010 Question: Recently, I had an interesting opportunity presented to me. A cultivator from a local monastery wished me to join him in presenting a series of Pure Land seminars for the general public. I didn't feel equal to the task, but agreed initially. It didn't work. After several conversations, our different approaches proved an insurmountable obstacle. I am from the reliable "don't fix it if it ain't broken" school of thought; preferring an established, proven expression of Dharma practice, such as you and Master Chin Kung present, instead of unnecessary innovation. The other party wanted to extract "pure" Pure Land from the various expressions-Chinese, Japanese, etc.- and use the pith to synthesize a "uniquely American" Pure Land.
While this sentiment seems to resonate with the upaya, or skillful means concept, I was not comfortable with it. Mostly because, historically speaking, Dharma must be present for many generations, even hundreds of years, in a country before authentic cultural assimilation may take place enough to call it a new cultural expression of timeless Dharma principle. I was under the impression that guiding such innovative effort was the province of more experienced, enlightened masters; beings more in touch with profound wisdom than the average practitioner. Is this not so?
I'm content to rely on the fund of knowledge provided by Master Chin Kung and you. As I said, it's tried-and-true. But there is a distinct pressure on cultivators in America these days to re-package Dharma; slapping their own name-brand label on it. I don't oppose the legitimate assimilation of Pure land into American culture slowly and carefully over time in keeping with the Upaya principle. But I do take issue with what seems to be arrogance and unnecessary innovation in place of real Dharma.
I guess, at the root of it, I just want you to tell me that sticking with Master Chin Kung's Chinese Pure land is ok. That it is sufficient to achieve the goal of rebirth in Sukhavati. And that it's also ok to ignore the pressure I feel from folks who market "Joe's all-American Pure Land temple, reiki studio, juice bar and veggie burger emporium". Thanks for your kind attention and assistance.
Response: Thank you for raising this important issue.
Going first to your root question—Yes!
Sticking to the time-tested methods as taught by Venerable Master Chin Kung and other acknowledged masters of the Pure Land school will show the way to attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land.
And yes again, when Buddhism was introduced to new cultures, it was done so gradually. It literally took centuries before it truly incorporated the local flavor. Those who brought the teachings to new cultures were usually monastics because they knew the teachings, having dedicated their lives to learning them.
Take China for example. The emperor invited accomplished monks to live in China. This occurred in the year 67. Although the translation effort began fairly soon after this, it took several centuries before two of the major translation teams translated many of the sutras that are read today. Master Kumarajiva (344-413) led a team of over 400 accomplished translators. The team of Master Xuanzang (602–664) had more than 600 translators. So two of the most well-known translation teams took three to six hundred years to translate the teachings.
The Buddha cautioned that the time we are now living in would be the "Dharma-ending Age." This is a long period of decline with some flourishing of Buddhism. And he spoke of many “deviated teachers.” Deviated does not mean the teachers are without scruples or have bad intentions. Although, unfortunately there will be a certain number of these. “Deviated teachers” means that the teachers will have deviated from the proper teachings. Actually, it is easy to do so.
Today we can read many books. Those looking into Buddhism usually do read a lot as they look around to find the teaching that is right for them. But when they find the right teaching, they don’t let go of what they previously read. They jumble it all together. So they don’t do what the masters of the past suggested—forget everything you have learned and start anew.
When these teachers, who may very well have the best of intentions, teach others, the teachings are jumbled. Or worse, they are the personal opinions of the teachers. But as the ancient masters cautioned, until we attain the level of Arhat we cannot trust our judgment.
So how do we know what is right?
We look in the sutras, the recorded teachings of the Buddha.
If the Buddha said it, we can rely on that teaching. But for us to know what the Buddha said, (1) the sutras need to be correctly translated and (2) we need to understand what the sutras mean.
So first we need qualified translation teams, i.e. we need accomplished masters and a good number of them to make sure no one is mistranslating what the Buddha said. The masters who translated sutras had attained great accomplishment in virtues, knowledge, and cultivation. They were conversant in all three parts of the Buddhist Canon: Sutra-pitaka, Vinaya-pitaka, and Abhidharma-pitaka. These three parts were called the Tripitaka.
In the past, translation teams were led by Tripitaka Masters. The title "Tripitaka Master" denoted the translator’s academic background and cultivation. This background was important because the director in charge of the translation of a sutra must have mastered the Tripitaka. Therefore, the translators of the sutras were Tripitaka masters.
Second, we need accomplished masters who can understand and explain the profound meanings in the sutras. Over the centuries, many great masters have written commentaries on the sutras to explain their meaning to practitioners who had not yet mastered the teachings or achieved in their own personal cultivation. Monastics have the time to spend years studying the sutras and their commentaries.
Why is this so important?
Because newcomers and practitioners want to understand and thus ask many questions!
If the person answering the questions has not studied extensively, he or she runs the very serious risk of unintentionally giving a wrong answer. The karmic consequence for this is very serious. Understanding the seriousness of misleading people, monastics and those who have access to their teacher and fellow students can find the answer to questions they are not sure of.
As an example, I wanted to verify something I was writing in this entry so checked with a senior monastic. My understanding was correct, but if it had been wrong I would have had the opportunity to be corrected before passing on the information to you. This safety feature of being able to verify information is vitally important. This is especially so when bringing Buddhism into a new culture where there are few established standard ways to verify the accuracy of what a "teacher" is saying. And this situation is compounded by the avalanche of material we have accessible to us due to the internet, books, etc. How are we to determine what is correct and weed out what is wrong?
Also, it is traditional for masters to give permission for their students to teach others. This provided an important safeguard for the public that is not as common today when we have people trying to speed up the acculturation process.
So we can see that it's not easy to find qualified translators and teachers today.
Unfortunately, today is the age of the quick fix. We want our dinner, and we want it NOW. We want a pill to make us feel better NOW. We want to have all the trappings of a successful life (new car, fancy house, TV big enough to cover a small wall) and we want them all NOW. We want an important, well-paying job, and we want it NOW.
We want our own culture's Buddhism, and we want it NOW.
I can certainly understand the latter. I live in a Chinese community, which practices Chinese Buddhism. In Chinese. In other words, I practice in a language, which I understand very little of. I wear clothes the design of which dates back to the Han dynasty in China. I eat in a dining room that serves Chinese food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'd love to see American Buddhism! Or European Buddhism. (Or Canadian, Polish, or Venezuelan Buddhism.)
But it has to take time. It certainly won't happen in my lifetime. Good things cannot be rushed. Good things take time. After all, it took the Buddha a number of eons to become enlightened. (The number of years is a larger number than we even have a word for.)
I know monastics who took their vows and have been dedicating themselves to practice and learning for decades. The more they practice and learn, the more humble they are. And the more they try to practice and learn what the Buddha taught.
I'm not saying there isn't a good temple out there that has a reiki studio, juice bar, and veggie-burger emporium because I don't know everything out there. But personally, I have chosen an established school of practice, which was taught by the Buddha; follow a wise and compassionate master who has been a monk now for over fifty years; and adhere to a time-tested method of practice as taught by the patriarchs and accomplished masters for well over a thousand years.
I'm not saying everyone needs to follow Venerable Master Chin Kung.
He wouldn't say so either.
I am saying that with good fortune, we will each find the method taught by the Buddha that best suits our capabilities and conditions, as well as a qualified, well-practiced teacher. He or she may not look like us, come from the same country, or even speak the same language.
But all things considered, that's okay.
Because when it comes to my spiritual well-being and my karmic footprint, I don't want to be anywhere but on a tried and true path.
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