Interfaith contributions of meditation

Most of my students come from non-Buddhist background. Why are the Buddhist scripture classes then so popular? I think it is because of meditation's popularity, or at least the increased knowledge of the benefits of meditation.

I said yesterday "I don't think any of you is being forced to come to this class, is there?" and 2 o three students said "I am". Interestingly non had a Buddhist background, so their families are sending them to my class because they think that what I teach (and not necessarily about Buddha) will benefit their kids. They are probably of Christian background, and the School has several Christian, both Catholic and protestant clergy.

The spread of meditation is actually happening in all religions. Recently I was talking with a Jewish friend who started doing meditation. I was so happy when she told me she was planning her first retreat. I know that with two children it is not an easy commitment. She had first asked me to recommend a place, but regrettably because she lives in the US I was not able to help her. So when she told me she had found a place I was curious to know more. Elat Chayyim has meditation retreats guided by two Rabbis. One (Rabbi Alan Lew) seems to be a Zen teacher as well. I don't know much about Judaism, but I think this is an interesting combination. My friend is putting a lot of trust in these teachers so I hope they are good teachers.

new term, some new students

The 3rd term of the year started yesterday (in Australia they have 4 terms). Three students joined the group, all of them in year 6. They said that other students had recommended the Buddhist scripture clas, but although I always like a compliment, I think it was because they wanted to be with some of other kids.

We had a relatively good session, although one of the new girls was quite restless, and at some point disrespectful. I had to report her to the Principal... gopefully that will help.

I brought two images. One of a sitting Buddha I got in a trip to Korea. According to Bhante it is a Boddhisatva and is sitting on a chair because its getting ready to rush to the help of people (when you are in a lotus or half lotus position it takes some time to disentangle).

I tried reading another story written by Dorian (The wind and the sun) but run out of time. I will have to do it next week.

monkey magic and other perspectives on Buddhism

I recently started reading an article about Buddhism, and as often happens (more now that I have a baby boy), I did not get to finish it. One of the things that first striked me about it is that it discussed Buddhism as a combination of ideas between a polytheistic religion and a non-theistic one (including a monotheistic one for some people).

Although the principles are clearly non-theistic, Buddhism has adapted to the local cultures where it grew. I think that since the principles make it clear that you should not try to 'convert' people as it happens in other religions, its ideas just melt and impregnate what is already there.

This is what happens in many Buddhist traditions, sometimes made popular through movies and TV shows that are very .... uhm ... special. 'Monkey magic' is the most interesting I have seen. It is a 70's Japanese show with a childish sense of humor and random quotations from Buddhist literature.

Today I was browsing at books in Sapho's our local bookstore/cafe and found "Utimate Journey" by Richard Bernstein (Borzoi Books, 2001). "Retracing the Path of an Ancient Buddhist Monk who crossed Asia in Search of Enlightenment".

I could not believe it when it said mentioned "Monkey, a Journey to the West" by Wu Cheng-en, apparently the fiction written around the real story of a real monk (Hsuan Tsang) who traveled from China to India . The novel actually has a monkey with supernatural powers who travels with the monk. Obviously the story in which the show is based.

The show (and probably the book) mixes Buddhism with ideas from other religions. In fact, the shows' Buddha, reminds me of a cartoon's version of Jesus Christ.

I have also seen the polytheistic approach in Korean and Chinese art, where Boddhisatvas, daemons, Devas and other deities appear repeatedly.
Some of they may be based on the different levels of beings that appear on Buddhist scriptures, but other are based on traditions from each locality where Buddhism developed.

The power of metta - loving kindness

In the last class of the term I wanted to discuss why developing loving kindness helps us and the people we love. I brought two Tibetan images, one silk embroidery with an image of the medicine Buddha and another with a golden Buddha in a distinct mudra (I think for wisdom). I also brought a photo of my grandmother, who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

We looked at the images, and discussed the differences. The medicine Buddha is very popular in China and some of the students had seen it before. We then had an excellent sitting session. I asked if they had a person in their family who was very sick, if not I asked them to focus on my grandma. They very very quiet (specially the older ones) and were sending loving energy to people they loved or people that just needed it. It was a great session.

That night I called my mom who is taking care of my grandma. For the first first time in a week, she was able to get up and talk, even trying to listen to my 15month old baby :-)

The baby just woke up, so I better go...