June Guide 2002



108 Bows Ceremony

Every Sunday during summer training at 10 am we perform the Adoration of the
88 Buddhas ceremony. After each name is chanted, a full prostration is done.
The monastic trainees take turns in leading the ceremony. It is a simple but
lovely cere-mony, evoking feelings of gratitude to the 88 known Buddhas of
the different time periods.

Father’s Day Celebration

IBMC will honor fathers on Father’s Day, Sunday June 16. Please bring a
photograph of your father or father figure to place on the altar. On that
day you will have the opportunity to share a favorite story you have about
your father.

One Day Zen Retreat

We will be holding a one day Zen retreat on Saturday, June 22, from 9:30 am
to 5 pm. This is a requirement for everyone in Summer Training. The retreat
will consist primarily of meditation: sitting (zazen), walking (kinhin) and
working (samu). A delicious vegetarian lunch will be provided. Please wear
loose, comfortable clothing suitable for both sitting and working. Call the
office at 213 384-0850 or Rev. Karuna’s private office at 213 382-9972 by
June 15 to sign up.

Rev. Kusula Leads a Seminar on Web Page Development

On Saturday, June 29, Rev. Kusala will give a half day seminar from 9 am to
1 pm on how to develop and maintain a web page.

Rev. Kusala will share with you the considerable knowledge he has picked up
as web master for IBMC, Urban Dharma, College of Buddhist Studies, and
Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue. So, if you would like to learn how to make your
own web page, this is the seminar for you. He will show you how to choose a
domain name and get it registered, how to develop your web page and organize
the material you put on it, as well as how to update and add to your
material. e-Mail Rev. Kusala by June 20 at Kusala@kusala.org if you are interested
in attending.


Buddhist Afterlife

by Rev. Kusala


Do Buddhists go to heaven?

I have had the good fortune of speaking about Buddhist afterlife to a number
of Christians, and one of the things that prompted me to investigate
Buddhist afterlife was giving a talk at Central Juvenile Hall. A Catholic
girl said I was going to hell because I didn't believe in God and Jesus
Christ. After some reflection I had to agree with her... If I were a
Christian, and thought like a Buddhist, I probably would go to Christian
hell.

But, do Buddhists even go to Christian heaven or hell in the first place? Or
do Buddhists have their own afterlife, complete with heaven and hell?

A question arose in my mind... If a good Catholic married a good Buddhist
and they lived happily ever after, when they died were they going to the
same place? Most Catholics I have asked... answer, "Of course, there is only
one place you can go." I thought to myself... not so fast... where did all
the Buddhists, Hindus and goddess worshippers go before Christ came to the
world? Was the Christian heaven already in place even before Christ was
born, or have all the pre-Christians ended up in hell? This train of thought
prompted me to investigate Buddhist afterlife.

The Buddhist contribution to afterlife, it turns out. . . is Nirvana.

Nirvana is the end of suffering while you are alive, and the end of rebirth
after you die. The Buddha said all forms of life are unsatisfactory because
of birth, sickness, and old age. . . eventually you will end up suffering if
you are alive. Ok, so what happens to a Buddhist if he doesn't reach Nirvana
in his life time. . . Where does he go?

The Buddha borrowed from the Brahmanic tradition: the concept of karma had
been established in India by the time of the Buddha, and heavens and hell
were part of the cosmology as well. The Buddha used these concepts to
explain Rebirth and life after death.

I brought these ideas up in a conversation with a Catholic friend, and he
said in an amusing way, "Maybe a skillful Buddhist will go to heaven, and a
really skillful Buddhist will go to Nirvana." As it turns out, he hit the
nail right on the head.

Buddhists do go to heaven if their practice is skillful, and to hell if it's
unskilful. But, never to Christian heaven or hell. How many heavens and
hells do Buddhists have? . . . A lot!

There was a book published in 1997 called... Buddhist Cosmology, Philosophy
and Origins, by Akira Sadakata, Kosei Publications. It goes into a very
detailed explanation of the various heavens and hells. I found 33 heavens
and 33 hells listed as possible destinations, but I'm going to simplify it,
and talk about the six realms of existence. Buddhism has a best heaven.
Everything is just the way you want it to be. In this heaven, there is no
reason to change anything. You areultimately happy. The problem is that it
is not permanent, as is everything in Buddhism. One day in the heaven realm
is equal to 400 human years, and your stay is four thousand heaven years, so
you will be there a really long time.

But, the karma that put you in this heaven will be used up. You are only in
heaven as long as your Karma account has merit in it. You can only draw from
your Karma account while in heaven, because there in no way to make a
deposit. You cannot practice generosity or compassion, and you are not
striving to gain wisdom. When the karma that put you in heaven is used up. .
. you're reborn, and that would probably make a lot of folks really unhappy.
Who wants to leave a perfect place?

The second heaven realm, which is a lower one, is where things are almost
perfect. I call this the Donald Trump heaven. It could be better, if only
you owned one more building or house. You see, there is still some desire
associated with this heaven realm, and so it cannot ever be perfect.
The next realm is the human realm, where all of us find ourselves in this
lifetime. This is the best place for us to be, because this is the only
place we can become enlightened. We cannot become enlightened in heaven,
because things are too nice, and we have no reason to strive. We cannot
become enlightened in hell, because things are so bad, all we do is suffer.
In this human rebirth, we have enough happiness, and joy to keep us from
taking our own lives, and we experience anxiety, and fear to keep us
striving. We cannot relax too long in anyone mental state as a human,
because all things are in a constant state of flux.

The next lower realm, is the animal realm. The animal realm is marked by
wanting to have sex, wanting to have food, wanting to have sleep, and being
totally confused. Those are the four characteristics found in the animal
realm. So you can see, we are not likely to become enlightened as an animal.
The Zen question. . . Does a dog have Buddha nature?. . . Comes to mind.
Yes, a dog does have the potential to become enlightened, but only in the
human realm.

Can animals be reborn as humans beings? Yes, if they come into contact with
the Dharma, see a Buddhist temple, or smell incense burning. The contact can
plant a Dharma seed which takes root when they are reborn as humans. They
can achieve their full potential and become enlightened, but only as a human
being. So, it is up to all of us to help our pets be reborn in the human
realm.

The next realm is called the hungry ghost realm. The hungry ghost is often
pictured as a giant creature, with a large stomach and a pinhole for a
mouth. It can never end its hunger; no matter how much it eats, it never
finds satisfaction.

In the hell realm, the worst place, you find the most suffering. Your are
given little hell bodies when you enter. Then, one day you might be walking
through a forest, when all the leaves on a tree turn into razor blades, and
fall cutting you into a million pieces. You cry out in pain, and your hell
body resurrects, so you can be killed over and over again. The only way to
get out of the hell realm is to burn through the karma that put you there.
Suffering is the only act of purification in hell, and much suffering is
necessary before the next rebirth.

So, do Buddhists go to heaven? . . . Yes they do! . . . Do Buddhists go to
hell? . . . Yes they do!. . . Do Buddhists go to Christian heaven or hell? .
. . No they don't!!! In the Buddhist model of afterlife, there are specific
practices necessary to achieve rebirth in heaven, and more important, there
are specific practices necessary to attain Nirvana.

The Buddha did not leave afterlife up to chance. Just because a person says
he is a Buddhist, does not ensure rebirth in heaven or Nirvana. The Buddhist
path to afterlife is a labor intensive practice that requires personal
responsibility.

It's no surprise that we are going to die, but how many people think about
their next lifetime? If you are a Buddhist it is important to look at life
as a continuum, as a process of birth and death, a constant state of
becoming, and a chance to practice.

I like the analogy of going to an airport with a suitcase. I put the
suitcase on a conveyor belt so it can be loaded into the luggage compartment
of the airplane. But, I am not getting on the plane, just the suitcase. The
suitcase contains my karmic energy. When the karmic energy gets to its new
destination, my next lifetime picks up the suitcase. But, I didn't get on
the plane, because my ticket had expired. . . It is not really me that picks
up the suitcase. . . It is because of me the suitcase is picked up.
The suitcase may be almost empty because of a past life of unskillful
activity. It may have only one set of clothes and no shoes. . . But, I am
not predestined to be poor and homeless. Through acts of kindness and
generosity, I can start filling the suitcase. I can turn rags into riches
through good thoughts, good speech, and good actions. I'm in charge and my
life is what I make it.

When Buddhism left India and went to China, things changed, and new concepts
and ways of practice became the norm.

Buddhism changed forever with the introduction of Amitabha Buddha and the
Pure Land. It is said that if one has faith, vows and practice, one can be
reborn in the Pure Land. In the Pure Land all things speak the Dharma, you
will achive nirvana and never have to be reborn again. The practice of
chanting "Namo Amitabha Buddha" with faith, and taking vows is the key to
this afterlife.

The reason I think it's important to identify diversity in afterlife, is
this. . . In Los Angeles we have many kinds of religious teachings being
taught and practiced. In order for us to live together in harmony, we have
to respect each other. Respect arises out of accepting diversity, not
changing it. If we really want to make this earth or ours a Utopia, we ought
to see how all things are interconnected, and not try to make all things the
same.

When all is said and done? For a Buddhist heaven is not the answer, just an
option. Nirvana is the Answer to Suffering!

May your practice lead to the end of rebirths in this lifetime.


 
The Great Doubt
by Bro. Sangha Mitra Karuna


My talk this morning is about the Great Doubt as a process towards
enlightenment. I am a junior monk wanna-be here at IBMC, and my
understanding of the sutras and the various practices is somewhat limited. I
bow before my more learned teachers here in the matters of history,
terminology and the more involved semantics of Zen Buddhism. So instead, I
will attempt to approach this important subject from my own hard-won
experiences.

I owe Reverend Vajra a great debt for introducing me to the whole concept of
"The Great Doubt". Never has a practice struck me so deeply and so
personally as this one has. So much of my personal struggle in leading an
authentic spiritual life has revolved around the paradoxical question of how
can I think my way to liberation.

This is an important question for me. So much of who I am as a person
revolves around my ability to figure things out. I love puzzles. I have
always taken great pride, even arrogance, in my ability to figure everything
out to the last detail. So it was from a curious mix of arrogance and
genuine need that I decided, many years ago to answer the question: "Why are
things the way they are?" I see the confusion and the pain around me and it
just did not make any sense. At first it was strictly an intellectual
exercise. But it wasn't long before I realized that holding knowledge
implicitly requires action. You can't just watch a crime being committed and
not do anything about it without being complicit with the crime itself. So
out of this awareness was born my activism in the realms of the endangered
environment and political activism. I studied long and hard. I used
philosophical, economic, and other intellec-tual models to propel me in my
activism. But there were problems. It seemed that so much of the activism
was ineffec-tual because we spent so much time fighting with ourselves that
it seemed we were no different than people we were fighting against.
This realization was a turning point for me. I saw that the problems of the
world, both my group and "theirs", were a macrocosmic reflection of my inner
being. This was an important understanding to me. It meant that I was
responsible for cleaning my own house before I make any attempt to clean up
"out there". As my meditation teacher Reverend Sakya Bodhi once said to me,
"You are no good to anyone unless you are enlightened." And while I probably
would not go as far as him with that statement, he does understand the need
for internal work to be effective out in the world. So as I looked deeper
into the "whys" out there, the more I realized that "out there" was just a
mirror of what's inside myself. Specifically, the greed and exploitation I
witness "out there" match perfectly with the grasping nature I distressingly
find inside myself. Even worse, the violence and retribution seen "out
there" again reflect my own dark and violent fantasies, even the ones that
hide behind my dearly held facade of "justice for all". The more I looked
both "out there" and "in here"; the direct one-to-one relationship becomes
both apparent and inescapable.

But what to I do about it? If my own interior chaos is reflected perfectly
in the objective world, then how can I act from a place of doing no harm if
my interior state of mind is chaotic at its core? The answer becomes
painfully obvious: I have to go through the chaos, both inside and outside
to something beyond. To some state of being that will allow for "clean
action" in a chaotic world.

Well to make a short story long, my sitting here on this cushion tells you
that I found Buddhism to hold the answer for me. In particular, it's my
faith in the promise of Sakyamuni Buddha: Faith in the Third Noble Truth of
ultimate liberation whether called Nirvana or Enlightenment. Even from my
current chaotic state of mind I can feel the rightness of this Truth. A
truth I hold onto as a drowning man clings to a scrap of wood.
So now comes the hard part: How do I get from this place of suffering to
this place of promised liberation? Before I entered my Buddhist path, I
explored many different spiritual paths. So many, that I can't even begin to
describe them all. On the surface of these paths there are so many
differences and nuances, so many ways of being and doing that it once again
my quest for peace began to reflect the external chaos that was trying to
escape from in the first place. So I pursued many of them with renewed vigor
and for a time I did achieve a temporary happiness. It was like I would
build a little peaceful garden that made some sense of the world. It would
be a place that I would feel secure and at peace from the chaos raging
beyond i's walls. These gardens would have various names: Christianity, Deep
Ecology, I even adopted a Postmodernistic faith based on the study of world
religions. But as soon as I would get comfortable in these wonderful gardens
of mine a little weed would inevitably creep in. it would express itself as
a deep, middle-of-the-night kind of question: "Am I fooling myself?" This
weed could not be pulled out, and it would eventually overrun and destroy
the whole garden with ruthless efficiency, leaving me looking to build a new
garden.

As I progressed on my quest, the question "Am I fooling myself?" would turn
into the sharper edged "This is a crock of shit!" (Zen is very iconoclastic,
so we do swear upon occasion.) This phrase became my unwanted, yet
undeniable mantra that would rule over me. This doubting of all my precious
concepts made me deeply question the underlying precepts of any and all
gardens I would create, no matter how beautiful they were. But always
underneath this leveling process would be the promise that is the embodiment
of Sakyamuni Buddha. I cannot emphasize this enough. For without the undying
faith that all of this stuff we do has a point to it, I would have easily
dropped into nihilism and despair. But the Buddha's very existence as a
fully enlightened being here on earth is the promise that my liberation is
not just another comforting idea.

This is an important point to make here. How do I know that this Buddhist
promise of enlightenment isn't just another flower in a garden? What makes
it true for me? I really cannot answer that question with any kind of
clarity. The knowing seems to emanate from deep inside my consciousness. The
painful evolutionary process of life seems to be moving in some kind of
forward direction. It seems to have some kind of reason for its forward
momentum. I don't see any conflict with this idea of evolutionary
consciousness with the ideal expressed by Sakyamuni Buddha. But this is just
an intellectual under-standing. And as such, I can apply the "fooling
myself" question to knock it down like all the others. But it doesn't knock
down so easily. The deeper I go into meditation, the more I can feel the
rightness of holding this article of faith. Ultimately, I have no choice but
to hold this, because what would be the alternative? That there is no point
to existence. In other words, nihilism. No thank you.

So the promise of the Buddha keeps me plugging along despite the continual
destruction of all my pretty little gardens. But again. . . what to do? My
honored teachers here at IBMC have given me the next clues to this process.
They had me look deeper into this whole garden making process. These gardens
all have one thing in common: they are made up from concepts, ideas and
ideologies I've picked up from my various studies. Their basic nature is
that they are mental constructs, edifices made in my mind to control the
ever-fluxing chaos "out there". This whole construct creation impulse arises
out of a dearly held, yet totally false belief: "I can, nay I must control
the universe by building a sufficiently wondrous and marvelous garden. For
if I do not live in such a garden, I will surely die. So to that end I build
this new web of life garden that will explain everything and make me secure
in its infinite rational complexity. Gaia be praised!"

Then of course, like the uninvited guest sneaking into my garden party,
would be my old spoiler uttering the devastating line: "What a crock of
shit!" and once again, the sparkling edifice would come crashing down. But
this time I'm ready for him. I look closely at this uninvited guest, this
smelly old spoiler of my dainty little garden party and I see behind his
facade the face of Sakyamuni Buddha grinning at me as he gleefully tears
apart my concepts. And behind his dance of destruction I hear him say to me:
"It cannot be figured out . . . let it go."

I do not want to hear this. This is nothing short of a death sentence to me.
For now I want Buddhism to be the most glorious garden of all! I want to
figure it out so I can live forever in this jewel-encrusted land with no
hills and sweet perfume emanating from every conceivable orifice. I want to
live in the Western Heavens just like so many of the Sutras talk about. But
instead I have the Promise Keeper Himself telling me that my new beautiful
garden is a dirty lie, and that real liberation is only possible by not
building a garden, by not figuring it out -- I cannot think my way to
Nirvana. Period.

This hurts. This hurts a lot. All I know how to do is to build gardens and
throw parties. I am a total expert at it. Only now the gardens are traps. I
am an expert in creating traps and I have to stop doing it. But how? If the
act of solving the trap is the trap, then how can I escape it?
I now hold a terrible paradox in my heart. On the one hand is the wonderful
and undeniable truth that is founder of our order, Sakyamuni Buddha. And on
the other hand I witness the undeniable evidence of all the ruined gardens
built by an insane gardener who thinks he can build Nirvana. But the
terrible realization is dawning on him that it cannot be built. It is
impossible. . . yet there is the Buddha just smiling away.

It is maddening. "No attainment, and nothing to attain" spouts the Heart
Sutra, and yet uncounted numbers of monks and nuns and lay folk throughout
Buddhist history have attained complete and perfect enlightenment. How can I
attain something that cannot be attained?

I cannot let this rest. I must fight this paradox because it is all I have
now. If I just dismiss it as a quaint little riddle, it just becomes yet
another pretty flower in yet another garden built by the insane gardener and
a'm back in the cycle of pain. This process is getting more serious the
deeper I go into it. I know the pain of Samsara all too well. Every time the
walls come crashing down only to be rebuilt, I suffer yet again. But the
deepest pain comes from the realization that building the gardens is the
cause of the suffering. And I want to desperately escape this cycle no
matter what. This process is leaving me completely open and vulnerable. For
once, the protective walls of my garden are demolished and I am left with
nothing to protect me from the howling winds of Samsara. The path to the
dissolution of this paradox lies in embracing these terrible winds so that
they can carve away all my pretences and all my lingering containers of crap
that I so desperately cling to. I am naked here because there is no other
way for me. I have no concept of what is on the other side of this embrace.
It is not up to me anymore. Embracing the great doubt is about surrendering,
to letting go of control. I am told that there are no guarantees at all. But
what is one to do but just be in the winds and let them do what they will.
But this is too bleak, even for me. There is a refuge of sorts. And it truly
is the only one out there. And that is the refuge of The Triple Gem. As my
process erodes everything away from me, I take refuge in the Buddha and all
that his existence implies. I also take refuge in the wonderful teachings of
the Buddha and all manifestations of the Dharma, even it initiated me into
my current situation. And not least of all, I take refuge in the blessed
Sangha because what fool would ever try something like this on his own? I
take great comfort in knowing that I do no't have to do this alone. We have
each other to celebrate and to commiserate with. The deeper I go into this
process, the more meaning the Triple Gem holds for me.
I thank you all and wish you all the courage to clearly face whatever chaos
is in your life.

IBMC web page is found at: IBMC.info
Ven. Karuna’s email: Karunadh@earthlink.net
Ven.Karuna’s web page: www.karunadharma.org
Ven. Shanti’s email: Hshanti@earthlink.net
Rev. Kusala’s email: Kusala@kusala.org
Rev. Kusala’s web pages: www.kusala.org and www.Urbandharma.org
Rev. Vajra’s email: Madmonk88@aol.com
Rev. Jñana’s email: Lsipe@usc.ed
Bro. Sunya’s email: Heartlandzen@Yahoo.co
Bro. Ksanti and Bro.Sraddha’s email: VictorTom@aol.com
Sr. Hanasi’s email: Hasanakaruna@aol.com
Bro. Sangha Mitra’s email: Djhollen@ix.netcom.com
Colllege of Buddhist Studies: Kusala.org/ratanasara/college.html
CBS email:Hshanti@earthlink.org

June Events


Sunday Talks

6/2 11 am... Being a Buddha
Rev. Kusala ratna Karuna

6/9 11 am... A Zen Perspective on the Ten Commandments
Rev. Vajra Karuna

6/16 11 am... How to Honor our Fathers
Ven. Dr. Karuna Dharma

6/23 11 am... Zen and the Art of Buddhist Iconography
Bro. Sunya Karuna

6/30 11 am... A Morning of Meditation and Chanting
Sr. Hanasi Karuna

Classes at IBMC


Mon Monks’ Training Class
7 pm Ven. Dr. Karuna Dharma

Wed Applied Buddhism
7pm Rev. Kusala Ratna Karuna

Thurs Elementary Pali
6pm Ven. Havanpola Shanti

Fri Certificate Course in Buddhist Studies
6pm Dr. Warnisuriya

tba Elementary Sanskrit
Dr. Warnisuriya
Special Events

6/16 Honoring Our Fathers; a ceremony
11 am in honor of all our fathers

6/22 Zen Retreat, 9:30-5
led by Rev. Karuna

6/29 Morning Workshop on Creating and
9-1pm Maintaining a Web Page
led by Rev. Kusala Ratna Karuna

Meditation times


Tuesday and Thursday, mornings 6:30-7:00 am

Wed evening,
7-9 pm, led by Rev. Kusala

Friday, 7:30-9 pm, led by Rev. Kusala

 

IBMC'S New Web Site
Please change your book mark to reflect
our new web address. It can be found at
IBMC.info beginning in June.