Lying

I have always wondered why the Buddha was so strict about lying. Lying wasn’t appropriate under any circumstances. This has always been hard for me to understand when it comes to little white lies. If you look at the Buddha’s instruction to practice absolute honesty within the context of insight meditation, meditation whose object is to see things clearly, it begins to make sense.

In The Experience of Insight, Joseph Goldstein sees the Buddha’s strong stance as growing out of his commitment to the truth. “It [honesty] makes our relationships easy and uncomplicated. Honesty in speech also reflects back to honesty with ourselves.” Goldstein goes on to explain that there’s a lot of stuff inside that we don’t want to see. “Truthfulness in speech becomes the basis for being honest in our own minds, and that is when things begin to open up. We then begin to see clearly, working thought the neuroses of mind.” (p. 11, 1976 edition)

It takes a lot of skill to give, for example, constructive criticism. You don’t have to tell little white lies. Instead just concentrate on giving advice in as kind a way as possible.

Sometimes friends ask me to read their writing. If someone writes a rambling piece that has some good ideas, I try to say, “Interesting and stimulating ideas. You know, they would really shine if you simplified your essay.”

Monasticism

I seriously considered ordaining at one point in the Theravada tradition. I didn’t do it because of some serious doubts about the appropriateness of this for me.

One big concern was how others would relate to me. I didn’t want people to think I was somehow a better practitioner because I was in robes. I didn’t want people to be uneasy in my presence.

This evening I was reading an interview by Michael Toms with Stephen Batchelor in a book entitled Buddhism in the West: Spiritual Wisdom for the 21st Century. (1998, New Dimensions Foundation, Hay House, Carlsbad, California, ISBN 1-56170-505-5) After many years as a monk in the Tibetan and Korean Zen traditions, Batchelor decided to disrobe and return to the West.

He decided to disrobe for several reasons. One reason was that he felt uneasy with the idea of being a monk in the West. “…I didn’t want to play the role of a Buddhist monk in a European context. I felt that the sheer presence of a monastic robe and a shaved head tended to create a barrier between me and others. People related to me as a representative of an institution rather than as another human being.” (p. 39) This is how I felt as well.

Dependent Origination

I have noticed that Theravada authors use the Buddha’s teaching on Dependent Origination to demonstrate how we all are ensnared in the round of samsara while Mahayana authors use it to show how interrelated all things are!

A Broad Brush: Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism

I have studied in both schools of Buddhism and find them both valuable. With a broad brush, here is how I’d describe my take on the two schools. Keep in mind, I’m not a scholar just a Buddhist practitioner.

I love the emphasis on the sacredness of this world in the Mahayana. You find a lot of inspiring, lovely art in the Mahayana world. Theravada is somewhat world denying. It doesn’t allow monastics to practice the musical arts for example. In Zen, there is an emphasis on the arts as a form of practice. Arts are not a form of practice in Theravada.

On the other hand, the practice of meditation in the Theravada path is gentler in the vipassana meditation centers that I have attended than in the Zen centers. I feel that I can become more aware and centered in the softer environment that the vipassana centers offer.

Samvega

Samvega is a Pali word. Pali is the language of the oldest Buddhist scriptures. This word means the oppressive sense of shock, dismay, and alienation that comes with realizing the futility and meaninglessness of life as it’s normally lived; a chastening sense of one’s own complacency and foolishness in having let oneself live so blindly; and an anxious sense of urgency in trying to find a way out of the meaningless cycle. (Access to Insight Glossary of Pali and Buddhist Terms)

I have experienced samvega often in recent years but the cluster of serious illnesses of family and close friends have shaken me up. These people are close to me in age. I’m fifty-seven and in fairly good health. My friends were in good health too. There are no throw away moments, I remind myself over and over.