Excerpt #17 from my book, Religion, An Obstacle to Human Progress
Buddhist Retreat
For most of 1987, I lived in New Zealand.
One week, I attended a Buddhist retreat at Mount Ruapehu in the picturesque mountains of New Zealand’s North Island.
Four Buddhist monks led the chants, meditation, and trail hikes.
While the thirty or so of us who attended ate our meals from plates, the monks used their traditional oversized bowls.
It was the first time I had attended such a retreat.
I was moved by the chanting, rituals, and meditation.
I found the simple lifestyle and dedication fascinating and mesmerizing.
I even considered becoming a Buddhist monk.
After about the third day of repeating the same rituals, I had doubts.
At the end of the week-long retreat, I concluded the lifestyle of a Buddhist monk was not for me.
I had an extended and ongoing conversation with the youngest monk, who was in his twenties.
He said that the monks sought “the middle way” of simplicity and balance.
To me, their lifestyle, austere and imbalanced — not simple and balanced — appeared to be extreme.
Their lives depended upon others for survival as their basic needs of food, shelter and clothing were provided by their supporters.
The monks had too many rules and conventions to follow: a costume, shaved head, and eating from large bowls to emulate the Buddha to name the obvious ones.
While they desired to deny “self,” at the same time they drew attention to themselves by their appearance and practices.
It seemed a contradiction.
It occurred to me that their austere and withdrawn monastic lifestyle diminished the opportunities for loving kindness, compassion, joy, and serenity that arise in more challenging real-life situations.
On the positive side, I found their emphasis on mindfulness and contemplation of great value.
It seemed, however, to be carried to an extreme that violated the concept of “the middle way” and balance.
Understand Life by Living It
The young monk explained that they chose this lifestyle for its simplicity and as a means to understand life.
I responded that I prefer to understand life by living in it, not withdrawing from it.
We agreed that we would each go our separate ways to learn our lessons.
ENLIGHTENMENT ACHIEVED IN SECLUSION IS USEFUL IN SECLUSION.
“Throughout the ages there has prevailed a distressing symbiosis between religion and violence. The histories of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam are heavily laced with internecine vendettas, inquisitions, and wars. Again and again, religionists have claimed a divine mandate to terrorize and massacre heretics, infidels, and other sinners.
“Some people have argued that Buddhism is different, that it stands in marked contrast to the chronic violence of other religions. To be sure, as practiced by many in the United States, Buddhism is more a ‘spiritual’ and psychological discipline than a theology in the usual sense. It offers meditative techniques and self-treatments that are said to promote ‘enlightenment’ and harmony within oneself. But like any other belief system, Buddhism must be judged not only by its teachings but by the actual behavior of its proponents.
“A glance at history reveals that Buddhist organizations have not been free of the violent pursuits so characteristic of religious groups throughout the ages. In Tibet, from the early seventeenth century well into the eighteenth, competing Buddhist sects engaged in armed hostilities and summary executions. In the twentieth century, from Thailand to Burma to Korea to Japan, Buddhists have clashed with each other and with non-Buddhists. In Sri Lanka, huge battles in the name of Buddhism are part of Sinhalese history.” – Michael Parenti, “Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth”
While some claim that Buddhism is more thoughtful, contemplative and therefore more reality-based, it is not so. It is not free from the superstitious silliness common in the world of religion.
It is all water from the same well of dated thinking.
“A Chief of Sri Lanka’s meteorological department contradicted claims by the Buddhist faithful who believed that monks sprinkling holy water over the region from a military helicopter had ended the island’s devastating drought. Director general of the agency, G. H. P. Dharmaratne, said the subsequent torrential rain and galeforce winds immediately following the ceremony were attributed to the ‘inter-monsoonal activity in keeping with normal weather patterns.’ But top monk Kotapola Amarakiththi told reporters thatthe sprinkling of holy water had brought an ‘instant rain’ that forcedthe returning aircraft to make a detour to avoid turbulence.” Steve Newman, “A Diary of the Planet”