Category: Uncategorized

Michael Alvarez

Situated in the serene beauty of the Shenandoah Valley in Western Virginia sits an equally serene Buddhist retreat and meditation center. Located specifically at 108 Bodhi Way, Stanley, Virginia, the Mindrolling Lotus Garden offers a variety of programs built to not only educate those interested in the Dharma and meditation, but to also collect and preserve ancient teachings from across several different schools of Buddhism.

Overall, the Mindrolling (pronounced min-drol-ling) Lotus Garden exists primarily as a location for both practicing Buddhists and those who are just interested in the Dharma to learn and study in beautiful seclusion. The Mindrolling Lotus Garden doesn’t just follow the lineage of Mindrolling in the classical Tibetan Buddhist Nyingma tradition; rather, The Lotus Garden operates as the North American Seat of Mindrolling International, an international organization dedicated to the preservation and teaching of the Mindrolling tradition.

The Mindrolling Lotus Garden is situated in a secluded area just outside the town of Stanley, Virginia. The 200-acre grounds are comprised of a large walking garden, conveniently named Buddha Park, several buildings that house teachers, practitioners, and visitors, and a few other structures in which practitioners can pray and receive teachings. The majority of the property is made up of the Dechen Gatsal, the area of the property devoted to wilderness retreats, in which visitors can venture into by themselves or with a teacher. The Lotus Garden is currently in the process of building a massive Temple in the heart of the property. The Temple, known as Mindrol Gatsal, began construction in the summer of 2015, and is expected to be finished sometime in 2019 or 2020.

The Mindrolling Lotus Garden was founded in 2003 by Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche, a lama of the Mindrolling tradition. Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche was born on August 19^th, 1967 to the 11^th throne holder of the Mindrolling tradition, Kyabje Mindrolling Trichen Gyurme Kunzang Wangyal. In the Mindrolling tradition, the daughters of the Trichen, the throne holder of the lineage, are referred to by the title of Jetsun. This tradition of Jetsunmas began in the mid-17^h century with the founding of Mindrolling itself, with the founder of the tradition, Chogyal Terdag Lingpa, and his daughter, Jetsun Mingyal Paldron. Throughout the history of Mindrolling, Jetsunmas have been regarded as some of the wisest and greatest teachers of the tradition. At age 2, Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche, already a member of the Nyingma tradition, was recognized by Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, the 16^th Karmapa of the Kagyu tradition, as the re-incarnated Great Dakini of Tsurphu Monastery, Urgyen Tsomo, one of the most respected female teachers of this era, as well as the consort of Khakyab Dorje, the 15^th Karmapa. This rare distinction of being a direct member of both the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions allowed Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche to dedicate her life to the advancement and teaching of the Dharma, and the Mindrolling tradition in particular. In 1994, Rinpoche traveled to Baltimore, Maryland from her native India in order to give teachings to some 20 or so practitioners at the Baltimore Shambhala Center. In the intervening 9 years, Rinpoche, accompanied by her Lopons (teachers), as well as her sister and fellow teacher, Mindrolling Jetsun Dechen Paldron, continued to teach across the country and eventually led to the founding of Mindrolling Lotus Garden, the new headquarters of the Mindrolling tradition in the United States. Today, Rinpoche spends her time travelling between the United States, India, and Europe, teaching the traditions of Mindrolling, in addition to general teachings on the Buddha and the Dharma. Her sister Jetsun Dechen Paldron operates as her second in command within the Mindrolling organization. Paldron spends six months out of the year at Mindrolling Lotus Garden, running the day-to-day operations. Rinpoche herself comes back to America during the summer months, and leads the largest organized retreat that the Lotus Garden offers every year, the Mindrol Lekshey Summer Program, a 6-week intensive Buddhist retreat that runs from the middle of July to the end of August.

The school of Mindrolling finds its roots in the oldest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the Nyingma school. The teachings of the Mindrolling school therefore follow the same basic structure as that of Nyingma traditions, which spends much time focusing on tantric meditation and study. The school of Nyingma was established roughly in the late 8^th century CE by the great Indian Buddhist teacher Padmasambhava when he came to Tibet at the request of the king of Tibet, Trisong Detsen. Detsen also ordered the mass translation of numerous Buddhist texts into the Tibetan language. These translations would not only shape the teachings of the Dharma in Tibet for centuries, it also helped to create the basic foundation of the modern Tibetan language, as the translation of the texts brought about various new phrases and styles of speech.  Together, Padmasambhava and Detsen established what we know today as the Nyingma school of Buddhism, which, like all forms of Vajrayana (the over-arching school of Buddhist thought that the majority of Tibetan Buddhism stems from), believes in the idea of the “diamond vehicle”. The “diamond vehicle”, literally the translation of Vajrayana, is the school of Buddhism that sees itself as an amalgamation of all schools of Buddhism, taking various practices from both Mahayana and Theravada traditions, as well as adding newer, more specific practices. One of these practices is the idea of tantric meditation. Tantric meditation uses mantras and other forms of meditative practice to create a peaceful state in which one can study their own mind and the dharma. This is not unlike other forms of Buddhist practice, however, the central idea of Bodhicitta is where the two differ. This idea of Bodhicitta is the practice of not just achieving enlightenment, but to see one’s self as a Buddha and seek the betterment of all others through loving kindness and compassion. These ideas are the foundation of what Rinpoche and her Lopons teach at the Lotus Garden.

While the Mindrolling Lotus Garden finds its roots in the near 1500-year history of the Nyingma tradition, the modern-day Lotus Garden has co-opted a more generalized mindset. The teachings involved at the Lotus Garden are numerous, with the majority of teachings being those in basic tantric and meditative practices. These group sessions are usually taught by the four in-house Lopons who live on the grounds. These four Lopons interestingly are all Americans, each having been trained in the Buddhist tradition for at least 20 years. All four Lopons have been students of Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche since her first visit to the United States in 1994. If one were to take any of the courses offered at the Lotus Garden, one of these trained practitioners will most likely be the instructor. Throughout the 8-month period in which the Lotus Garden is in operation (The campus itself closes for the season from early January to mid-April), numerous lessons can be taken, all of varying time, intensity, and commitment. The two most popular programs would be the lessons in meditation, as well as retreats. Meditation sessions are taught by all four Lopons. Some lessons are low-key. These focus on the basics of meditative practices, such as understanding the concepts of a mantra or Bodhicitta. These lessons can be made by appointment with the Lotus Garden, and are low-commitment. However, for those looking for a more intensive practice, meditative classes that meet regularly and look at the more advanced materials of the practice are available year-round. Retreats are also a big hit at the Lotus Garden. Led by a retreat master (A Drupon), these excursions into the 200-acre wilderness are a classic form of meditative practice. These retreats are available to both a group or an individual, and both can be accomplished throughout the year during operation. Two large retreats are planned each year, with the largest, the Mindrol Lekshey Summer Program, led by Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche herself. Occasionally monks and nuns from the Mindrolling Monastery in India will travel to the Lotus Garden for a few weeks and give teachings. The arrival of the monastics usually coincides with one of the larger retreats.

While many of the practitioners who attend the Lotus Garden are converts, the largest group that the Lotus Garden caters to would be lay people with very little to no knowledge of Buddhism or its practices. The Lotus Garden, and Mindrolling International as a whole, have made it a primary goal of the Lotus Garden to educate and provide people who are curious about the practice the ability to experiment in relative seclusion. All knowledge of the Dharma is welcome at the Lotus Garden, but the primary goal of the institution would be education and further studying of the texts. This lines up with the general mission statement of Rinpoche’s Mindrolling International organization, which looks to spread the ideas of Vajrayana as a whole, and Mindrolling in particular, throughout the world, as well as to continue to discover, translate, and understand Vajrayana and other Buddhist texts, teachings, and histories. The Lotus Garden’s impact with other communities can be seen in this vein as well. Mindrolling International has other campuses throughout America, Europe, and India, all dedicated to the same purpose that the Lotus Garden embodies.

Overall, The Mindrolling Lotus Garden in Stanley, Virginia stands as one of the more authentic and intimate Buddhist experiences in the region. Incorporating the teachings of masters of the Vajrayana tradition, as well as occasional teachings by a lama and a spiritual leader of the Nyingma tradition, The Mindrolling Lotus Garden combines wise teachings with the serene isolation of the Shenandoah Valley to create one of the more interesting Buddhist communities in the United States.

 

Bibliography

“Mindrolling Lotus Garden Homepage.” MINDROLLING LOTUS GARDEN, Mindrolling                  International, 2018, www.lotusgardens.org/.

“Mindrolling International Homepage.” Mindrolling International, Mindrolling                                    International, 2018 www.mindrollinginternational.org/.

“Her Eminence Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche.” Her Eminence Mindrolling Jetsn                Khandro Rinpoche, Mindrolling International , 2018,                                                          www.khandrorinpoche.org/.

 

Introduction:

The Zen Monastery Peace Center was founded by Zen practitioner Cheri Huber in 1987. It stands within the wilderness of Murphys, California, approximately 150 miles inland of San Francisco. Nestled in the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, the monastery is a residential community designed to “challenge the voices of egocentric karmic conditioning, pay attention in a kind and safe space, and realize our authentic nature.” The town of Murphys itself began as a gold mining operation in the mid 19^th century and is now a modern community of approximately 2,000 residents. Huber’s center provides workshops and retreats to the general public in addition to offering a visiting monk program for more advanced practitioners. As could be deducted from the name, the Peace Center focuses on the Zen tradition. Huber’s personal emphasis is on awareness meditation as she herself is a member of the Soto School. Derived from the Chinese Coadong School, started in the 9^thcentury by two Chinese monks, the focus for the Soto School is meditation without a goal and awareness as a means by which one can live mindfully in all aspects of life. This form of meditation is “an all-inclusive experience that includes and accepts everything that comes into awareness, by resting in awareness itself.”

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Founder:

Cheri Huber is an American author and has studied Zen Buddhism for 35 years. Having written over 20 books in her career, Huber is well known within her community. She founded her first center  – Mountain View Zen Center – in 1983, followed by the Zen Monastery Peace Center in 1987  and her non-profit organization called Living Compassion in 1997. Not only is she the founder of two Zen centers, but she also serves as a resident teacher at the Peace Center. Her practice is centered around Zen Buddhism within the Soto School, the focal point being the practice of self awareness. According to her Wikipedia page, she “likely studied Zen for some times under Jay DuPont.” However, she has no formal lineage within her school listed on her website or any other forum related to her practice. This is odd as Zen Buddhism is rather concerned with lineage. It is unclear as to exactly how Huber became involved with Zen or awareness practice. Her personal testimony is not specified in any of her published writings beyond that she has studied the subject for over 35 years. Very little is listed in her biographies both on her own website and when listed as an author or expert on other websites. Hay House Publishing claims “Cheri has been acknowledged as the country’s foremost expert on depression and spirituality” yet it is unclear upon what this statement is based.

Huber has several online venues she continually uses in order to engage her larger audience with awareness practice. For example, Huber’s “Practice Everywhere” initiative allows her followers to sign up for reminders to be more aware via email, text, and twitter. Her twitter page has 17,500 tweets with over 3,000 followers. A key aspect of awareness practice is being continually mindful and aware of your daily actions so Huber’s program is intended to guide you throughout the day with this in mind. Her Practice Blog also includes postings about her own experience with the practice. She coins phrases the “Huber Cure” which is a way to approach mindfulness. Huber’s nonprofit organization Living Compassion is also an ongoing project for both her and the local Sangha.

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Community:

The community at the Peace Center is rather unique. Truly a cross between the traditional and the modern, the Center offers a wide range of opportunities to engage with Buddhist teachings and awareness practice. Upon your first visit to the monastery, you will be guided during an orientation which you are instructed in the basic postures of meditation. Classes are offered for both the local public and a more national or international audience. Additionally, classes may be virtual or physical. Huber offers the unique option of “email” classes which take on the format of formal instruction via assignments and reflections. A more traditional option would be enrolling in the visiting monk program, designed for those heavily involved in awareness practice. The duration of this program can be as short as a month or as long as a year. Week long retreats are also available and intended to further explore the practice of awareness. Other options include group coaching, meditation groups, recording and listening training, and Zen awareness coaching.

Based upon the 2010 census conducted by the U.S. government, the larger community in which the Peace Center rests is comprised mostly of white (92.4%) females (54.6%) with the median age of 56. Constituents of any Latino or Hispanic descent are the next largest ethnic group, claiming 10.1% of the total population (2,213). The people of Murphys, California are arranged mostly in nuclear families. It is evident from the data gathered by the U.S. government that Murphys is not a first or second generation migrant community. Murphys constituency is mostly older white folks, likely with European descent. This data is important because it provides context for the area in which the Monastery was established. Many, if not all, of the local practitioners are members of the Murphys community as well as the Sangha and therefore it is likely the Monastery’s ethnic composition reflects that. Based upon the profiles following Cheri Huber’s practice blog the community is predominantly white Americans. This agrees the data discussed above. It is then reasonable to conclude that Huber’s Sangha is comprised mostly of American, potentially Christian, coverts.

Clearly, the constituents of Zen Monastery Peace Center are not concerned with recreating an authentic Asian Buddhist experience, but rather extrapolating certain practices and teachings in order to improve their lives. Interestingly, a majority of the programs offered are not aimed at the local population but rather point to a national audience. Physical meditation periods and reflection groups are offered of course, but most of the initiatives and programs are directed outwards to a larger Sangha. Huber’s approach to Buddhism is as a philosophy rather than a religion as supernatural or metaphysical doctrines are not emphasized. In other words, the cultural attachments, and therefore a large portion of religious attachments, are absent.

However, Huber includes Buddha in her teachings and ascribes to the Soto School specifically. The way in which she interacts with the practice does not indicate that she or the Peace Center Sangha view what they are practicing as religion in the formal, Western sense. There is an air of spirituality yet, this is entrenched in certain American cultural assumptions and common practices.Those who attend the Monastery are not focused on achieving enlightenment in this lifetime, or in any lifetime. Rather, they are concerned with minimizing suffering throughout their lives. The Zen Monastery Peace Center is not meant to recreate the Buddhist experience within an Asian context but rather it is a place for a new audience to engage with new ideas and philosophies about the way in which we should live our lives.

As the government in America is not structured to give support to monastic communities, the Monastery must develop a way to make ends meet. Similar to the way a university would function, the Monastery functions by charging enrollment fees for their virtual and retreat programs. Yoga classes are also offered for a small fee. In order for the community to continue, members must participate literally and monetarily either through donations or enrollment. However, there is no official fee for the teachings themselves. Huber writes “We cannot and we will not attempt to sell our spiritual practice; It cannot be sold and it cannot be bought.” In her blog post she further explains that the biggest obstacle for the Sangha being able to participate is financial. Retreats, books, and classes are expensive so Huber turned to technology to make practice more accessible to practitioners.

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Within the Larger Community:

According to the the Soto Zen Buddhist Association, there are 48 other organizations within California that are affiliated with them. Huber founded the Mountain View Zen Center before founding the Peace Center and these two communities engage with each other on local and regional levels. Both groups have the opportunity to attend several of the same workshops and retreats. As already discussed, Huber engages a much larger Buddhist audience through her virtual presence on twitter, through email, and via blog posts. Living Compassion, the nonprofit Huber founded in 1997, demonstrates a different way to relate Buddhism. Huber’s teachings focus on diminishing self hate or egocentric karmic conditioning and promoting self love which then leads a gratitude that fosters the desire to give. Her organization is centered around providing aid the community of Kantolomba, Zambia in terms of education, healthcare access, and food scarcity. December 1, 2018 marks the 17^thannual Bridge Walk, a way for the community to celebrate the project’s progress. This is an example of the way in which the Peace Center interacts with the global community.

Nationally, Huber addresses her Sangha through the modern form of social media.  Her books are sold nationally and online and she appears on different podcasts which are available and accessible to all. You also do not have to be a consistent member of the Peace Center to participate in retreats or classes as long as you have the means to pay. Huber’s Sangha and her works are especially accessible to a national and international audience because of her use of technology. As her Twitter following outnumbers the total population in Murphys, California, it is safe to say that she has extended beyond the physical confines of the Zen Monastery Peace Center.

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Miscellaneous:

Here is a link to a phone interview conducted with Cheri Huber as an example of her approach to Buddhist thought:

Here is a link to a 2006 article covering a retreat offered at the Monastery. It offers more information about the Monastery itself.

https://www.recordnet.com/article/20061216/A_LIFE/612160304

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Word count: 1,599

References:

http://www.livingcompassion.orghttp://www.livingcompassion.org/the-monastery

http://www.livingcompassion.org/africa/vision 

About Murphys

http://szba.org/soto-zen/

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/lewis-richmond/practice-of-just-awareness_b_3403707.html

http://cherihuber.com

https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF

https://www.hayhouse.com/authorbio/cheri-huber

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheri_Huber

http://www.livingcompassion.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/Money-and-the-Middle-Way.pdf

http://cherispracticeblog.blogspot.com/

Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple

Members of the Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple practice Shin Buddhism. As such, this community conducts itself in alignment with the Western Pure Land school, placing staunch faith in the figure Amithaba. Through his worship, members of the school seek to, facilitate a rebirth which enables them to practice Buddhism to its fullest extent, beyond the obstructions presented by a particular birth in the delusional realm. In other words, members of this faith desire rebirth into a world constructed by Amithaba himself, catered to honing one’s karma and ultimate merit. This achievement, to practitioners, presents itself upon the consistent recitation of a chant, particularly one that refers to their patron: “I am calling Amida Buddha” (Hart 1). As well as with aligning to the Buddha’s sutras, members of the Western Pure Land school invest significant faith into Amithaba himself, whose name means “infinite light” and whose Mahayana doctrines are said to precede those even of the historical Buddha.

This school of Buddhism, especially in Japan, accounts for a great portion of Buddhist practice around the world. It makes sense, then, that Western Pure Land would spread into North America from a migratory perspective alone. Additionally, other features of the Western Pure Land tradition attest to this sect’s prominence on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Despite being just one of two in all of Oregon, this Shin temple strives to promote those tenants which originated within Japan 758 years ago, and as a constituent of the Buddhist Churches of America, boasts, “a place where the people know and trust one another and where there is social harmony; it is harmony that gives life and meaning to every community” (Buddhist Churches of America 1).

History & Scope

While preserving a centuries-long tradition, the Idaho-Oregon Temple developed against a backdrop heavily contextualized by events of the second world war. Formally dedicated on April 13, 1947 in Ontario, Oregon, constituents of this temple congregated after relocating from the Pacific Coast to Ontario in May 1942. The relocation was forced upon the members as a result of the United States’ effort to place Japanese-Americans into labor camps during the war. Presented as an alternative to the camps, some Japanese-American farmers already working in the Ontario area made an appeal that laborers on the coast would instead be brought to Oregon and help farm the land. As a result, Japanese-Americans found a concentrated presence in this new community, and (since many of this demographic were first generation, or “Issei”) expressed cultural values which they had taken from their native Japan. Some of these values, of course, were expressed through the practice of Shin Buddhism, and before long a decision was made to form a proper congregation.

That there was Issei presence in Ontario prior to interment is noteworthy, as they provided the means through which a sizable Buddhist community could take shape. In fact, this community actually started laying the foundation for its growth in the interwar period, with the construction of a community center which allowed Japanese-American youth to participate in athletics and social activities in the 1930s. Eventually, through this smaller community’s intervention in labor camp relocation, the Japanese-American and, subsequently, the Buddhist communities in Ontario establish themselves to become a larger hub for Shin Buddhist practice in the Western United States.

Despite this particular temple springing from unique ties with American history, the Idaho-Oregon Temple is still connected to the international Buddhist community as well. As previously stated, the temple is a member of the Buddhist Churches of America as part of the northwestern district, and is overseen by Reverend Jerry Hirano, who is based out of the Salt Lake City Buddhist Temple, and oversees the Idaho-Oregon Temple’s minister assistants. On its website, the temple lists its affiliate organizations, other Buddhist temples local to the northwestern United States. Furthermore, the temple maintains ties with Japan as well, as the community’s mother temple resides in Kyoto. This mother temple “provides leadership worldwide” for the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji (the sect’s formal name) tradition of Buddhism (Idaho Oregon Buddhist Temple 1). Communications between the two institutions ensure the perpetuation of authentic Shin Buddhism, which has been effectively maintained for more than half a millennium.

Teachings & Practices

The mother temple, the Nishi Hongwanji, provides essential teachings, discussed to some extent in this report already, which comprise the Shin doctrine. Jodo Shinshu, the teaching’s proper name, espouses faith in the three Pure Land Sutras (The Sutra of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, The Sutra of Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, and The Sutra of Amida Buddha) delivered by Shakyamuni Buddha, a Mahayana name for the historical Buddha. The Sutra of Amida Buddha describes that Buddha’s world of pure bliss where one can do nothing but focus on the three jewels, an ideal world. Writings by founder Shinran Shonin (1173-1263) effectively offer a path toward that world by way of Nembutsu, the frequent practice of chanting Amithaba’s (or in other spellings, Amida’s) name. Other religious practices include walking meditation, demonstrated in a video below:

Chanting as a means of focus is unique amongst Shin Buddhists, and differs from traditions such as the Theravada which seeks enlightenment through meditation on the concept of no-self and nonexistence. Nevertheless, in line with the tradition of loving-kindness, Shin Buddhists seek entrance into the Western Pure land only so that they may attain Buddhahood and, upon doing so, return to the delusional world to guide others toward enlightenment. Thus, the Western Pure land is not exactly analogous to the heaven depicted in puritanical Christianity. It is interesting, though, that Western Pure Land has gained such notoriety in the United States. Perhaps to those unfamiliar with the nuances of the doctrine, Western Pure Land presents a more digestible conception of the world, as some elements reflect, at least to some extent, the heaven-earth construction present in Christianity.

We can better understand how Shin Buddhism has evolved in wake of its spreading onto the American continent by observing, in our example, the ways in which members organize and present themselves to the larger local community. Rather than identify by the term “venerable” as we might have expect, temple leaders, such as Jerry Hirano, go by the title “reverend”, not unlike those who hold similar positions within Methodist and Presbyterian communities, for example. Adapting Christian elements into their organization reflects a desire to reflect certain western values so as to appeal to a larger American population.

Furthermore, worship services and activities take place on a weekly basis every Sunday, aligning with the Western notion that this day be reserved for the spirit. These services, as well as the ceremonious events that take place throughout the year, are open to all who wish to participate and do not require temple membership. For those who desire to, “practice locally”, The Boise (their designated term for Sangha) meets weekly on Tuesday at a local Methodist church, and like all other meetings, is open to the public (Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple 1). The open-door policy, so to speak, further affirms the notion that the communally-oriented Idaho-Oregon Buddhist temple has ambitions to maintain accessibility on a great scope so that it may diffuse its doctrine thoroughly around the world, particularly on the North American continent.

Congregation

The temple’s membership/community primarily hails from eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho. Under the particular circumstances which saw to this community’s formation, one would expect to see a significant percentage of Issei (or Issei descendants) within its congregation. Still, Sunday services are given in English and the temple’s open-door policy indicates that English speakers are often in attendance for those services at least.

As we’ve discussed in our course, Buddhist communities in the west do not necessarily vie for total conversion to Buddhism. Those individuals interested can pick what resonates with them and adapt it so that it can fit within a person’s belief system. The Idaho-Oregon temple promotes individuality, as well. This is evident from the fact that membership is not required for participation in religious events. Reverend Hirano himself attests that there are thousands of paths towards enlightenment and that the individual must choose which one would best serve him or her. Thus, Buddhist ideals can manifest in unique ways to coincide comfortably with the individual’s life.

Open-mindedness extends beyond the topic of religion in this Buddhist community as well. This past November’s installment of a monthly bulletin published by the temple reflects on election season and the divisiveness it can bring into our worlds. Through Buddhist teachings, one must acknowledge the poisonousness of voting and still acknowledge the poisonousness of apathy. One should do his or her best to vote with a morally good conscious, to “humbly and honestly consider what is best, not just for ourselves, but other people in our region, around the region, and the world” (Anne Spencer 1). Not only does this serve as another example of members contemplating western society with a Buddhist outlook, but also expresses a tolerance for differing opinion within the Idaho-Oregon Temple community. Indeed, Assistant Minister Spencer acknowledges such diversity in the community at the beginning of her discussion. Overall, present in this community are values of open-mindedness, tolerance, and shared pleasure taken from pursuing the Amida Buddha’s Western Pure Land, and at the Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple, people from all over are welcome to share in this endeavor.

Works Cited

Buddhist Churches of America. Web 4 December 2018.          http://www.buddhistchurchesofamerica.org/

Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple. Web 4 December. http://www.iobt.org/reverendsprofile.html

Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji. “The Essentials of Jodo Shinshu- My Path” Web 4 December 2018. http://www.hongwanji.or.jp/english/teaching/index.html

Hart, Sean. “Shin Buddhism: Namo Amida Butsu.” The Argus Observer, 3 March 2010. Web 4 December 2018. https://www.argusobserver.com/news/us/shin-buddhism-namo-amida- butsu/article_5f92ccc3-9f6a-541c-9393-bf7f4f51f365.html

Spencer, Anne. “Politics and Buddhism.” IOBT Bulletin November 2018. Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple. Web 4 December. http://www.iobt.org/pdfFiles/iobtNov2018.pdf

indyzen.org

By: Jasmine Boehnke

The Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was founded in 1981 by Philip Kapleau and hand built by himself and a handful of his students who volunteered to create a Sanbo Zen center that emulates a Japanese zenbo. As a result, it features a blend of traditional architecture and instruments with Southwestern viga beams, straw-and-adobe walls, flat roofs, and softly rounded corners. The center is tucked away on two dozen acres of land in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains off Old Santa Fe Trail and its environment is conducive towards sesshins where practitioners are stimulated by the grasses, sun, desert wind, and New Mexico climate to discover the miracle of each moment.

It is small, but appealing, with a zendo inside the front door which seats 22 people on a raised tan and contains artful wooden carvings on the viga panels. Practitioners say it “has a very handcrafted feeling to it” and serves as a training facility for lay students in the local community.

Kapleau chose this location because he preferred the New Mexico climate to the Rochester winters he was accustomed too. Eventually he left and returned to the Rochester Zen Center he established 40 years earlier. For 28 years, Mountain Cloud was maintained by its devotees and without a teacher. Their membership declined over time and the center was largely unused until Henry Shukman aided in its revival in 2010. He was recruited as Head Teacher after embarking on his own personal Zen journey and is the first teacher to have taught since its founder.

The center shares in the “Zen Buddhism Dharma of the Sanbo-Kyodan lineage based in Kamakura, Japan, using koan study and shikantaza, or ‘just sitting,’ and offers weekly dharma talks.” The Sanbo-Kyodan lineage of which the center is founded in, has three primary objectives. These are:

1. To bring back the actual experience of deep awakening and the heart of Zen,
2.  To offer intensive koan study along with meditation training, and
3. To make training available to lay practitioners

The Mountain Cloud Zen Center fulfills these objectives through daily evening meditation at 6:30 p.m., Sangha meetings, all day sit, yoga and zen workshops, weekend meditation retreats for both students and teachers, and welcoming diversity in their students. This is present in their student body, whose ages range from people in their 20’s to people who are 60 or 70 years old. It prides itself on popularizing Sanbo Zen in the United States through its inclusivity, especially to Westerners, and the Three Pillars of Zen, authored by its founder Philip Kapleau.

Each season is accompanied by a seasonal sesshin and Sunday mornings rotate between a meditation, zen talk, or tea time. There are 4 cabins available that can accommodate 20 people during sesshins. Everything at this time is done in silence, but as one student puts it, “you feel supported, so you don’t give up as easily.” Private ‘dokusan,’ or interviews with Henry, are available throughout the week for prospective students. You can become a student by regularly attending meditation sessions and having attended at least one sesshin. In becoming a formal Zen student, you commit to having Henry as your primary guide.

Since its practitioners are well-versed in poetry and literature, the center also offers author talks. One such talk was with Stephen Jenkinson, author of Die Wise – A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul. His primary focus of study is grief and dying in North America and he provides insight into what it means to live and die well, and how to do so. His rhetoric is based on his personal experience and firsthand account with dying people and their families. He emphasizes the center’s aim of living kindly and its dedication to serving those in hospice.

Yet most creatively, the center hosted a weekend workshop with Henry Shukman, and Japanese calligrapher and Zen teacher, Kazuaki Tanahashi. He is an author and translator of Buddhist texts from Japanese and Chinese to English, most inspired by Dogen. During his time at Mountain Cloud, he participated in meditation, Dharma talks, discussion on Dogen, and demonstrated his prowess in calligraphy. The center is not short on producing creative events for all to attend and enjoy.

Additionally, Mountain Cloud offers several member group programs that allow practitioners to extend their practice beyond mindfulness and meditation to serving the local community in acts of service and kindness. Among these are the Three Treasures Prison Project, which teaches yoga and meditation to inmates at the New Mexico State Prison (PNM), Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) that provides workshops on non-violent communication with inmates and community members, Mountain Cloud Care Network for members facing personal emergencies and difficulties, and several hospice care outlets. The most distinguished program is the Rio Grande Mindfulness Institute (RGMI).

The center trains teachers and educators in the area to practice mindfulness in the face of increasing stress and anxiety in the workplace among students, paperwork, teacher evaluations, and day-to-day pressures. Known as the ‘Heart of Teaching’ mindfulness retreat, it encourages teachers to meditate and breathe in silence, including at lunchtime during a period of ‘Noble Silence.’ It fosters confidence, morale, and reminds teachers to slow down and focus on the present task than on all the chaos. Teacher mindfulness can positively influence students as well. Breaks from classes or set meditation periods can help ground students and increase focus, attendance, and better social behavior.

Teaching

The Mountain Cloud Zen Center teaches beginners to focus on their breathing during meditation and provides guidelines on their website for how to best practice. Among these are to maintain a daily sitting practice and sit still on either a chair or cushion, and pay attention to the present moment. Practitioners are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing, welcome every state of mind during this time, and be kind towards themselves as they practice letting go. After beginners master meditation, they are introduced to koans. According to Henry, “Koans are able to untie things we didn’t know were tied and to open things we didn’t know were closed.” One of the most famous that beginners are introduced to early on in their practice is:

“You know the sound of two hands clapping. What is the sound of one hand?”

Through training, beginners learn that Zen is a moment by moment practice, and is about self-reflection and living in awareness. People gain peace of mind and an appreciation for life through routine practice, no matter how long is spent in meditation. It regards itself as not a religion, but a practice of meditation that can be integrated in all aspect’s of one’s life, including business. This allows itself to have far-reaching effects in the West because it is easy to adopt. There are no deities, belief systems, and not a lot of ritual. It is truly a non-monastic practice. As Yamada Ryoun Roshi says, “Sanbo Zen is really true Zen, independent of any divisions,” and is compatible with any faith or none at all.

The center’s website offers a range of free resources for beginners, including intro to Zen talks and a Zen podcast series that is also available on iTunes. The podcasts are influenced by the center’s Thursday evening ‘teishos,’ or dharma talks. These teach students to practice listening, offer core Zen training, and supports the center’s Prison Project to work with inmates, the community, and international sangha. They provide training on the three fruits of Zen practice, present-moment awareness, the Buddha’s five hindrances and how to remedy them, and the three essentials of Zen practice: Great faith, great doubt, and great determination. The website also features a bulletin that is updated regularly with messages from Henry that discuss dharma and Buddhist teachings.

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Present

Two years ago, Mountain Cloud celebrated its 31st year amid a crowd of over 100 people with a rededication to represent a re-awakening of the center. The ceremony began with a teacher using a feather from a calligraphy pen to symbolically open the eyes of a statue Buddha sitting on an altar. There were knocks on woodblock, the ringing of a bell, and the chanting of the Heart Sutra to honor its founding teachers, in accordance with its Sanbo Zen values. Yamada Ryoun Roshi of Japan headed the ceremonies and commemorated the connection between the center and its Sanbo Zen lineage of Zen Buddhism. He spoke of his father, Yamada Koun, and of his desire for Mountain Cloud to become the principal center for the Sanbo Zen in North America. Yamada Ryoun Roshi honed in on his father’s will, expressing that he places a great importance on expanding Sanbo Zen in America and especially from the Mountain Cloud Zen Center. Just last year, he led the North American Sanbo Zen Sesshin, an annual five-day silent meditation retreat, and with it, encouraged the center to participate in this large gathering of both Western and non-Western Buddhist practitioners.

News

The Zen Center entered mainstream politics over the summer during the uproar of the separation of children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. Henry Shukman added his signature along with over 200 others, to a statement produced by Western Buddhist teachers that addresses the US Customs and Border Protection’s practice and calls for an end to the practice. It condemns the practices as a contravention of basic human rights and as “against the principles of compassion and mercy espoused by all religious traditions.” In response, it suggests defenders visit border crossings and child detention centers to experience the effects of their decisions. Eventually the statement was posted on Change.org as a petition so others could add their signature.

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Works Cited

Website: Mountain Cloud Zen Center
Facebook page: Mountain Cloud Zen
Google Plus: Mountain Cloud Zen Center, Santa Fe
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1. “Explorer’s Guide to Santa Fe & Taos: A Great Destination (Eighth Edition) .” Explorer’s Guide to Santa Fe & Taos: A Great Destination (Eighth Edition) , by Sharon Niederman, Countryman Press, 2013, p. 117.
2. U.S.-Mexico border dispute
3. Calligraphy with Kaz Tanahashi
4. Mountain Cloud Zen Center and Henry
5. Rededication Ceremony
6. Rio Grande Mindfulness Institute
7. “Insiders’ Guide to Santa Fe.” Insiders’ Guide to Santa Fe, by Nicky Leach, Insiders’ Guides, 2010, p. 288.

This is a draft

Zen Buddhism Temple of Ann Arbor

By: Harrison Tamke

Introduction to Buddhism, Fall 2017

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Introduction:

Near the corner of Packard and Wells St., in the affluent, liberal college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, sits an unassuming red brick house. Flanked by a (closed) bicycle repair shop and an (open) vacuum cleaner shop, the building is surrounded by a short brick wall without a gate. Beside the entrance to the yard is a simple wood sign. It reads: “ZEN BUDDHIST TEMPLE. SUNDAY SERVICES 10 A.M. & 4 P.M. ALL WELCOME”. This is a visitor’s first view of Ann Arbor’s Zen Buddhist Temple, run by the Buddhist Society for Compassionate Wisdom. It is home to a community of about a thousand lay people (mostly white converts), who come for daily or weekend services, Dharma talks, meditation sessions, and other community events. It is a quiet place, where one can meditate and find inner peace, but it is not a hiding place. Though there is a small residency program, it exists mostly to minister to laypeople, and a recurring theme in the priests’ dharma talks is that practice need not be confined to the temple (Fellowship for Intentional Community 2016). Rather, one can continue to practice throughout their day-to-day lives, helping not only to finally achieve nirvana for oneself, but also to make one’s community a better place.

History:

The Zen Buddhist Temple of Ann Arbor was established by a Korean monk named Samu Sunim. After wandering for several years as an orphan, he entered the Namjang-sa monastery in Sangju in 1958. In 1962, at the Pomo-sa monastery in Pusan, he was ordained as a disciple of Tongsan Sunim, training also under the monk Solbong Sunim. However, in 1965, he left South Korea for the United States, in order to avoid conscription. He settled first in New York, before moving to Montreal in 1968, where he established the Zen Lotus Society in his apartment. Later, in Toronto, he helped organize and minister to a small sangha of Korean immigrants, but was soon after joined by a small group of white converts. Together, they held meditation practices and weekend retreats. As the sangha grew, its members realized they would need a bigger facility. So they purchased a dilapidated house and renovated it all by themselves. In addition to the Buddhist practice and constant renovation of the facility, the sangha started a Buddhist newsletter, Spring Wind, on a printing press they purchased and rebuilt themselves (Pappu 1999).

In 1981, Sunim decided to begin a new community in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He dispatched one of his disciples, Haju Sunim (formerly Linda Murray), to identify a suitable location. Haju had formerly been a school teacher in Canada, and was one of the original members of the Toronto sangha. She helped to identify the Packer Street site, which the sangha (again) renovated by themselves (“Our History” 2017). In 1989, Haju was ordained, and received the dharma transmission from Samu Sunim just ten years later. While Samu Sunim resides with the New York sangha, she remains as the head teacher of the Ann Arbor sangha (“Teachers” 2017).

Beliefs:

The Zen Buddhist Temple in Ann Arbor, being part of the Zen school, heavily emphasizes the relationship between practice and enlightenment. During a dharma talk at the Yongmaeng Jeongjin retreat in 2015, Samu Sunim explained that practice was important to enlightenment because practice is enlightenment. All beings, Samu Sunim explained, already possess Buddha nature, and this nature is developed through practice (specifically, meditation). Indeed, he compared practice to a mother’s womb, in that it gives birth to enlightenment in much the same way that the womb gives birth to a child. However, he cautions that practice is no simple thing (Samu Sunim 2015). In another Dharma talk, delivered at a Sunday service in Toronto, Samu Sunim talked about how right practice requires “true humility” and “profound gratitude”, as well as silence, and solidarity with all sentient beings (Samu Sunim 2008).

However, this meditation need not happen only in a temple. In a dharma talk at the at Yongmaeng Jeongjin retreat in 2013, Haju Sunim shared an ancient story about a temple that was trying to elect a new head monk. To their collective surprise, they found that the wisest among them was the monk who did the cooking. He had honed his concentration and grown in wisdom not in group prayers or meditation in the temple, but during his daily walk to and from a nearby stream, to carry water in a heavy pot along a difficult path back to the temple kitchen. Just as the monk was able to cultivate his mind and spirit during his daily work, said Haju Sunim, so, too, could a layperson cultivate their own mind in their day-to-day activities (Haju Sunim 2013).

While the Zen Buddhist Temple preaches the importance of practice and meditation as means of achieving enlightenment, it also preaches the importance of being engaged in the community. In 1987, the Ann Arbor temple hosted the Conference on World Buddhism in North America. Some of the topics discussed included: ethnic and North American Buddhist movements; Vinaya rules and regulations; monasticism and the lay Buddhist movement; feminism, ecological awareness and social issues; the role of tradition in the contemporary Buddhist movement; cross-cultural assimilation of Buddhism; and Theravada-Mahayana encounters in the West (“Our History” 2017). Even to this day, social issues are an important topic at the Zen Temple. The temple hosts an “Earth-in-Mind” group that meets twice a month to discuss environmental issues. The emphasis on social issues can also be seen in some of the poems written by Samu Sunim. In one, titled, “The American Women’s March”, Samu extolls the Women’s March that took place in Washington DC in 2017, writing, “Would women be our future! Let their compassion and wisdom prevail. ‘When men go low, let nasty women go high!’ Let them be our guardian for all beings on our planet!” (Samu Sunim 2017). Similarly, in a poem titled, “Let’s All Get Along”, Samu writes about a homeless friend of his named Ken. The poem talks about poverty and social strife in America, with references ranging from pop culture (e.g.: how Ken resembles Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls) to the political (the beating of Rodney King in 1991 is frequently referenced) (Samu Sunim 2017).

With respect to other Buddhist traditions, there is little indication of the temple’s views on the matter. As the Conference on World Buddhism in North America shows, engagement between Buddhist traditions is a topic of interest. However, I could find no indication of joint events with other Buddhist communities, even though there is a Tibetan Buddhist community- the Jewel Heart Buddhist Center- in Ann Arbor as well.

Practices:

On its website, the Ann Arbor Temple states that it, “seeks to establish a viable and nurturing balance between zen training and one’s obligations outside of residency to family, school, and work”. To become a member of the sangha, one must take a short beginner’s meditation course. While the classes are a prerequisite to becoming a regular member, the temple advertises them as being open to anybody who wants to learn meditation for their personal benefit (“Meditation Class” 2017).

Once prospective members finish the course, they are able to participate in the two main activities at the temple, which are communal services and retreats. The services typically include two meditation periods, with a group chant and recitation of the Three Refuges in between, and a dharma talk by one of the priests or senior lay members at the end. The talks are recorded and posted on the temple’s website so that visitors can listen to them, as I did. They are not at all dull, but typically incorporate stories and parables (e.g.: the story of the cook-monk). And the talks always incorporate periodic yelling by the instructors to keep the sangha on its toes and ensure understanding of key concepts.

The temple also conducts retreats, which can vary in length. Over the course of a year it will offer several short retreats of less than 24 hours, including several expressly for beginners, and one five-day Yongmaeng Jeongjin (or “fearless practice”) retreat. In addition to services and retreats, the temple also organizes community events and celebrations. Each year it hosts a two-day celebration of the Buddha’s birthday; the celebration usually includes poetry readings and storytelling, singing and chanting, and even a vegetarian buffet, before concluding with a “Peace & Happiness Parade” down Packer Street (Axelsen 2010).

Finally, the temple offers some services regarding aging and death. The temple has a “Mindful Transitions” group that meets once a month. When a member (or, interestingly enough, their pet) dies, the temple will perform a modified version of the traditional post-mortem rite: members will gather to meditate and chant for the deceased for a period of 49 days, as their soul transitions to its next place in the universe. However, rather than performing the rite over the unburied corpse, as is traditional in some Buddhist countries, the rite is performed around an altar with a picture of the deceased and “small items of importance to the person” (Gaudin 2016).
Conclusion:

The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a boisterous college town, home to the famed University of Michigan. Many of the finest and most ambitious students and athletes in the country call it home, striving endlessly for the pinnacles of academic and athletic achievement. Yet on a quiet little road near the great Michigan Stadium sits a quiet little Buddhist temple, the Zen Buddhist Temple. Adjacent to an institution that exists to further worldly ambitions, the Zen Buddhist Temple of Ann Arbor exists to help its members find inner peace and, ultimately, escape from the worlds of pleasure and ambition. Through weekly meditation services and retreats, it helps its members to not only purify their minds, but also to realize the sanctity of potential of day-to-day life, so that they can work toward enlightenment not only in the meeting rooms of the temple itself, but in the activities of their day-to-day lives. As Katherine Brown, a senior lay person in the sangha remarked, “The wall is there not to separate us from the rest of the town” (Dwyer 2011).

Works Cited:

Axelsen, Katherine. “Zen Buddhist Temple Celebrates Buddha’s 2,554th birthday”. The Ann Arbor News. 27 May 2010. Web. 5 December 2017. http://www.annarbor.com/faith/zen-buddhist-temple-celebrates-buddhas-2554th-birthday/

Dwyer, Ann. “Silence is Golden at Zen Buddhist Temple”. The Ann Arbor News. 27 January 2011. Web. 5 December 2017. http://www.annarbor.com/faith/silence-is-golden-at-zen-buddhist-temple/

Gaudin, Madeleine. “Understanding Life: Zen Buddhist Temple Offers Placid Sanctuary”. The Michigan Daily. 27 January 2016. Web. 5 December 2017. https://www.michigandaily.com/section/arts/copy-buddhist-temple-bside

Haju Sunim. “Dharma Talks from Summer Yongmaeng Jeongjin 2013 (Chicago)”. 30 June 2013. Zen Buddhist Temple. Web. 5 December 2017. https://www.zenbuddhisttemple.org/dharma-talks

“Our History”. Zen Buddhist Temple. 2017. Web. 5 December 2017. https://www.zenbuddhisttemple.org/history

Pappu, Sridhar. “Have Hammer, Will Travel”. Chicago Reader. 15 January 1999. Web. 5 December 2017. https://www.zenbuddhisttemple.org/samu-sunim-stories (text from temple website; could not find original story)

Samu Sunim. “American Women’s March 2017”. Poem Collections. 2017. Web. 5 December 2017. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/df6bb4_494cf3d72a8941c586fb6bb5ea7d7bca.pdf

Samu Sunim. “Dharma Talks from Summer Yongmaeng Jeongjin 2015 (NYC)”. 27 June 2015. Zen Buddhist Temple. Web. 5 December 2017. https://www.zenbuddhisttemple.org/dharma-talks

Samu Sunim. “Let’s All Get Along”. Poem Collections. 2017. Web. 5 December 2017. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/df6bb4_494cf3d72a8941c586fb6bb5ea7d7bca.pdf

Samu Sunim. “Samu Sunim 2008 October 12 Toronto”. 12 October 2008. Zen Buddhist Temple. Web. 5 December 2017. https://www.zenbuddhisttemple.org/dharma-talks

“Teachers”. Zen Buddhist Temple. 2017. Web. 5 December 2017. https://www.zenbuddhisttemple.org/teachers

“Meditation Class”. Zen Buddhist Temple. 2017. Web. 5 December 2017. https://www.zenbuddhisttemple.org/meditation-class

“Zen Buddhist Temple – Ann Arbor”. Fellowship for Intentional Community. 30 April 2016. Web. 5 December 2017. https://www.ic.org/directory/zen-buddhist-temple-ann-arbor/