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Rama – Dr.
Frederick Lenz, and others, have used the term "American
Buddhism" in reference to their teachings. But
what is American Buddhism? Actually,
American Buddhism is no different than Japanese Buddhism or Tibetan
Buddhism, in that it is simply Buddhism transported to a new culture.
When we study Tibetan
Buddhism, we learn about gods, goddesses, and mystical rituals. This is
because Tibet
was a very mystical culture before Buddhism integrated with Bonism. Japanese Buddhism, on the other hand, is
more Spartan. It’s rare to find mention of
gods and goddesses in Zen Buddhism. This is because Japanese culture was
less polytheistic than the Bonists of pre-Buddhist Tibet.
In fact, all religions
adapt to the culture surrounding them. Therefore, American Buddhism should primarily be viewed as an attempt to transplant
Buddhism to the West. The Dalai Lama
once said: "Remember, you are a Westerner. If
you want to practice Eastern philosophy such as Tibetan Buddhism you should
take the essence and try to adapt it your cultural background and
conditions."
If we look at westerners
and ask ourselves what American Buddhism might look like, we arrive at some
interesting conclusions.
1. People
in the west are taught and reminded constantly through media that the more
you purchase, consume, and fulfill desire, the happier and more successful
you are. With this in mind, American Buddhism probably has to be very
tantric, if it is to be a genuine transplant.
2. Americans
are very individualistic. Rama felt this Emersonian independence was very
compatible with the Buddha’s advice to go "seek your own
liberation." Therefore, although tantric, American Buddhism will
probably be a very independent, less monastic, and
designed for individuals who want to engage self-effort to attain
liberation.
3. America
is one of the first nations, since the time of the Buddha, where women have
had the right to own property and participate in the political process.
Therefore, American Buddhism will probably be more open to women than
previous forms.
When we look at
Rama’s program, it fits in surprisingly well with these initial
deductions about what American Buddhism might look like. Rama encouraged
material success. "The obvious answer to money is to have tons of it,"
he taught. "Simply figure out how to make more money than you really
need and go for it." The money is used to run our lives. If we have extra money, we may choose to
use it to spread the dharma in this expensive, materialistic culture.
As we might suspect,
Rama's program was very tantric. He did not set up traditional prohibitions
against sex, liquor, handling money or eating after noontime. He sought the
middle path, reminding us that, "there is no problem with the sensual
world unless you have a tremendous attraction or aversion to it."
Women in Rama’s
Buddhism, instead of taking a backseat role or no role at all, usually held
important positions within his organization. Women were encouraged to teach
and not considered inferior either spiritually or socially compared to men. This new improvement regarding female
participation in Buddhism was one reason, according to Rama, why his
teachings met with so much hostility. Rama felt that "Until women
assume their rightful place on earth there will never be an end to wars,
cruelty, and oppression. A species divided against itself
will eventually fall."
American Buddhism is
different from the outer forms of Japanese Buddhism, which is different
from Tibetan Buddhism or Chinese Buddhism. Yet, what about the essence --
was Rama’s Buddhism, Buddhist?
Absolutely. Although Rama’s outer
form was tantric, he warned his western students about the assumption that
material success would bring happiness. "Most successful people find
out that the attainment of their goals doesn't necessarily bring them the
happiness and joy they assumed," Rama once observed.
Like all Buddhists, he
taught that liberation (which causes lasting happiness), is the only thing
worth striving for. He said: "We
could take all the pleasures that have ever been and will ever be in all
the universes and add them up into one experience. If you were absorbed in
Nirvana, it wouldn’t be noticed.”
Rama encouraged material
success, not because it assured blissful happiness but because career
success was a strategic way for Americans to live in the modern world and
practice Buddhism. Rama felt that "without money, you are powerless in
this world. You are totally subject to whatever happens. To be without
money in the physical world is to be powerless."
Like all Buddhist Masters,
Rama taught the four noble truths, ignorance and impermanence, and didn’t shy away from advanced concepts. "None
of this is real," Rama reminded us. "All
of this is an illusion and your acceptance of that fact is the beginning of
the pathway to self-knowledge."
Rama frequently employed
humor even when discussing the most complex of topics: "I can go shopping and pick up some
Bounty Towels, the three-pack. I can go home and open
those up and look at them and see more infinity than in the Buddha's
best meditation. If I can't do that, that means I'm wrapped by the Buddha's
best meditation."
Some individuals, who
claim to know the Buddha dharma, have declared that Rama was not Buddhist. They say he was a cult leader. This fiction was created by the media and other hate groups for
profit. In reality, Rama was against cults. He advised, "If a
spiritual teacher says something that doesn't make sense to you, you should
always listen to yourself and not the teacher. A little common sense would
end all cults."
Imagine what the “cult
watchers” would have said about Bodhidharma, when they found out one
of his students cut off his arm and handed it to the great Zen Patriarch. What
would the media have said about Padmasambhava having sex in graveyards or
killing a man with a rock because he had bad karma? Compared to the
founders of Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, Rama was pretty
tame!
Others claim that Rama
was too mystical and occult to be Buddhist. They point to components of his
program, like the Carlos Castaneda books, desert trips, and Hinduism, as
proof that he was just a new-age teacher and not a Buddhist. However, we read in the Surangama Sutra
that the Buddha could emit light from his hands, from the top of head,
glowed gold, controlled demons and could perform many other
“miracles”.
Others claim that
because Rama was wealthy and charged a high tuition, he could not have been
Buddhist. They forget actual Buddhist tradition. One of the 84 Mahasiddhas, the Mahasiddha
Kankana was a king whose kingdom and responsibilities did not distract him
from realizing “the wish-fulfilling gem”. The Mahasiddha Dhilipa realized his
original nature while being a wealthy merchant. We can see that wealth, by itself, did
not preclude spiritual realization.
To conclude, Rama’s American
Buddhism was the Buddha dharma in its purest form. The outer methods that
he used to inspire Westerners are simply outgrowths of the culture he
worked with. Although Rama's new form of Buddhism seems intuitive and logical
to us now, it took years of hard work, love, and dedication to develop a
Buddhist program that has assisted us all on the pathway to enlightenment.
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