Hope And Hugs

It is going to take a lot more than hugs to heal the very real and the very deep wounds in Sri Lanka. However, it’s a start and hopefully it will be the beginning of the process. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8583480.stm

Sticks But Not Stones

A staff (danda) is a long stick, usually made of wood, used to assist walking, for combat or as a symbol of office. According to the Vinaya, the standard staff should be four hands (hattha) long, i.e. four times the distance from the fingers to the elbow (Vin.IV,200). The Buddha allowed monks to carry a staff when they were traveling while sick (Vin.II,131). Gradually though, all traveling monks and nuns would carry staffs. They would use them to push aside prickles, warn off village dogs and protect them from wild animals while traveling through forests. In later centuries a large metal ring with smaller rings through it was attached to the top of the staff. The jingling should made by these rings gave the such staffs their name kakkarakka which is an onomatopoeia for this sound. When I go carika (I’m getting a bit old for it nowadays) I always carry a khakharaka staff. My one is an exact copy of one I saw in an Indian Buddhist sculpture dating from the 10th century. Although I carry this staff mainly for ‘sentimental’ reasons I have also found it most useful while walking through rough country and keeping angry village curs at bay. Rattle your khakharaka and they back off real quick!Eventually the khakharaka ceased to be used for practical reasons and became a symbol of authority and used by abbots during important ceremonies. The rings also became more elaborate and decorative.

Senior Chinese and Tibetan monks still sometimes use such khakharakas. The Mahayana bodhisattva Kshitigarbha often seen as the protector of travelers, including those ‘traveling’ to the next life, is always depicted holding a khakharaka. In Japan, pilgrims sometimes use miniature khakharakas called shakujou. With the development of Vajrayana Buddhism a different type of staff came into use. Called khatuanga it had a trident on the top and a human skull through the shaft. Like much of Vajrayana, such staffs were copied directly from the Hindu Sivite tradition. The trident (trishula) is the symbol of Siva and Sivite ascetics were called ‘skull-carriers’ (kapalika). Padmasambhavana, the semi-mythological magician who is credited with bringing Buddhism to Tibet is always depicted carrying one of there staffs. The staff has gone completely out of use in the Theravadin tradition. It is not even used as a symbol of office, a ceremonial fan serving that purpose. The only occurance of any kind of staff I know of within Theravada is in images of the mythological Phra Malai of Thailand who is always depicted with a simple staff. In a sense, the different types of staff illustrate the changes that took place Buddhism - from simple to complex, from practical to symbolic, and finally from a distinct separate religion to a fusing with Hinduism.

Akon's Not Coming

COLOMBO: US singer Akon will not be granted a visa to visit Sri Lanka for a sell-out concert after Buddhist monks and almost 12,000 people on social media site Facebook took offence at one of his videos. A group of monks lobbied the government to stop the star’s planned visit because of a music video that featured women in bikinis dancing around a pool in front of a Buddha statue. The offending video was for the R&B star’s “Sexy Bitch” hit, set on the Spanish party island of Ibiza. Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry said there was no application for a visa by Akon or his entourage, but the government had taken a decision not to allow him into the country to perform at the concert scheduled for April 24. “He has not applied for a visa yet, but we will refuse him if he does ask for one,” a spokesman for the ministry said. Director General of Information Anusha Pelpita said Colombo took Buddhist sensitivities and other protests into account. The show was reported to have sold out with tickets priced at 25,000 rupees (217 dollars). Thousands of Sri Lankans had also banded together to form a “We Hate AKON” group on Facebook, the social networking site, which counted 11,700 fans today. “We hate Akon. Please stop insulting a religion. Save Buddhism,” said one posting. Majority-Buddhist Sri Lanka projects itself as a secular country, but it is highly sensitive to the use of religious images for commercial purposes. Six years ago, Sri Lanka’s police and customs were ordered to seize albums from plush lounge bar and restaurant chain Buddha Bar which depicted the Buddha, as well as bikinis with Buddha motifs. Authorities have already banned candles in the shape of the Buddha.

From the Himalayan

Comment: I can’t say I have ever heard of Akon. But if he’s touring Sri Lanka (a beautiful country but let’s face it, top of the list or rock music backwaters) he must be very desperate. And as for his video, I think the indignant monks can go back to their meditation in peace. After the video and Akon himself are forgotten (in 5 years?) the Buddha will still be around and attracting an audience. The Buddha has survived worse.

The Buddha In Ballarat

Years ago I was giving some talks in Ballarat in rural Victoria and staying with my long-time friend John Hall. One afternoon he suggested we go and visit the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery. I was agreeable to this suggestion although I wasn’t expecting much. Probably a small collection of modest and mediocre works by locals artists, I thought to myself. I ended up being pleasantly surprised. They have paintings by Arthur Boyd, Russell Drysdale, Fred McCubbin, Sidney Nolan and quite a few other fine artists. But one painting surprised me more than all the others and has remained in my memory ever since. It is a large painting called Buddha’s Renunciation by the Anglo-Russian Nicholas Chevalier who lived in Australia for 14 years. The ‘Buddha’ seems to pop up in the most unexpected places! I don’t know much about this work other than that Chevalier painted it in 1884. As Edwin Arnold’s famous poem The Light of Asia was first published in 1879 there is a good chance that it served as Chevalier’s inspiration. Buddha’s Renunciation is rather typically Victorian – romantic, sentimental and naive, but it is also pleasing to the eye. Anyway, it’s been in the Gallery’s collection since 1923. That means that for 87 years Ballaratins (if that’s what there called) have been able to have at least a little bit of Buddhism in their lives.

Putting A Price On The Dhamma

The Buddha gave the Dhamma freely to all. He often underwent difficulties and inconveniences and on occasions even risked his life, in order to teach the Dhamma to others (Ud.78). The monk Punna was prepared to teach the Dhamma in a district where the people were known for their violence and where he had a good chance of being manhandled or even worse (M.III,269). Today, some Westerners go to traditional Buddhist countries to learn Dhamma or meditation, they return to their homelands and then charge for teaching what they were taught for free. I really think this is unethical. Likewise, some Asian monks put a price on the Dhamma, certain Tibetan teachers being the worst offenders. I once mentioned to the student of a rimpoche that his teacher charged very high prices for his teachings – real high. Rather defensively the student said that air fares, accommodation, etc all cost money. “Why not just ask students for a donation rather than charge them?’ I said. “What if the costs were not covered?” the disciple shot back. I let the subject drop but it seemed a little odd after all that Tibetan stuff about giving your body for all beings and having infinite compassion for all beings. I also couldn’t help thinking that Goenka (and his assistant teachers) rely entirely on donations. In charging for Dhamma such teachers are turning the precious Dhamma into a commodity and the Buddha clearly said: ‘One should not go about making a business out of the Dhamma’ (Ud.66). When the Buddha said: ‘The gift of Dhamma excels all other gifts’ (Dhp.354) he clearly meant that the Dhamma should be a gift, not something to be sold. During the Buddha’s time people knew that teachers of other religions charged a fee (acariyadhana) but that those teaching Dhamma expected nothing more from their students audience than respect and attentiveness (A.V,347). I think there is nothing wrong with charging for the food, accommodation etc. used during a meditation course. Nor is it improper for a teacher to accept donations. But to charge a fee, even if it is called ‘sponsorship’ or to announce that a ‘donation’ of a certain amount is expected, contradicts the most basic ethics and ideals of Buddhism. Those who teach the Dhamma should see what they do as a rare and wonderful privilege and an act of kindness, not a means of livelihood.

Seeing The Buddha, Seeing The Dhamma

Venerable Vakkali was staying at the Potters’ Shed and was suffering from a disease, sick and afflicted. Then he called his attendant and said: “Friend, go to the Lord and in my name worship his feet, tell him I am suffering from a disease and suggest that it would be good if he were to come and visit me out of compassion for me.” So the attendant did as he was asked. In silence the Lord consented and dressing himself and taking his robe and bowl, set out. Now Vakkali saw the Lord coming in the distance and struggled to rise from his bed. But the Lord saw him and said:

“Enough, Vakkali. Remain in your bed. There are seats made ready. I will sit there.”

Having seated himself, the Lord addressed Vakkali saying: “I hope you are bearing up. I hope you are enduring. Are the pains decreasing or abating? Do they seem to be decreasing or abating?”

“No, Lord. I am not bearing up or enduring, the pains do not decrease, neither do they grow.” “Then have you any regret or sorrow?”
“Lord, I do have some regret and sorrow.”
“Have you anything concerning virtue to reproach yourself about?”
“No, Lord, I have nothing to reproach myself about.”
“Then why are you troubled by regret and sorrow?”
“Because Lord, for a long time I have been wanting to see you but I have not had the strength to do so.”

“Quiet, Vakkali. Why do you want to see this dirty body of mine? One who sees the Dhamma sees me and one who sees me sees the Dhamma. Truly, seeing the Dhamma, one sees me and seeing me, one sees the Dhamma.” (S.III.119) The source of this exceptional award winning photo is http://www.photos-of-the-year.com/

Of Aryans, Nazis And Buddhists

In a comment to my post of the 23rd David asked if I could say something about the Pali Buddhist term ariya, which congers up images of Nazism and its idea of so-called Aryan superiority. So hear goes. The Vedic Sanskrit word arya first appears in the Rig Veda (2000-1500BCE) where it is used as the name of a group of people who had migrated into India from perhaps what is now Iran (from arya) in prehistoric times and gradually subdued the aboriginals who they called dasa or dasyu. Like most peoples, the aryas saw themselves as superior to others and the word arya gradually came to mean ‘noble’, ‘esteemed’ or ‘superior’. By the time of the Buddha the word had come to include the idea of ethical or intellectual excellence and the Buddha always used it in that sense. Thus in the Tipitaka we have terms like Ariya sacca = Noble Truth, and many others.
When Sanskrit and Avestan studies began in Europe in the late 18th century the word arya was noticed and came to be used for the family of languages we now call Indo-Iranian, i.e. most Indian, Iranian and European languages, and by extension, the people who spoke those languages. Europeans, particularly blue-eyed, blond-haired ‘Nordic’ peoples came to be seen as the ancestors of the ancient Aryans who had conquered India in ancient times, just as the British had conquered India (and half the rest of the world) in the 19th century. Thus the word took on a distinctly racist and imperialist coloring. By the late 19th century such an association was being discarded in scientific circles but among ill-informed people and especially among the more loony right-wing groups, particularly in Germany, it lingered. Hitler picked it up and the rest is history, very ugly history. As Nazism perverted everything it touched, it likewise gave the word arya/ariya something of a bad reputation. But of course, no informed person could find any similarity between how the word was (and sometimes still is) used by racists and how it is used in Buddhism. For all the uses of ariya in the Tipitaka have a look at the PTS’s Pali-English Dictionary and their new A Dictionary of Pali. The article ‘Arya’ in the Encyclopedia of Buddhism examines the use of the word within the wider Buddhist context and the article ‘Aryan’ on Wikipedia gives a pretty good account of the words use in philology and politics.

The Aryan race myth was never more effectively discredited than by those who loudly proclaimed it, not just in their behavior but even in their looks - Hitler with his sickly yellow skin and black hair, the grotesquely obese Goring, Dr. Gobbles with his club foot, cadaverous features and beak-like nose, the offish bald-headed Julius Streicher with his paunch, and the weakly, shortsighted Himmler. It’s hard to decide which of this bunch of Aryan supermen was the worst but if I was forced to choose I’d probably pick Julius Streicher. Even the other Nazis found him repulsive (although characteristically Hitler always liked him) and in 1940 he was quietly sacked and told not to attend any more Party functions. God! How unsavory would you have to be to be blackballed by the Nazis!

Related to this, the swastika, so often associated with the Nazis, has been used in Buddhism (and in nearly all cultures and religions) for centuries. Here is carvings incorporating swastikas on the Dharmik Stupa at Sarnath where the Buddha taught his first proclaimed the Dhamma.