Juniper

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To

I N SIG H T
Assimilating Buddhist Methods into Modern Culture

About Juniper Juniper offers Buddhist training for modern life. Buddhist training is a rich and dynamic path for cultivating inner calm, clarity and strength; for infusing our lives with compassion and joy; and for dramatically expanding our inner freedom and awareness. By carefully extracting the essence of Buddhist thought from the cultural wrapper in which  we receive it, Juniper is making Buddhist training relevant and accessible in modern culture. Copyright
2009 Juniper Foundation

Heirs to Insight

Wherever Buddhist methods have taken rootin places such as India, China, and Tibetan extensive period of integration with local standards and culture has followed.

In a world in which science presents ever-increasing challenges to ancient thought, Buddhist training stands out as a path of inner development that is remarkably in accord with science and modern knowledge. It is built on a foundation of inquiry into the nature of the mind and reality, and its central insights are uncannily in accord with modern views of the universe. Yet, these modern underpinnings do not guarantee that the tradition of Buddhist training comes to us in a ready-to-use package. Because our primary sources of Buddhist learning are from a vastly different culture and time, their assimilation into modern life can be challenging. It is very common, for example, to see the initial excitement about meditation and Buddhist ideas dissipate due to the seeming impenetrability of the texts and discourses. Often, the impediment is not the essence of the ideas themselves but the aspects that are distinctive to the culture and time in which they were written. To extend Buddhist methods into modern culture, therefore, one of our central tasks is to extract the essence of Buddhist ideas from the cultural wrapper in which we receive them. If we examine how Buddhist methods are practiced in the West today, we see that in large measure they reflect an attempt to duplicate the norms and style of the source from which they came. Many Western dharma centers, for example, replicate very well the style of Tibetan Buddhist rituals, teacher traditions, and other elements of practice. Although this replication is perhaps a natural and essential first step to understanding a tradition and its methods, it makes little accommodation for local norms and thus falls short of a true integration into modern culture.

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Wherever Buddhist methods have taken rootin places such as India, China, and Tibetan extensive period of integration with local standards and culture has followed. The need to adapt Buddhist methods is well established by many of the traditions leaders. His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama has cautioned Westerners against practicing a Tibetanized form of Buddhism because it is intimately related to the specific culture of Tibet,1 and a number of the most renowned Indian and Tibetan Buddhist masters, such as Nagarjuna, Atisha and Je Tsongkhapa, were reformers, progressive thinkers of their day, called upon to evolve and establish their tradition in a particular time and place.2 If we in the modern West are to be heirs to their insight, we must do the same. We present here five principles we believe are necessary for the remarkable Buddhist system of inner development to take root and flourish in modern soil: 1. Integrate science 2. Integrate modern education 3. Train gradually 4. Provide equal opportunity 5. Cultivate modern teacher relationships

The goals of this work are to describe each principle, and to demonstrate how each is in accord with the essential aspects of Buddhist thought but extends it into modern culture. Buddhist training methods can be thought of as a universal methodology for training and disciplining the mind and for cultivating inner well-being. These methods are not dependent on one particular culture, style, or implementation but are adaptable to the time and circumstances in which they appear. We can perhaps liken this adaptability to a river that flows through different terrains, in each area cutting a path suitable to the local geography. The shape and flow of the river may change, but the water remains the same. As we set about finding the shape and flow through which the waters of Buddhist thought might run in modern terrain, we should keep in mind that without the tireless effort of the many Buddhist lamas and teachers from afar, this effort would not be even remotely possible. It is they who have opened the doors. It is we who must cross the threshold.

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Integrate Science

It would seem, therefore, that integrating the findings of science would fall directly within the Buddhist inquiry into the nature of the mind and reality. When we examine the relationship between Buddhist thought and science, we encounter a striking contrast between the Buddhist philosophical teachings and the classic Buddhist views of causation and the physical world. The Buddhist philosophical teachings are uncannily in accord with modern scientific thought, whereas the classic Buddhist views of causation and the physical world are often out of sync with it. For over two thousand years, Buddhist philosophical teachings have taught that the universe does not comprise autonomous, independent entities but is an interdependent unfolding in which events and phenomena arise with very high levels of interconnectedness. For a long time, science did not share this view but instead saw the world as a collection of independent objects acting on one another with various forces. However, with the discoveries of relativity, quantum mechanics, and related subjects, science has turned in the direction of these early Buddhist insights. According to modern science, the universe is not static and deterministic but is a dynamic and interdependent unfolding in which events occur with an underlying base of interdependence, probability, and uncertainty. Because this view of modern science is so aligned with the insights of Buddhist and other, related Eastern schools of thought, it is perhaps no surprise that a number of the twentieth centurys greatest scientists developed a strong affinity for the great Eastern yogis and masters. In the words of Professor Herbert Guenther, a pioneer of twentieth-century Buddhist scholarship, The fact is, modern physics has become ever more mystical, not least of all because of the exposure of some of its most outstanding representatives to Eastern thought.3 And well-known contemporary Buddhist scholar Jay Garfield writes, For the philosophy of science has been steadily maturing into a more Buddhist framework over the past few decades.4 Nonetheless, despite the striking modernity of Buddhist philosophical insight, the Buddhist views of causation and the physical world are frequently out of sync with modern discovery. The Buddhist doctrines of karma and rebirth, for example, attempt to describe how life, circumstances, events, and even socioeconomic status come into being. They hold that our actions in former lives create subtle imprints

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in the mind that pass from life to life, creating a blueprint for our present situation and state of mind. However, modern ideas of evolution, genetics, and neuroscience, among others, present an entirely different view of how these things come about, posing striking challenges to these classic Buddhist ideas. For example, if genes play a large role in determining gender, personality, emotional characteristics, and so on, then what might be the role of karmic imprints from past actions or even past lives? The clash between modern knowledge and classic ideas about causation and the physical world is not unique to Buddhist thought; its most visible example is perhaps the conflict between creationism and evolution. What distinguishes Buddhist thought is that it is based on a foundation of inquiry into the nature of the mind and reality. This process of inquiry is seen as one of the key tools to free the mind from the constructs that confine and limit our perspective. By its own principles, therefore, new information about the mind and universe should necessarily become part of Buddhist thought. The Dalai Lama has made this point a number of times. In Path to Bliss: A Practical Guide to Stages of Meditation, for example, he says, After all, the basic approach of the Buddhist is to subject concepts to rigorous logical processes, and if anything contradicts direct observation and logic, it should not be accepted just because it is taught in the sutras or the texts [emphasis added].5 There is perhaps no greater application of rigorous logical processes than that which has occurred within the many fields of science during the past hundred years. It would seem, therefore, that integrating the findings of science would fall directly within the Buddhist inquiry into the nature of the mind and reality. Indeed, considerable evidence suggests that, in its original form in India, Buddhism and science were very much aligned. Again in the words of Herbert Guenther, Things are quite different in the Indian context, particularly in Indian Buddhism. The opposition between religion and science is, of course, absent.6 This is not to say that we can count on science for all the answers. The progress of science reveals many ideas that turn out to be false and, at the turn of the twenty-first century, it looks as if there is far more to learn. Nevertheless, science has proven itself very good at revealing the limits of older theories, at providing better and better approximations of the way things are, and at deepening our awareness of the remarkable depth, complexity, and mystery of the universe.

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The principle of integrating science into modern Buddhist thought, therefore, does not call for knowing everything that science has to say about the universe; instead, it requires an open and flexible outlook that embraces new findings rather than fighting them. In Junipers work A Modern Paradigm: Integrating Buddhist Thought with Science, we elaborate on how to do this, and we set out a new paradigm for integrating the findings of science with Buddhist thought and training. In sum, integrating science would seem to be an essential principle for assimilating Buddhist thought into modern life. Again in the words of the Dalai Lama, That is the basic Buddhist attitude: when there is a scientific finding that has been proven, we must accept it.7

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Integrate Modern Education

The heart of Buddhist thought includes an inquiry into the nature of the mind and reality. It is perhaps not an overstatement to say that there has never been a greater inquiry into the nature of the mind and reality than has occurred during the twentieth century and beyond. The methods of Buddhist training can be bifurcated into inquiry into the nature of the mind and reality, and meditation and other techniques that calm and discipline the mind. It is the combination of these that leads to insight and inner transformation. Due to the importance of inquiry in this system, Buddhist training has long been associated with sophisticated educational institutions such as the great Indian Buddhist university of Nalanda and the great monasteries of Tibet that have preserved and propagated the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for over one thousand years. The teaching methods of these classic Buddhist training institutions, however, both in terms of style and content, are vastly different from their modern equivalents. The emphasis of the Tibetan monasteries, for example, is on teaching and perpetuating a body of knowledge that, by modern standards, does not change much. Their curriculum has changed little over the past fifty years, and its highest academic achievement, the geshe degree, is conferred based on the mastery of a body of knowledge rather than the expansion of it. The result is an educational system that is remarkably efficient at preserving its body of thought but is less attuned to discovering new frontiers. In contrast, modern educationby which we mean the secondary- and university-level education in modern Western countries and their counterparts elsewhere in the worldplaces great emphasis on independent thought and criticism, on embracing new discovery, and on expanding its boundaries. Subjects such as algebra, calculus, and the sciences are taught at the high school level or earlier, and new discoveries in science and technology are regularly introduced into textbooks and curricula. The curriculum at the university or high school levels, for example, is radically different from what it was fifty years ago, and the highest academic degree, the Ph.D., is conferred based on research and expansion of knowledge and ideas. Because many of the classic methods of Buddhist education are so different from modern methods, there is a tendency to think we are missing something in modern education that limits our capacity to apply Buddhist methods for train-

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ing the mind. To plant Buddhist training methods in modern life, therefore, one of the fundamental questions is whether our modern system of education provides a sufficient foundation for the mastery of Buddhist training methods. Our answer is a resounding yes, for several reasons. First, the standards of Western education appear ideally suited to Buddhist training. The emphasis on debate, discussion, and critical inquiry exactly matches the qualities that are valued in Buddhist thought and that lead one to progress in training the mind. The founder of Buddhist thought, Shakyamuni Buddha, is famously said to have taught students to use critical inquiry to test the validity of propositions rather than rely only on the statement of another person. This principle of critical inquiry has remained a hallmark of Buddhist thought and appears well aligned with the pedagogy of modern education. Second, as we have seen, the heart of Buddhist thought includes an inquiry into the nature of the mind and reality. It is perhaps not an overstatement to say that there has never been a greater inquiry into the nature of the mind and reality than has occurred during the twentieth century and beyond. The door to this inquiry is modern education. Finally, Buddhist training has never been dependent on one particular system of education and instruction. It has had many styles and methods of teaching, in different cultures and times, not one of which is considered definitive or essential. Buddhist precepts, almost by definition, transcend any one particular system of education and are highly adaptable to new systems and approaches. For these reasons, modern education would seem to be an ideal preparation for the aspects of Buddhist training that involve critical inquiry and discernment into the nature of reality. The principle of integrating modern education, therefore, calls upon us not to learn a new educational methodology but to assimilate the philosophy, insight, and realization of Buddhist thought and training in ways that complement the methods and standards of modern education. In this way, those interested in Buddhist training and thought can use modern education as a solid foundation from which to undertake it.

integrate modern education

Train Gradually

If we can develop a deeper appreciation for the importance of a relaxed, calm approach that is not focused on accomplishment and quick results, we will be better suited to integrating these ideas and enjoying the benefits. The process of training the mind is one of gradual development and assimilation. Its benefits accrue through regular practice over time, the way drops of water gradually smooth jagged rock. Although this need for sustained and gradual development is well understood in places like India and Tibet, in Western circles it often goes underappreciated. Instead of a gradual buildup, what we often see in the West is individuals undertaking more extensive trainings without the proper foundation, or expecting results to manifest very quickly. In either case, the result is that expectations are often unmet and the benefits one was hoping to gain do not readily come to fruition. If we look at why this occurs, several forces seem to be at work. One force that impedes the appreciation for gradual development in Western Buddhist training is the tremendous ease of access to Buddhist training methods. As Buddhist thought has made its way to the West, its accessibility through books, magazines, the Internet, visiting teachers, and so on is widespread. Most bookstores these days have shelves of paperbacks on Buddhism and meditation, and countless teachings and materials are available on the Internet. Although this has brought great awareness of and exposure to Buddhist ideas, it also places few restrictions on any person seeking to engage any level of training, regardless of experience or preparation. In India and Tibet, in contrast, access to Buddhist training often was a privilege requiring considerable personal preparation and commitment. A second force that impedes gradual training is a lack of appreciation for the nature of the commitment required to gain results. In modern life, we are used to the idea of sustained, gradual development in endeavors such as education, professional training, athletics, and so on. If we want to run a marathon, for example, we understand that it requires regular practice over an extended period of time, and we dont try to run twenty-six miles during the first week! The same approach is called for in training the mind. The expansion of awareness, discipline, and insight that comes from Buddhist training calls for a sustained commitment to its methods. Not doing enough or doing too much too soon can limit its effectiveness.

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 A third force that impedes progress is an overemphasis on accomplishment or results. In this regard, Buddhist training is intended as an antidote to the negative aspects of worldly and materialistic endeavors. It is not about accomplishment or amassing a collection of knowledge and techniques but is a living process, a deep, ongoing, inner experience. Opening ourselves to that experience is what the path of Buddhist training is about. If we put too much emphasis on accomplishmenthow long we can meditate, how calm we become, how many teachings we attend, and so onwe are in danger of making it like any other materialistic endeavor. It becomes something we try to own rather than something we try to become. The idea of training gradually, therefore, is to counter these forces and to bring to the domain of Buddhist training an appreciation for sustained effort, steady progress, and contentment with where we are. If we can develop a deeper appreciation for the importance of a relaxed, calm approach that is not focused on accomplishment and quick results, we will be better suited to integrating these ideas and enjoying the benefits. In this way, Buddhist training will serve as an ongoing, living experience that strengthens and disciplines the mind and enhances whatever we do. Perhaps the most common means of accomplishing the principle of gradual training within Buddhist tradition is through a teacher or guide. An experienced guide who knows us well and with whom we have cultivated a relationship of mutual respect and trust will help us pace our efforts. Therefore, to implement the principle of gradual training we should try, on the one side, to cultivate within ourselves an approach that is disciplined, patient, and steady while, on the other side, we work with skillful guides who are sensitive to and can effectively monitor our pacing and progress.

train gradually

Provide Equal Opportunity

We need not be bound by the cultural norms and conventions of the past but canand indeed mustgo beyond them. Although the methodologies of Buddhist thought are intended for any person, access to Buddhist training, historically, has been limited. The environment for Buddhist training in the past, for example, frequently reflected the sensibilities of male-dominated cultures in which opportunities to practice were limited to monastic settings. Cultural biases toward women, the non-ordained, and gay and lesbian individuals can also be found in older Buddhist texts. The result of these biases has been that in historic Buddhist communities these individuals have often encountered limits or restrictions on their capacity to practice or teach Buddhist training. Although these attitudes may be a reflection of historic cultures, we can find no basis for them in the underlying Buddhist philosophy. Buddhist thought is about training the mind. Its aim is to enhance the quality of experience for any person able to engage its practices in a sincere and diligent way. Race, gender, age, social status, or other demographics in and of themselves present no barrier to its application. Further, at the core of Buddhist thinking is the idea that we function according to conventions that are continuously evolving and changing. Therefore, we need not be bound by the cultural norms and conventions of the past but canand indeed mustgo beyond them if they have become outmoded. These include the norms and conventions that have created barriers for women, the non-ordained, gays, lesbians, and any others. The ability for any individual to learn, teach, or pass on Buddhist training practices should be based simply on his or her capacity and commitment. Further, it appears perfectly consistent with Buddhist thought to consider any earlier biases as mere conventions of the day that can be updated to conform to current norms and standards. Consequently, the principle of providing equal opportunity calls for eradicating from Buddhist training all biases against gender, race, age, social status, or other demographics.

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Cultivate Modern Teacher Relationships

The optimal mode for a relationship with a teacher or guide for Buddhist training, therefore, is the one that best suits the psychological profile, norms, and sensibilities of the time. Teachers, or guides, play a vital role on the Buddhist path. They are the catalysts that open the door to inner change and help to counter resistance and stabilize ones progress. Although a relationship with a teacher or guide can take many forms, they tend to take on a style that is very much in line with local standards and culture. In some cultures, for example, a very high degree of formality and subservience is accorded to Buddhist teachers, whose words are rarely, if ever, subject to question. Although our modern culture does not have a direct counterpart to Buddhist training, challenging and questioning ones teacher is well acceptedeven encouragedin other fields, and teacher relationships tend to be more informal. There is no single correct way in which teacher relationships in Buddhist training should be structured. The degree of formality or subservience, for example, does not in and of itself characterize a successful relationship with a teacher or guide. What matters is the quality of the relationship and the level of mutual respect and trust cultivated over time. The optimal mode for a relationship with a teacher or guide for Buddhist training, therefore, is the one that best suits the psychological profile, norms, and sensibilities of the time. Modern education places a high value on independent thinking, critical inquiry, and the questioning of norms and standards. Successful relationships with teachers tend to be characterized by high levels of respect and trust, but they also allow for high levels of individual expression on the part of the student. Questions and independent thinking are generally encouraged. If this type of relationship is optimum for the psychological profile of the Western or modern individual, it would also seem to be optimal for the Buddhist training of such individuals. In short, the principle of modern teacher relationships in Buddhist training calls for preserving the potency and vitality of relationships with a teacher or guide in ways that best suit modern norms and sensibilities. The goal is to build a healthy balance between self-reliance and the opening of oneself to the guidance of another. In this way, we will be able to cultivate teacher relationships that reflect modern sensibility while also building the trust needed for teachers to effectively serve as catalysts for growth and inner development.

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Our Challenge

By laying the foundation to assimilate Buddhist training into modern culture, we will create the opportunity to build a potent system of inner development that is in harmony with the rapid changes and pace of modern life and discovery. The influx of Buddhist teachings to the West on a wide scale is barely fifty years old. The great monasteries of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, in contrast, have evolved over a millennium, carefully developing, protecting, and practicing one of the most sophisticated and intricate traditions of inner development in history. The assimilation of these methods into a new culture does not happen easily or quickly. When the tradition migrated from India to Tibet over one thousand years ago, for example, the process of learning, translation, and integration with local culture took generations. Today, with the incomparably more rapid and widespread dissemination of information and education, things move much more quickly. Buddhist practice in modern life is not the haven of a select few who become monks and scholars; it is accessible in every bookstore, on countless Web sites, and through other media. This rapid dissemination has the advantage of making Buddhist training more available, but it also presents unique challenges to the cultivation of authentic practice lineages. We are honored to be standing on the shoulders of giants, spiritual explorers throughout history who strove to discover the nature and potential of reality and the mind. What we have set out here are principles we believe are necessary for their tradition and insight to truly plant roots in modern soil: integrate science, integrate modern education, train gradually, provide equal opportunity, and cultivate modern teacher relationships. The function of these is to make Buddhist training meaningful, accessible, and relevant to modern life, with no loss in its potency or essence. By laying the foundation to assimilate Buddhist training into modern culture, we will create the opportunity to build a potent system of inner development that is in harmony with the rapid changes and pace of modern life and discovery. Perhaps this is why famed biologist Francisco J. Varela wrote, It is our contention that the rediscovery of Asian philosophy, particularly of the Buddhist tradition, is a second

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renaissance in the cultural history of the West.8 Embedding this tradition in modern culture will not be easy, however. If we are to be the heirs to insight, we have to do the work to make these methods potent, accessible, and meaningful right here in our own culture and time. It is up to us.

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Notes

Dalai Lama, The Meaning of Life from a Buddhist Perspective (Snow Lion Publications, 2003), p. 64: It is important to adopt the essence of Buddhas teaching, recognizing that Buddhism as it is practiced by Tibetans is influenced by Tibetan culture and thus it would be a mistake to try to practice a Tibetanized form of Buddhism.
1

See, for example, Joseph Walser, Nagarjuna in Context: Mayahana Buddhism & Early Indian Culture (Columbia University Press, 2005).
2 3 4

Herbert Guenther, Ecstatic Spontaneity (Asian Humanities Press, 1993), p. xiv.

Jay L. Garfield, Empty Words (Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 70 Dalai Lama, Path to Bliss: A Practical Guide to Stages of Meditation (Snow Lion Publications, 2003), p. 63.

5 6 7

Herbert Guenther, Ecstatic Spontaneity (Asian Humanities Press, 1993), p. xiv.

Berzin Archives, Question Sessions with H. H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Concerning the Kalachakra Initiation, http:/ /berzinarchives.com/kalachakra/question_hh_initiation_2.html
8

Francisco J. Varela, Ethical Know-How (Stanford University Press, 1992), p. 22.

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Juniper

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