Buddhism: in the news (3)

Last updated on: September 26, 2006 at 6:14 am by Justin Whitaker

Buddhism: in the news (3) 2006-09-26T06:14:00-06:00 Justin Whitaker

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’m running late – after a weekend hiking trip for my ecology class and yet more (never ending) preparation for the Buddhism course I am teaching I find myself a bit tuckered out.

This week I again caught site of the Dalai Lama gracing the front of the Buddhism section of my news-stream. He was in Buffalo, New York last weekend to talk primarily with lawyers about how Buddhism can influence the legal system (click here for the official website for the visit with photos and video).

Relating back to prior stories about the emergence of American Buddhism, this story about the Dalai Lama’s visit describes one woman who came to see His Holiness:

Trudy Stern, of Buffalo, “took refuge” in Buddhism, a formal acknowledgment of her commitment to Buddhist practice, about a decade ago.

She hasn’t abandoned her Jewish roots, though, and sometimes refers to herself as a “Bu-Jew.”

“There are lots of us,” she said. “I really don’t practice Judaism. But I’ll never not be Jewish.”

It raises the issue of identity amongst contemporary American Buddhists. Everyone who has converted into Buddhism necessarily converted from some tradition or religion (some were raised strictly secular I suppose). What do we keep from those past traditions (which can include secular values such as equality and democracy)? What do give up?

There was also the story of actor Jet Li (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) who is hoping that his new film, Fearless, will help reduce China’s suicide rate (photos from Jet Li’s trip to Tibet).

As an aside, I began the introduction to Buddhist Ethics today in my course and was very quickly asked about just this thing… I’ll post more on this as I find out more, but my initial response was that Buddhism (early Buddhism at least) clearly argued against suicide as an action which must have emanated from a disturbed mind, and that disturbed mind would cause a rebirth in a likewise disturbed place – hence suicide is not an escape from anything.

The question then arose, “what about the monks who burned themselves in protest in Vietnam?” My answer to that was a bit fuzzy, but I did find this letter from Thich Nhat Hanh after class (he argues that these were not ‘suicides’ nor where they ‘protests’…). I also found and read part of the lengthy academic essay by Damien Keown, “Buddhism and Suicide: the Case of Channa” which looks most closely at a case in the Pali Canon (early texts) where the Buddha seems to condone suicide (Keown argues that Buddhism exonerates/states the blamelessness of this case, but does not condone/approve of it).

I’m reminded also of a favorite movie of mine: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring. In it we see a monk self-immolate. And I have yet to discover a good argument or reasoning for why this is accepted in East Asian Buddhism. I am vaguely familiar with stories in some Mahayana Sutras that endorse burning oneself out of devotion and selflessness… and Thich Nhat Hanh’s words above give something of an explanation, but nothing I think that would convince a typical American – or even many other Buddhists (Tibetan and Theravada).

Can this practice of burning oneself (either in the minor sense at ordination or the major sense leading to death) continue in the current world? How are we as American Buddhists to treat it? – as expressions of enlightenment? As a dated practice? As a cultural expression and not necessarily ‘Buddhist’???? Speaking of which, here is the introduction to a book on Critical Buddhism which has some strongly anti-Zen essays, Pruning the Bodhi Tree.

Well, this has veered off from a news posting and into other issues… But suffice to say that the Dalai Lama is continuing to earn his title of ascetic superstar and Jet Li is hopefully on his way to equal rank as a great peace-making martial artist. As for my own musings, well let’s hope I get back to them with more clarity in the very near future. 🙂

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 18, 2006

Teaching: Day 9 - Integrating

Next Post

September 29, 2006 Buddhism: harmony amongst religions

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academia Activism American Buddhism Art Book review Buddhism Buddhism Today Buddhist Ethics Burma/Myanmar China Christianity Commodification Environment Gender Happiness Health Humor India Interfaith Islam Japanese Buddhism Kant Media / News Meditation mindfulness Photography Poetry Politics quicktakes Running Teaching Technology Thailand Theism/Atheism Theravada Tibet Tibetan Buddhism Travels Uncategorized Unitarian Universalism video Western Philosophy Zen

Select a Month June 2021 January 2021 November 2020 August 2020 July 2020 March 2020 January 2020 October 2019 August 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 November 2004 September 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz