Incidentally, speaking of books, we did bring some and exhibit them at the conference. I think only one sold. We were told that they were too scholarly. One could open up a discussion of what is meant by scholarship, but that would detract from my report on the Buddhism in America Conference.  

The last item on the agenda for that day was a performance staged by the Tibetan monks. It was a sampling of their ritual. Too bad it was not the actual ritual.

In the meantime the Bhikshunis had gone to lecture to the Massachusetts Buddhist Association in Lexington, where a very inquisitive and vigorous group of Buddhists kept them busy.

The next morning I went to the keynote address again to see how the last day of the conference would unfold. I started by going in search of a cup of coffee or tea, or just plain hot water. This was a mistake. The restaurant was filled with conference attendants and participants, all of them crowding around the breakfast counter. While waiting, I commented that there was no vegetarian food, and for breakfast that is unusual even for non-Buddhists. It was the wrong comment. I was immediately attacked (almost) by people defending the fact that in Tibet meat is a matter of survival, as it is in Boston. Nevertheless many people were scrounging for vegetarian options, so the rolls, bagels, bread and jelly were all gone.

After the disheartening breakfast I went to listen to the morning speaker. It was an experience all of its own. The lady delivering the address opened her lecture in unspeakable terms. To put it very briefly: while cultivating somewhere in the Himalayas, she described an experience which I could define as being raped by her teacher. For honesty's sake, I have to add that she seemed to be rather willing to go through that experience, or maybe she just refused to condemn? For better or worse, she went on to tell us how one can make the best of it finally stressing the fact that it is very important to hold on to the five precepts, since the precepts are the vessel which contains the Dharma, keeping it from spilling away. She also said a lot of other things without really elaborating too much about the Dharma. She did, however, make a point that is relevant to the present situation and our confused age. That point being that at the time of Shakyamuni Buddha the role of Buddhism was to consolidate and to clarify the role of monasticism for the world, to give the Dharma to the monastic community for safekeeping. Now, according to her, it is time for the monks and nuns to return it to the lay communities. So she sees the role of the Sangha as propagating and helping the world at large. I presume that somewhere between all her assumptions the lay people could snatch it away and hide it. But there does not seem to be any immediate danger since the lay community - our speaker concluded, knows very little of what's it all about, and has no desire to learn.

The next item on my agenda was a workshop held by an ex-body guard of the Dalai Lama, a karate expert. He gave a short, to the point presentation of the five elements demonstrated in connection to martial arts. His presentation was well focused. People could walk away from that workshop having learnt something new and useful. He also told a story about the Dalai Lama at the request of the audience. Apparently our speaker had been the Dalai Lama's bodyguard for fifteen years. He would listen to all the talks and the answers to questions. In order to remain vigilant our bodyguard would silently try to guess the answers before the Dalai Lama had a chance to respond. Usually he guessed right and that would make him very happy, proud and full of himself .Once while discussing the concept of compassion, someone asked the following question: "Does tolerance enter as an ingredient of compassion, what percent of compassion is tolerance?" He did not know the answer, not a clue. So he waited eagerly to see how the Dalai Lama would answer. His Holiness rose slowly approached the microphone and answered "I don't know!" Our bodyguard was very pleased that even in his ignorance he had been right.

To end the morning session I attended a workshop on death, thinking that it would be a philosophical description of causality or momentariness and/or interconnectedness. Instead it turned out to be a very practical description delivered by a lady dressed in black with a black cape and a very white face, assisted by a young, very pale assistant also dressed in black They described how they help people die. It is a good thing I assume, to help the dying and their relatives face the moment of death by teaching them to pray and to breathe. The speaker, who also teaches Zen at Boston University, has a whole association funded by donations and is performing a valuable service. There was a hospital bed in the room and an eerie atmosphere. As soon as she began gathering volunteers for a demonstration on how this is actually done, I quickly walked out, lest I be the corpse.

That afternoon we had a two hour slot to present our view of Buddhism. Our Sangha explained what we meant by Chan. Heng Chih gave a very good Chan talk and directions; explanations on how to sit, how to walk. Then everyone in the room meditated for twenty minutes or so. This was followed by questions and comments.

The final event of the Conference on Buddhism in America was a closing speech which concentrated on the Emergent Trends in Western Dharma. We were by then busy checking out, the little that I did listen to the closing lecture did not sound promising: to extend the cooking metaphor so prevalent during this conference - The Dharma is crumbling further.

Having the Conference behind us, we were taken by the Massachusetts Buddhist Association (MBA) to their temple where an eager audience waited for us. This time it was a mostly Chinese audience and our Sangha gave Dharma talks. Doug contributed with his Falling off a Cliff in the Himalayas story and I - scholarly as I am - commented on a question asked by the audience. A very apt question given the recent conference: "Why is Tibetan Buddhism so popular in the West?"

Well, that's what I have been pondering about all this time. Why? Because the Tibetans seem more lenient and less rigid in their ascetic practices. This appeals to the Westerners, particularly those coming from the Protestant tradition, since the Protestants had originally rebelled and are still rebelling against asceticism. Asceticism is usually very scary and threatening.

This confrontation has been going on in the whole world for a very long time.

Doug then amplified on this saying that it has to do with desire and the hardship of dealing with it. And finally D.M. Sure rounded it off most beautifully by saying that the most immediate and simple reason for this is the fact that Chinese Dharma Masters are not attempting or even trying to reach out to the West. They only speak Chinese and do not care to understand anything about the Western World. The Tibetans, on the other hand learn English, are very hospitable, very colorful, similar to the American Indians. The Tibetans also like nature very much. That is something they share with the Americans a reverence toward nature. Also, they remind the Americans of the American Indians, whom the Americans love very much, now that they have killed them all off.

The Buddhist Association in Lexington, a suburb of Boston, is very enthusiastic, cordial and full of vigor. There were many children. They all patiently and politely sat cross-legged for hours, never tiring of the stories that were told. All wished to continue the next morning at nine, it was Martin Luther King's birthday, and a holiday. Heng Sure and Doug stayed at the temple, the Bhikshunis and I went back to the house which was made ready for us. And the next morning we began all over again. This time there were more people and more children since it was an official holiday. Stories for children were the main topic, everybody was entertained. Heng Liang told the story of the Malaysian disciple who came to the CTTB to cure his cancer and the Venerable Master saw a ghost on his back. It was the ghost of an aborted child. That sent some ripples down the audience. Heng Sure alleviated the atmosphere by saying that we all do many things in our ignorance and helplessness. The important part being the capacity to deal with our ghosts and not polarize the world by making such personal dilemmas into political issues.

This audience loves listening to Dharma Talks and could do so seemingly forever. On that note and after the noon meal offering we all had lunch. After lunch the Dharma Masters consolidated their collective impressions and prepared for the evening which was to take us to M.I.T.

First we were given an architectural tour of a new Science and Medical Lab building built under the direction of Heng Sure's old school friend who proudly showed us around. It was a very impressive tour. The building had won awards. We learned a few things about architecture and design. Then we went on to give a lecture to the Buddhist students, or rather: students interested in Buddhism at M.I.T.

Here too, some interesting questions arose. The most poignant one was asked by a French student who wanted to know how does one invoke one's God in Buddhism. Another one was Why do the Buddhists Bow? What was the reason behind it, was it punitive.

Both of these questions deserved an extensive discussion. It is heartening to discover that professors, experts and Gods will do their own things and people will continue being people.  

End