I brought with me to Bhutan a pre-existing interest in Buddhism.
I can’t really remember what compelled me, but last March I enrolled in an ‘Introduction to Buddhism’ class in San Francisco. Yes, I could have bought a book – but you cannot ask questions to a book, and I had lots of those. So for six Tuesday evenings in a row I sat in a classroom that more closely resembled a living room on the second floor of the San Francisco Buddhist Center. We began each class with a twenty-five minute meditation during which I tried not to giggle at the gurgling stomachs of my fellow classmates while our teacher, Danadasa guided our meditation in a peaceful voice that might have lulled me to sleep had my mind not been ricocheting between a state of wandering and one of focused (if fleeting) presence.
Danadasa, a mild-mannered man with a shaven head who looked like he could be a monk but was actually a software engineer in Silicon Valley, taught us the history of Buddhism and we discussed how best to fold its teachings into our 21st century lives. I sat cross-legged on a couch and took copious notes on concepts such as The Eight Fold Path, the Four Noble Truths and the Five Precepts. It all made so much sense to me, and yet I also recognized my own hopelessness.
“Let’s face it,” I suggested to Danadasa one evening, “None of us in this room is going to reach Enlightenment.” I sheepishly glanced around at my classmates who, tea-cups balanced on their knees, eagerly awaited Danadasa’s response. I hated to be the one to burst their bubble, but, let’s be honest. Danadasa laughed and acknowledged that yes, it was highly unlikely we would attain an Enlightened state while simultaneously existing in American society. We faced an uphill battle of distractions.
So then by that logic, perhaps my best bet is to reincarnate as a Bhutanese.
Buddhism is alive and well here in Bhutan.
It is not a ‘practice’ or a ‘philosophy’ or a ‘series of teachings,’ it is a way of life so woven into Bhutanese culture and traditions that I’ve often found myself overwhelmed when listening to our guide, Dhana describe a ritual or story. As a practice, Buddhism seemed concisely cut and dry back in San Francisco; but here it has snowballed into a collection of tales that vibrantly – gorgeously – smear across temple walls. More than once I’ve stopped Dhana mid-story and asked him to clarify “Is this a Buddhist belief, or a Bhutanese belief?” Sometimes its the former, sometimes the later, sometimes both. But what I find most interesting is the way he describes it all, speaking with a dead-panned sincerity that suggests he believes every word he says.
On one afternoon, Dhana translated for an elderly man, eyes clouded with cataracts, who we met outside of a temple. We were lead behind the temple where a rock wall rose four stories high and he pointed out a faded red footprint, explaining to Dhana who explained to us that they were left there by Guru Rinpoche, the second Buddha.
Wait just a minute. There were two?
While I put a finger in the air, attempting to pause things for a moment and gain clarity on the subject, Dhana stroked his chin thoughtfully and listened closely to the man. It was clear he saw the plausibility that Guru Rinpoche had been there. And before I could get my question out, the man scurried down some steps, spinning prayer wheels on the temple wall, as he walked, leading us to more evidence of Guru Rinpoche’s visit.
There are a lot of temples in Bhutan.
So many that they’ve begun to blend together…Except for one: Chimi Lhakhang.
People travel there from afar to receive a fertility blessing and, as we stood watching a Bhutanese couple receive one, Dhana asked us if we wanted one as well. David quickly put up his hands as if shielding some poisonous spray.
“We don’t want children quite yet,” he explained to Dhana. But I thought it wasn’t such a bad idea. Thanks to modern contraceptives, our fertility has yet to be tested; what a shame it would be to some day look back and regret passing this up.
So together we leaned down while a monk who, himself, looked barely old enough to reproduce, tapped our foreheads with a wooden penis and murmured a short prayer.
“I feel much better,” I said to David when we stepped outside into the blinding sunlight.
“Yeah, let’s just hope it doesn’t work too well,” he said. I assured him that I didn’t think this meant we lost all control over the matter.
The temples are freezing. Every one of them.
But the monks don’t seem to notice. They don’t notice us, either, as we pad with stockinged feet into the dark rooms where clouds of incense billow. Side by side they sit in maroon robes and recite prayers in a low monotone while a drum beats steadily and long horns emit a disjointed harmony. Put together, it all sounds not unlike a car crash, but there’s a beauty to it. At the front of the room is a giant golden-glazed Buddha flanked by statues of the past and future versions of himself.
In front of Buddha is an altar upon which the Bhutanese who come to pray pile their offerings. Tin bowls of homemade rice wine sit beside baskets heaped with shiny packages of crackers, ramen soup and Lays potato chips, swollen from the elevation.
Apparently even monks face that ‘betcha can’t eat just one’ dilemma.
I’ll admit, this disappointed me a little. I’d rather have seen heads of cabbage and loafs of bread there on the alter – perpetuating the air of ‘ancient’ that hangs everywhere else. But the people give what they can and sometimes that means a helping of preservatives. I respect their faithfulness.
Dhana taught us how to pray – an act that is less a ‘prayer,’ as Buddha is not actually a god (my favorite thing about him), and more a form of honoring him, the monks and the local deity. Following his lead, I pressed my hands together and slid my thumbs from my forehead to my mouth to my chest and then knelt and pressed my forehead to the cold wooden floor. As I did this I wondered: did the monks think me a poser?
I sort of felt like one.
Which made me realize how much I didn’t want to be. I might not buy into a lot of the more ‘colorful’ elements of Buddhism (I struggle to believe he was born out of his mother’s armpit). But at its heart remain principles (The Four Noble Truths) that I very much admire and agree with. Summed up: the root of dissatisfaction and suffering is our own craving. True happiness can be attained if we relinquish useless wants and learn to live each moment at a time with complete and total presence.
That’s where meditation comes in.
I suck at meditation. Each afternoon I sit on my hotel bed and I meditate while thinking about how much I suck at meditating. I also think about what I’m going to eat for dinner, whether I should wash my hair that evening or the next morning instead, and the people I want to email that afternoon. In fact, I think about everything under the sun except for the one thing I’m supposed to be thinking about (which is absolutely nothing).
But that’s why they call it a meditation practice, and I see the sense in it. As a perpetual ‘looker-forwarder,’ a few minutes of trying to think not of past or present does me well.
Do the Bhutanese have it easier? Sans my ‘first-world-problems’ can they drop into meditation with more ease? Are they trudging the ‘Eight Fold Path’ with greater success? I can’t say for sure, but I’ll venture it’s quite likely.
In this way, maybe the less one has the more fortunate they are.
Somewhere Seeking 
Very nice. I envy you your visit to Bhutan. One thing. Meditation, I would venture, is not about not thinking, and after all Buddhist meditation would include analysis, but is about being able to stand apart from our thoughts and not be forever following them. Thoughts are difficult to simply turn off, but if they are ignored they tend to die down. Fighting them may be counterproductive.
guymax – thanks for the comment; I like how you put this. I’m going to try enlisting this approach going forward.
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Luke 4:8
Love you! craig
“Christ said, ‘Seek first the Kingdom [the presence and reign of God over all that is, including yourself], and all these things [necessities of life: food, drink, shelter, clothing, removal of anxiety/worry] shall be added unto you.’ Buddha said, ‘Seek first the Kingdom [enlightenment as the removal of all sense of self/consciousness, desires, cravings], and then you will need none of these things.”
-G.K. Chesterton
The final phrase: ‘you will need none of these things’ is out of step with the teachings of Buddha as I understand them, but the quote makes clear and powerful contrast of two very different ways of being. With total respect to the heart of the Four Noble Truths to alleviate suffering, it seems to me, that removing or suppressing desires/cravings isn’t the issue. We have basic needs that the Buddha readily acknowledged, and the experience of having those needs met is intensely desirable/pleasurable, which Buddhism also acknowledges.
The problem is misplaced desire that puts one’s self as more important than the other. If we seek first a way of being that looks FIRST not toward our needs, but toward other’s needs and joys, and all our energy and ability to is aimed first satisfy those needs and bring joy, then we will have our needs/desires met. Both because bringing joy to others in and of itself becomes so intensely pleasurable our desires to satisfy ourselves are reordered/purified, and because seeking the well-being of others involves meeting basic needs: theirs and ours. There is an echo of this in Buddha’s teaching, but we are directed away from desire, when we should be moving toward it.
When we suppress desire/cravings/sense of self, we become as twisted as when we give ourselves wholly over to desire/cravings/sense of self. When we purify desire, acknowledge it as having a purpose in bringing joy and pleasure in all our lives, and our sense of self is embraced as having a place of servitude to others/the other. Then ‘enlightenment’ is achieved.
We don’t need to empty our mind, or even just analyze our thoughts as we freely let them pass through us. What will refill our minds once every thought is examined, and we leave our meditative state in ’emptiness’? What we need is to find something (Someone) worth filling our minds with, such that we are transformed. We need our stand apart from our myriad of thoughts, and focus our being entirely on something/ a being/presence that is entirely enthralling and beautiful, so that when meditation is over we are not empty but full.
In Jesus, we see a person who lived, not suppressing desire, but fully in pursuit of joy terminating not on self, but focus on serving others, and ultimately on showing that God in very nature is self-giving.
If you are ‘seeking’ as you say you are in this adventure, Buddhism appears to say that the sort of ‘seeking’ that motivated this journey should not be embraced (there’s an irony there). Jesus tells you SEEK with all of your being, but seek first satisfaction in God, who is the Spirit being by whom, through whom and to whom are all things, and seek to display God’s generosity of being through humbly pursuing the joy of others.
Keep seeking, and enjoy all the beauty of this adventure!
Corrinestephens – Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. It’s beautifully put and you make some great points. Of course this is an account of my own personal ‘journey,’ which is very much still in progress. I look forward to evolving my understanding and pursuit of Buddhism (and the world at large) as I continue my travels!
Corrinne – I enjoyed reading your website and encourage others to read it. The verse from 1 Timothy 6:17 comes to mind, also:
Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
I emphasis the words: …who gives us richly all things to enjoy. God wants us to enjoy His creations, not to repress them! This contradicts: “True happiness can be attained if we relinquish useless wants…”
in love… craig
Thanks…1 Timothy 6:17 embodies well the reality that God is an overflow of grace, constantly giving so that we can have joy!
For everyone’s benefit, including Stacy’s which is positive towards Buddhism but nascent in its development, I would like to clear up a few facts:
1. Most importantly, you can’t compare Buddhism with Christianity. It’s like comparing the philosophies of a single president with the entire concept of democracy. Buddhism is NOT a religion and the Buddha is NOT a god or deity. Buddhism is a set of practices used to make one’s life better and move towards enlightenment, regardless of a person’s religion, so it is in no way contradictory to Christianity, or any religion for that matter. You can be a Christian and still practice the teachings of the Buddha.
2. Buddhism never attempts to suppress desire. Suppressing or trying to destroy one’s own desires only gives them more power. Buddhism agrees with recognizing one’s desires. The practice is simply based on not letting one’s desires control one’s life, cloud one’s pursuit of enlightenment, and infringe on the lives of others (i.e. it’s OK to want food, but don’t be a glutton so those around you starve). Something Jesus also taught. The Buddha actually began his journey studying asceticism (abstinence from various worldly pleasures) and ultimately gave it up, finding enlightenment to provide a “middle way” between asceticism and hedonism.
3. There is nothing in Buddhism or meditation that seeks to “empty” your mind. Meditation actually requires great mental activity and concentration as one aims to completely transform their own consciousness. It’s not for the faint of heart.
4. Nothing in Buddhism (the actual teachings of the Buddha, NOT the individual belief systems of various modern-day Buddhist sects) contradicts the teachings of Jesus. Both are great figures in history regardless of anyone’s personal beliefs and both recognized suffering in the world around them and were inspired to preach love and compassion.
On a side note, isn’t it interesting that the Buddha pre-dated Jesus by over 500 years and the teachings of both Buddha and Jesus are in many ways so similar? For someone who was brought up in the Jewish faith of that time and the teachings of the Old Testament it is surprising that Jesus preached love for ones enemies, mercy and peace for all regardless of their sins, and that a person should give all that they can and lead a relatively simple life. All teachings that contradict what he would have been taught in his childhood but yet are synonymous with Buddhism.
Makes you wonder what Jesus was doing between the ages of 13 and 30, possibly in India learning meditation and Buddhism as many Eastern scholars believe? Food for thought…
Well written David – Thanks!
I don’t see any need to assume a trip to India, The truth is the same everywhere so we would expect the prophets and sages to converge on the same doctrine. More likely he spent time with the Essenes, although it’s all speculation. .
It seems incorrect to say that Buddhism is not a religion. Clearly it is, and Buddhists themselves claim that it is. It’s not a dogmatic religion however, which I guess is what you mean. But then neither is Christianity if we interpret it to be consistent with Buddhism. .
I suspect that the only reason there is not an obvious comparison to be made between Christianity and Buddhism is that Jesus taught for two years and Buddha for forty. Imagine if Jesus had been part of a community of scholarly monks and had been given 38 more years to teach.