Wednesday, May 27, 1998
Rising through the mud
RELIGION: The Buddhist Student Association applies ancient
philosophy to our modern world
By Meghan Ward
Daily Bruin Contributor
Stop thinking critically, toss your books aside, forget about
your bills and put your weekend plans on hold. The road to
happiness is not paved with good grades, high salaries or Hollywood
parties. It is paved with cobblestones of joy attained by relaxing
your mind, letting down your defenses and surrendering to the
totality of your being. So sit down on the floor, cross your legs,
cup your hands and close your eyes.
Last year, with the release of Hollywood blockbusters "Seven
Years in Tibet" and "Kundun" and the premier of the television
series "Dharma and Greg," Buddhism underwent an American revival.
Richard Gere, a devout Buddhist, spends as much time in India as he
does in Hollywood and plans to be married by the Dalai Lama, head
of one school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Zen Bakery in West Los
Angeles serves fat-free and sugar-free muffins and Tazo markets its
beverages as "the reincarnation of teas."
The UCLA Buddhist Student Association (BSA) holds meetings every
Wednesday at 5 p.m. in Ackerman Union. The association is composed
of students from all backgrounds, including Asians, whites and Sri
Lankans, and welcomes people of all faiths. The goal of the
association is to discuss topics related to Buddhism and to promote
a better understanding of Buddhist practices.
Eric Pong, a first-year pre-business economics student and a
member of the BSA, says that about half of the members are not even
devout Buddhists.
"Many of them are just searching," Pong says. The BSA invites a
guest speaker, a Buddhist reverend or scholar, to discuss a
particular topic, such as meditation, vegetarianism and different
Buddhist philosophies, each week.
Buddhism is not a religion. It is a philosophy practiced by the
followers of Siddhartha Gautama, a man born in India in 563 B.C.
Siddhartha was a prince whose father sheltered him from suffering
by forbidding him to leave the palace grounds. One day Siddhartha
escaped and the first four things he saw were a sick person, an
elderly person, a dead body and a monk.
He wandered the countryside joining various sects until he
realized that his aesthetic lifestyle was not giving him the peace
of mind he sought. He sat down under a tree and meditated for
several days until he became enlightened. (Buddha means The
Enlightened One.) Buddha then preached the Middle Way, a philosophy
which condemns a life of pain and destitution as much as decadence
and pleasure.
Buddhism can be practiced by anyone, including devout
Christians, Jews and Muslims. It is founded upon belief in the Four
Noble Truths and practiced through meditation, chanting and the
study of Buddhist teachings through books known as sutras.
The Four Noble Truths that are common to all schools of
Buddhism, are:
1. Suffering exists. Birth is suffering, death is suffering.
Pain, grief and disappointment are suffering.
2. Suffering is desire, which arises through the five
senses.
3. Suffering can be eradicated by overcoming desire.
4. Desire is overcome by following the Eightfold Path. The
Eightfold Path is right understanding, right thought, right speech,
right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and
right concentration.
Chanting, a form of prayer, is another act of Buddhist
devotion.
"You can pray anywhere, any time of the day and it doesn’t have
to be out loud," explains Peter Nooch La-Or, a Los Angeles
entrepreneur. Raised in a very strict Buddhist family, Nooch La-Or
says he uses Buddhist philosophy to limit his desires, to
understand all human life and to accept everyone, treating others
as he would like to be treated.
Meditation is the principal form of Buddhist practice and may
seem easy or even boring to someone who has never tried it.
However, according to Andy Liao, a second-year electrical
engineering student and public relations representative for the
BSA, "sitting there for 10 minutes is really hard. You get really
tired."
There are numerous ways to meditate. Although sitting meditation
is the most widely accepted form, meditation can be created out of
almost any activity, from playing golf or painting a picture to
walking down the street.
Though Nooch La-Or acknowledges that meditation has no rules, he
prefers walking meditation. "You stand straight with your hands
cupped in front of you like you’re holding something and you take a
series of steps and as you lift your heel, you say to yourself,
‘heel lift,’ then you lift your toe and say ‘toe lift.’ You
acknowledge each movement and you become master of your own
environment," Nooch La-Or explains.
One of the greatest challenges in meditation is learning how to
be alone with our thoughts and feelings without analyzing them,
judging them or trying to escape from them. Only when the mind is
quiet does the spirit have a chance to shine through. According to
Buddhist psychiatrist Mark Epstein, in his book, "Going to Pieces
Without Falling Apart," people are afraid to face unpleasant
feelings.
"We are afraid of falling apart, but the problem is actually
that we have not learned how to give up control of ourselves,"
Epstein says. In order to benefit fully from the experience of
meditation, Epstein recommends going on a retreat. "There is this
internal chatter that’s just going … always commenting on what’s
going on and getting in the way of a more direct experience of
life," Epstein explains.
Robert Gregonis, a computer programmer, recalls an analogy made
by the Indian guru Deepak Chopra in relation to meditation: "If you
draw a straight line and then you draw little cross marks through
it, the line is your thoughts and the cross marks are your spirit.
Through meditation, you divide up the thoughts into smaller and
smaller segments, letting your spirit shine through," Gregonis
relates.
Gregonis emphasizes the connection between the mental body and
the physical body and recounts the story of a monk named Da Mo who
traveled from India to China around 527 A.D. in order to preach
Buddhism:
"He came across all these monks and all they did was sit and
meditate for hours on end, and they wouldn’t move. They were dying
at very young ages because their bodies were in such poor
condition. He invented a series of exercises called Chi Kung,
meditation combined with physical exercise."
Gregonis says meditation helps maintain the immune system and
that doctors are currently testing meditation on AIDS patients. "I
had a friend with prostate cancer who gave up chemotherapy and
began meditation. Through meditation and a change of diet, he
completely reversed the spread of cancer," Gregonis says.
William Upton-Knittle, Buddhist monk and former coordinator of
advertising and marketing at UCLA Summer Sessions, says the main
reason he became a Buddhist is because "of all the great teachers
who ever lived, the Buddha is the only one I know of that ever
said, ‘If anything I say doesn’t fit into your life, throw it
away.’"
In Buddhism, the lotus symbolizes the Buddha nature within every
person. Buddha himself is called the jewel in the lotus. The lotus
grows in mud but its beautiful white flower rises above that mud.
The mud represents the pain and suffering in our lives and the
flower symbolizes the ability of all people to transcend that pain
and suffering.
Just decades after the death of Buddha, 18 branches of Buddhism
took root. By the 13th century, three main schools pervaded.
Theravada was one of the originals, prominent in Southeast
Asia.
Lynn La Tray, a fashion model living in Los Angeles, is a
Theravadan Buddhist. "I believe in the philosophy, the dharma, but
I don’t meditate," La Tray says. La Tray comes from Thailand where
93 percent of the population is Theravadan Buddhist. In Thailand,
it is customary to give food to monks whose vocation requires that
they beg.
"I don’t believe in that," La Tray says. "A lot of people give
to gain merit. If you give it should be because you want to,
because it’s from your heart." La Tray’s family is Chinese-Thai and
in their home they have two altars, one in the Thai Buddhist
tradition and one in the Chinese Buddhist tradition.
William Bedford, professor of Japanese Buddhism at UCLA,
explains the differences between the schools.
"Within the various national traditions of each Asian country,
Buddhists are divided into various denominations. For example, in
Japan there are Pure Land temples, Zen temples, Vajrayana temples
and so forth," Bodiford says.
Mahayana Buddhism became prevalent in China, Japan and Korea.
Mahayana practitioners felt that the Theravadans focused too much
on their own enlightenment and not enough on the welfare of
others.
The third principal school of Buddhism, Vajrayana, was adopted
by Tibetans in the 7th century. One belief of the Vajrayana is that
when a lama dies, he is reborn as a child. Vajrayana monks use
dreams in order to locate the child who will be the next lama.
For anyone interested in learning more about Buddhism, there are
thousands of books on the subject including Herman Hesse’s
"Siddhartha," a fictionalized account of Buddha’s life. There are
also numerous Buddhist temples and meditation centers throughout
Los Angeles. The Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights is the largest
Buddhist Temple in the Western Hemisphere and on June 21 will offer
an introduction to Buddhism workshop.