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The Service
My friend Jeong tells me that lots of Americans come to the Buddhist temple to check it out and see what's going on,
but I'm the only one who comes back. They're probably put off by the fact that everything there is in Korean. Most folks who
go to church don't listen anyway, so I don't know why anyone would be dissuaded by the fact that no one speaks English, and
in fact I'm surprised that most of them even notice. Rather, I tend to think that Americans tend to be put off by how much
you have to move around during a Buddhist service. You bow to everything and everyone, you kneel and you crouch in a little
ball, stand up, sit lotus-style, stand up, bow, sit back down, and then start over. If I'd wanted to move around that much
during a service, I would have stayed Catholic. At least they have pads on the kneeling bars.
And with all that moving around, it's a wonder the Buddha wasn't in better shape. But then again, Pentecostals are always
jumping all over the place, screaming, singing, dancing. It's a wonder any of them are fat, and yet somehow they manage.
So I go in and I sit for a while and they chant and they knock on the little Buddha-drum, and it's all very peaceful
and incense-y, until they get to the part where you have to stand, sit, kneel, bow, etc. I don't know how they all know when
to do what, when to sit and when to bow all at the same time, but then again I don't speak Korean, so for all I know
that's what they're chanting, "Sit down now, bow...."
Even having lost 50 pounds already (I rule!!!), I'm not in good enough shape to want to do that for any length of time,
anyway. It hurts my knees. And when my knees are hurting I have trouble concentrating on the Nothing I'm supposed to be thinking
about.
Because at the heart of all the chanting and meditation is the notion that, to be content and pure of heart, you have
to be able to think about Nothing.
I Think, Therefore...Something, I Forget
Descartes laid the foundation of Western philosophy when he wrote "I think, therefore I am." I might wonder who I am
and where I'm going, what my purpose is or where I came from, but the fact that I'm aware enough to ask these questions is
proof that I exist. Buddha says stop thinking, stop asking, just sit there and shut up. And it's true that it's all very calm
and serene, but it's also very very boring.
Now, some folks don't mind boring and most everyone would agree that boring is better than trying to stab and kill one
another. Americans don't seem to recognize the virtues of just sitting there doing nothing, thinking nothing, and just being
content. In the movies and TV, the ones who seem to talk the most about meditating and seeking your inner serenity, are the
ones who kick the most ass. Like David Carradine on Kung Fu, Yoda, Spock, or that little dude in The Karate Kid.
I'm not sure that the word ironic applies, or anyway if it does then it doesn't quite go far enough.
Me Me Me!!!
In Buddhism, the emphasis is on self, on seeking some inner peace that's already there, or should be. The Buddhist doesn't
say that there is no God; it's just that they don't figure Him into the equation. English translators use words like "deity"
to describe someone who's acheived enlightenment, and it's an unfortunate accident of language that Westerners hear that and
think All-powerful, all-knowing Creator Father God, because, to a Christian, trying to make yourself God is the worst thing
you can do.
And I guess there is a measure of comfort in thinking that there's nothing bigger than the Self. The problem is that
there's just too much evidence to the contrary: There are things like disease and death and the weather and even other people,
just screwing up our lives and the universe, and it's not enough for me to just believe that it none of it ultimately means
anything. I think if you never look past yourself, in the end, all you're doing is limiting your options and your potential.
On the other hand, I can't believe that God and Jesus and the Devil and all the demons and angels are kicking me
around in a big cosmic game of hacky-sack, that everything is predestined and there's no free will or personal responsibility.
And I know people who believe this way, even if they wouldn't use those exact words.
Like most everything else in the whole entire world, every time there's a debate between two extremes, I think the truth
lies somewhere in the middle. I believe in God and I believe that He takes a Hand in things, obviously; but I also believe
that we have to choose how we'll accept Him. And to do that we, like the Buddha, have to learn how to shut the hell up and
listen
That's how I roll.
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