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Strong Roots Liberation Teachings of Mindfulness in North America Strong Roots Liberation Teachings of Mindfulness in North America JAKE H. DAVIS DHAMMA DANA Publications at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies Barre, Massachusetts © 2004 by Jake H. Davis This book may be copied or reprinted in whole or in part for free distribution without permission from the publisher. Otherwise, all rights reserved. Sabbadānaṃ dhammadānaṃ jināti : The gift of Dhamma surpasses all gifts.1 Come and See! 1 Dhp.354, my trans. Table of Contents TO MY SOURCES............................................................................................................. II FOREWORD........................................................................................................................... V INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... 1 Part One DEEP TRANSMISSION, AND OF WHAT?................................................................ 15 Defining the Topic_____________________________________17 the process of transmission across human contexts Traditions Dependently Co-Arising 22 Teaching in Context 26 Common Humanity 31 Interpreting History_____________________________________37 since the Buddha Passing Baskets Along 41 A ‘Cumulative Tradition’ 48 A ‘Skillful Approach’ 62 Trans-lation__________________________________________69 the process of interpretation and its authentic completion Imbalance 73 Reciprocity 80 To the Source 96 Part Two FROM BURMA TO BARRE......................................................................................... 107 Conduct____________________________________________121 protecting the world Renunciates and Renunciation 123 Definition and Confusion 137 A Practical Imperative 152 Learning____________________________________________159 what is heard Theory and Practice 162 World-Views 174 Action and Reaction 185 Discussion__________________________________________199 the role of a teacher Many Teachers 202 Faith and Wisdom 206 Energy and Concentration 215 Tranquility__________________________________________225 the clarity of concentration Environmental Protection 227 Settling the Intellect 232 Guarding the Senses 236 Insight______________________________________________243 seeing chaos as chaotic Perceptions of Progress 247 Undefining the Unconditioned 257 ‘Engaged’ ‘Buddhism’ 266 COMING FULL CYCLE............................................................................................... 273 GLOSSARY...................................................................................................................... 291 ILLUSTRATION INDEX.................................................................................................. 297 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................... 299 The Blessed One said… “A person of integrity is grateful & acknowledges the help given to him. This gratitude, this acknowledgment is second nature among fine people.”2 Imāya Through this study of the Dhamma Dhamm’ānudhamma- pariyattiyā in accord with the Dhamma, I Buddhaṃ Pūjemi honor the Awakened One Imāya Through this study of the Dhamma Dhamm’ānudhamma- pariyattiyā in accord with the Dhamma, I Dhammaṃ Pūjemi honor the Teaching Imāya Through this study of the Dhamma Dhamm’ānudhamma- pariyattiyā in accord with the Dhamma, I Sanghaṃ Pūjemi honor the Community Imāya Through this study of the Dhamma Dhamm’ānudhamma- pariyattiyā in accord with the Dhamma, I Mātāpitaro Pūjemi honor my Mother and Father Imāya Through this study of the Dhamma Dhamm’ānudhamma- pariyattiyā in accord with the Dhamma, I Ācariye Pūjemi honor my Teachers 2 Kataññū Sutta (A.II.30), trans. Thanissaro Bhikkhu. To My Sources To Karen and David Davis, my ‘early teachers’, and to their ‘early teachers’, and so on; without any one of you, this would not be; To the Venerable Paṇḍitārāma Ovādācariya Sayadaw U Paṇḍitābhivaṁsa, the Kyaswa Sayadaw U Lakkhaṇa, and Thāmanay Kyaw Sayadaw U Dhammikābhivaṁsa, who cared for me in Burma and nurtured me in the study and practice of Dhamma-Vinaya; To Steven Smith and Michele McDonald, who have been friends (mittā) to me in so many good things (kalayāṇā dhammā); To J.E.(T.) Thomas, who helped me to deconstruct my interpretation of the order of things (dhamma); and to Edmund Brelsford, who helped me to reconstruct my interpretation for myself and others, in particular by introducing me to the work of George Steiner; To Joseph Goldstein, Michael Zucker, Rebecca Bradshaw, and Alan Dampog, whose caring and insightful suggestions helped to steer this work clear of a number of philosophical and political pitfalls; To the Venerable Vajirañāṇi, U Hla Myint Kyaw, Andrew Olendzki, Mu Soeng, Grahame White, Lynne Bousfield, and U Khin Hlaing, whose shared interest in the intricacies and ironies of interpreting the Dhamma for Westerners and whose confidence in me helped to inspire this book; To the Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi, the Venerable Khemadipa Bhikkhu, and Alan Clements; their careful reading and incisive critiques greatly improved the final product; To Jinx Hasting and Kermit Blackwoods, who helped make this book accessible to a broader audience; To Lynette Rummel, who sponsored my career at Marlboro College if not my senior thesis; to Geraldine Pitman de Batlle, who read through this manuscript as an undergraduate dissertation (to its great benefit) more times than I did; to Tom Toleno, who introduced me to the fundamental debates in the psychology of religion; and to Roy Wright, who helped me to think critically about Steiner’s assertions and the study of language in general; To the people of Paṇḍitārāma Sāsana Yeiktha, Kyaswa Monastery, Vipassana Hawai’i, the Insight Meditation Society, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and Marlboro College, who have supported and challenged me in my efforts to be an interpreter and to be a truly humane being (manussa); emQ;sa; To my close biological kin as well as all my hanai, , and dhamma family; ekj;zU:;tc\pfqv\ Thank you! ! Sādhu! (with palms together at my chest in gratitude and respect) Foreword Early one morning in 1977, a friend and I were walking along tree-lined pathways at the renowned Mahāsi Meditation Center in Rangoon, after spending our first night in Burma. A dozen of us had just come from Bodh Gaya, India, where had been in meditative seclusion for several months. Toward the end of my retreat, Vipassana teachers Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield had come to BodhGaya with some students following the first 3- month retreat at the newly founded Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. Coming out of retreat to greet my friends and two-year-old daughter Chandra, I arranged and managed (while being a dad as well!) the first retreat led by Western teachers in the Mahasi tradition. It was in a Thai monastery surrounded by acres of rice paddy a few hundred feet from the majestic Maha Bodhi temple and the sacred Bo Tree under which the Buddha had attained spiritual liberation 2,500 years ago. I had come to India to practice under the guidance of Joseph’s first teacher, Anagarika Munindra-ji, who in turn had practiced in Burma with one of the most prominent and influential mindfulness meditation teachers of the century: the Mahāsi Sayadaw. We came to Burma from Bodh Gaya to honor and express gratitude to this great Dhamma lineage holder who played a pivotal role in bringing the teachings out of the monasteries and into the community over the past century. The vi ~ Foreword Mahāsi Sayadaw’s influence shaped the rest of our lives, and has profoundly impacted the emerging Dhamma throughout the world. The establishment of the twenty-acre Mahāsi center in 1947, with the aid of donors including the former Premier and committed practitioner U Nu, immediately set a standard of excellence and exceptional training. This lineage of mindfulness meditation has spread throughout the world with hundreds of Mahāsi or Mahāsi-inspired centers and monasteries. My traveling companion Alan Clements and I were up at sunrise strolling through the monastic grounds, entranced with the world we had entered the evening before. Multi-room residential living quarters and individual huts for monks, nuns, and laypeople filled the landscape; a unique mix of traditional- style teak structures and encroaching cement buildings, all donated by a society of people steeped in the practice of generosity. At the time, this was one of the most prominent practice and study centers in the Buddhist world. Suddenly and simultaneously, Alan and I gazed at each other with the sense that we had stepped into another world and time. We were transported by a haunting, melodic rhythm of ancient sound currents wafting through the monastic compound, and pulled speechlessly toward its source. A spirited feeling trembled in my chest, at once familiar and foreign. We came upon a large hall of monks chanting Dhamma texts by memory. The chanting was in the ancient Buddhist language of the Pāḷi texts, the monks giving voice to the Buddha's discourses, transmitted orally for centuries before ever being committed to writing. Though I did not then understand the meaning, I felt the depth and beauty of articulation in chanting form. I felt I had come home to a mystery: a profound sense of place. Here, a powerful life-transforming lineage of wisdom teachings was Foreword ~ vii preserved in their raw, original form of transmission, held in a sacred container with utmost reverence. My practice, studies, and teaching of
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