Part 1: Conclusion of Gyo and Consequences
The recent gyo, which concluded on August 13th, was the first after a hiatus of three years due to the COVID pandemic. It was unlike any we have hosted before primarily due to many of the leadership and participants contracting COVID near the end of the gyo. But that’s not the aspect I would like to address. Perhaps some other time.
Last month I wrote about the philosophy, practices, and purpose of a Tendai Buddhist gyo. I hope that was useful in understanding how a gyo is different from a seminary experience in training sangha leadership.
What is not apparent from that is the degree to which the gyo could not be held without the support of the sangha hosting the gyo. That is true whether we are speaking about the gyo on Hiei-zan in Japan or at the Tendai-shu New York Betsuin, the Tendai Buddhist Institute.
Sangha members were essential to a successful gyo. This was true at the beginning and end of the gyo. We had people arriving and returning from and to, Spain, Germany, Puerto Rico, the West coast of the US and Japan. Koshin Bower, Dan Laiosa, and Sansho Tamarac Garlow, made multiple trips, late at night and very early in the morning many times, to transport people between Albany International Airport and the Betsuin. It was a complex schedule.
For the first time in over 20 years Shumon did not do all the cooking. Christina Prunesti took over the task for several days. Keep in mind that in the past Shumon was still working her ‘day job’ while staying up till after midnight preparing meals for the next day; still getting up before 3:30 AM and participating in the gyo until she left for work at 7:30 AM. Christina’s contribution made a big difference.
Rob Hart and Onyo Susan Bues represented Tendai Buddhist Institute at Canaan Day celebration on Saturday the 5th, while the leadership was otherwise engaged in the gyo. This kept the face of Tendai Buddhist Institute in front of the community in which we reside.
Many sangha offered treats to gyoja, a tradition at the Betsuin gyo, to be enjoyed after the evening non-meal, Specifically, Shoshin Sandy Jacon, Mushin Sam Press, Sansho, Christina, Onyo, and Izzy Cardona.
Since we had to cancel Mahasangha Sunday (with potluck lunch) the last day of the gyo Shumon had an additional meal to prepare at the last minute, while coming down with COVID herself, Christina and Onyo stepped up and provided additional dishes, which also lasted while people who were leaving on Monday and Tuesday.
Once it was clear that Shumon and I were down with COVID so many people offered their assistance, too many people to acknowledge here. We wish to thank everyone for their assistance in hosting the gyo and in offering their assistance and best wishes when it became apparent that COVID had finally caught up with Tendai Buddhist Institute.
Part 2: The Third Noble Truth as Essential Buddhism
We often take for granted the third of the Four Noble truths in Buddhism. This advent of Dharmic philosophy is at the core of the Buddhist teachings.
The first two of the Four Noble truths, namely 1) duḥkha (suffering, anxiety, unsatisfactoriness) and 2) samudaya (thirst – cause of suffering, associated with craving or attachment), are present in the Vedic teachings from which Buddhism arose. The final two of the Four Noble truths 3) nirodha (cessation of dukkha) and 4) marga (the path which leads one away from craving and suffering, often identified as the Eightfold path, refers to the Buddhist Path writ large) are among the ideas that distinguishes Buddhism from other Dharmic traditions.
Nirodha – cessation of suffering – is interpreted in several ways. Most often this is associated with Nirvana. There are so many ways of interpreting Nirvana. Let’s accept the Mahayana views for this discussion, and not become intertwined into which of the many meanings of nirvana one might reference.
What I would like to emphasize here is not a deep dive into the many interpretations of cessation of suffering, but rather that there is a cessation of suffering. From a Dharmic perspective that is a big deal. Further, one need not die to expect relief from duḥkha.
Duḥkha is often referred to as a natural law, it is present wherever there is phenomenological existence. It is not something we can eliminate, cure or wish out of existence anymore than we can eliminate gravity or defy the speed of sound.
Total cessation of unsatisfactoriness on one end of the spectrum is anuttarā samyak-saṃbodhi – unsurpassable, complete, perfect enlightenment – experienced by a Buddha. But this is not a dichotomous state, ‘you got it or you don’t’. In the Mahayana we see it as a cumulative process that starts with bodhicitta, the thought of awakening, and evolves as we journey along the Buddha path, through intention, devotion, and practice.
Through the Six Paramitas, or Six Perfections, which we emphasize during O-Higan this month, we can mitigate the unsatisfactoriness and bring greater equanimity and joyfulness into our lives: ultimately reducing the periods and intensity of duḥkha. This is the soteriology of Buddhist teachings.
The Six Paramitas, like the Eightfold teachings, address the individual, the close community, and society as a whole. The Buddhist Path is not addressing only the individual duḥkha or societal injustices and inequities. The Path emphasizes that the individual is a component of a social entity, which in turn is a component of the earth and the universe. We are not autonomous beings, nor are we members of only an ethnic group or other social entity. Interpenetration is obvious experientially. This requires harmony.
The Buddhist Path requires both jiriki (self-discipline and purpose) and tariki (faith in the other power). From a Tendai Buddhist perspective, both aspects are required. One without the other leads to an imbalance, a turn away from the Middle Way. Here again the emphasis is on a positive, uplifting, sacred experience.
As we approach a new season that emphasizes O-Higan, day and night of equal length, a period when the mundane and the spiritual are in closest proximity. Let us recognize that the Buddhist Path is one of encouragement, redemption, awakening to the nature of reality, and joy.
With Love and Gassho . . . Monshin