Developments in Australian Buddhism

Facets of the Diamond

Michelle Spuler

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781136867576
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Australian & Oceanian History
• Index: History

This book examines the adaptation of Buddhism to the Australian sociocultural context. To gain insight into this process of cross-cultural adaptation, issues arising in the development of Diamond Sangha Zen Buddhist groups (one of the largest Zen lineages in the West) in Australia are contextualised within the broader framework of the adaptations of Buddhist teachings and practices in other Westernised countries. The book also examines the methodological approaches currently used for studying this process and suggests a synthesis of the approaches used for studying convert and ethnic Buddhist groups.

1

AUSTRALIAN BUDDHISM IN CONTEXT

To understand contemporary developments in Australian Buddhism it is necessary to place the situation in context. A brief overview of Buddhism’s beginnings and the subsequent development of major lineages such as Zen Buddhism demonstrate that change has long been part of Buddhism’s history. This process has continued since Buddhism was introduced to the West over a hundred years ago. The evolution of the Diamond Sangha can be traced back through this period to provide an international backdrop to the Australian state of affairs.

The origins of Buddhism

Buddhism is generally accepted to have originated in the historical figure of the Buddha. Born in approximately 563 BCE in what is now southern Nepal, the Buddha was born a prince in the Sakya tribe. Legend has it that the prince led a secluded and luxurious life before one day encountering sickness, old age and death. Shocked by this, the prince left his household, wife and son, and went on a quest to learn how to end human suffering. He studied under a number of spiritual teachers and became skilful in the practices they taught, but he did not find these to be adequate solutions to the problems posed by human life. Finally he found his own path to enlightenment, becoming the Buddha, or Awakened One. What the Buddha claimed to have realised was insight into the nature of suffering; its cause and the means of ending it. The Buddha then taught his new-found knowledge as the Dharma (the ‘way’ or ‘law’) for the next forty-five years and founded a monastic order for his followers, the Sangha.

Three main Buddhist traditions have developed since the Buddha’s death. The first to emerge was the Theravada tradition, also known as the School of the Elders, or Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle). Theravada Buddhism is now the main Buddhist tradition in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. In the first century BCE the Mahayana (or Great Vehicle) tradition emerged, and gradually spread into China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. The third major tradition, Vajrayana (the Diamond Vehicle) developed later and in the seventh century its spread to Tibet, Nepal and Mongolia. These three major traditions developed differently in different countries, diversifying even further through the development of different groups within and across geographical regions. It is generally accepted that all Buddhists affirm a few core tenets (although they may express or emphasise these differently): the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eight-Fold Path, the Three Universal Characteristics and the Three Jewels.¹

Japanese Zen Buddhism

Zen Buddhism is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in India. According to myth, the Buddha established the foundations of Zen Buddhism during a discourse on Vulture Peak in which he did not speak, but simply held up a flower. Only one of the Buddha’s students, Kashyapa, understood this message, and had an experience of enlightenment. Taking the honorific, ‘Maha’, Mahakashyapa thus became the first Indian patriarch in the Zen Buddhist lineage. Legend continues that an Indian monk, Bodhidharma, transmitted these teachings to China around 500 CE. Bodhidharma’s teachings mixed with Taoism in China to form a new school of Mahayana Buddhism, called Ch’an. Ch’an is the Chinese pronunciation of the Sanskrit word, dhyana, which means meditation. Bodhidharma is considered the first patriarch of Ch’an, and the twenty-eighth patriarch in the Indian lineage. The two schools of Ch’an that became prominent in Japan, Rinzai and Soto, were introduced into Japan in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, respectively. In Japan, Ch’an became known as Zen, which is the Japanese pronunciation of Ch’an.

The aim of Zen Buddhism, as of all Buddhist traditions and lineages, is to achieve enlightenment. However, the mans to achieve this can differ greatly. Zen is often defined as follows:

1 A special transmission outside the scriptures;

2 No dependence upon words and letters;

3 Direct pointing at the human heart; and

4 Seeing into one’s nature and the realisation of Buddhahood.²

One of the essential features of Zen is its emphasis on seated meditation, called zazen. In contrast with his contemporaries, Bodhidharma de-emphasised the existing focus on priestly ritual and chanting. While some other Buddhist schools combine meditation with other religious practices such as intellectual analysis of doctrines or devotional practices, these are not considered useful in Zen practice. Zazen is considered the core of Zen practice as this has been found to be a practical way of setting the conditions for enlightenment.³

While the Rinzai and Soto Zen Buddhist schools share the same goal and emphasis on meditation, the meditative techniques used differ. The meditation practices of both schools usually begin with a concentration practice such as counting or watching the breath. Generally, Soto Zen then emphasises the meditative practice of shikantaza, which involves ‘resting in a state of brightly alert attention that is free of thoughts, directed to no object, and to no particular content.’⁴ In contrast, Rinzai Zen emphasises the meditation technique of koan practice. Koans are paradoxical questions, phrases or stories that cannot be solved using intellectual reasoning. Well-known examples of koans include: ‘what is the sound of one hand?’, ‘what was your face before you were born?’ and ‘does a dog have Buddha-nature?’

The koan tradition originated in China, where Ch’an teachers used anecdotes or scriptural quotes to provide a focus for meditation, and to test publicly students’ insight. The term, ‘koan’ is made up of two Chinese characters: ‘ko’ meaning public, and ‘an’ meaning records or cases. These ‘public cases’, dialogues, questions and anecdotes began to be cultivated and handed down at approximately the turn of the ninth century, during the Tang dynasty. Koan collections were being compiled by the middle of the tenth century, sometimes including the poems and comments of the compiler. A rich literature grew, much of it drawn from the lives of the teachers of the past. From the tenth century to the thirteenth or fourteenth century, spontaneous dialogues became less important in teaching and the use of established koans as formalised teaching devices increased.⁵

The Sanbo Kyodan

The Diamond Sangha has its origins in a school of Japanese Zen Buddhism called the Sanbo Kyodan (Fellowship of the Three Treasures).⁶ The Sanbo Kyodan was founded on the teachings of Harada Dai’un Sogaku (1871–1961).⁷ According to Tworkov, Harada was considered revolutionary in his time because he departed from his Soto Zen heritage to utilise both Soto and Rinzai meditation techniques; he treated monastics and lay-practitioners as equals; and he departed from the traditional Soto Zen teaching method of leaving novice monks devoid of verbal instruction with his development of introductory talks.⁸ In 1954 Harada’s successor, Yasutani Haku’un Ryoko (1885–1973), separated from the Soto lineage in which he had been ordained and founded a new organisation, the Sanbo Kyodan. Based on Harada’s teachings, the Sanbo Kyodan is an independent lay stream of Soto Zen that incorporates aspects of Rinzai Zen.

After establishing the Sanbo Kyodan in Japan, Yasutani initiated its spread internationally. Finney suggests that Yasutani’s motives for taking this direction were similar to those of other well-known Japanese Zen teachers who took their teaching to the West, such as Soyen Shaku, Dr Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki and Nyogen Senzaki. Finney has suggested of these teachers that: ‘Their efforts were a very conscious response to the decline of Zen Buddhism in Japan.’⁹ Tworkov supports this, noting that most of the Japanese Zen masters whose teachings were promulgated in America had challenged and changed the Zen system as it is known in Japan.¹⁰ Examination of the major Japanese-based Zen groups in American supports this; a number of scholars comparing Japanese and American Zen note an essential difference to be the American emphasis on daily zazen practice and intensive retreats, in contrast to the Japanese emphasis on priestly ritual such as funerals. ¹¹ Similarly, Vasi identifies one of the characteristics of Zen in Australia as the use of orthodox Zen practices, in comparison to the emphasis in Japanese Zen on rituals such as funerals.¹²

Yasutani’s successor, Yamada Koun Zenshin (1907–1989),¹³ was appointed as the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan in 1973. According to one of his successors, Yamada continued to differentiate the Sanbo Kyodan from the majority of Japanese Zen organisations by continuing Harada’s dissolution of traditional distinctions between monastic and lay-practitioners; emphasising the social dimension of human existence (often discussing political, social and economic issues which were not traditionally considered relevant to Zen practice); and breaking the traditional sectarian barriers that separated Buddhists and Christians.¹⁴ By the end of Yamada’s teaching career approximately one quarter of the participants at his sesshins were Christians.¹⁵

Kubota Akira Ji’un-ken (1932–) succeeded Yamada as head of the Sanbo Kyodan in 1989. The Sanbo Kyodan currently has its headquarters in Kamakura, Japan, and at least fifteen centres located in Japan, Philippines, Australia, Canada, America, Germany and Switzerland. At least forty people have been authorized as Zen masters in the Sanbo Kyodan lineage, many of whom are not Japanese, and a number of these have their own successors; however, it is difficult to ascertain how many of these are actively teaching in this lineage.¹⁶ Sanbo Kyodan Zen masters are not necessarily Buddhists, and it is not uncommon that they are ordained in other religion. For example, Sanbo Kyodan Zen masters include Jesuit Priest, Hugo Makibi Enomiya-Lassalle (1898–1991) and Benedictine, Willigis Jäger (1925–).

In 1995 the Sanbo Kyodan had 2,539 registered followers in Japan.¹⁷ Numbers of adherents in other countries total approximately 2,500. According to Sharf, the Sanbo Kyodan has been successful internationally because it reduces the complex doctrinal, devotional and ethical teachings of Buddhism to a relatively simple meditation practice, making it attrac...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• List of abbreviations
• Glossary of terms
• Introduction
• 1 Australian Buddhism in context
• 2 Australia Buddhism in transition
• 3 Models of change
• 4 Breaking down the boundaries
• Notes
• Appendix A: Japanese Zen Buddhists groups in Australia
• Appendix B: Diamond Sangha affiliates world-wide
• Appendix C: Agreements concerning the structure and function of the Diamond Sangha
• Bibliography
• Index