Buddhism for Today

Abstract

Buddhism has been known now in Europe and North America for considerably more than a hundred years, and one might have thought that, at least in some quarters, it would have become fairly well known. Unfortunately this is by no means the case. Even after all this time and so much scholarship, it is still relatively unknown and often misunderstood. Some people, for example, still classify Buddhism as one of the various ‘religions’ of the world – which it is not, if the word ‘religion’ is taken to mean (as it almost always is) ‘religion as revelation’ or ‘revealed religion’. For other people Buddhism is some sort of exotic oriental cult. For others again, Buddhism is a system of abstract philosophical ideas, quite remote from ordinary life, something in fact that does not impinge on life at any point. Another misunderstanding that used to be very widespread is the view of Buddhism as simply a code of ethics that tells you what you should or should not do – merely a system of rules and prohibitions. Yet others see Buddhism as a form of asceticism – at least, this was the case when I returned to England from India in 1964. In those days, when people came to visit me in the vihara, or small monastery, where I was staying, they were surprised to find that there were no high walls or barbed wire surrounding the building and that everybody could enter freely and talk to whomever they chose. They seemed to expect that we would be completely secluded from the world, and living in perpetual solemn silence (despite the fact that the vihara was in the middle of Hampstead). This used to be quite a prevalent impression of Buddhism then, that it was something negative, repressive, and life-denying. In addition to these general misunderstandings, many people identify Buddhism with one or another of its specific forms. For example, they encounter the Buddhism of Thailand or the Buddhism of Sri Lanka and think that this, and only this, is Buddhism. Or they come into contact with the colourful and rich tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and they are carried away by their feelings for lamas, thigh-bone trumpets, thangkas, and all the rest of the Tantric tradition, and think that this is Buddhism – just this and nothing more. Others read books by Japanese masters, start trying to solve koans, and think, ‘Zen! Zen is Buddhism. All the other schools, all the other teachings, are not Buddhism at all. Zen is the real thing!’ Perhaps the most damaging identification of this kind is to confuse Buddhism with Nichiren Buddhism, a sect that is so far from the central Buddhist tradition as to exhibit some of the characteristics of a ‘revealed religion’, including an infallible book (the White Lotus Sutra), a prophet (Nichiren), and an intolerant and dismissive attitude towards other forms of Buddhism. Confusing Buddhism with any one of its specific forms in this way is like identifying an entire oak tree with a single branch or even a single acorn. In view of such misunderstandings – and I’ve just touched upon some of the more prominent, popular ones – it is reasonable to say that Buddhism is not really known in the West. Sometimes it is actually dangerous to be slightly acquainted with something, because we tend to overlook the fact that we do not really know it. As Pope puts it, ‘A little learning is a dangerous thing.’ In some cases, it might be better to have no knowledge at all, better to wipe the slate clean of all our misunderstandings and misinterpretations and make a completely fresh start. And this is the purpose for which the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) was founded in 1967 – to make a completely fresh start at Buddhism. The FWBO exists, we may say, to identify the absolute essentials of the Buddha’s teaching, and to make those essential principles known and relevant to people’s lives in the West. Since its founding in 1967, the FWBO has grown steadily. Not only has it become better known, but more and more individuals have committed themselves to the realization of the ideal for which it stands. It is not that when I founded it I had a detailed or precise idea of what we were setting out to do. However, over the years, the FWBO has gradually come to understand its own nature, so to speak. And this may be said to consist in four things the FWBO has to offer, four things which are of the deepest and truest importance to developing individuals in today’s world. These are: a method of personal development; a vision of human existence; the nucleus of a new society; and a blueprint for a new world. Here I want to focus on these four things, and through them I will try to present the concentrated essence of Buddhism in a highly practical form especially suited to the needs of Western men and women – needs that, for better or worse, are fast becoming the needs of the whole world.