Rugged Interdependency - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

The Golden State•Those invited to speak and lead discussions were quite carefully chosen – not fortheir eloquence or attainment, but rather for their years of commitment to a communal,contemplative, orthodox monastic life. There were Buddhists and Christians;all of us were Westerners.Approximately 150 people attended, most having had little if any contact withtraditional monasticism. Although largely of Vipassanā and Zen Center background,there were also a fair number of Christians. Of the main talks, even thoughall were fine expositions, probably those of Sister Sundarā and Sister Columbawere most memorable.At the beginning of the second day, Jack Kornfield invited everyone to suggestareas that they would like to see covered. The list began: celibacy, equality forwomen in Theravāda Buddhism, adaptability of rules, vegetarianism, differencesbetween Buddhism and Christianity… and on and on it went. It seemed that everyonehad a pet issue. After about half an hour, Ajahn Sumedho and I looked at eachother – it would take months to deal with that lot!Just then one of the audience announced that she had just had an insight.Silence fell and we waited... “We want it all! We don’t want to give up anything.This is real American Buddhism!” Everybody laughed and, for that moment, couldsee the tendency to search for a perfect Buddhism that matched one’s own particularbiases. Ajahn Sumedho turned toward her and applauded.Nevertheless, the suggestions kept on coming, and with the question of equalityfor women well to the fore. It was Sister Sundarā’s turn to speak next andAjahn Sumedho leaned over to me with a concerned look, ”I would not like to bein her position right now.” After a short break, she gave her talk. She spoke movinglyand magnificently. In many respects, she had taken the most tricky of issuesand clearly pointed out the way to work with such things: there are no simpleanswers, only ways to practice wisely.Sister Columba was deeply impressive, and probably less for the wonderfulwords she spoke than for the purity and light that imbued all she did and said.She described her entry into her convent, and the life that she and her sisters led.She fielded questions with directness, humor and honesty. Here was the result of alifetime given up to pure conduct, simplicity and Truth: a being radiant, clear andsublimely happy. For many people at the conference this said more than all thewords for, despite belonging to the most orthodox and austere of traditions, shehad arrived at a state of being that freewheeling Californians have combed the hillsand beaches endlessly to find.20