Rugged Interdependency - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

Golden Highways Revisited: 1998•At the Morristown group, as in the car with Georgette and Maxwell, the conversationcentered repeatedly around the purpose of monasteries, what they provide,how they work, and the paucity of certain qualities in the Vipassanā circles – itwas the same theme as Jim and I fell into at the beach, in our discussion aroundthe direction of Bodhi Tree: when things are run by lay-teachers, and thus phrasedand structured according to their own nonrenunciate value systems, surely somethingis being lost from the Teaching and Practice.People ask: “What can we do without a teacher, a center or a Monastery? Howdo we further the practice?” and they ask with great sincerity. How does a layteacher,aspiring to a comfy, middle-class lifestyle, then direct them? Inevitably it istoward practice within the mold that they themselves espouse, but is it enough toliberate? Certainly the sameness of lifestyles of the teacher and students serves wellto foster a closeness – there are no problems because of alienation or remotenesscaused by robes or a plethora of Precepts – but does that similitude of way of lifehave its drawbacks too? Never before has Buddha-Dharma been introduced into asociety by such a proportion of non-monastics – will it really be introduced?Amongst the many others facets of this issue, the question of charging moneyfor the Dhamma comes up again and again. So many of the lay centers and teachershave sincere and genuine reasons for feeling the need to set prices for retreats andteachings – and the prices seem to keep climbing even faster than national rates ofinflation – does this mean that there’s a generic lack of faith? Is this the only reasonableway to do it in these times? Is doing everything on freewill donations simplyan atavistic reflex, symptomatic of a bygone patriarchal age, as Ken Wilber wouldhave us believe (in his essay ironically entitled Right Bucks)? How come monasteriescan run solely on dāna and other places not? These are riddles wrapped inmystery that circle around these gatherings; only time and wise reflection will coaxthe truth forth from them.I spoke to Georgette and Maxwell of Jack Kornfield’s reservations about dilutionand also his movement to the Way of the Elders as the generic term of reference,rather than Vipassanā; the same issue manifested in Morristown – heads nodded inagreement but can one really expect the forty-somethings to up sticks, shave headsand move into a mendicant life? Maybe not, but the more the issue gets raised themore we are drawn towards a balanced picture. The heart knows the sound andsmell of self-justification.At the very least those centers and styles of practice are a very accessible entrypoint. Georgette and Maxwell recounted how, 30 years ago, no one had a clueabout Buddhism or meditation – and that was among the students of their roshi,Isshu Miura. Now huge numbers, increasing exponentially, are at least aware ofsome of the essential elements of Dharma practice and there is a general groundswellof faith and interest in the Buddha’s teaching.28