Garlands of Shame

Over at the Worst Horse blog there is an entry about a garland of shoes that have been hung over a statue of Buddha in Geneva Switzerland.  It originated from a story at the Bhutan Observer taken from The Times of India. And the comments everywhere are vitriolic.  Here is what all the fuss is about.

To many Western people this may not seem to be a big deal. In poor taste perhaps but nothing to start a riot about. But in the cultural context of South Asia this is a very big deal.

The practice of garlanding is very old in India. It is the method by which people are honored and it is also a religious practice in that statues of gods are also often garlanded. This garlanding is usually done with marigolds-a sacred flower due to their saffron color.

Even take the concept of the Rakusu in Zen traditions or the mala worn around the neck in other Buddhist traditions. It is very much like a garland. Or even the name of the Avatamsaka Sutra-Garland of Flowers.

Recently I went on a little hike in the hills and was staying at a small village where I have some friends. There was a ceremony going on in that village and I was invited to be “felicitated”. That means someone speaks a few nice words about you and then you are garlanded.

Here are some photos of the occasion.The date was April 10, 2009 and the occasion was the official opening of Dodital which is a high altitude lake and holy place that is said to be the birthplace of the elephant headed god Ganesha. The whole route is 22 kilometers to Dodital. Agoda village, where this ceremony is taking place, is 7 kilometers from the road.

The festivities included the usual dias of people to be felicitated. Along the back wall of the tent are the officials and guests seated and taking tea. It is about 6:30 in the evening.  The ladies on the left of the picture as you view it are local Panchayat heads (elected village mayors) , the gentleman in the center with the white vest is the local member of the legislative assembly (that’s like a congressman or member of parliament-it was just before the election so politicians really like to make themselves visible-even walking  the whole route rther than taking a mule) , and the men on the right are also some panchayat heads and other guests. I am sitting wearing the black jacket and beige pants forth from the MLA. As a foreigner I get to sit with the men. Partly because the women don’t speak English and partly because some of these men are relatives of the people I know in Agoda.

There were speeches, flowery and bold in language as is the usual Indian way and then some music and a vegetarian dinner was provided by the village for all attendees.  There were probably 200 people there in total. All were accomodated.

Throughout the night the dhols (big drums) were played and chanting and shouting was heard.  As it was just before the full moon the local goddess was taken in her palanquin (sort of like a stretcher with a decorated little house on it where the idol is carried by two men on their shoulders) from her home in the neighboring village temple up to Dodital to greet Ganesha and pay homage. Every full moon this ceremony takes place but this one is particularly well attended since it marks the start of the pilgrimage season to Dodital.

At the felicitation ceremony preceeding the next day’s pilgrimage  the Panchayat leader from the next village did me the honor of placing the marigold garland around my neck. I couldn’t get the photos that were taken by a photographer from a local newspaper and I haven’t seen the article that was written for that paper yet. But you get the idea from these photos.

On a bit of a tangent there were 3 other foreigners in the village but they were not invited to the ceremony. The reason was that local people thought they were hippies. When people in India go to a holy place or a festival they put on their best clothes and jewelry. Women do up their hair and children all wear clean clothes. These foreign “hippies” while having a lot of expensive trekking equipment were, according to comments I heard, dirty. That means unkempt hair and clothes. They talked loudly and acted in a “superior” manner to the locals.  That is something that is common in foreign travellers in India unfortunately.

Some advice for those going to pilgrimage places, since I am talking about honor and shame here, consider yourself an ambassador for both your country and for other foreigners. Behave appropriately for the country you are in.  Just because you walk about on the beaches of Ibeza or California in a string bathing suit that does not mean it is appropriate in some other places. Just because you are on vacation doesn’t mean the sensibilities of local people are irrelevant.  Just because you are with a few friends of your culture does not mean you are travelling in some impenetrable bubble where the person next to you on a bus or in a restaurant does not exist. A lot of offensive foreigner behavior is due to both ignorance and fear. But once the ignorance is overcome a lot of the fear and insecurity of being in a strange place also disappears. And besides, learning a little bit about local happenings and comportment can get you some really great dinners (and garlands)!

Now there is another side to garlanding in India that has to do with community shame and often vigilanteism.  For example a principle of a school was accused of molesting some young girls in his care. His school was stormed by angry town residents and he was dragged from his office into the street. His hair was cut off (tonsuring), his face was blackened with tar and a garland of shoes was placed around his neck as people nearly beat him to death with fists and sticks and shoes before police arrived.

So that is the meaning of the shoe garland. It is reserved for public shaming.

The Speed of Life

i

We are ahead of ourselves

Trying to catch up

And pulling the past

Behind

Like a wagon

ii

We are behind ourselves

Trying to catch up

And reaching for the future

That rolls down the hill

Like a bicycle without brakes

iii

We wait

Traffic light

Bus stop

Appointment

Blind date

(or will he stand me up?)

Weekend

iv

We all wait

At the same speed

Waiting is

The real speed of life

Hey! Dharma Artists

There are a number of musicians, poets, visual artists and other creative people who read this blog so I am passing this information on for you. There is a new initiative to create an Alliance of Dharma Artists. It will be called FUKE. The blog for it is here.  Here is the statement from the organizer.

Brian Howlett, Sensei, Art Director Pacific Zen Institute

I have been asked by John Tarrant Roshi, Roshi to revive the Zen Buddhist Lineage known as FUKE.
The new vision of FUKE is an alliance of practicing Buddhist artists including, visual artists, performance  artists, musicians, calligraphers and writers. I encourage you to participate by asking questions and submitting your comments.

If you have interest in connecting with other artists who also practice Buddhism please leave your comments and questions there. As it is a new endeavor I don’t know what the format or “mission” or whatever will be but now is your chance to participate at its inception.  So check it out and ask your questions etc. at FUKE blog.

Two Sides of Dukkha:A Dialogue with Grief

-continuation of  Two Sides of Dukkha:A Dialogue with Desire

II Grief

Mourning and grief are the other side of desire in this particular hypothesis.  Loss of that which is desirable or even comfortable and familiar gives a sense of shock.  Reality has changed.

Dealing with impermanence, if one is rooted in desire, is difficult.

In the doctrine of dependent origination or co-arising the conditioning of Samsara is related. One thing leads to another is the basic premise. That seems to be the premise of most of Buddhist doctrine from karma to rebirth as well as the 4 Noble Truths and the realms described within the Abhidharma. Everything comes from something before and carries on to something beyond. The only end as described in Buddhist doctrine is to end ignorance.  Returning to the point of origin and understanding it’s meaning.

And what is dependent co-arising? From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications. From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness. From consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form. From name-&-form as a requisite condition come the six sense media. From the six sense media as a requisite condition comes contact. From contact as a requisite condition comes feeling. From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving. From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance. From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming. From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth. From birth as a requisite condition, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origination of this entire mass of stress & suffering. 

“And what is ignorance? Not knowing stress, not knowing the origination of stress, not knowing the cessation of stress, not knowing the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress: This is called ignorance.

Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta: Analysis of Dependent Co-arising

When we reach the end of something or the loss of something there is often a state of loss or grief that needs to be dealt with. In psychology there have been many theories posited about the grieving process. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ Five Stages of Grief are probably the most well known.

The discipline of psychology has been interested in grief and loss for many decades. There are specially qualified grief counselors for this purpose. Perhaps there needs to be specially qualified “desire” counselors as well.

Grief is a time of adjustment. We must acquaint ourselves with an alteration of circumstances and re-orient our lives to account for that alteration.  It is an acquaintance that takes time and energy and does cause some amount of discomfort simply because we are human.

When one is free from passion, desire, love, thirst, fever, & craving for form, then with any change & alteration in that form, there does not arise any sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, or despair… Seeing this benefit, our teacher teaches the subduing of passion & desire for form… for feeling… for perception… for fabrications.

Devadaha Sutta: At Devadaha

This is not to say we need to become inhuman automatons in order to deal with grief and loss.  The passage above contains the suggestion that a subduing of passion and desire is beneficial in later dealing with change and alteration. It does not say there is an eradication of it. And it does not say change will not occur. What is advocated is a reasonable stance towards excessiveness.

We have form. We have feelings. We have perception. All due to our human birth. In dealing with loss exaggerating or distorting these things with fantasy and simply being them are two different things.

In dialogue there appears a difference between types of loss, that is situations involving material objects and situations involving living beings. Although I have met people who were more invested and showed more concern for the denting of their cars than in the death of a relative or friend.  Such an arrangement of priorities is a little alien to me. There is an ad currently running on Indian television with the well known actress Priyanka Chopra about a new brand of cell phone.   The last line states,  “It’s not just a phone it’s who we are.”

Here’s a copy of it on YouTube:

With relation to objects the more one has investment in personally identifying with those objects the stronger the loss reaction becomes:

• my whole life was on my phone
• I can’t do anything without my car
• I can’t live without my…

There are a lot of variations on the theme.  Tying identity to objects is a common practice.  Ownership becomes about my identity as projected through an object or relationship. Such phrases as “a man’s home is his castle”  come to mind. The concept of shelter is tied directly to an ego boosting concept of kingship.  Is it really “who we are” ?

Consider the crime of identity theft. If someone steals your stuff, including your name are they really stealing who you are? If so, who are you beyond that stuff?  Is “stuff” worth grief?

With regard to people I am reminded of a story I heard some time ago. A young man was scheduled to go to a retreat in Europe. This happened to coincide with the time his father was dying. Rather than sit vigil with his father in his last moments the young man decided to attend the retreat supposedly in a demonstration of non-attachment.  This is not non-attachment it is denial. It is not a compassionate way of doing things. It is cruel both towards the father and towards himself. It is selfish, misguided and a misrepresentation of non-attachment. It is an act of defiance against reality and ego pride. Even if there were family issues, to use a Buddhist concept as an excuse is still denial.

There are irrational and rational dialogues when one is confronted with the loss in one’s life of living beings. The irrational dialogues:

• my life is over if he doesn’t love me
• I am nothing without them
• my life is now empty and meaningless
• How will I survive?
• this is senseless

More rational dialogues include:

• this is not what I would have wanted
• I feel disturbed/uncomfortable/sad
• adjustments will have to be made
• I will miss them
• I loved them then and still do
• I wish this hadn’t happened but it has and now I will deal with it

All these dialogues can occur simultaneously or move from the irrational to the rational as one begins to adjust to the new circumstances.  But it takes time. As we have taken time to collect and maintain  those close relationships and even though many of us come with a default set of relationships called a family upon birth there have likely been many years of familiarization with those family members, it also takes time to adjust to changes to that familiar grouping.

III Conclusion and Some Resources

Connection and attachment are two different things.  We are interconnected beings. We come from a birth mother and father. We have friends, relatives, possessions. We need interconnection to survive.  It is our context. There is the old saying “No man is an island.” and it is quite true. How we handle interconnection in terms of desire and becoming tangled in it or strangled by it makes all the difference in the quality of one’s life.  Attachment and clinging to attachments with fervor amplify suffering. Connection is an acknowledgment of the reality of our human situation.

And when that web of interconnection is disturbed we must adjust.  The more enmeshed one becomes with fantasies or delusions the more adjustments beyond those of necessity are required.  And if we try to deny the need for adjustments or cover them by apparent indifference we are still adjusting but not in a healthy way.

Desire is about the future and grief is about the past. Neither have any reality except in imagination and memory.

Addendum:

Barry Briggs made a good comment on the last post pointing out his thoughts that the other side of desire is aversion. Rather than comment there I will address it here.

In these posts I am thinking more of gain and loss. A little more materialistically.  A conceptual framework from the Star Trek characters world-view.   In the sense of commodification of the self, others and objects.

Aversion to me is also “anti-desire” but in a different sense. Engagement vs. escape. Attraction vs. avoidance. Aversion is still as tied up with the object with the same intensity. Both are tied to ego preferences. With loss, the object as we have solidified it and attached to it in mind is gone or radically altered so as to be unattached. Gone is gone and desire cannot endure. Neither can aversion.

It is like love and hate. People say the opposite of love is hate but I think the opposite of love is indifference.

So in this view desire is the anticipation and the clinging while grief is the aftermath.  Desire is a fantasy of gain and grief is dealing with the reality of impermanence. Still tied together but pivoting on the intersection of time, reality and the inevitability of change.

As well dukkha is such a big term it could well have more than two sides.  The breadth of it includes:

• Dukkha-dukkha (pain of pain) is the obvious sufferings of :

1. pain
2. illness
3. old age
4. death
5. bereavement

• Viparinama-dukkha (pain of alteration) is suffering caused by change:

1. violated expectations
2. the failure of happy moments to last

• Sankhara-dukkha (pain of formation) is a subtle form of suffering arising as a reaction to qualities of conditioned things, including the

1. skandhas
2. the factors constituting the human mind

Every one of these aspects has an element of desire as well as the potential for aversion, grief, longing, dissatisfaction, failure, disruption, anxiety, disappointment, regret, cruelty and disillusionment.  Plenty of fuel. Plenty of dukkha for everyone.

…..

Here is a video of Pema Chodron called Working With Shenpa During Meditation

Article in Shambala Sun on Shenpa by Pema Chodron

Article in Tricycle on Shenpa by Pema Chodron called Don’t Bite the Hook

Two Sides of Dukkha:A Dialogue with Desire

Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress [dukkha]: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful.   Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion

1.  Desire

In popular culture the Star Trek series has been very successful. That program introduced some characters whose principle motivation is greed. These Firengi have an elaborate code called the Rules of Acquisition. And these fictional beings provide an interesting case study in extreme desire as well as a framework by which desire can be broken down in stages and examined. From Wikipedia:

In addition to the Rules, Ferengi recognize five Stages of Acquisition:

1. Infatuation — “I want it.”
2. Justification — “I must have it!”
3. Appropriation — “IT’S MINE AT LAST!”
4. Obsession — “Precious!“
5. Resale — “Make me an offer.”

The five Stages of Acquisition may be based on the five stages of grief.

Using this framework in the Buddhist context we can examine desire in more detail.

1. Infatuation

Infatuation is the dream. It is the fantasy that ignites desire. And it is the hook that propels consumerism. In the Tibetan tradition this is akin to Shenpa. Pema Chodron has give a number of talks and articles on this element of desire and overcoming it. Simply put it is more than attachment even though that is the general translation of it.  Pema Chodron likens it to an itch caused by something unhealthy. And unattended it tends to grow worse.

As a bit of a cultural tangent, it is akin to “jonesing”. The slang term “jones” may have originally come from heroin users in the 1960’s according to Wiktionary. And the Urban Dictionary gives dozens of further slang words related to this sense of craving. There is even a Generation Jones, that is those born between 1954 and 1965, who were not actual post-war Baby Boomers but an in-between generation, that is characterized by:

Jonesers were given huge expectations as children in the 1960s, and then confronted with a different reality as they came of age in the 1970s, leaving them with a certain unrequited, jonesing quality.

In the sociological realm my speculation is that the popularity of Punk Rock and much of the anger that fueled it came from this lack of fulfillment of expectations both in England and in North America. And this lack of fulfillment also helped lead to the mindset that ushered in the escapism and excess of the 1980’s as an exaggerated over-compensation.

The infatuation stage involves a lot of talk in an effort to give concreteness to the dreaminess. There is little practicality or logic to this talk. It is an effort to cast around to build an imaginary castle from air on foundations of clouds. It says:

• that’s what I want
• that’s a great thing
• that’s something I can get
• that has a lot of meaning for me
• I connect with that
• that would be satisfying

In the Sammaditthi Sutta: Right View it is said:

There are these six cravings: craving for forms, craving for sounds, craving for smells, craving for tastes, craving for tactile sensations, craving for ideas. This is called craving.

The way to overcome it would be to recognize it as soon as it arises.  But most of us  only recognize a discomfort of not having relief from desire or craving. So the desire feeling moves on to something that gives credence to moving deeper into it.

2. Justification

This is a useful fiction in helping to assuage guilt and common sense and keep reality at bay when infatuation has taken hold. We know we shouldn’t do something or buy something or go to a certain place or meet a certain person but we do it anyways.

The dialogue begins vaguely and becomes more focused.  The dream is validated with the word “because”.  I want that because:

• it would make things better
• it would change everything for me
• it would give me something I am lacking
• my life would be perfect with that
• I could do a lot more in my life with that
• people would notice me if I had that
• people would respect me if I had that
• people would envy me if I had that
• people would want to be ME if I had that

It is an increasing abandonment of one’s own discomfort and an increasing reliance upon validation by imagined externals.  And it is an attempt to remake reality into one of one’s own choosing in which reality becomes a massive projection of ME.  There are so many thinking errors involved in this kind of justification from “magical thinking” to “attributive errors” . Psychologically it is an extreme state of cognitive dissonance. That means what’s happening in one’s head is not the same as what’s happening in reality.  One is constructing a false reality and a false ME based on false premises. It is the nature of illusion.

We make a list of reasons or excuses to justify our behavior.  With excuses in hand we move on from the mental fomentations to the actual outer activity of acquiring that special something that will change our lives

3. Appropriation

Because desire or craving is initially based on the fantasy that life will somehow be better if we obtain that special something or rid ourselves of that unspecial something, obtaining that desired situation becomes all important.

When the justification reaches a tipping point the activity expands from thinking and imagining towards the actual object or situation itself. Up until now the activity has involved creating an imaginary object and fetishizing it to the point where the desire amplifies enough to involve the actual object.

Sometimes one can come to some realizations at this point since translating fantasy into an actual situation comes with a number of roadblocks. And they can be pretty harsh. Rejection, lack of money, lack of availability or interference by others can all derail craving. If one can manage to see the situation as it is at this point in the best circumstances one can even feel relief.

But more often one experiences a sense of frustration. And the lower one’s tolerance for frustration and the higher one’s level of craving  the more willing one is to go to extreme lengths to obtain satisfaction.

Rent payment is delayed, time spent with one’s children or truly necessary items are foregone in order to “make things right”. Responsibilities are ignored, concern for others involved is deemed irrelevant and the pursuit becomes paramount.  In the realm of the most extreme, behavior can become psychopathic with no regard to means, collateral damage or anything but the objective. This is the realm of the stalker, habitual thief, Ponzi scheme frauds and serial killer. This is also the realm of ambition.

The dialogue becomes more practical but in a distorted fashion:

• it will be mine
• obstacles are opportunities
• try try again
• quitters never win and winners never quit
• I will destroy all obstacles
• I am the champion
• nothing can stand in my way

While a certain amount of motivation is required to provide for life’s necessities when motivation is primarily directed towards acquisition for purposes other than actual needs there is a disconnect between reality and what we imagine reality to be.

4. Obsession

Once the activity of acquisition has been accomplished there is the usually very brief honeymoon period. The use of the object or interaction with the desired situation becomes very frequent. This point is generally the “high” that accompanies relief from desire.There is a great deal of self-congratulations and one attempts to see the “goodness” of the object as a reflection of the “goodness” of the ego.  There is a lot of mental effort put forth to “prove” all the initial suppositions correct.

Self-talk is exaggerated and fanciful:

• now I am set
• now with this situation I am whole
• this suits me perfectly
• now I can be happy

All of this effort of acquisition is accompanied by even more mental effort to sustain both the rationale behind the acquisition and the validation of the self within as well as with external sources. One shows off their situation to all and sundry. Everything from wearing the new item of jewelry constantly to having divorce parties are meant to demonstrate the validity of the new status that has apparently been obtained.

5. Resale or abandonment

Perhaps this section could also be called disillusionment or reality starts to set in. It too is accompanied by a lot of rationalizations and talk that generally contradicts everything that came before.

• that color really didn’t suit me
• I wasn’t really that into the relationship anyway
• this isn’t quite good enough
• my image has changed since then
• it just doesn’t quite express who I am
• I think there is something better than this out there (and the cycle starts again)

In terms of time this stage is actually a pivot point on which the fantasy turns. All desire is future oriented. This final stage is the only one that relates to the actual present. If one were able to identify dis-illusionment they might meet reality where it is. Dis-illusionment can be one of the most useful states to encounter in life for there is a momentary space, a pause in the flow of internal fantasy. And there are a number of choices that can be made at that point.

One can continue the cycle and acquire something else, wallow in self pity, accept the reality of the moment, fall into depression over the unsatisfactoriness of unfulfilled wishes, try to escape from the moment, rage against the “unfairness” of life…all kinds of reactions are possible. The choice, if one were to view the situation objectively, though that is difficult, comes down to what is healthy and what is unhealthy.  It requires some amount of self-compassion. And an ability to self-reflect honestly. Both of these can be developed.

If your best friend came to you full of disillusion and disappointment what would you tell them? Some soothing words no doubt at first and then perhaps advise them on a different, more healthy course of action. Treat yourself the same way.

One of the many interesting parts of the Pali Canon is Therigatha Verses of the Elder Nuns which contains poems from nuns on their struggles, suffering and release from suffering.  In an interesting piece Susan Elbaum Jootla has collected a number of these verses and given a commentary on them. From her article Inspiration from Enlightened Nuns found on Access to Insight:

Even if the rain-god rained all seven kinds
Of gems, until earth and heaven were full,
Still senses would crave and men die unsatiated.

This article will be continued with a view of the other side of desire and that is loss and grief. It is here:

Two Sides of Dukkha:A Dialogue with Grief

A Few Photos Published at the lens culture Buddha Project

I made mention of the lens culture on-line photography magazine at least once before and their ongoing Buddha Project in which they accept submissions of Buddha images. The magazine itself is quite interesting. Their masthead states:

Lens Culture is an online magazine celebrating international contemporary photography, art, media, and world cultures.

I had submitted a few images a while back and they have now kindly published them as part of their collection

Buddha at Tou Lou Lake Temple Taiwan

Bangkok Thailand Funeral Statues

Fo Kuang Shan Temple Kiaoshung Taiwan

At Mindroling Monastery, Dehra Dun, India

Bangkok Thailand Temple Buddhas

I am not going to reproduce them here since it is well worth the effort to go and have a look at the 706 images currently showing there.

If you have some images of Buddha, in any sort of context from the monumental to the miniature, the local or the global why not submit them? It may take some months since they update that section  infrequently but it’s a nice collection and I find it rather interesting to page through and consider the diversity, detail and dispersion of Buddha images. And that people do take notice of them in whatever context they appear.

So thank you lens culture for including these images I captured and for the thought behind the Buddha Project.

Comic from Rubes

Rubes is one of my favorite comic series. Here’s one from their site Rubes

The Power of Poetry-Poem for the Rooftops of Iran

Please hear this voice from the rooftops of Iran.  Making poetry in the midst of chaos.