Saffron Days in L.A.

by Bhante Walpola Piyananda

  “The human is the highest living being in the world. In Buddhism, we believe that to be born a human is a very fortunate thing. It is only human beings who can discover the treasures within themselves and reach the depths of their oceans of potential.”

  “Bhante, what you’ve told us is very interesting. And I want you to know that, personally, I have no prejudice against you. But how can I believe what you are telling me and not go against the God I was brought up to believe in?” questioned Ana.

  “Well Ana, this will be my last lesson about the ocean. All over the world the ocean water is salty, right? The water here in Santa Monica is just as salty as the water in my homeland of Sri Lanka. By the same token, what you call God, I call good. I just add an extra o, but we both mean the same thing. In actuality, they are only different terms, but just as salty. Do you see? I believe that religious leaders everywhere, whether they teach about ‘God’ or teach about ‘good,’ work to help their people lead better lives. They all teach us to do good things and to be good people, thus leading godly lives.”

  “You sound cool, Bhante, and we like talking with you. When can we see you again?” asked Bear, who had heretofore been the silent one.

  “Please come to my temple, which is on Crenshaw and Washington Boulevard. Here is my card. I will be more than willing to answer all your future questions, about the ocean or anything else you might have in mind.”

  “Thank you,” they echoed in chorus.

  One by one they turned to Sara and Mike and thanked them for coming down to the beach that day with Punkie Monkie, as I would always be known to them. Then they turned and walked away from us, their curiously colored hairstyles shining in the bright sunshine.

  “Sara, I’m sorry our day at the beach didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to. I had no idea we would encounter such unexpected visitors,” I remarked to my friend.

  “Never mind, Bhante. I learned more about the ocean today than I would ever have learned if you hadn’t met these young people. From listening to you, I realized that in the same way as the ocean can never hold onto anything dirty that is thrown into it, I can’t hold onto the anger I feel toward my daughter. I need to begin practicing patience and forgiveness toward her or Mike will carry these feelings with him into yet another generation. I also think that it was a good experience for Mike to meet such unlikely individuals as we encountered here today.”

  Mike turned up to me and yelled, “Punkie Monkie!”

  Sara and I laughed out loud, then shook off the sand and started walking back toward the car. You might be surprised to know that all five of the beach group did in fact visit me at my temple, and three of them became my students. One of them even became a Buddhist minister and still keeps in touch with me.

  Let the discerning person guard the mind,

  So difficult to detect and extremely subtle,

  Seizing whatever it desires.

  A guarded mind brings happiness.5

  SEVEN

  The Balancing Act

  On the day of the full moon in May, Buddhists throughout the world celebrate Vesak, the anniversary of the Lord Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and paranibbana, or passing into nibbana. In 1985, I was graciously invited by my friend Bhante Seela to attend the Vesak celebrations in Berkeley, sponsored by the Northern California Sangha Council and the Buddhist community. I had known Bhante Seela since my days as a youth in Sri Lanka, and I was very happy to accept his invitation.

  I decided to make the trip north from Los Angeles with two of our resident monks, Bhante Sumedha and Bhante Nanda. As spring was upon the land, we knew that the vistas from the car would be grand. And they were! Such flowering fields we had not seen before.

  We arrived in Berkeley midafternoon, during the first meeting. The Sangha Council was holding a planning session at 3:00 p.m., and Bhante Sumedha, Nanda, and I had just enough time for a visit to the men’s room, which we learned was located in the basement. Bhante Sumedha and Nanda headed down before me, and I followed a few minutes later. Some of the students remembered me from a previous visit, and they stopped me to ask questions. By the time I got down to the basement I was in a bit of a hurry.

  As I walked down the stairs I noticed a woman leaning against the ladies’ room door with a strained looked on her face. As I approached to pass her, she smiled in a friendly manner and asked me if I was a Hari Krishna. This was not an unusual question for me, and I was never offended by the inquiry. But still, I was in a hurry to make it to the beginning of the meeting upstairs at 3:oo p.m.

  “No, I am not,” I replied in a bit of a rushed manner. “I am a Buddhist monk.”

  The woman quickly replied, “Oh great, then I can trust you.”

  For a fleeting moment I thought about the odd turn this conversation was taking.

  Then she promptly said, “Could you do me a favor?”

  I was beginning to wonder just what she had in mind. The woman had not moved, although I could sense her discomfort, and I was uneasily anticipating what might come next.

  Then she said something that completely threw me for a loop! “Sir,” she began, “could you please come to the bathroom and help me remove my pants?”

  I had never been in such a situation before!

  The look on my face must have startled her, and she quickly hurried forward to thrust her arms toward me.

  Standing before me was quite a sight, indeed. As she raised her arms, I could see that they were both wrapped in white plaster casts, up beyond her elbows. Then I immediately noticed that her dress was wet and that she wasn’t able to remove her clothing in order to use the bathroom. A wave of compassion suddenly overcame my hurriedness, doubts, and confusion.

  But what was I to do? I know that nature calls and that she desperately needed to use the bathroom. Poor thing, I thought. But how can I, as a Buddhist monk, go into the women’s bathroom and help her?

  The next day’s imaginary newspaper headlines flashed before my mind’s eye: “Buddhist Monk Found with Naked Woman in Ladies’ Room at Vesak Celebrations.” Oh boy! Then CBS news. Sri Lankan newspapers. Scandal. Security guards taking me away. Lawyers. Press conferences. All of that crossed my mind and snowballed into a complete disaster. But, then again, I couldn’t just leave her there to suffer!

  Then I remembered that there was a sizable gathering upstairs and that I might be able to call upon someone for help. I immediately asked the woman to wait just a moment, and spontaneously placed my monk’s bag at her feet. I quickly ran up the stairs.

  I spotted a Latin American lady I knew named Mary. She was the wife of a member of the Sri Lankan community. I said, “Mary, come quick. There’s a lady downstairs who needs your help right away!”

  Mary followed me immediately with no questions asked.

  We got downstairs and Mary sized up the situation at once. She quickly put her arms around the desperate woman and led her into the ladies’ room.

  The point is, it was important to help this lady in need and to feel compassion for her dire circumstances. But it was also important for me to remain clearheaded and handle the situation skillfully. If compassion had been my only guide, I would probably have become the monthly feature story in a number of national gossip magazines. On the other hand, if I had not sought to assist this poor woman, she would have been left in a horrible condition without anyone to help her. So thinking fast, and balancing all the outcomes on the scale at once, become the keys to creating results that work for everyone.

  There is an old story about how a bird is able to fly. If a bird has no wings it won’t be able to fly and will surely crash to the ground. Also, if a bird has no eyes, but it does have wings, he may be able to fly, but he will soon hit trees or buildings and will also crash to the ground. It is possible to liken a bird’s wings to compassion and a bird’s eyes to wisdom or skillfulness. A bird needs both wings and eyes in order to fly, and a human needs both compassion and wisdom, or skillfulness, in order to navigate the currents of life and be s
uccessful.

  The Buddha said that in order to be a responsible member of society we should develop the five faculties of: faith (saddha), wisdom (panna), energy (viriya), concentration (samadhi), and mindfulness (sati).1

  Faith and wisdom are a pair of faculties that should be developed equally. A person with too much faith but lacking in wisdom will become blind and foolish. On the other hand, one who has too much knowledge without the balancing element of faith will become cold and insensitive. Too much faith can cause one to become blind to one’s circumstances.2 I can illustrate this through one of my experiences.

  When I was a young monk in Sri Lanka, I lived in a temple in a small village. One day I was walking behind my teacher to visit a person who was ill. It is a tradition in my country to venerate Buddhist monks. Whenever a monk passes by, the lay people stand aside to pay their respects. Sometimes they approach the monks, put their hands together as in prayer, and bow before them. The people are happy to do this.

  This particular day, as we were passing a devotee’s house, a woman stopped sweeping the ground with her broom, came running toward us, braced the broom against my teacher’s shoulder, and prostrated herself before him. I chuckled under my breath at the sight of this blind faith.

  The woman had inadvertently propped the broom up against the monk’s shoulder, completely blind to the fact that this act was highly disrespectful—while at the same time attempting to pay her respects by prostrating herself on the ground!

  Too much wisdom and lack of faith makes one doubtful and unstable. One tends to question oneself in every situation. Therefore, faith and wisdom must be equally balanced.

  Furthermore, the second pair of faculties, concentration and energy, should also be balanced equally. Energy is more productive when it is balanced with concentration. The Buddha says it’s like catching a quail with your hand. If we use too much energy, the quail will be squeezed to death; if we don’t apply enough energy, it will fly through our fingers.

  On another occasion the Buddha had a discussion with a monk named Sona. Here he compared the balancing of effort to the tuning of a musical instrument. Sona was an energetic monk who meditated all day, but could not develop his concentration. Then he decided to give up his robe and return to his lay life as a musician. The Buddha appeared before him and said, “I heard you were a well-known lute player before you became a monk. Is this true?”

  “Yes, my Lord.”

  “When the strings were too tight, was the lute melodious and playable?” asked the Buddha.

  “No, my Lord,” replied Sona.

  “When the strings were too loose, was the lute melodious and playable?”

  “No, Lord.”

  The Buddha then asked, “When the strings were neither too tight, nor too loose, was the lute melodious and playable?”

  “Yes, Lord Buddha, when they are properly balanced, the music is sweet and melodious.”3

  Then the Buddha explained, “It is the same with our effort. When it is either too eager or too lax, the result of our effort will be lacking. But if we are to follow the Middle Path and develop balance in our mind, the result of our effort will be satisfactory. Furthermore, we should practice the Middle Path in all of our everyday activities, using mindfulness as our overriding guide.”

  Faith and wisdom, energy and concentration, are the two pairs of faculties that function best when in perfect balance. The fifth faculty of mindfulness stands alone and must be present every moment, whether or not the two pairs are in or out of balance. Mindfulness is the element that keeps the two pairs in check. Mindfulness is the ingredient in the formula without which the entire organism malfunctions. Mindfulness is the scale upon which the two pairs weigh in as balanced and function with each other in perfect symmetry.

  Thus, to lead a successful life, there must always be a balance between wisdom and faith, effort and concentration, each pair functioning within a state of total and complete mindfulness.

  Let one not neglect one’s own welfare

  For the sake of another, however great.

  Clearly understanding one’s own welfare,

  Let one be intent upon the good.4

  EIGHT

  Karmic Ties

  While I was studying at Northwestern University in Chicago, which is a Methodist-supported university, I lived in residential quarters called the Garrett with Methodist seminary students. My classmates were all amazed that I had a clean-shaven head and wore my thin saffron robe even in severe winter. I was the only Buddhist monk on campus, so I aroused curiosity wherever I went.

  One day on my way to the library, a young girl approached me. “Excuse me, sir. Do you mind if I speak with you?” she asked.

  “Not at all,” I replied with a smile.

  “My name is Diana, and I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of religion you belong to.” She had a very likable manner, and I appreciated her directness with me.

  “I am from Sri Lanka, Diana, and I am a Buddhist monk. I follow the teachings of Gautama Buddha.”

  “I don’t know very much about the Buddha. Can you tell me more?” she asked.

  I was very happy to meet someone who was so interested in Buddhism, so I proceeded to explain. “Gautama Buddha was born as Prince Siddhartha in North India, in the city of Lumbini in present-day Nepal. He was married, had a son, and lived a life of luxury, never even aware of the severe hardships and sufferings of his fellow human beings. One day, however, he went outside the palace walls and was confronted with the reality of life and saw the suffering of mankind. He decided at that time to seek a solution for this suffering. So, Diana, at the age of twenty-nine, he left his kingdom and became an ascetic, a wandering, penniless monk.”

  Diana seemed to be interested in the story I was telling her, so I continued.

  “He wandered as an ascetic for six years, following the teachings and practices of various teachers. During this time he also practiced self-mortification, causing his physical body to become weak and emaciated. Eventually, seeing that he had nearly destroyed his body, he came to the realization that neither self-mortification nor a life of luxury will help a human being on the path of purification. This realization caused the Buddha to follow what he called the Middle Path, which is midway between the two extremes.”

  At this point Diana said, “Did he have a teacher who told him about the Middle Path?”

  “No, Diana, at this point the Buddha had left all his teachers behind. The realization of the Middle Path was attained completely through his own effort and insight. One day during his thirty-fifth year, Gautama was seated under a bodhi tree and attained enlightenment. After this experience he was known as the Buddha, or the Enlightened One, and he shared the realization of his truth with students for the next forty-five years. He taught all classes of men and women, kings and peasants, never discriminating in any way.”1

  “So what is Buddhism, anyway? Is it only the story of Gautama’s life?” she asked.

  “No, Diana, it is much more than that. Buddhism is a philosophy, a way of life, and a formalized religion. Buddhism teaches us to develop compassion and wisdom and the ability to see life as it really is. Practicing Buddhism helps one improve one’s relationships in the family, as well as in the community. Buddhism emphasizes self-reliance as the means to achieve one’s goals. It teaches one to be tolerant toward other religions and to show loving kindness and compassion toward all living beings.”

  “Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me about Buddhism. May I have your name, please, so I’ll know what to call you if I see you again around campus?”

  “My name is Walpola Piyananda, and I am a student here, too.”

  “How can I learn more about Buddhism?” she asked, genuinely interested.

  “Tomorrow I have free time from ten to noon. Why don’t you meet me in the teaching assistants’ office at the Department of Religion?”

  “I sure will,” replied Diana.

  The next day, Diana visited me a
s promised. She seemed quite eager to hear me, and I did my best to make her comfortable in my office.

  “How do I address you?” she asked, smiling.

  “You can call me Bhante, which means ‘spiritual friend.’”

  “Bhante, could you tell me the essence of Buddhism?”

  “With pleasure. I will first explain the Four Noble Truths, on which the religion is based. They are

  The Truth of Suffering

  The Truth of the Cause of Suffering

  The Truth of the End of Suffering

  The Truth of the Path Leading to the End of Suffering2

  “Suffering? Do you mean that all of us are suffering?” asked Diana, not sure at all what this meant.

  “Diana, suffering, or dukkha, in Pali, actually has no exact English equivalent word. In my view, the closest translation would be ‘extreme dissatisfaction with circumstances.’ I will explain this further. If people examine their own experience, they will see that life is full of suffering, or of circumstances with which they are dissatisfied. The suffering may be physical, mental, or emotional. For example, it would be mental or emotional suffering to be separated from your loved ones, to see your aged parents in pain, or to face recurring financial or relationship problems. Examples of physical suffering would include pain associated with disease, disability, or accident. Even a small headache could be called physical suffering during the moment one is experiencing it.

  “According to Buddhism the direct causes of suffering are desire, craving, or ignorance. This includes not only the desire for the pleasures of the senses, but the desire to cling to life as well.”3

  “I have a desire to graduate,” replied Diana with a smile. “Do you think it is wrong to desire something like that?”

  “No, a desire to graduate from university is not an inappropriate desire, but it would depend on your intention as to why you want to graduate. If it is only a means to satisfy your senses and your ego, then it is inappropriate. If your desire is to be a good citizen, to help yourself, your family, and your society—then it is a useful desire.”