[Buddha-l] Bourgeois Buddhism

[Kobutsu Malone]

It occurred to me that perhaps this piece I did on the Kalama Sutra  
might be helpful in explaining my perspectives:

The Kernel of Free Inquiry

with commentary.


It is said that Siddhartha Gautama, while with the Kalama people, was  
asked how to discern Truth. His words are reported as follows:

"It is essential to doubt, to question all things deeply, to inquire,  
examine, inspect and experiment.”

“Do not rely on what another says, be they a friend, a monk, a  
respected teacher or even a sage.”

“Do not rely on what tradition implies, mainstream culture dictates or  
what scripture may state.”

“Do not rely on comforting beliefs born of favorable ideas,  
traditional views, logical reflection, careful analysis or deep  
pondering.”

“Only when you know directly - having put them to the practical test  
of free and active inquiry, of living, dynamic embodiment and  
experience - 'these things are destructive; when enacted they lead to  
harm', then abandon them. And - 'these things are liberating; when  
enacted they lead to emancipation', then abide in them.

“Come to know directly - through the crucible of your own individual  
life - the truth that certain actions, thoughts and feelings lead to  
suffering - your own and that of other beings - then your vision will  
become clear.“

“Awakened Beings, with purified minds and harmonious of thought, word  
and deed, are those through whom boundless, panoramic dynamic peace is  
manifest in every event, in every moment and in every place.”

“Awakened Beings are complete, in need of no hereafter, and their  
Awakening precipitates the Awakening of sentient beings all around  
them.”

Commentary:

The above distillation conveys the kernel, the seed, the veritable  
germ of life of the Kalama Sutra and forms the basis for our means of  
inquiring into the nature of reality itself. Here, laid out before us,  
is the foundation of the door of free inquiry, dependent on no  
authority, requiring no power-over dynamics or dominant relationship  
of any kind. These forceful words of the Buddha bring into question  
the very position of authority. In short, the Buddhist method of free  
inquiry is anarchistic; for authority and rule by structures such as;  
“ideology,” “mainstream culture” and “traditional values” are rejected.

We live in a materialistic world. It’s true we do, all of us at  
multiple levels, if we are in the car showroom looking to buy a car or  
a poor beggar monk eyeballing his friend’s mala beads. It goes beyond  
just material goods; it extends into our perception of spirituality in  
that materialism permeates the spiritual realms in the form of  
“spiritual materialism.” There are all sorts of “materialisms” and  
universally they involve some aspect of oppressive thought; some  
nuance of “power-over” “dominance” dynamics. The erroneous idea that  
mankind is predestined to dominate all species on the planet  
originates early on in some traditions. Such thinking has manifest  
into a techno-economic paradigm that has brought us to the brink of  
ecological collapse. Perhaps there is the possibility of approaching  
living in the real world from a slightly different perspective, that  
of recognizing our interrelatedness with our fellow beings, our  
community, our environment, this is “free inquiry” level examination.  
Perhaps materialism and its dominance driven engine have had their run  
and are in decline.

I cannot answer these questions with authority, most assuredly! It’s  
up to you to make sense, or not, out of it. Sometimes all we can do is  
keep awake and avoid falling into the value judgment trap around  
worrying over how our behavior might be this or that… sometimes a  
swift kick in the pants or an aggressive scowl is Bodhisattva  
activity. Holding such an attitude levels the playing field and  
enables one to relate in terms that can possibly be understood in an  
alternative value system. Sometimes being “nice” is not the way to  
proceed in relating to an oppressor; sometimes confrontation is  
unavoidable.

James Baldwin proposes that, “Confrontation doesn't always bring a  
solution to the problem, but until you confront the problem, there  
will be no solution.” Fredrick Douglass amplifies: “Power concedes  
nothing without demand.” Furthermore, Paulo Freire challenges us with,  
“Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the  
powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral." So  
there can be no simple answer from any authority, no great wisdom  
teaching to impart at all. We are left with nothing to do except stand  
on our own two feet and figure it out for ourselves.