Karmic Asian Religions in America

1. Karmic Asian Religions in America Immigration Counter-Culture Integration

2. Immigration and Counter-Culture American-born people, usually not Asian-American, dissatisfied with their received traditions, investigate and adopt Asian religions. This action goes counter to their birth culture. • Immigrants bring their religious traditions with them, for reasons of continuity, belief, and support under new and difficult circumstances.

3. Immigration and Counter-Culture Counter-cultural access to Asian religions begins with translations of Asian religious texts, in the 19th century. Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Humphrey Noyes and the New Thought and Theosophical movements encounter Asian religions through these translations, and quicken interest in these religions. Asian immigration is largely confined to the Second and Third Waves of Immigration. Second Wave – Chinese and Japanese religions, principally at the end of 19th century • Buddhism, established in U.S. • Some Sikhs in British Columbia and Central Valley of California; some Muslims in Midwest.

4. The World’s Parliament of Religions, 1893 • The most important event in the counter-cultural history of Asian religions in America is the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions, held as part of a world’s fair in Chicago, Illinois

5. Immigration and Counter-Culture: 1960s and 1970s Youth movements and the counter-culture of the 1960s result in many explorations of Asian religions. Zen Buddhism, in particular, establishes an American lineage. • Third Wave – SE Asian and South Asian immigrants, in addition to more immigrants from East Asia, establish Hinduism and multiple forms of Buddhism in the US. Islam becomes established in most urban areas in the US.

6. Counter-Culture in Popular Culture George Harrison studying sitar with Ravi Shankar The Beatles, most significantly George Harrison, study Hinduism, so those ideas percolate through popular culture (consider, for instance, how “karma” and “yoga” are now commonly understood ideas and practices.)

7. World Religious Systems • There are three widespread cosmological frameworks - so far, we’ve encountered two of them • Indigenous polytheisms and nature-based religions (such as Native American religions) • Monotheism directed through revelation (Abrahamic religions of the book: Judaism, Christianity, Islam) • Karmic religions rooted in the ignorance/knowledge paradigm and meditation (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and most forms of Confucianism and Taoism)

8. Karmic Cosmologies • Karma literally means “action,” implying that all actions, and their consequences, are ultimately balanced. All action, though, embeds one in a dangerous web… • Karma creates the wheel of samsara: the cycle of birth-death-rebirth-REDEATH

9. Karmic Cosmologies • The wheel of samsara is a bad loop; like Groundhog Day, the repetition of lives is a vicious cycle one should want to escape • Having used this analogy for years, I was delighted to learn that Buddhists use it, too, as an example of the wheel of samsara • http://tips-stayingcool.blogspot.com/2010/08/groundhog-day-samsara-and-salt_21.html

10. Ignorance and Knowledge • What those in the west would call “sin” (and “sinfulness”) is understood in karmic cosmologies as “ignorance.” • When you put your hand on a hot stove, is that a sin, or a mistake? • If you burn your hand, you learn not to touch such places again: you’ve moved from ignorance to knowledge. • To paraphrase the great medieval Indian philosopher, Sankara, Action cannot destroy ignorance, only knowledge can

11. Ignorance and Knowledge • Take the same principle in relation to murder. Is murder a sin, or a mistake? • Even though your punishment for the mistake of murder might not be as immediate as a burned hand, that punishment is certain in a karmic cosmology (in which no one gets away with murder). It may take many lifetimes. But you will be punished.

12. Ignorance and Knowledge:Cultivating Knowledge through Discipline • When you understand this principle, you will want to escape the wheel of samsara. To do so will lead to enlightenment. • Yoga is a form of discipline that uses knowledge and control of the body to dispel ignorance • This is a contemporary sculpture of Siva as the original practitioner of yoga

13. Caste System Caste system may have been based on racial distinctions Caste system homologized to the hierarchy of the body

14. Two Versions of a Hindu Trinity • Brahma - Creator god • Visnu - Sustainer god • Siva - Destroyer/Creator God • Devi - a.k.a. Durga/Kali/Parvati - The Goddess - Sakti, energy

15. Atman and Brahman • The goal in Hinduism is to achieve moksha • Moksha = Enlightenment, and unity • Atman = the individual entity • Brahman = the immensity, the totality • Tat tvam asi = “That thou art” = the Atman is the Brahman • Meant panentheistically

16. Upanisadic Monism • Tat tvam asi = That thou art • Atman = soul; Brahman = the All, the Immensity • The atman is the Brahman, in the sense that a drop of water is part of the ocean

17. Four Ways of Yoga • Jñana Yoga - the way of knowledge • Bhakti Yoga - the way of devotion • Karma Yoga - the way of action • Raja Yoga - the way that combines all ways through meditation; this includes the bodily forms of yoga known in the west, and the use of the mantra OM.

18. Visnu (Vishnu) • Visnu is the deity who sustains the world • Appears in an embodied form when demons have gained too much power • These embodiments are called avatar-s; there have been nine so far, with one more enroute • Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, is one of those avatar-s • Rama, Sita, Laksmana, and Hanuman

19. Visnu • Visnu’s standard attributes include an umbrella of cobras, conch-shell trumpet for battlefield leadership, spinning discus representing time being sustained, lotus flower representing the ever-emerging life, and the mace to represent discipline and strength

20. Siva (Shiva) • Combines opposites: Erotic/Ascetic • Destroyer of the world, often seen as both creator and destroyer • Most famous iconic representation is Dancing Siva • Cosmic fire circle surrounds image • Fire = destruction; drum (damaru) = creation (time) • One hand signals “do not fear,” while the other points to the demon of ignorance being crushed underfoot

21. Ganesa • Elephant-headed deity • May demonstrate continuity with Indus Valley civilization • Auspicious for new enterprises • Remover of obstacles • Unites opposites • Attributes: Saivite forehead markings; bowl of sweets; an ax to cut through obstacles; hand raised in gesture of peace; opening lotus; and most famously, a mouse vehicle • A deity in the form of an animal is called zoomorphic (cp. anthropomorphic)

22. Durga • Other gods are so scared, they are hiding in the clouds! • This nine-armed goddess holds weapons and attributes • Note how her arms form a circle of movement

23. Durga • Form of Devi, the Goddess • Manifested to slay Buffalo Demon • She and her lion mount remain calm while the demon and its buffalo are slain - and achieve enlightenment

24. Hinduism in America • Enters counter-culturally first • Makes a deep impression through Swami Vivekananda at 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions • Counter-cultural forms include Vedanta Society, Transcendental Meditation, Hare Krishnas (ISKCON)

25. Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) • Follower of Sri Ramakrishna • Came to 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago • His speech one of the highlights • Established Vedanta Society in US and Canada

26. Vedanta Society • Followed teaching of Sri Ramakrishna (1834-1886) who claimed, through experience, to have proven that any religion, if followed dutifully, would bring enlightenment • “Many paths to the same summit” • Hindu sources include Sankara and bhakti mystics

27. Principles of Vedanta Society • 1) Truth is one; although known by many names. Likewise, God is One, although worshipped in many forms. • 2) People in their essential nature are divine • 3) The goal of human life is to realize this divinity • 4) There are innumerable ways to realize this divinity

28. Vedanta Society in America • Had about two dozen centers in key cities, including San Francisco, Berkeley, and North Hollywood • Attracted some famous converts, like Aldous Huxley (r), author of Brave New World, and novelist Christopher Isherwood (l)

29. Immigrant Hinduism in America • Third Wave of Immigration • Hindu Americans have had the financial and educational advantages to put money into building temples • Siva-Vishnu Temple in Livermore

31. Buddha (Siddharta Gautama) 563-483 BCE • Historical person • Dates debated; may have been as much as 100 years later • Founder of Buddhism • Synthesized karmic world-view with an ethic of non-attachment and compassion

32. The Four Noble Truths • From the Buddha’s own enlightenment under the bodhi tree • 1) All life is dukkha (suffering) • 2) Tanha (craving/desire) is the root of dukkha • 3) To eliminate dukkha, one must overcome tanha • 4) To overcome tanha, adopt the Eight-Fold Path (i.e. see the next list) • (Buddhism is enamored of systematic lists!)

33. The Eight-Fold Path I • This list actually reduces to three parts • First is wanting to reach enlightenment: • 1) Right Views • 2) Right Aspiration

34. The Eight-Fold Path, Part II • Second is wanting to behave in a manner consistent with reducing suffering: • 3) Right Speech • 4) Right Conduct • 5) Right Livelihood

35. The Eight-Fold Path, Part III • The culmination is disciplining the mind to overcome ignorance: • 6) Right Effort • 7) Right Mindfulness • 8) Right Concentration These are all technical aspects of meditation; there are some advanced definitions in The Debate of King Milinda

36. Impermanence • Impermanence is the major Buddhist contribution to world philosophy. • Everything originates from something else, so nothing is stable, nothing is eternal. • There is no Atman, no Brahman, no Self, no soul. • King Milinda mistakes Nagasena for his breath, which he calls “The soul, the inner breath” • Nagasena says “There is no soul in the breath” - only comings and goings (page 36)

37. Impermanence • The doctrine of Impermanence leads to the Buddhist discipline of non-attachment. • The best way to rid yourself of Tanha is to practice non-attachment.

38. Compassion • Compassion is the major contribution of Buddhism to world ethics. • If all of life is suffering, the one who realizes this will have infinite compassion for those caught in that suffering. • Nagasena says about the monks “Our going forth is for the purpose that this suffering may be extinguished and that no further suffering may arise; the complete extinction of grasping (tanha) without remainder (karma) is our final goal.”

39. “The self embodied in the body of every being is indestructible” (Bhagavad Gita, page 1018) “I am known as Nagasena but that is only a designation in common use, for no permanent individual can be found” (The Debate of King Milinda, page 32) Hinduism and Buddhism

40. “The self embodied in the body of every being is indestructible” (Bhagavad Gita, page 1018) Hinduism has the Atman, which has real and continuous existence “no permanent individual can be found” (The Debate of King Milinda, page 32) Buddhism has dependent origination and chain of causation: nothing remains unchanged Hinduism, Buddhism and the Self

41. Forms of Buddhism I • Theravada - (not Hinayana) - "The Way of the Elders" - associated with Buddhisms of Sri Lanka, Thailand, and South East Asia - stresses monasticism, meditation, arhats (enlightened ones) - understands the Buddha as an historic person.

42. Forms of Buddhism II • Mahayana - "The Greater Vehicle" - associated with Buddhisms of China, Japan, Korea - allows for a proliferation of symbols, images, deities, metaphysics, practices - stresses compassion - creates image of Bodhisattva: A sage who delays own nirvana in order to help other beings in distress - understands the Buddha as an historic person and as a philosophic conception.

43. Forms of Buddhism III • Vajrayana - "The Diamond Vehicle" - associated with Buddhisms of Tibet and Himalayas - elaborate techniques of meditation meant to lead to Enlightenment in this life - tantra includes the practice of yoga around taboos (meat, wine, sexuality, etc.) - allows for many other deities, the Buddha is understood as one form of "an ultimate protecting and saving power"

44. Buddhism in America • Enters first through counter-cultural methods • Japanese Zen (a Mahayana form) and Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhists present at 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago Anagarika Dharmapala Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka

45. Japanese Zen Buddhist Leaders in America • Soyen Shaku (1859-1919) attended World’s Parliament • D.T. Suzuki (1870-1966) most important teacher, shown here with avant-garde composer John Cage in 1962

46. American Schools of Zen • Japanese Zen - many avenues to reach North America • Now, there are many American-born Zen roshi-s, monk-teachers • Philip Kapleau (1912-2004)

47. Immigrant Buddhism in America • Second Wave: • Immigrants from China and Japan • Third Wave: • Immigrants from Tibet, Thailand, Vietnam, China • Many different ‘denominations’ of Buddhism exist in Asia • Some are primarily ethnic, others primarily philosophic in their distinctions • Many of these ‘denominations’ are now present in the USA and Canada

48. Jodo Shinshu: a.k.a. Buddhist Church of America • A classic example of tensions of immigration: assimilation and cultural distinctiveness • Japanese form of Buddhism, relies on Amida Buddha to relieve one from suffering • Statue of Amida Buddha from San Jose’s BCA

49. North American Buddhist Mission • Japanese immigrants brought Jodo Shinshu to • Hawai’i in 1889 • San Francisco in 1899 • YMBA – Young Men’s Buddhist Association • 1930 picture of YMBA and YWBA meeting in Los Angeles in Little Tokyo

50. Buddhist Church of America • Buddhist Church of America in San José, on 5th Street • For assimilation • changed name from ‘temple’ to ‘church’ • added pews, hymnals