Rugged Interdependency - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

Golden Highways Revisited: 1998suitable to be up front and just call it Buddhist. Besides 90% of people interested inBuddhism or meditation have been disappointed by religion rather than hurt by it.It simply failed to make sense or be very important, that’s all.The upshot of this overarching fear of upsetting some people is that the presenceof the Triple Gem gets diluted beyond all potency. It’s accessible, but perhapstoo weak to help change people in the radical way that the Buddha’s teaching cando. By trying to be all things to all people, and to not offend any sensibilities intothe bargain, we are expecting far too much of ourselves.When Ajahn Chah came to IMS in 1979 he had much sage advice for those whohad founded the place and who were now consistently in the roles of teaching andmentoring. Amongst the many things he said, perhaps the most notable was:“If you wish to succeed in your endeavor here you must be prepared to challengethe fixed opinions and desires of your students (literally ‘to stab theirhearts’). If you merely present teachings that accord with your students’ defilements,telling them only what they like to hear, for a while many people willcome but ultimately they will vanish away and you will have failed, becauseyour words will not have enabled them to break free of samsāra.“Sometimes it is necessary to act and speak completely counter to a student’swishes – at first they may hate you for this but later, when they see thatyou only have their welfare in mind, and they also see that your advice hasindeed enabled them to let go of their burdens, they will be very thankful toyou. This is the only way you will succeed here.”All around Westchester County and on the run to Newark the lime trees areshedding their pollen – pale green dust speckles the edges of the roads and driftsin clouds onto our windscreen. The same soft, lush aura embraces the hills alongour way until we meet the marshes and factory complexes of Noo Joisy. Goodbyesat the airport; fond farewells and promises of future contact: “I will let you knowwhen I can next come to New York.”If you’re invited into the heart of the Beast to help catalyze a transformationwhy refuse? It was immediately after the enlightenment that the Buddha broughton board: a) his family in Kapilavastu; b) the Kassapa brothers, the most significantreligious leaders of the region; c) King Bimbisāra of Maghada; and d) King Pasenadiof Kosala. Get the power-holders on the right track and the lives of all whom theytouch will be bettered.Buddhism has seemingly always entered societies from the top and, oncecertain significant and influential people have developed faith in the teachings,then it naturally filters through and trickles down to all those whom they influence.Once the Buddha had caused such faith in his teachings to arise in the Sakyas, themost respected religious leaders and then the two greatest political figures of histime – King Bimbisāra and King Pasenadi – he had, in effect, brought the wholeregion under the scope of his liberating insights. Or at least those insights and spir-52