Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

40 LeesuS.Davis

won‘tworkand

practice

doesn't shifiin

appropriateways’(Korematsu2000).

HereEkai-osho's

organicmetaphor

is

analogous

tothe

analysis

of

anthropologist.

Milton

Singer,

inwhichahostculture

ingestsforeign

cultural

bodies.

segregates

them,

breaks themdown into

useableformsand

eventually

buildsthem

into

‘cultural

protoplasm‘

(Bell.

2000:

3),

In

efifect,

Ekai—oshois

asking

his

studentsto

‘swallow

the

system

whole'

(Bell

2000:

4)

and

then.

onceitis

‘properlydigested‘

appropriateadaptations

and

innovationswillevolve.Inthisheisin

agreement

with

Soto

teacherShohaku

Okumura,

whostressesthe

importance

of

establishing

the

foundationalformsbefore

any

adaptations

canbemade:‘tocreate

someAmerican

forms for

American

people

practicing

Soto

Zen.

Japanese

formsare the

only

foundation

onwhichAmerican

formscanbe

developed‘(Okumura1999).

InSoto

Zen

practice.

both in

AustraliaandtheUnited

States.

thethntm for

establishing

a

solid

practice

foundationareretreats

(.resshin)

orthe

longer‘practice

periods‘

where

men is

practiced

intensely

and the

application

ofamonastic

structureneeds

very

little

adaptation

—

deed,

according

toEkai Korematsu:

‘[R]etreat

is the

forumin whichmonastic

qualities

aretranslatedintothe

lay

context.

Anyone

who

participates

inaretreat

gets

afeelfor

itjustbybeing

there.

Thereisn't

anythingyou

havetodoi‘In this

context,

he

goes

onto

say

that

communitypractice

needs

tobeestablished

‘slowly'

andthatthe‘essential

practice

anchor‘iszazren

(Korematsu

2006:

5).

In

an

example

ofhow

these”effects'are‘translated’

intothe

day-todayrunning

ofthe

retreat

and.

by

extension.the

day—today

administrationofthe

community

via

my

practice,

a

founding

memberobserves

that.

ina

retreatcontext.

the

rjra

organizational

arrangements

withtheir‘attentionto

detailandthefocuson

doing

atask

withcareand

humility'provides

a

‘perfect

example

ofhowtoconstruct

a

truly

etfective

organizational

strucIUre‘and

goes

on

toaddthat.‘inall

my

30

plus

years

ofworkin

large

and“well

run"

organizations.

nothing

evercameclose

to

the

beauty

ol‘the

ryoamngements

when

they

were

working

well‘

(personal

commu-

nication

2009).

Moreover,

according

tothis

practitioner.

themonastic

rynpractices

are

‘predi-

cated

upon

top—down

lines of

authority

and control

supponed by

detailed

documentationon

policies. procedures

and

practices”(personal

communication

2009).

A

system

like

thatassumesthat the

required

numbersofworkers

tie,

monks)

areavailable.Ina

laysetting

witha

dispersedsangha,

this

places

alot

of

prcssure

onasmallnumber

ofstudents.All

(va

taskshavetobecoordinated

betweenthe

ryu

leaderand its

members. If

membersare notavailable,

the

‘top—down

linesof

authority‘

meansthatthetaskfallson

the

ryo

leaderiThishas

ledto

some

practitionershaving

largeryo

workloadsandhas

placed

themunder

considerable
pressure

as

they

are

also

juggling

workand

family

demands.

Jikishoanmembers

repon

that

ryo

work‘couldbe

anything

fromafewhoursa

weektoasmuchasa
dayper

week'

(personal

communication

2009).

Thisamount

of
timeinadditionto

regular

.mnzenltar‘.

practicemeetings.

committee

meetings

andretreatshasoftenledtotensions
betweenthestudentandtheirfamiliesand,/

or

partners,

These

personal

tensionsare

particularly

difficulttoovercomeifthe

student‘s
partner

doesnotsharean

interestin

spiritualpractice,

Insomecases.the

Sn/u

Zen

in

Australia 4]

tensions

haveresultedin

temporary

or

completeseparations.

The

type

ofcommit~

mentsthat

belonging

toa

spiritual

organizationengenders

anddemandsareotlcn

difficultfor‘outsiders'

to

understandas

‘

monksina

monastery

are

obligated

to

undertake

ryo

worktaskswhereasJikishoanmembers

workonavolunteerbasis

motivated

bypersonal

commitmentto their

spiritualpractice

ortheir

personal

commitmentto

supporting

theteacher'

(personal

communication

2009).

In

layspiritualpracticeaccepting

the

policies.procedures

and

practices

ofa

monasticstmcturealso

implies

submissionto

authority:

not

only

the

authority

of

theteacherbutalsoofthe

7370

leaders.A

long—term

Jikishoan

practitioner

reports

thatthis

authority

wassometimesabusedandtherewere

‘instancesof

bullying

inthe

ryogroups'(personal

communication

2009)

butforthemost

part

challengcs

and

problems

centredaroundthefactthatthevolunteernatureof

theworkmeant

thatifitbecametoomuch

practitioners

coulddiscontinuetheir

involvement. In

this

context.

a

rya

leaderobservesthat:‘unlikemonks

ina

monastery.

the

ryn

memberswerenot

necessarilyprepared

to

acceptprescriptive

tasksand

top—down

requirements'

andfurthercommentsthat‘theAustraliancharacter,

beingsceptical

ofauthoritarian

rule.

meantthat it washard

tofindmemberswho were

hilly

committed

to the

meticulous record

keeping

and detailed

practice’

(personal

communication

2009).

Twocommonwestern

perceptions

(if/en

practice

arethatitisanti-authoritarian

7

‘outsideof

wordsand

scriptures

,

and

solely

based

onmeditation

practice

7

‘a

direct

pointing'.‘Z

However.

SotoZen

practice.

atleastinanenvironment

thataitns

toadheretotraditional

ways.

isstructuredonhierarchicalauthoritarian

principles

and,

although

meditation

(zazen)

istheheartofthe

practice.being

a

practising

Buddhistcannotbereducedto

simplybeing

a‘meditalor'.These

preconceptions

arethrowninto

sharp

reliefinJikishoan'scasefortwomainreasons.

First.

they

are

trying

toestablisha

temple

withallthe

accompanying

infrastructure‘fromthe

groundup‘

and

practitioners

are

required

tosubmittoa

'top-down‘

structureof

authority

andtocontribute

time,

skillsandlabourtothis

effort;

and,second,

there

tstheSoto

emphasis

onthe

‘practice

attitude‘or‘zazen-mind'thatshouldinfuse

all

daily

activitiesina

monastery

and.

by

extension.

everyaspect

of

lay

life.

This

emphasis

is

specifically

tailoredtoamonastic

setting

wherethereareno

outside‘distractionsfTheideathat

every

actionand

activity

constitutes

spiritual

practice

isnotso

easily

maintainedina

laysetting

anditis

perhaps

oneofthe

biggest ‘sticking points‘

that this

group

of

practitioners

have

experienced.

In

his

study

ofRin7aichin

America.

llorinotesthatAmericanZenstudentsalso

have

difficulty

in

'conceptualizing

their

everyday

activitiesandsocialrelationsas

applications

ofthccentral

teachings'

(l998:

63)

asthe

intensity

andstructuresof

retreat

practice

arenotcarriedover

to

daily

lifeand

they

cannot

easily

extendtheir

ideas

ofpractice

intomore

‘mundane‘

activities

(Hori

I998:

6L5).

InJikishoan's

case.

themaindifficulties

centrearoundthevolunteernatureofthework

andwhat

students

perceive

asa

blurring

ofmeditation

practice

and administrative

work

inwhichadministrative

workisalmost

givenpreference.

Put

simply.

emotional

tensionsarisewhen

studentsfeelthat

they

are

putting

moretimeintoadminis-

trationandnot

‘practising'

iie..

meditatingenough.

Studentsdescribethis

feeling