Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

42 LeesaS.Davis

as

‘dislressing‘

andon

being

told

by

theteacherthat

this‘wasnota

problem’

since

‘itwasthetimecommitmentthatwasmost

important‘reportfeeling

‘confused'

(personal

communication

2009),

Feelings

ofconfusionover‘whatZen

practiceactually

was‘

coupled

withthe

demandsof

largeryu

workloadsledtosome

‘peoplefeeling

overworkedand

underpracticed‘(personal

communication

2000).

These

‘widespreadfeelings

of

overworkandresentment‘

(personal

communication

2009)

were

compoundedby

such

problemsbeing

describedas‘a

personalpractice

issue‘

(personal

commu-

nication

2009).

This

blurring

oftheboundaries

betweenmeditation

practice

and

work

practice

is‘inline‘with

practice

and

daily

life

being

‘one‘butitsewed

to

place

the

responsibility

for

resolving

difficult

practicalorganizationalproblems

backon

theshouldersofthestudent:‘Whatdidit

meantohavea

practice

issue?

The

studentwasleftwith asenseof

inadequacy.

Whatwasthe solution?

To

practise

evenmore!‘

(personal

communication

2009).

Onestudentdescribes

thisas

a

“catch-22situation‘thatledto

feeling

‘constant

pressure

tobe

doing

even

more

practice,

i.c,.more

ryo

work‘

(personal

communication

2009).

The

‘catch-ZZ‘dilemmais

triggeredby

a

perception

of

meditationas ‘real‘

practice

and

administrativeworkasa

supportive

kindof

practice,

but

ultimately

secondary.

In

her

study

ofDiamond

Sangha

Zen

groups

in

Australia,Spuler

notes

asimilar

perceptionamong

students.Diamond

Sanghagroups

haveatwo-tiered

structure

consisting

ofanadministrativecouncilorboardandadharrna

group

to

support

the

teacheranddealwith

practice

matters.

Spuler

observesthat‘the

differencebetween

administrationand

practice

isdifficulttodefine‘and

quotes

onestudent

referring

totensionsthatarosebetweenthosetwo

groups,

‘becauseone

group

was

doing

allthe

organization

andtheother

group

was

doing

allthe

teaching.

It

got

tobeabitlikethose

ofthe

spiritualpeopleup

thereandthesearethemundane

people

downhere‘

(Spuler

2003:

68).

inJikishoan‘s

case,

the

spiritual/mundane

dilemma”

hasledtothe

development

of

a.

systemwhereby

‘volunteerhours‘and

‘ptactice

hours'are

separately

tallied

to

give

studentsthe

opportunity

to‘strikeabalance‘,To

myknowledge,

thisisan

originalmove,

all

themore

interesting

becauseit

acknowledges

thatvolunteer/

administrativeworkand

meditationare

spiritually

difi‘erent

7

perhaps

if

only

in

degree,

Alsoitisan

important‘policy‘change

indirect

response

tostudentdifii—

culties,Thisinnovativemoveisnow

describedinmoredetail.

Taking

rootindifferentsoil:

adaptations

andinnovations

In

Jikishoan‘s

lO~yearhistory.practice

andadministrativestructureshave

steadily

evolved.

forthemost

part

withouttoo

manystrikingadaptations.

Inan

organic

ational

sense.

theSoto

rye

structure

adaptsvery

welltowesterncommitteestnrctures

and,

ina

practice

sense,

EkaiKorematsu

generally

adherestotraditionalformsand

procedures.

albeitwithsometoleranceand

patience

forhis

‘young‘laysangha.

(It

shouldbenotedthatheisalsoa‘newcomer‘toAustraliaandis

personallyadapting

toAustralian
culltu'e.)However,

attentioncanbedrawntosomerelevantissuesin

Jikishoan‘s
particular

caseandin

LhebroaderAustraliancontext.

SotoZenin

Australia 43

Thelackofa

permanent

basemeansthatJikishoan

oflenneedstousefacilities

belonging

toother

organizations

andthusneeds

tointeractwithotherBuddhist

and

communitygroups.

Indeed,

the

plurality

of

Buddhisttraditions inAustralia

that

places

different

Buddhist

groups

inreasonable

proximity

tooneanothermeans

thatBuddhistsof

varioustraditionshavebecome

neighbours

(a

featurecommon

towestern

settings

buta

rarity

inAsia

7

Baumann

2001:

Z)

andthishasbenefited

Jikishoan Over

the

years.

the

community

has

forged

connectionswith

other

organizationsincluding

‘twoTibetan Buddhists

groups;

aVietnameseBuddhist

group;

ashiatsu

trainingcollege

anda

yoga

centre‘

(Hutchison

2004:

28),

These

linkshave

openedup

teachingpossibilities

forEkai

Korematsuandhave

brought

newmemberstothe

group.

Incommonwith

many

Zen

groups

inthe

west.

Jikishoan

hastaken

steps

to

promote

amore

sociallyengaged

Buddhismviaanoutreach

Buddhist

chaplaincy

program

in

prisons

and

through

Ekai-osho

teaching

ch

meditation ina

drug

rehabilitationcentreinMelbourne.

Theseinitiativesarestill

inthe

earlystages

and

are

inspiredby

thevariousoutreach

programs

ofZencentres

intheUnitedStates

and

AustraliasuchastheSanFrancisco

[onCenter's

programs

in

prisons

andfor

thehomeless

(San

FranciscoZenCenter

2009)

NewYork—based

Tetsugen

Bematd

Glassman‘s

sociallyengaged

Zen

PeacemakerOrder

(Zen

Peacemakers

2009)

and

Diamond

Sangha

BuddhistPeace

Fellowship

initiatives

(Sydney

ZenCentre

2009)

Jikishoan

students

generally

see

suchworkasthenaturalextension

ofBuddhist

ideasof

compassion,

serviceand

the

Mahayana

Bodhisattva

ideal.

The

problem

of

blowing

meditation

practice

andadministrative

workandthe

difficultiesthatstudentshave

experienced

withthis

has

brought

about

perhaps

themost

interesting

innovation

toJikishoan‘s

operating

structure.Attheeleventh

AGMin

2009,

the

secretary

(shojiryo)reported

that

a

system

hadbeen

put

in

place

formembers to

separately

record volunteerhours

versus

practice

hours

‘to

encourage

memberstomaintain

a

“healthy"

balance

betweentime

spent

in

volunteer

activitiesandtime

spent

in

practice‘

(Jikishoan

Ammo]

Repay-1200‘):

13),

Asmentionedearlier,

thisisan

original

innovation

prompted

bygenuine

distress

inthe

sangha.

It is

particularly

interesting

in theSoto

context asit

separates

meditation

practice

and‘work‘

practice

7

a

separation

thatSotoZenaimsto

negate

(both

in

philosophical

and

experiential

terms).

In

effect,

thisinnovationisadirect

response

to‘wherethe

sangha

isat‘

and,

intermsof

Jikishoan‘s

development.

it

points

toacertainconfidence

thatfoundational

practice

formshavebeenestab-

lished

enough

tobeableto

implement

adaptations.

Thismoveisa

good

illustration

ofBaumann's

categoriution

ofa

groupmaking

an‘innovative

self-development

in

response

to

challenges

from

thehostculture'

(Baumann

1994:

37).

As thisisa

relatively

newmove,

the

impact

onstudentsandthe

logistical

success(es)

are

yet

tobeseen

but,

forthe

purposes

ofthisdiscussionitcircles

back

totheissues

that

instigated

themovein

thefirst

place

andservestorestate

the

fundamental

Zen

question:

‘Whatis

practice?‘

Does

practiceonly

take

place

ona

cushioninthe

zendo'?For

example,

would

activitiessuchastheoutreach

programs

in

prisons

or

working

onZentextsfor

publication

inthenewsletterbe

considered

‘practice‘

hours

or‘volunteer‘hours?Or

cantime

spent

inacommittee

meeting

be