Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

44

Lees-uS,Davis

clearlydesignated

as

volunteerhours

given

thedual

practice/administration

status

ofalltheofi‘ices'l

Exactly

howthis

innovationwillevolve

and

impact

onthe

group

isan

interestingaspect

ofafurther

study.

Afinalissueto

consideris

adaptations

toEkai

Korematsu's

leaching.

Ekai—osho's

teachingstyle

is

friendly

and

direct.Inhis

discourse,

hestrivestostressthatZen

isnotso

exoticbut

‘very

concrete‘and

expresses

Buddhist

concepts

and

ideas

in

the

Australianidiom:

referring

totheBodhitree

asthe‘no-worries'”

treeandthat

Zenis

not

just

a‘she‘llbe

right‘”

attitude

(Korcmatsu

200l).

In

retreatdharrna

talks

(leirho).

hetells

studentsthat‘onthefirst

andsecond

days

of

retreat

youmay

notfeel

so

good

withwhatI

call

retreatjet-lag'

(Korematsu

1999)

or

allemalively.

that‘the

firstthree

days

of

retreatarelikea

detox

period‘(Koremalsu

2008:

6).

Attheend

ofretreatsheasks

eachindividual

practitioner

fora

personal

‘weather

report‘

to

gauge

how

they

have

responded

tothe

practice (Korematsu200i).

These

‘hon‘owings'

fromthe

specific

host

culture

(Australian)

andthebroader

hostculture

(western)

illustrate

Ekai-osho‘s

attempts

toframe

teachings

interms

thatAustralian

studentswill

readily

understandand

arealso

part

ofhis

peminul

acclimatizationto

Australian

culture,

Although

Ekai-oshowilluse

Australianidiomto

makea

point,

he

generally

adheres to the

traditional Soto

teachingstrategy

of

altering commentary

on

teaching

storiesand

dialogues(koan),

butnot

advising

studentstoworkonthem

in

meditation.Thisisin

linewiththe

Soto

emphasis

on

shilmnmza

(justsitting)

a

physicallypreciseyet

objectiveless

meditation

practice

made

paradigmatic

forthe

Soto

School

byDogen.

This

approach

isin

markedcontrastto

Soto

teacher,

Hagen

Yamahata.

whose

Open

Way

ZeninNew

SouthWalesisthe

only

otherAustralian

temple

affiliatedwith

Solo

headquarters

in

Japan.Hogen-san(as

heisknowntohis

students)

not

only

works

onkoanwith

students.

buthealso

sometimesextendsthe

parameters

oftraditional

koandefinition

fromthecanonical

casesofthemasters

to

includeelementstaken

from

daily

life.A

commonthreadthat

runs

through

Hogen»san's

formulating

of

koanistheidea

of‘one‘s

deepest

life-question‘

and

the

instructionthatstudent‘s

should

‘put[their]

most

importantquestion

intothe

sittingposition'(Yamahata. 1998:

ISO).

Buddhist

scholar.

Griffith

Foulk.

notes

thatthis

type

of

instructionisa

featureof

many

western

expressions

ot'Zen:

[Tlhe

ideathat

‘anything

canserveasakoan‘

is

prominent

inWestern

expres-

sions

ofZen

(i.e..

anything

thatbecomesthe

sustainedfocusofanexistential

problem

or‘lifecrisis'can

beusedasan

‘insight

riddle'or

koan)

[andis]

a

modern

development[forwhich]

thereis

scarcely

anyprecedent

forinthe

classical

literature.

(Foulk.

2000:

26)

Conclusion

lnthe

lO-yeardevelopment

of

Jikishom

the

community

has

successfully

estab-

lished

and maintained 3

Soto

religious identity

with

well-defined

teaching

programs

andtraditional

organimtional

structuresThe

Australianenvironment

*—

Sn/nZeninAustralia 45

has

proved

fertile

ground

forEkaiKorematsu‘s

teachingstyle

and

spiritual

aims.

Hr:has

enjoyedsupport

from

experiencedpractitioners

andattracted

newstudents

tothetraditionoFSotoZen.The

gradualimplementation

ol‘orthodox

practices

and

oraaniutional

structureshasmirroredthe

growing

commitment

and

mamrity

of

thecoremembersofthe

sangha.Adaptations

totheAustraliancultural

setting

have

been

instigatedprimarilyby

theneedtoaddress

problems

of

shortage

oflabour.

thevolunteernatureoftheworkand

practitionerdisquietconcerning

theneedto

balancemeditation

practice

withvolunteerorwork

practice.

Spuler

notesthat ‘mostoftheBuddhist

lineages

foundinAustralia

arealso

represented

inAmericaand

Europe[and]

indeed

many

Australian

lineages

have

their

headquarters

in otherWesterncountries

[hence]

itseems

likely

thatthe

majority

ofcharacteristics

would be shared

by

Australian Buddhism‘

(Spuler

2000:

39).

.likishoan

has

generallydevelopedalong

similarlinesandmadesimilar

adaptations

asZen

inotherwesterncountries. In

keeping

withotherZencentres

in the

west,

.likishoan

has

diverged

fromtraditional

Japanese

orientations

by

beginning

tohavewomen

in

teachingpositions.

byforging

ecumenicallinkswith

other

Buddhistand

religiousorganiuttionsl5

and

by

social

engagement

suchas

outreach

programs

in

prisons

and

teaching

ina

drug

rehabilitationcentre.allof

which

havebeenmirrored

inthe

transplantation

and

development

ofZeninthe

United

Statesand

Europe.'7

_

Whatis

particular

tothe

Australian

situation

arethe

demographics.

Australia

isa

large

country

witha

relatively

small

population

hence.

in

comparison

with

the

United

States,

there isa

smaller

pool

ofresources

,

in termsatstudent

numbersandfinancial

support

—

todrawfrom.For

example.

after 10

years

the

San

Francisco

ZenhadestablishedaZen

monastery

at

Tassajara

anda

city

centre

inSan

Francisco

through

studentdonationsand

corporate

fundraising(Chadwick

I999:

266,351),

Jikishoan

hasa

small

building

fundandafter 10

years

isstill

sometime

away

from

aFfording

a

permanent

base.

The

demographics

alsohave

ramificationsforstudents

as.

duetothefactofsmaller

student

numbers,

some

challenges

of

developing

a

communitypractice

arefeltmore

intensely

becauseof

greater

workloadsonfewer

people.

Less

opportunity

forfinancial

sponsorship

also

places

more

obligation

onthe

sangha

tocontributetothe

financial

well—being

of

theteacher

andthe

organization.

BaumannhasidentifiedtheinfluenceofGerman‘Protestant'

valuesinthe

early

transplantation

ofBuddhism in

Germany

(1994; 1997),

In the

culture contact

bflWeen

Japanese

BuddhismandAustralia

perhaps

therearesome

emergingsigns

of

Australianvaluesandcharacter

shaping

the

transplantation

of

Buddhism.A

Jikishcan

practitioner

advancestheideathat”Australiansare

generally

suspicious

of

authoritarianruleand

prefer

informalmodesofsocialconduct

andcommuni-

cation.‘

(It

is

perhaps

too

early

to

clearlyidentify

what

impact

such

‘values‘

might

have,

butas

Australianstudents

begin

toreach such

qualities

andworldviews

shouldhavean

impact.)

Allin

all,

the

relationship

between

religion

andcultureisa

complex

dynamic

that

configures

and

reconfiguresaspects

of

traditional

religious

forms

into

expressions

that

matchlocalneedsand

interpretations.

In.likishoan’s

first

10

years

therehavebeensubtleindicationsofthis

livingdynamic

inaction.