Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

10x Patrick

Kearney

namedafterhim

only

becausehehadbeen

appointedby.

andretainedtheconfi-

dence

of.

theBSNA.Oneofhis

successors,

Panditarama

Sayadaw.

lefttheMahasi

ThntanaYeikthuafterdiflicultieswiththeBSNAandwentontofoundhisown

centres

(lordt

2007:

226).'

Mahasi

Sayadawbrought

meditation

practice

toamass

followingbysystema-

li/ing

both its

practice

and its

leaching.Anyperson

withnormal

physical

and

mentalhealthcan

expect

tosucceedin this

previously

esoteric

activitybyfollowing

astandardized

technique.

The

teaching

ofmeditationwasalso

systematized.

tothe

extentthat

ordinary

individualswhocannotdemonstrate

any

unusual

powers

or

charismu.

butwhohavebeen

appropriately

trained.

cantransmit

vipassanapractice

(Jordt

2007: 3

l—2).

Meditation

practice

hasbecome

democratized.

inthatitisnow

availabletothe

laity

toa

degree

unknownintraditionalBuddhismandiniemation-

ali7cd.inthatthesamemethodcanbe

applied

acrosscultures.

Houtman

(n.d.: [$16)

listsanumberof

ways

inwhich

practitioners

inthe

modernBurmese

vipassana

movementunderstandBuddhism.Thereare

interesting

parallels

withthe

insight

movementin

contemporary

Australia.The

following

lists

Houtman'sobservationsanda

comparison

with

my

own

regarding

theAustralian

situation:

o

Burmese

vipassanapractitioners.according

toHoutman.

distinguish

between

an

inherited

customary

Buddhismandanauthentic

Buddhismreconstructed

fromauthoritativetextsand

experienced individuallythrough

meditation. I

find

a

correspondence

intheAustralian

insight

movement

tothedistinction

madebetweenanAsianBuddhismofethniccustom

and

a

westernBuddhism

foundin

meditation

practices

based

on a

retumto

the

originalteachings

ofthe

Buddha.

a Burmese

vipassanapractitioners

value

‘praclice' (paling/Ii)

and itsresulti

‘penetration‘ (painted/1a).

over

‘scriptural leaming‘ (puriya/Ii).

I find this

parallels

the

emphasisamong

Australian

insightpractitioners

onthe

importance

of

practice

over

study.

a Burmese

vipassanapractitioners

claim

membership. through

their

practice.

of the

‘sangha

ofultimate truth'

(paramanha sang/m)

as distinct

from

the

‘sangha

ofconventional tnrth‘

(rammuli

sungha).

limited

to

fonnall)

ordainedmonastics.

This

suggests

to

me

the

way

inwhich

laypractitioners

in

theAustralian

insight

movement have

appropriated

the term

‘sangha'

for

themselves.

often

dismissing

theordained

sangha

asirrelevantoreven

suggesting

thattraditionalmonasti"Sinis

morally

inferiortomodemwestcm

formsof

lay

association

(Buhna-Litic

and

Higgins

2007).

o Burmese

vipassanapractitionersemphasize

‘meditation‘

(bhnvanu)

overother

formsofBuddhistactionsuchas

‘charity'(dorm)

and

‘moraIity'(silo).

Ifeel

this

corresponds

tothe

centrality

ofmcditation

practice

intheAustralian

insight

movement.

which

appeals

tothe

efficacy

ofmeditation

practice

for

improving

one‘s

quality

ofliferatherthanthe

cultivationoftraditionalBuddhistvirtues.

.

Finally.

Burmese

vipassana practitioners

emphasize 'insight‘ (vipassana)

meditation asthe ideal

type

ofmeditative

technique.

as

opposed

to mere

—————fi

Transfln'mulionxoff/nigh!

10‘)

‘concentration‘

(ramalha)

meditation.

and

regard

only

theformer

as

unique

to

Buddhism.

Similarly.

Ihave

observedthatmembers

oftheAustralian

insight

movement

regard‘insight‘

as

theircentral

value.

andfinditlocated

withina

specificapproach

tomeditation

practice,

sometimes

supplemented

by

other

practices

such

asthesublime

states

(brahmu

vr‘haras)

or

psychotherapy.

WhiletheAustralian

insight

movement

hasinherited

theconcernsof

itsBurmese

predecessor.

we

alsofindnotable

difierences.InBurma.

for

example.

the

depth

and

ubiquity

of

TheravadaBuddhism

createsacontext

within

whichthemore

specialized insight

movement

finds its

specific place.

whilein

Australiathe

absenceof

any

indigenous

Buddhist

traditionhas

resultedinthe

insight

movement

largely

drawingaway

fromits

Theravada

origins.

seeing

itselfas

constituting

its

own

‘insight

tradition’

(Bubna»Litic

and

Higgins

2007:

15778),

Thesecultural

differences

arereflected

inthe

way

inwhich

insight

itself

is

understood.

IntheBurmese

vipassana

movement.‘insight‘,

or

‘insight

knowledgc'.

translatesthe

Paliwordrmmz.

basedontherootno.

‘toknow'or

‘tounderstand'.

FortheBuddha

andthemodern

Theravada.

Harmreferstoan

understanding

ot‘

thethree

universalcharacteristics

ofonicca

timpermancncc

or

change).

dukkhu

(suffering

or

unsatisfactoriness)

andanal/a

(not-self).Consequently,

withinthe

Theravadatraditionthese

threewords

7

arrive-1Ldukkhoand

arm/Ia

A

areloaded

with

meaning.

The

word.

‘impermanence‘.

for

example

indicatesthe

discovery

ofaworld

in

which

clinging

becomes

pointless.

as

anything

we

cling

to.

nomatterhowloved

or

hated.

vanishes.

When

nothing

can

bereliedonto

remain,

LeonardCohen‘s

Suspicion

ofhis‘inner

feelings‘.

and

hissenseof

inhabiting

aworldno

longer

defined

by

them.

make

a

great

dealof

sense.Theworld

becomes

mysteriously

open.

no

longer

restricted

tothenarrow

confinesoftheself

anditshabitualobses-

sionsa

place

where

anything

can

happen

because

nothing

is

entirely

reliable.

Herewefindanew

senseof

realityjoined

toan

appreciation

ofthe

beauty

and

poignancy

revealed

by

theinherent

fragility

of

things,

Incontrasttothe

depth

of

meaning

of

impermanence

felt

by

Theravada

Buddhists.

Australian

insight

practi»

Iloners

may

find

little

meaning

inthewordand

certainly

not

enough

to

movethem

toanew

understanding

ofthe

world.

‘Insight‘.

intheAustralian

insight

movement,

isa

vagueconcept.

Untouched

by

classicalTheravada

thought.

insightpractitioners

tendto

regardinsight

toreferto

anyexperience

thatsheds

light

onone'slife.

andin

particularany

understanding

of

one‘sown

psychological

processes.

What

is

important

fortheidea

ofinsight

isthe

personalmeaning

of

anygiven

experience

andsoitsfelt

potential

for

influencing

one's

way

oflife.Whether

ornotan

experience

fits withina

classicalBuddhist

context

is,

forthemost

part.

unknown

to.

andirrelevant

for.

the

practitioner.

This

isa

pragmatic.

secular

viewof

insight.

whichmakesthewithdrawal

from the

Theravada

tradition.

withits

religious

and

cosmological

concerns.

seem

entirely

natural.

llow

insight

is understood

affects

how

insight

meditation is

taught.

In the

Theravada.

thethreecharacteristics

aresubdivided into 16 mmas,

or

‘insight