Dhammam Saranam Gacchami

[ornoth]

Well, it took me six months, but I finally plowed my way through the 1200-page “Majjhima Nikaya: The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha”, as well as “Pressing Out Pure Honey”, Sharda Rogell’s commentaries on each of the 152 suttas.

Aside from the comparatively tiny, hundred-page Dhammapada, this is the first time I’ve read any of the Buddha’s teachings directly. Most of my prior learning has come from dharma talks, often via podcast. The Majjhima Nikaya confirmed my confidence in what I’ve learned so far, and also raised a couple questions.

But first, let me tell you what a huge slog it was! The suttas are incredibly, endlessly repetitive, presented in random order, and—as might be expected—are clearly not written for a modern audience. Last year at this time I wrote about having read 36 books in 2006: one book every ten days. Well, let’s just leave it by saying there’s a very good reason why this one book took me twenty times that long to read.

One thing I did learn was how important the jhanas—specific adept meditative states—are to Buddhism. They’re central elements in about a third of the suttas, which underscores how central they were back then; However, none of the dharma talks I’d heard really talked much about them, and even after reading the M.N. I’m still not very clear on what they are.

That’s a segue into another noteworthy item: how Vipassana taught in the west differs from old-school Buddhism. As it travelled, Buddhism always adapted to the cultures it entered, as can be readily seen in the divergence of Chinese, Korean, Tibetan, and Japanese forms from those of Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma. So it should be expected that American Buddhism would be a substantively different creature, as well.

And I have to say, I think the change is an improvement. Although Buddhism is largely based upon empirical testing, expecting individuals to observe for themselves whether its tenets hold true, the jhanic states and the Buddhist view of rebirth are more mystical in nature, and not well suited to a society that lives and breathes the scientific method.

Modern American Vipassana focuses largely on the very basics: gaining control of one’s mind, eroding the force of mindless habit, and seeing the suffering inherent in the cycles of desire and hatred. The cool thing for me is that it also provides an ethical framework that is logical, consistent, and not dictated by mythological beings (although sadly many traditional schools of Buddhism do operate in just such a fashion).

But the good news is that I’ve made it through that beast of a book. You’d think I’d have more to say about it, but maybe that’s just a measure of how tedious I found it. Mind you, there’s a lot of great stuff in there, but it’s like sifting through seven miles of beach to find it.

Now, after six months, I’ve got a whole list of books on my reading list, but I think I’m going to hit the absolutely least thoughtful of them first. I wonder if there’s any new Pratchett out…