SHAMBHALA MONASTICISM

Excerpts from an audience of monastics with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, Leader of the International Shambhala Buddhist Community
February 28, 2001

I have been trying to encourage our community to come together as a Shambhala and Buddhist community, or a Shambhala Buddhist community, if you like. We would like to have an environment within Shambhala that fosters many different aspects of the mandala, where each one can support the other. Somebody doing business in the world can feel a part of what is going on and somebody living at the Abbey or doing retreat there can feel equally a part of the whole situation.

If we are going to continue and survive and strengthen, the diversity of lifestyles needs to be accepted and understood at all levels. Lay people could develop a better understanding of and appreciation for monasticism. At the same time, the monastics need not hold themselves completely separate from the community at large. What you do can be inspirational for other people, and it can all bounce back and forth.

There can be a tendency for a monastic community to try to survive separately. But there is a way to realize there is an interaction taking place, and how the interaction works is very important for all that we do. How we approach monasticism has to relate to what is going on now. The forces of materialism are stronger. Therefore, I feel that having practice centers and having people who are there dedicating themselves completely to dharma practice is kind of a cosmic support for other people within the community. Because other people know you are there, they aspire to be doing the many things that you are doing there. Likewise, if one is in the Abbey, then one can feel some kind of kinship with outsiders, so there is an ongoing relationship.

It's very difficult when the monastic situation becomes too isolated. We were just talking about the possibility of having many more people taking temporary vows. That sort of thing could become much more normal within the community, such that at some point in somebody's life, they would have that kind of experience. Afterwards when they go back, they may relate to their life differently. They may encourage others.

Shambhala is rallying more and more around the notion of the Shambhala teachings and the Buddhist teachings coming together. I think that if we can be monastics and be Shambhala warriors; that is really what we are talking about. There is no separation. At the Abbey, some people are asking, "How do I incorporate the Shambhala teachings?" The Shambhala teachings have nothing to do with your lifestyle as such. They have to do with being a human being. The essence - developing compassion, developing wisdom, developing insight - is what is important.

In terms of our approach to monasticism in Shambhala, we need to be a little more integrated. Maybe having some monastics actually lead programs at other centers would be a good idea. Someone from the Abbey could lead a dathun at Karme Choling or RMSC, not as a hired gun coming in to do the dirty work but as an expression of the breadth of our society.

Our community can feel proud that we have kasung, and that we have monastics; we have all kinds of situations that allow people to practice and express their particular strength. For example, we have people who are going to be jingdak, patrons. They tell me, "I am good at business and I am going to go out and do this because this is how I can help. I just can't see myself giving up all my family, moving to the Abbey." You can't scold them, and say, "You are worthless." You say, "That is great." They are being realistic; they are being good donor practitioners by saying what they can do.

In terms of the Abbey, the mandala really depends upon the strength of discipline and the strength of the binding factor of having a place where we train together as monastics.

Question: Rinpoche, I think that encouraging people to spend a short period of time as temporary monastics is really wonderful. But we have to also encourage people who are going to continue the tradition. Those of us who have been at the Abbey for quite a long time are getting old.

SMR: You are obviously not going to self perpetuate yourselves, are you? [laughs]

Question: It seems not. How are we going to encourage these temporary monastics to stay on, to continue the monastic tradition?

SMR: That's like taster samples. When you walk through the mall (I would guess you haven't been to the mall recently), people spray the perfume on you or give you a bit of food. You need first to get people there. Once the small steps are made, bigger steps can follow. I think we are going to have to have some new tactics too.

In the old system, the monasteries went around and you had to give a child. That isn't going to quite work?unless you want to sneak in. [laughter] In a Tibetan situation, when someone becomes a monk, it is regarded as good; socially, it is a good thing to do. Here, it can be perceived that there is something wrong or it is a step backwards. We have to change that. It is a process of educating people. I think it is a world where success is gauged by how much we indulge, and in how much we get. So obviously, if you are going the other way, people can't understand it. And you can't blame them, because from the time they were very small, this is how they were raised.

The fact that you would even meditate, let alone become a monastic, seems like a waste of time for a lot of people. It seems like you have given up and you have found some way to psychologize your failure. This is the kind of situation we are in. We won't change that overnight, but we can start with trusting the inherent goodness of the situation, not feeling like we are trying to sell a bad car. This is a good car, you know. When they see our smile, they say, "That's a good car."

Within the Shambhala community, people sometimes like to tell stories of how the Vidyadhara gave up his monastic robes, saying that it was a big successful step. For him, from what I gathered talking to him over the years, it was a step that he had to take due to the situation he was in. But many times he said how he missed monasticism. At the time, he was sending a message: "We need to go forward and do something new." That doesn't mean that literally every single person should never wear the robes. And of course, you can hide within the robes and the walls of the monastery; but you can also hide in shorts and a T-shirt; it is the same.

Question: Rinpoche, I have always been very inspired about seeing monastics out in the world. It would be very useful to see them at other centers, as you suggested. How can we get those other centers to support monastics?

SMR: I think you have to make yourselves worthy, through knowledge, discipline and understanding. The thing with being a monastic is that you don't want to be a social burden, that is not the point. You want to be very, very industrious, in terms of how the dharma gets presented. So they would like to have you because you would be a real asset.

Question: Rinpoche, at the Abbey we have an older generation of monastics who seem to be indestructible but may turn out not to be indestructible. There is a newer group of people coming along who haven't been there very long. There is not an intermediate group of people. For us newer people who have some intention of trying to stay for a long time or maybe for life, I was wondering if you could give us any advice in terms of what to concentrate on?

SMR: I think there is going to have to be a basic level of education that people should have. And then they can specialize into becoming more studied, more practiced. That is just a natural course of events.

The generational gap exists in the entire community. We have many people who are very strong in their late forties and fifties. Now we also have a really good group who are in their twenties. But we don't have many people my age or a little younger, in their thirties. That's a bit of a problem because the younger people aren't quite ready to step in and do things fully. But the bottom will reach up, and the top will reach down. In the meantime, we can fill the gaps. What you are pointing to is not just a concern within the Abbey.

Thank you. It is good to see all of you here. Usually when I come to Halifax, there is not a lot of maroon around so I'm glad to see it. You should feel comfortable here. Just think of it as an extension of the Abbey. That's part of your confidence too, I guess. When you leave the Abbey and come here or go to Karme Choling, you don't feel like you are going to a foreign country, but to another room in my house. If you feel comfortable that way, that level of comfort is going to be demonstrated.