ONE BESTOWED, ONE ADOPTED

Regarding my Buddhist practice, I find it increasingly difficult to label it as aligned with any single tradition or school. Having been raised in the deep south (thank you, Dad, for moving us to California in 1970 💙) within a conservative Protestant denomination (LOL…, twice, I just typed demonization… 😆), I am no stranger to dogmatic thinking and enforced rule-following.

When I discovered Buddhism (about a decade after leaving the tribe) and started devouring dharma books from across its spectrum of traditions, I was drawn primarily to the Zen schools, Soto Zen specifically, perhaps due to its Japanese aesthetic, which appealed to my minimalist preferences. I also think it’s because I was deeply impacted by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi’s book, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind; it knocked me over from an intellectual and spiritual perspective. It was also because the books that impacted me most in those first few years were written by Zen practitioners, especially from the Soto Zen school.

I’ll never forget reading Roshi Steve Hagen’s Buddhism Is Not What You Think and Buddhism Plain and Simple for the first time. The sheer elation of their discovery remains a very special memory, undoubtedly because of my beginner’s mind. Likewise, my first reading of Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, a writing and Zen study memoir, was equally transformative.

The title of this column/letter may foreshadow the reality that the only descriptor that is close to describing my practice is ZENish. I currently study under an excellent teacher, trained in the Thai Forest tradition of Ajahn Chah. Still, I am nourished by the teachings of a Soto Zen teacher in Portland, OR who offers a podcast that feeds my ZENish side. I still drop into her Tuesday evening Cloud Zendo on occasion. Most mornings I sit zazen with the San Francisco Zen Center online, and with my Theravada group via Zoom a bit later.

That Brings Me to the Topic of Dharma Names

Typically, a lay practitioner is given a Dharma name by a root teacher as a symbol of having committed to the Buddhist path, and usually, this occurs in a ceremony dedicated to this recognition.

Jigme - Fearless

In December of last year, after studying Tibetan Buddhism with Lodro Rinzler for a couple of years, I attended a virtual ceremony marking my taking the vows of refuge as a Buddhist. If there is a way of officially becoming a Buddhist, this is typically how one goes about it.

One takes refuge in the Buddha (his example of fully awakening in this life), in the Dharma (the teachings left behind by the Buddha and other Buddhist teachers), and in the Sangha (the community of Buddhists locally and around the world).

The photo above is of H.E. Dza Kelung Rinpoche, a Tibetan Dharma teacher based in Whidbey Island, WA, and the root teacher of Lodro Rinzler, one of my Dharma teachers - kindly taken by Lodro Rinzler at the moment Rinpoche gave me the Dharma name, Jigme (fearless).

I also completed a precepts course of study at Ocean Gate Zen Center in Capitola, CA before relocating to the Pacific Northwest in 2022. However, the next step was delayed due to extended COVID flares across California, and we didn’t begin sewing a rakusu (a bib-like garment that symbolizes the Buddha’s robes… see the image below) that completes the prerequisites before the Jukai ceremony where one is given two Japanese Dharma names by one’s teacher.

From Wikipedia: “The rakusu represents the garments the Buddha put together to wear after leaving his palace to seek enlightenment. According to Buddhist tradition, Siddhārtha left the palace where he was a prince and collected rags from trash heaps, funeral pyres, and various other places.[3] He then cleaned the rags by rubbing them in saffron, which gave his robes an orange-golden appearance.”

It’s important to note that neither a Dharma name nor sewing a rakusu is a requirement for pursuing the Buddhist path. They are each, when you think about it, nothing more than symbolic and traditional baubles, but they also take on a deeper meaning for some. However, for reasons I don’t thoroughly understand, both have become important to me at this juncture in my Buddhist journey.

In a way, I found myself astride the Hinayana and two Mahayana Buddhist traditions (now, there’s a visual) but only recognized by one. My morning meditation group is Theravada, and there is no formal sangha other than the online group. In my experience, it is a minimalist form of Buddhism as compared to the Zen and Tibetan traditions, that:

From Wikipedia: “aims to preserve the version of Gautama Buddha's teaching or Buddha Dhamma in the Pāli Canon...”

Rebel Scum

As I've mentioned, my heart resonates with Soto Zen, but I cannot embrace everything Soto Zen puts forth as essential for its followers. It is evidence of my nature as -many a Storm Trooper has phased it- rebel scum. 😎