dharma

What the Buddha Taught
The Buddha taught how to achieve "safety, peace, happiness, tranquility."
This is a very scholarly work, and extremely complete, and straight from the most ancient texts, written by one of the most elevated members of the Order. (Sangha, the Order of Monks.)
used for $3
In short, I am not good at many things, but I am very good at picking things. I decided to look for a book on Buddhism. I went to Changing Hands Books, found the section on Buddhism, looked for ten minutes at the titles, and picked, really by luck, the one complete text. Once I had taken it out, though, I could tell.
I am fifty five years old. I come from a Jewish father and a Christian Pagan mother. They are naive people, not religious and barely philosophical. They are scholastic, though. That's where my ethic comes from. At any rate, out of this it came to pass that in my twenties I found myself very much drawn so Buddhism, but through an indirect route. I found myself very much drawn to a school originated by an Asian person, an Asian school teaching in the West. The doctrine was fundamentally Taoist, but one of the texts was titled Zen something. Without knowing almost anything more than that I began to think I was a Zen master.
Completely by chance I got a job in a Sushi house.
Then, completely by chance, I married a Japanese girl. She is rather casual in her religiosity, though not entirely disinterested, or unobservant, either. For nostalgia's sake she sought out a Zen community, which turned out to be, though it was entirely American (except for the head monk, who was entirely Japanese), very traditional. The right stuff.
So, I practiced with them, a little. So I know a little of that. Early in the morning, you go into the meditation hall and take a seat on a cushion. It's all very proper, simple, and serene. There's a statue of the Buddha. Tea is served. Then there's a ringing of bells, and you all chant sutras together. Then incense is lit, it's very lovely, and you sit, and it's very hard. You walk a little. Then you sit some more. Then you either hurry off to work, or you do a little work at the temple.
Now it is still very early, and you are awake, and in town, with the whole day, including even the early morning, before you.
It is my observation, however, that almost all the active participants are attracted to it by some sort of abstract notion - seeking salvation, in the abstract, or the pomp and ceremony. They are seeking pomp and ceremony, which is, I would say, a path to something, but they are not much aware of what it is a path to.
The old master, who was, beyond question, the real deal, visited often. These were serious occasions. They were trials. He could say something in a talk that would go straight to your core, and actually change you. That happened to me.
However, he was not making complete sense.
To my mind, books, art, and architecture were not emphasized as much as they ought to have been.
I now have a book.
I have learned, from it, that to join the Order, to become a monk, you must have three robes and a begging bowl.
I am uncertain I want to take that route.
I am wondering - I have only read the first chapter, so I might yet find out - whether the Buddha taught that it was necessary to become a monk, in order to achieve the benefits I listed. Is there such a thing as a lay practitioner?
We laypersons were invited into the temple to participate in meditation, and in all the ceremonies, it seemed. It did not appear any distinction was made or that we were treated any differently. In fact the Roshi, it was reported, thought it was silly that anyone would be so eager for ordination.
And, in the end, it all falls apart. This is quite in keeping with what I am reading now.
On my last visit to the temple, we were mourning a loss, and maybe two. A monk was standing, in robes, very erect, extremely serious. Is that the way? I say they were not doing enough reading, and not enough thinking. Still, it was impressive. What instructions was he following?
Still, if you involve yourself in something like this, even if in the end you leave it again, and even if it ultimately does little for you, some day, later in your life, you find that it is sustaining you somehow. If you are lost, I think attending a retreat somewhere is not a bad idea. Just be dispassionate about it. Participate, do as you are instructed, keep your purpose to yourself, only debate points in private, in your diary, unless you can publish something. Keep an eye out for reading and writing, so you can absorb some of those skills, and do sketches and sell them for money.
Be interested in business. Don't be mislead by anyone who would question your motives, hearing you are interested in that. I am completely certain this is entirely Buddhistic, and that you will find the idea is supported in the texts. (If not, so be it.)