Paul and I were discussing my background in Buddhist studies and somewhere along the way one of us noted that Dr. Sponberg (aka, Saramati<\/span>, his ordination name) is a member of the Western Buddhist Order and Paul asked something to the effect of, \u201cand where do you throw your hat?\u201d<\/p>\n My response was that I don\u2019t throw <\/span>my hat anywhere. I have practiced with virtually every major Buddhist tradition at one time or another, and the closest I\u2019ve come to throwing my hat anywhere was probably with the FWBO (but even that would have been a half-hearted hat toss), or with Geshe Michael Roach\u2019s<\/a> teachings in the Tibetan Gelug tradition<\/a>. I\u2019ve all but ruled out the FWBO at this point for reasons I won\u2019t go in to now, but the local FWBO center is still where I\u2019ll go for my \u2018Sangha\u2019 nights. My karmic connection<\/span> to Geshe Michael is still very strong (I highly <\/span>recommend his course on Shantideva\u2019s \u201cGuide to the Bodhisattva\u2019s Way of Life\u201d<\/a>), but I\u2019ve chosen a path (academia) that keeps me at a distance from Geshe Michael and his teachings at least for the time being.<\/p>\n Part of that path, and part of philosophy in general, is the demand that we each know for ourselves what it is we might claim to be good, true, or beautiful. We can be thought of as standing firm<\/span> on our knowledge (be it empirical, rational, phenomenological, etc) and moving forth only methodically from there. This is contrary to religious<\/span> motivations, where <\/span>we throw <\/span>our hat, or take a leap of faith<\/span><\/span> into this or that tradition. <\/p>\n I\u2019ve met countless Buddhists all too willing to throw their hat into this tradition or that. And it worries me. On the one hand I recognize the power of tradition to move an individual forward on a spiritual path: clear direction, discipline, kind guidance, a safety-net in case of crisis, social networking, and so on. Philosophers need all of this too, and, to an extent, have it. My difficulty, my worry, is that I\u2019ve also seen countless people hurt by the traditions they\u2019ve so thrown <\/span>themselves into (I\u2019ve never seen anyone hurt by the realization that their favorite philosopher\/philosophy is flawed). <\/p>\n This happens when the aim of the tradition, the spiritual advancement of each of its individual members, becomes secondary <\/span>to other interests (the comfort or reputation of the leader(s), financial or geographical growth, acquisition of precious\/holy objects, etc). This can only<\/span> happen if members uncritically see the higher-ups in the tradition as somehow beyond human flaws, to be a perfect embodiment of practical wisdom, or phronemos<\/span> (the person <\/span>who lies at the heart of Aristotelian ethics). Once they do this, it is all too easy to just give up<\/span> their critical faculties, their judgment of what is right and wrong, questioning what is spiritual progress and what is conceit and delusion. <\/p>\n That giving up, that surrender can sometimes be<\/span> spiritual progress (if you\u2019re a bit too full of yourself, for instance), but it mustn\u2019t be an end in itself. You cannot live a whole life of surrender to any tradition or leader. You cannot give up that freedom which makes you human \u2013 it will <\/span>come back. You will doubt yourself, your tradition, your leaders. To suppress that doubt, when it arises naturally, is to live a life not merely of surrender, but submission, subservience, and ultimately sub-humanity. <\/p>\n So my advice is that you don\u2019t ever throw <\/span>your hat, anywhere, but instead hold it and yourself as open<\/span> to the world. If ever you enter a tradition (yes, even<\/span> academia), do so half-heartedly, or rather, with a still-open-heart. Enter the tradition for your<\/span> spiritual growth<\/span>, not to be a part of something. Most of all, never allow yourself to be closed off from other<\/span> traditions \u2013 never believe in claims to being unique<\/span> holders of truth, unique <\/span>paths to salvation or awakening or happiness. Maintaining openness is not easy, it takes discipline, some kind guidance, and often the help of friends. But openness is a path with a direction only you can know.<\/p>\n I write this in partial response to a question casually posed to me by Paul Dietrich, the head of the Religious Studies department here at UM. I had been invited to his office to discuss the possibility of my taking on the Buddhism teaching for the department. The current professor and my mentor of sorts, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7907151-114935953558191323?l=americanbuddhist.blogspot.com\")