The appeal of adopting Buddhism in the west is the ability to pick and choose what works and what is suited to the culture and temperment of the people. Others might see that sort of "cut and paste" approach as a dangerous watering down of traditions, but the same process has occured in every land where Buddhism has taken hold. The Tibetans surely didn't adopt Buddhism without grafting on their own historical and cultural needs. And so there is no reason to fear the same process in the west. I always think westerners dressed in Tibetan robes look silly. Buddhism's strength is its appeal to the logicial mind; one should not get attached to the traditions that are part of any particular branch. And so dress as you always do, and forget about learning texts in the original language, etc. Absorb the spirit and train the mind!

I don't really know what this poem means, but perhaps Ezra Pound was trying out some meditation techniques? Anyway, it made me think of meditative states and paths for finding truths:

"I stood still and was a tree amid the wood,
Knowing the truth of things unseen before;
Of Daphne and the laurel bow
And that god-feasting couple old
that grew elm-oak amid the wold.
'Twas not until the gods had been
Kindly entreated, and been brought within
Unto the hearth of their heart's home
That they might do this wonder thing;
Nathless I have been a tree amid the wood
And many a new thing understood
That was rank folly to my head before."

"The Tree," by Ezra Pound

The recent Tsunami disaster certainly has turned our attention to suffering. The images and stories show almost unimaginable physical hardship and mental sorrow of thousands of people.

Suffering, and the recognition of our existence as being inseparable from suffering was, after all, the driving force behind the Buddha's discoveries. I've often grappled with the fact that most western followers of Buddhism probably do not experience suffering as a day-to-day fact. I'll indulge in a big generalization, but most western Buddhists are probably fairly comfortable members of the middle or upper classes. Sure, I have plenty of stress in my life from work and family, but I can't say that I suffer.

And so what is there to drive our search for enlightenmenet? Is it just an intellectual exercise? Can there be real progress without the spur of suffering?

Remarkable. Incredible. Everyday brings even more ridiculous statements from religious leaders about the "lesson" of the Tsunami disaster. Another chestnut:

"This (disaster) is one of the greatest opportunities God has given us to share his love with people," said K.P. Yohannan, president of the Texas-based Gospel for Asia. In an interview, Yohannan said his 14,500 "native missionaries" in India, Sri Lanka and the Andaman Islands are giving survivors Bibles and booklets about "how to find hope in this time through the word of God."

Yeah, "God" shares his love with us by drowning people in the sea. Oh, but there's still more:

"Shlomo Amar, Israel's Sephardi chief rabbi, has said, 'This is an expression of God's great ire with the world. The world is being punished for wrongdoing -- be it people's needless hatred of each other, lack of charity, moral turpitude.'"

Sorry, but it is so easy to ridicule other person's religious views. The lesson of the tsunami disaster seems to be that most people are seriously deluded in their understanding of the universe. Our physical environment is a place of uncontrolled and unpredictable forces that can easily hurt or kill. There is no "moral" basis for anyone being killed by an act of nature. It is called bad luck.

Now what does a Buddhist believe? A Buddhist believes, if I understand correctly, that upon our death (no matter how caused) our fate depends on the sum of our actions. A death by a tornado, hurricane or bolt of lightening is not caused by our being a bad person.

A recent quote from an Islamic professor on the Tsunami catastrophes:

"If God loves a servant, he sends tribulation upon him,'' echoing the story of Job from the Old Testament and similar parables from other religions.

In Islam, all those who die in a natural catastrophe die in a state of martyrdom,'' Bazian said. They are not held accountable for their sins in life; they are given passage directly into paradise. For those left behind, he said, a tragedy of this scope is a reminder of God's power and our own mortality."

Now, isn't this quite absurd? Locating all our good fortune and woe in the actions of an unseen personality. If terrible things happen to me, this is just a test of our faith in God. If wonderful things happen to me, then this is a demonstration of God's favor. This is the complete negation of logic, rational thought and a true search for understanding.

I don't know if there is any good Buddhist explanation for natural disasters that randomly destroy people, but anything has got to be better than this.