This week Roshi commented on some of the cultural issues affecting Zen practice.  This topic came up because some students were inquiring about the Vesak (Buddha’s birthday) celebration happening around the world during May.

Roshi noted that the celebration has different levels of importance and is even celebrated on different dates depending on the culture.  For instance, Vesak is very important in South and Southeast Asia.  In these cultures, the holiday celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and passage into Nirvana (death) of the historical Buddha.  However, in the Zen calendar, these events are split into three different holidays.  The Buddha’s birth is typically celebrated in April.  His enlightenment is celebrated in December as this is when the nights are long and the North star is easy to spot.  Finally, his passage to Nirvana is celebrated in February.  Roshi also noted how different cultures and schools mark these holidays.  In Southeast Asia, Vesak is a major holiday while in Japanese Zen is it marked in small and quiet ways.

The differences in Vesak point to how Buddhism is affected by the cultures it exists in.  For instance, one aspect which is very prominent in Japanese Zen is respect, honor, and hierarchy.  Typically, in a Zendo in Japan there is a strict hierarchy of seating.  The teacher sits on the “Mountain Seat” at the front of the Zendo near the Butsudan.  Next come other teachers and visiting dignitaries.  Then farther out are students and lay practitioners.  This ordering is simply showing respect and reverence for those who have given so much to alleviate the suffering of all beings and have been willing to take the time to teach the path.  It is more than simply “respecting the office” – it is recognition of the effort and sacrifice of the individual in their keeping to their Bodhisattva vows.

In America, however, we have a more egalitarian ethos.  While American Zen centers do show respect to the Roshi, it tends to be a bit more informal matching the more informal culture in the US.  For instance, many American Zen centers do not have a formal seating hierarchy as this would be seen as “elitist.”  While this is fine for Americans, they sometimes forget that other cultures have different values.  This “arrogance” or self-centerless does lead to misunderstandings.  Sometimes when American or Western students visit Japan they misread the situation and may take a spot “above their station” – for instance by having a junior student take a seat close to the master and pushing a senior teacher father back in the room.   While the Japanese may not say anything out of courtesy, it is seen as a major presumption.  Roshi noted that a person is judged by their actions more than mere words.  Even if the action was not based in egotism, not understanding the culture and behaving inappropriately is evidence of a lack mindfulness.

So, the eternal question is when Buddhism comes to a new country how important is the cultural baggage which comes with it.  Is Zen practiced in Japan more “authentic” than Zen practiced in the United States?  How do we determine this?  Roshi noted that this is a big debate in American Zen centers where strict Japanese Zen washes up on the shore of a very informal American culture.  Perhaps the best way forward is a middle way between the extremes of “cultural fetish” and complete “Laissez faire” practice.  Anything we do, however, should come from a mindful state and with great reverence for those who have come before us.  Yes, Buddhism needs to adjust to the new culture it finds itself in, but that change should be measured to ensure that the message and power does not get watered down.