Freethought Association of West Michigan
Meeting Minutes for February 23, 2000; #63.
This was our last meeting @ the Wyoming Public Library, before construction begins there. Our new location, starting March 8, is @ the downtown GR Calkins Science Center of the Grand Rapids Community College. This is a very beautiful and accommodating facility. Both facility use and parking are free. Thanks again to Dr. Greg Forbes for arranging this for us. We plan on purchasing a block with our group name on it to be used in construction of the new Wyoming Library as a "thank you" donation that will also get our name visible there.
This marked our last time stopping in after the meeting to Applebees as well. Stimulating conversation was still to be found and will continue, no doubt, at a nearby place to our new meeting area.
The next several meeting topics and events are as follows:
· Evolutionary Psychology,
moderated by Dr. Greg Miklashek, MARCH 8; 7PM.
· Evolution of Human Sexuality,
moderated by Dr. Carl Bajema, MARCH 22; 7PM.
· **MICHAEL SHERMER Lecture: "Why People Believe Weird Things"
@ the GRCC Science Bldg.; APRIL 11; 7PM (Tuesday).
· Shermer will also be presenting this lecture in Alma, MI the following day; APRIL 12 (Wednesday).
· The Life & Times of Clarence Darrow,
moderated by attorney Marshall Grate, APRIL 26; 7PM.
· Adopt-A-Highway, coordinated by Dennis Murphy,
APRIL 30; 10AM. Exact location of our stretch of road to be announced.
· The Ethics of Pre-Marital Sex,
moderated by Rob Adamczyk, MAY 10; 7PM.
· Religious Displays on Public Property,
moderated by Frank Bacon, MAY 24; 7PM.
All meetings, including the special Shermer event, to be held @ the GRCC Science Bldg.
Our meeting topic was "Buddhism" and was presented by FAOWM member and
Buddhist, Steve Andersen, who is additionally a juggler and announced a spectacular display of this art to be held @ the UICA in GR on March 4 and 5.
Steve learned of our group after writing a letter to the Public Pulse
section of the GR Press, in response to an interview by Religion Editor, Charles Honey in Honey's Sunday section of the Press, of Walt Van Dam, a very outspoken atheist. Steve, in his Pulse submission maintained that the two were essentially arguing two sides of the same coin from a Western dualistic perspective, without significant difference in their approach to the issue of God. This generated a call from Walt to Steve on the issues raised, wherein Van Dam mentioned the FAOWM group and Andersen began attending.
His beginnings in the 2,500 year old tradition of Buddhism arose to a large extent from his distaste for animal suffering and his vegetarianism. The Christian doctrines of our dominion over all other life forms, with its concept that everything is for our use as we see fit was anathema to Andersen, whereas the Buddhist teachings of eliminating suffering in all sentient forms of life and helping them attain enlightenment (the dharma), and the unity of all life, spoke to him. He said that it was harder for some of his family to accept his Buddhism than it would have been had he identified himself as an atheist.
Buddhism is based on the idea of "The Awakened One" (the Buddha); one who is awake to his/her own true inner nature and therefore to the true nature of reality. Unlike some other religions, Eastern traditions recognize not one, but several buddhas in the past and potential future ones as well. However, Siddhartha Gautama has become known as the Buddha of this age. There is no claim of divine origin or belief in a Creator God in Buddhism, but an emphasis on experiencing the truth for oneself. Since there is no dogmatic insistence upon the veracity of the 6th century BCE Buddha's life, it exists more as an example that teaches in allegorical fashion the basic tenets of
the way of Buddhism. This way trusts in the individual discovery of truth via meditation, rather than reliance upon Sacred Texts and a priesthood to interpret them. Buddha's teachings are not considered inerrant, directly from his mouth, and there is a strong tradition of putting Gautama's teachings to the test.
The spirit of the "Enlightened One's" message is encapsulated in his
discourse on The Four Noble Truths, which spoke of the inevitability of suffering, the potential to eliminate it and its cause coming from trying to satisfy one's ego desires. In order to be free, one must realize that the notion of a fixed self is an illusion, that brings with it pain and alienation. The focus of Buddhism is on the present, dealing not in patriarchal founders or looking toward a blissful afterlife.
Andersen spoke of karma, nirvana and emptiness. Karma means action and deals with the idea that through one's actions, imprints are made on one's mindstreams that ripen into our experiences when the appropriate conditions come together. We are responsible for our own actions, as Buddhism does not entertain the concept of a Being in charge of the universe, distributing rewards and punishments. Nirvana has to do with extinguishing the fires of greed, hatred and delusion, wherein the mind becomes liberated, radiant and joyful, clearing the way for ultimate happiness. It is a state free of wanting, and not referencing a hereafter to attain bliss. Emptiness, in the Buddhist sense, is not a negative. Andersen gave the example of a sheet of paper that contains all non-paper elements: the tree, the forest, the logger, the rain and sunshine and earth, etc. Eventually everything becomes related yet loses its essential identification as one fixed item containing only one self-referential element.
We discussed many moral issues from the Buddhist perspective, including the treatment of sentient beings, abortion & capital punishment (seen as taking the life force and contrary to Buddhist teachings), war (with its non-violent stance no matter what, Buddhism does not countenance war), gender equality (there is no inequality seen as innate in the sexes, however different cultures that Buddhism is in, influences its practice in this regard), and suicide, which, due to its teachings of being responsible to our own selves and body, does not decry. Steve also presented us with the foundational beliefs of Buddhism contained in the Four Noble Truths & the Eight Fold Path. The first part deals with aspects of pain & suffering already mentioned; the latter with Right ways of existence, including Understanding, Aspiration, Effort, Speech, Conduct, Livelihood, Mindfulness and Concentration. Several things touched upon already are addressed in these as well, including personal responsibility, living in the present and living in a way that does no harm to others.
Meditation is a large part of Buddhism and Steve both spoke of his inner experience when engaged in it and demonstrated it for us. He explained what various items he brought with him were for and how important to his mental well being meditation was. There was some controversy in our group over his use of the word "prayer" in meditation. He explained that there are beings that represent various conditions that one symbolically prays to. However, essentially one is praying to one's own sense of, say, compassion or wisdom. In regard to meditation he spoke of the importance of breath and focusing on one's breathing. He spoke of the different parts of the body that one focuses on with emphasis on the chakra, in the abdominal region. He also explained koans to us, that are used as triggers in meditation, comprised sometimes of stories or concepts that are conundrums.
Steve also led us in a few moments of meditation, to experience for
ourselves the clearing of the mind of distractions. And he caused us to think about the mental chatter that our minds are always engaged in, thinking about the future event or activity to be engaged in, our perceived need to fill silences and panic when these silences naturally occur.
----------------------------------------------------
"To study the way of the Buddha is to study oneself.
To study oneself is to forget oneself.
To forget oneself is to be enlightened by everything."
"The more you think of Zen, the further you are from it." Zen master.
