No gods, no masters. It’s is the community of practitioners that matters most, not Gurus, Lamas, Roshis or whatever. They would say in Buddhism, “Sangha is the Supreme Jewel.”
Guru I Am Not. Pointy ears or not. Hmmpf!
I was a heavy student and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism for some time. After a Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul, I’ve started sitting again, and it is good. I took about a week before the old juices started flowing again. Focusing the mind on one thing as much as possible has amazing physical and mental benefits — dare I call it bliss. It stays with you. This morning, something gelled that has been on the back of my mind: Buddhism, most religions for that matter, suffers from an environmental birth defect. Most were started during feudal times. There was always a king or prince (usually male) in charge. It was like the air you breathed. I used to think that Buddhism, being non-theistic, escaped many authoritarian problems of religion. But, alas, no.
This naturally translated to there being a spiritual boss, who represented the doorway to realizations. Do what the boss says, and you’ll be okay. That’s the way it was, secularly, spiritually, in every way. I was totally bought in. The Indo-Tibetan tradition so emphasizes this, that early Western visitors called Tibetan Buddhism “Lamism,” worship of the Lama. I used to criticize the epithet rather than examining if they had a point. A few things have turned my way of thinking.
Anarcho-Socialism
“No gods, no masters,” is an anarchist and labor slogan. Anarchism, it should be clear, doesn’t advocate for chaos and some sort of MadMax dystopia where the strongest and most violent survive. Anarchism is a philosophy of suspicion of hierarchal rule, which demonstrably leads to most of the suffering in the world. No one is fit to rule us but ourselves, yet we need each other so we voluntarily gather in communities of mutual aid. No boss is required. What could be more compassionate and Buddhist than that?
The page on Wikipedia links to another article entitled “Anarchism and religion,” with a section on Buddhism, with a link to Gary Snyder who in 1961 wrote and essay entitled “Buddhist Anarchism.” That is one thread, but he didn’t quite land it for me. Too much hippy-dippy talk.
Sansara Anonymous
What would Buddhist practice look like without hierarchy? After all, the most basic requirement of being a Buddhist is to revere the Three Jewels: The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha (community of realized). Let’s just flip it over, and go for refuge in the Sangha, Dharma and Buddha, in that order. There is a very good model for what that would look like.
Many have heard at least something about the 12-Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Fewer have heard of the 12 Traditions, the organization structure of AA. Have you ever noticed that there is not an AA Headquarters anywhere? That there is no central organization that one could visit or donate to? There are dozens if not hundreds of AA meetings happening right near you today, but how does an organization with and estimated 1.2 million people and 55,000 meeting groups do that? The linked article explains that one of the founders, “Dr. Bob” created the 12 Traditions that, among other things, states that AA has no leaders, can’t charge fees, or have spokespersons. Meetings are facilitated by a volunteer chosen by the group. What the article doesn’t go into detail about, is that the 12 Traditions were almost copied directly from Anarchist Theorists. Elsewhere it’s explained, for some who are uneasy with the whole “Surrendering to a Higher Power” thing, that the Higher Power emerges from the collective wisdom of the group.
So there you have it: the largest and most successful personal improvement organization on the planet owes it’s success to purposeful dis-organization on a high level.
How it Would Go Down
I was largely unsuccessful putting together a Buddhist community in San Diego. The “market” was already saturated for one thing, and my special brand wasn’t enough to gain traction. Furthermore, there was a tragedy and an overblown scandal that rocked my own lineage, which doesn’t detract from the authenticity of the teachings, but nonetheless taints everything. Meanwhile, more abuse scandals rain down in Buddhism and Yoga traditions as they are practiced. Power given to spiritual leaders, except in rare occasions, does seem to corrupt. I know I had a certain kind of possibly unhealthy rush when I was teaching. It could easy get out of control.
Also, the mostly younger people attracted to this kind of thing tend to be more mobile, and keeping a fluid group intact requires that it be large. We never reached critical mass. Finally, I had deep doubts about the worldview that I was preaching. If it really worked as sold, why what I continuing to struggle unhappily? “Oh, it must be old bad karma that you have yet to get rid of.” Here we are back at the Book of Job, right? Karma works in mysterious way. Turns-out that conventional self-improvement, self-efficacy and evidence-based psychology works better than trying just to clean-up invisible, ineffable, unknowable karma.
If I were to try to assemble a group again, or offer teachings of any kind, it would not be me sitting in front of a group. The group would be a circle. We would bow only to wisdom embodied in the group. We would help each other, and if someone needs one-on-one help, they would find a mentor within the group, someone further along the way than they are that they chose, not some Assistant Lama. Yes, like a Sponsor in AA. Just like that.
I go for refuge in the Sangha, the Dharma, and tip my hat to the Buddha. The Buddha, though, because he supports my current ideas as follows:
As he was sitting there, Ven. Ananda said to the Blessed One, “This is half of the holy life, lord: admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie.”
“Don’t say that, Ananda. Don’t say that. Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life. When a monk has admirable people as friends, companions, & comrades, he can be expected to develop & pursue the noble eightfold path.
SN 45.2 PTS: S v 2 CDB ii 1524
Upaddha Sutta: Half (of the Holy Life)
translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu