Finding the Dhamma
Thinking back to the great interview we had when Carl Stimson came on the podcast, and discussed three books: Journey of Insight Meditation (1978) by Eric Lerner, One Night’s Shelter (1985) by Bhikkhu Yogavacara Rahula aka Scott DuPrez, and The Quiet Mind (1971) by John Coleman. All three were written by Western men finding Dhamma in the East, and as Carl also fits squarely in this category, he included himself as a kind of fourth character in this study. The discussion with Carl was a very raw and honest look at the life cycle of Dhamma practice and the highs and lows that practitioners are bound to face. In the following excerpt, Carl contrasts contemporary times with previous generations, when access to meditation was much more limited than today.
“The Buddha wasn’t hiding on top of a mountain where the person who was seeking the truth had to scale up there and encounter him.”
“Back in the day [of] these three guys, the efforts they had to go through, both effort, and then the kind of luck or karma or unusual circumstances for their introductions to Dhamma to happen, are astounding. And they're definitely more glamorous.
I mean, when [Bhikkhu] Rahula first hears about Goenka he's stoned, I think on LSD! Maybe it's just pot, but he's stoned out of his gourd, of course, sitting by a river, I think maybe this hot springs by a river in Nepal. And this guy comes up and they start chatting. And the guy says, ‘Hey, there's this Goenka guy, and he's pretty cool and teaches courses.’ And it's just like, ‘Wow, what a scene.’ He's been traveling for several months, and [has] had all these adventures, and he's up in Nepal lounging by the river. And stoned out of his gourd, has this chance conversation with this guy who a few months later ends up taking a course with Goenka. I mean, that's a great story!
It's a much better story than someone saying, ‘Yeah, my buddy at work told me about mindfulness. So, I downloaded this app. It’s pretty nice. I get a lot out of it.’
But I still think it's much better to have the doors wide open to people. People still have the opportunity to go really deep; there are retreat courses to go to. There's becoming a monk, obviously much more difficult in the West, but it is possible. The other people you've interviewed on your podcast have done this in different forms, becoming a teacher or long-term volunteer for meditation organizations. You just don't have to be special to encounter meditation or the Buddhist teachings.
And I think that's how it worked when the Buddha was around. He wasn't hiding on top of a mountain where the person who was seeking the truth had to scale up there and encounter him. He was down in the towns and staying in the parks and preaching to housewives and merchants and soldiers and things like that. And I think we're closer to that kind of situation now than we were 34 years ago. And so, to me, it's a much better situation now on the whole.”