In Burma, A Depth of Dhamma
Beth Upton, in her recent podcast interview, emphasizes the profound connection between the personal and communal dimensions of Dharma practice, especially in the context of Myanmar. She discusses her concern for the ongoing crises in Myanmar and the moral imperative to engage constructively, recognizing the profound debt of gratitude owed to the Burmese tradition that has significantly influenced Dharma in the West. Beth points out the richness of the Burmese culture in preserving Dharma, highlighting how its depth and authenticity enrich the spiritual practices that Westerners engage in. She articulates a nuanced understanding of responsibility in the practice of Dharma, noting that while there is a danger in becoming overly politicized, there is also a risk in disengaging completely and focusing solely on personal enlightenment. Beth argues for a balanced approach where one engages with the world and its sufferings as a means to cultivate spiritual qualities such as generosity, humility, and compassion. This engagement is not only about personal growth but also about contributing positively to the community and reciprocating the gifts received from the Burmese tradition. Through her reflections, Beth encourages a thoughtful and active participation in the world, advocating for a Dharma practice that does not shy away from the complexities and responsibilities of worldly suffering. She underlines the importance of maintaining connections with Burmese culture and supporting those in distress, thus fostering a Dharma practice that is deeply interwoven with ethical engagement and community support.
“If we don’t reciprocate, then we lose something in ourselves. We lose some authenticity or alignment in ourselves. On some level, we know something is out of balance there.”
The richness of a culture that has been holding the Dhamma for hundreds of years shows up in little ways that we can't anticipate because it's built, layered over time, and complex; it's rich and diverse, and we can lose that. We can lose that diversity, complexity, richness, and layering of the Buddhist teachings we find in a culture that's been carrying it for years. And if we no longer have access to that culture, then we lose an awful lot of depth, an incredible amount of depth.
Before this conflict, I had assumed that if I ever had a refined question about some technical detail of one of the texts, I could go to Burma, and someone would answer me. That's where the real refinement of scholastic knowledge, but also profound practice knowledge, is held. If I want to find a practitioner who is significantly more refined in their practice than me, I want to go to Burma. If I want to find out what this Patthāna line means, I want to go to Burma.
Where do I go if I can't go there? Where do I go?
In Myanmar, even in the tiniest little village, you can wake up in the morning to hear the whole of the Patthanā being chanted round and round on loudspeakers blasting out across the village; very few Buddhist western practitioners, very few dedicated practitioners would even know what the Patthanā is. And so we lose this. And that's dangerous. When we lose the refined teachings and access to them, it's only one or two generations before. We have no living person who really understands what they mean. Gradually, we start to lower the bar for ourselves in terms of the refinement of our practice and the refinement of our learning knowledge. So that's another huge, huge loss. And so much incredibly powerful wisdom, held in that deep refined scholastic knowledge and practicing knowledge. The Patthanā, for example, is like a seven-volume exposition of cause and effect detailing, in unimaginable refinement, the causal relationships between mind and matter. It's like solving this so-called hard problem of consciousness that's stumping science, and it's there, it's recorded.
Some people in Myanmar discern those things in their meditation practice. So, I want to do my best to keep these things alive in the West. But I'm nowhere near an expert in these things like some scholars and practitioners we can find in Myanmar! I know some, but I'm like a baby compared to some of the scholars and practitioners we can find in Myanmar. So, losing access to this culture is a huge loss. And the other thing that comes to mind is when somebody's given you the ultimate gift, and then they suffer. If we don't reciprocate, then we lose something in ourselves. We lose some authenticity or alignment in ourselves. On some level, we know something is out of balance there. Whether you've directly spent time in Myanmar or not, if you are a dedicated practitioner of the Dhamma, then part of that has come from the Burmese tradition and the dedication of the Burmese practitioners over hundreds of years. So when we receive that gift, we don't repair you when reciprocity is needed. We are not fully congruent in ourselves, which also brings me back to this question: For your average household, who feels this in themselves? What to do? Because I don't know, I don't have the practical answers for people.