{"id":990,"date":"2010-01-13T10:25:38","date_gmt":"2010-01-13T10:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onecity\/2010\/01\/the-buddha-is-my-dj.html"},"modified":"2010-01-13T10:25:38","modified_gmt":"2010-01-13T10:25:38","slug":"the-buddha-is-my-dj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2010\/01\/the-buddha-is-my-dj.html","title":{"rendered":"The Buddha is My DJ"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"amida-logo.jpg\"<\/span>Scott Mitchell is a Shin Buddhist practicioner and scholar from Oakland, CA, with a Doctorate in Buddhist Studies. He’s the co-host of the podcast The Dharma Realm<\/a> (with Rev. Harry Bridge) and also runs his own excellent Buddhist blog The Buddha is My DJ<\/a>. He works at Berkeley’s Institute of Buddhist Studies<\/a>, where he teaches courses on Buddhism and globalization.<\/p>\n

I first became aware of Scott a few months back where this particular dialogue<\/a> on The Smiling Buddha cabaret blog (by Buddhist NellaLou) prompted Scott to note (accurately) on his own blog that NellaLou had me “squarely in her crosshairs”.  <\/p>\n

This dialogue led me to the realization that if this community, and in particular this blog with its preponderance of non-coastal readers, were to truly reflect One City, then I had to stop thinking my own thoughts mattered so much and open up this well-trafficked floor to other passionate voices. I’m glad Scott accepted my offer to write a guest post for us here. – Jerry Kolber<\/i><\/p>\n

***********<\/p>\n

by Scott Mitchell
I believe, deeply and passionately, in the inherent interdependence of all reality, that, as the description of this blog states, nothing happens in a vacuum. And that is why I do not believe in American Buddhism. I do not believe in One Dharma, or even in One City.
  <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n


\nI work at the Institute of Buddhist Studies<\/a>
\nin Berkeley. Most days, I ride my bike to work along a route that takes
\nme up Russell Street, a quiet, residential street in south Berkeley.
\nAlong the way I’ll pass Wat Mongkolratanaram<\/a>,
\nan impressive Thai temple wedged in between the south branch of the
\nBerkeley Public Library and a modest duplex. Occasionally, there’ll be
\na saffron-robed monk sweeping the driveway or sidewalk out front. If it
\nwas Sunday, the neighborhood would be overwhelmed with people attending
\nSunday morning Thai brunch, a Berkeley tradition going back nearly
\nthirty years. It’s one of the ways the temple funds itself, and if you
\ncan get through the throngs of people there only for Thai food, you’ll
\nfind that the monks are holding service and giving Dharma talks in a
\nsmall shrine room behind the main temple building.<\/p>\n

Literally three doors up the street is the Berkeley Zen Center<\/a>,
\nmarked only by a small sign at the end of the walkway. The Zen Center
\nhas taken up residence in a pair of houses that hide, in a
\nwell-maintained garden out back, their zendo<\/i> and dokusan<\/i>
\nhut. If you’re in the neighborhood on any given Saturday morning,
\nyou’ll likely see members doing walking meditation around the block.<\/p>\n

The title on my business card for the IBS says that I’m the “Website
\nand Multimedia Director” — which really means that if it plugs into the
\nwall, I’ll probably be able to fix it. But more than that, I’m a
\nteacher. I am blessed to spend my days researching, learning, and
\nteaching about Buddhism, and when I’m not doing that, my tech-work
\nsupports the larger aims of a Buddhist organization that was founded
\nsixty years ago to serve the needs of the American Jodo Shinshu
\ncommunity. Today, we also offer degree programs for general Buddhist
\nstudies, Buddhism and psychology, and Buddhist chaplaincy training.<\/p>\n

Yeah. It’s a pretty good gig. I wake up every day grateful for that.<\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

I was talking with a friend today and said that you can’t throw a rock
\nin this town without hitting a Buddhist. But apart from that word,
\n“Buddhist,” what unites us? What do we have in common? The “Dharma”?
\nWhich part? Surely how the Dharma is understood at Wat Mongkolratanaram
\nis decidedly different from how it’s understood at the Zen Center or
\naround the corner at the Berkeley Shambhala Center<\/a>.
\nMeditation? Mindfulness? Compassion? Maybe. But how each of us
\nunderstands or practices these concepts also differs. As much as we
\nhave in common, as much as there is that unites us as Buddhists, there
\nare also real differences here, both in belief and practice.<\/p>\n

And that’s not a bad thing.<\/p>\n

If we take that old Zen refrain seriously — that Dharma doors are
\nboundless — then we must take this diversity of American Buddhism
\nseriously. So when I say that I don’t believe in American Buddhism,
\nwhat I mean to say is that I do not believe in its singularity. I
\nbelieve, deeply and passionately, in its multiplicity, in American Buddhisms<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I believe in, and celebrate the necessity for, multiple Dharmas — or,
\nperhaps more specifically, multiple approaches to understanding the
\nDharma. There are multiple ways of approaching the Buddha’s teachings
\nbecause, at the end of the day, sentient beings are numberless, and
\nwe’ve each got our own individual karmic burdens to work out. So there
\ncan’t be one Dharma just like there can’t be one way of being human.<\/p>\n

I see American Buddhisms and the Buddha’s Dharma not as “one” thing but
\nrather as multiple, overlapping things with fuzzy and ill-defined
\nborders, a crazy Venn diagram of ideas and practices that are all
\nrelated and, collectively, can be called “Buddhism” or “Dharma.” But no
\none of these things can stand in for the whole. <\/p>\n

Just like we can’t
\npoint to one of the Five Skandhas<\/a>
\nand say “that’s the essence of ‘me'”, we can’t point to one brand of
\nBuddhism, one part of the vast library of the Buddha’s teachings, and
\nsay “that’s the essence of Buddhism.” It is only when looked at
\ncollectively can we describe them in their entirety as “Buddhism.”<\/p>\n

Dharma doors really are boundless, and for a good reason. If you
\nhaven’t found one that works for you, try another.<\/p>\n

For more of Scott Mitchell’s writings please visit The Buddha is My DJ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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