New Site, Same Site

My rarely updated blog is moving to a new blogger account connected to the Google account that I actually use on a day to day basis. Hopefully it will prompt me to write more.

Science vs. Tantra

Back in March of 2008, an Indian atheist challenged a leading Tantrik to prove tantra's power by trying to kill him. Predictably, the result was a failure :

India TV, one of India’s major Hindi channels with national outreach, invited Sanal Edamaruku for a discussion on “Tantrik power versus Science”. Pandit Surinder Sharma, who claims to be the tantrik of top politicians and is well known from his TV shows, represented the other side. During the discussion, the tantrik showed a small human shape of wheat flour dough, laid a thread around it like a noose and tightened it. He claimed that he was able to kill any person he wanted within three minutes by using black magic. Sanal challenged him to try and kill him.

The tantrik tried. He chanted his mantras (magic words): “Om lingalingalinalinga, kilikili….” But his efforts did not show any impact on Sanal – not after three minutes, and not after five. The time was extended and extended again. The original discussion program should have ended here, but the “breaking news” of the ongoing great tantra challenge was overrunning all program schedules.

Now the tantrik changed his technique. He started sprinkling water on Sanal and brandishing a knife in front of him. Sometimes he moved the blade all over his body. Sanal did not flinch. Then he touched Sanal’s head with his hand, rubbing and rumpling up his hair, pressing his forehead, laying his hand over his eyes, pressing his fingers against his temples. When he pressed harder and harder, Sanal reminded him that he was supposed to use black magic only, not forceful attacks to bring him down. The tantrik took a new run: water, knife, fingers, mantras. But Sanal kept looking very healthy and even amused.

After nearly two hours, the anchor declared the tantrik’s failure.

After Sharma claimed the magic would only work during night, the experiment was repeated at night and Sanal was once again unharmed.

Although I am an agnostic, I tend to not bother disproving the efficacy of religious rituals or practices. However, the article noted that these tests were conducted in response to growing concerns about politicians hiring tantriks to curse their political opponents. So it's good to see science trump black magic's hold on politics.

Life Updates That Explain a Lack of Updates

The good news is that I found a job selling clothing and gifts at the University of Wisconsin Book Store. The management is relaxed and accommodating, and the hours make sure that I'm out of work by 6:30 at the latest. Unfortunately, that means that I'm on my feet most of the day, and for a lazy and overweight individual such as myself, constant standing, bending, and running to and fro makes me nigh on catatonic after work.

So, I have not forgotten about the blog, but I have a lot less time to think about what to write, and then actually write it. Hopefully, this will change as I become acclimated to my new active lifestyle.

I'm currently re-reading The Gods Drink Whiskey at a fast pace. When I am done, I hope to write about my thoughts about the book.

Internetless

I finally moved into what will hopefully be my apartment for the next year. However, I will not have internet access until Saturday, so I doubt I will post until then.

An Amazing Video

Astronomy is one field that I have a huge interest for, but have never studied. And this video explains why I find it so fascinating.

Self Improvement: Learning Basic Thai

I'm hoping to start my graduate studies by next fall at the University of Wisconsin's Center for Southeast Asian Studies. But I first need to be put through various embarrassing tests where the sum of my academic career will be poked and prodded. I am not too worried. They don't take GRE scores too seriously, and the main criteria for acceptance are statement of purpose, letters of recommendations, and undergraduate transcripts.

However, there is one unfortunate, but important, black mark on my otherwise healthy undergrad career: languages. I took one semester of Sanskrit at Naropa University, and three terms (one year) of Mandarin at Lawrence University. I both cases I managed to wrangle my way into a C-. Not the sort of accolades you want when applying to a program that requires two years of some foreign language.

To remedy my unfortunate state as a monoglot, thereby improving my chances of acceptance, I decide to pick up a "learn it yourself" language program for Thai. I first looked at Rosetta Stone, but the price (around $200) and the shaky reviews led me to buy Teach Yourself Thai, which was better reviewed and more reasonably priced.

So far, I've only read and listened through the pronunciation section. The pronunciation, coupled with the fact it has an alphabet, makes me feel a little more comfortable. My plan is work through a section each week, spending at least 15 minutes a day on the language. Hopefully, my past mistakes in languages will serve as a template on what not to do.

Definitional Problems: Theravada and Vipassana

Brooke Schedneck, a contributor for Progressive Buddhism and a PhD candidate in Asian Religions at Arizona State University, wrote an article on the definitional differences between Theravada Buddhism and Vipassana practice. Vipassana, known as insight meditation in English, instructs the practitioner to analyze the arising of mental phenomena from a passive or neutral standpoint. Although it exists in both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, the form that was imported into America during the 1970's from Southeast Asia originates from the Theravadin tradition. Since its importation, Vipassana has become one of the major forms of American Buddhism, and the most prevalent American form of Theravada practice.

During its growth in America, some Vipassana teachers and centers deemphasized the practice's connection to Buddhism. As one commenter to Schedneck's post stated, he only learned of Vipassana meditation's root in Buddhism after a year of practice. Not only do different Vipassana centers and teachers place different emphasizes on the technique's connection to Theravada, the large numbers of Southeast Asian immigrants since the 1970's brought a large number of Theravada monks to American soil, who teach Vipassana mediation as part of Theravada practice.

Schedneck, along with other scholars of American Buddhism, have written about how the current state of Vipassana practice in America raises problems on how to classify different Buddhist (or in this case, Buddhist inspired) schools. In response to two articles she read, one in Bodhidharma Magzine and one in Tricycle, Schedneck writes:

I assume that for both of these classifications, ‘Vipassana’ refers to meditation centers that are mainly composed of lay converts and lay meditation teachers, and that ‘Theravada’ refers to monasteries consisting of lay Asian immigrants and Asian monks.

Schedneck writes how both authors, one of which includes the noted scholar Charles Prebish, fail to indicate if their definition of Vipassana includes schools with only a tenuous connection with its Buddhist origin. As she notes further in the post, the assumption that the main difference between Theravada and Vipassana is one is "Asian" and one is "American" is currently being questioned by a new generation of scholars.

My own experience leads me to agree with Schedneck. Wat Dhammasala, the Theravada temple near my home town, holds meditation classes every Saturday and Sunday, led by Ajahn Khemasanto, a Caucasian bhikku. The few times I attended the mediation classes at Wat Dhammasala, I saw a mixture of Westerners and Southeast Asians practicing together, under the guidance of a Western monk. The traditional Thai festivals held at the wat also saw a mixture of Southeast Asian and Western participants. When I interviewed Ajahn Khemasanto, he told me that he did not see a substantial difference in the practice of Southeast Asians or Westerners.

However, this example does not answer the question about how to properly deal with and define, meditation centers that down play Vipassana's roots in Theravada practice. Should scholars and students differentiate between centers that acknowledge, or even encourage, their Theravadin roots, and the centers that disassociate from Buddhist practice altogether. Like Hatha Yoga, Vipassana practice can, and has, been used as a secular practicum to help the practitioner relieve mental stress and anxiety. Even centers that have established ties to Buddhism, such as Wat Dhammasala, do not require a practitioner to accept any Buddhist tenants to learn Vipassana.

My thoughts are that the in the complicated landscape of American Buddhism, the only way to define Vipassana is to bifurcate the practice into two categories: Religious Vipassana and Secular Vipassana. Religious Vipassana is taught not only in Buddhist temples, but in meditation centers that not only acknowledge Vipassana's Buddhist roots, but use Buddhist terms and associated beliefs in conjunction to meditation practice. Secular Vipassana would cover those centers who either disassociate themselves from Buddhism, or acknowledge that Vipassana's Buddhist roots, but do not use Buddhist terms or associated practices in conjunction with Vipassana practice.

Two potential problems arise with these categories. First, they are not mutually exclusive. However, it seems that no definable categories could engage the complex relationship between Vipassana and Theravada Buddhism and not create overlapping categories. The categories also only cover the practices and teaching methods of institutions, and not the beliefs or religious affiliations of the practitioners. The focus on institutions over practitioners is necessary due to Vipassana's non-dogmatic nature. While a center could teach Vipassana as a Buddhist means for reaching enlightenment, there is no guarantee that every practitioner accepts either the Buddhist doctrines or eventual end goal. Likewise, a meditation center that makes no mention of Buddhism could have practitioners who not only understand Vipassana's roots in Theravada Buddhism, but accepts Theravadin doctrine, and attend a secular meditation center due to a lack of Theravada temples in the area.