I Love You and Buddha Too.

On a wet and rainy Saturday, December 3^rd, 2011, a group of young (and some not so young) theologians ventured to the Deer Park Buddhist Center in Oregon, WI. I was a member of the escapade.

Upon arriving at the center, I missed the turn to the driveway. Some small wooden fences and a 1ft sign reading ‘Deer Park’ were all that noted the center from a mass of trees. From that alone, I knew this was going to be a place of peace, tranquility, and seclusion.

My first sight of the center was a view of the main temple; it was spectacular. A large eight-spoke wheel was affixed atop the temple (the primary symbol of Buddhism, in reference to the Buddha Shakyamuni’s turning of the wheel of the Dharma during his first sermon at the original Deer Park in Sarnath), flanked by a deer perched on either side. It was ornate, colorful, and grandiose; it really did look stylistically Indian. I was blown away that this temple could be located in Wisconsin!

  

As I approached the temple, I noticed two buildings to my right. These buildings were definitely of Wisconsin Architecture, one was a ranch-style and the other looked like something you may find in my affluent neighborhood in my Milwaukee suburb. It was very strange. I assumed that was where the monastic community here resided. There were some cars parked and I even noticed some white Christmas lights hung from the Ranch. Hmm, I thought to myself, the monks and nuns here aren’t without some of the luxuries of life. I don’t know why, but I guess I was expecting them to be full-renouncers, as we learned the Sangha, was in class—owning nothing but a rice bowl and some robes on their back. I suppose that was a bit absurd, as our culture is nothing like that of India, Nepal, or Tibet. Hindu sannyasins, Buddhist monks, and renoucers of all kinds are well accepted in those cultures. Beggars are a part of everyday life. Here, however, no such luck. Monastics in Wisconsin would have to find ways to support themselves more.

Our group entered the waiting area, and I was struck again by the interior of the temple. It was sleek, freshly polished, and modern! Such duality in this temple! It definitely looked like a rich family’s home. Leather couches, drinking fountains, fire extinguishers, it was all so odd. The only piece of evidence that this was a Buddhist temple rather than a CEO’s resort was a small sign by the stairs stating, “Temple THIS way”. I lolled.

We walked up a flight of finely polished wood stairs, and I was one of the last in line. At the top, I saw that the others had begun to take off their shoes and place them of a rack. I did the same and smiled at this Eastern custom. As I was hanging up my coat and camera bag, a nun came to meet us. She was our guide for the day.

 

She welcomed us to the temple and informed us about three spinning, wooden, polished, inscribed cylinders in the waiting area. She told us they were prayer turners and the prayer etched on them was one for peace; if we turned them, we would get all the good karma produced by the prayer. Needless to say, I proceeded to spin them. J

It was at this point that our nun brought us into the temple proper. We rounded a corner and the sight I saw immediately stunned me. The temple was beautiful. An enormous, golden depiction of the Buddha, sitting in lotus position on a blooming lotus flower, was affixed in the center of the shrine. Light twinkled, reflecting and refracting off of gold and crystal. About a dozen other smaller golden statues flanked the primary one of the Buddha, not to mention the 20-or-so foot-long ones lining the very top of the shrine. On the stage, I saw incredibly embellished rugs. A central block rested in the middle of the stage, with a large portrait of His Holiness, the 14^th Dalai Lama sitting atop it. I estimated that this his “throne” for any visits he would make to the Center. The room itself was huge, the walls covered with tapestries, rows of sitting cushions lining the floor, and the entire rear wall filled with shelves of additional cushions. Seemingly endless rows of shelves flanked either side of the shrine, filled with—we later learned—all of the sacred scriptures and commentaries in the entire Vajrayana Buddhist religion.

We all chose a cushion to sit on and our nun began to lead us through a discussion. She told us the history of the Center—how Geshe Sopa fled Tibet after China attacked and was invited to teach at UW-Madison. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama was invited to join Geshe Sopa for a ritual celebration, the Center was built as a location for that. We were sitting the newer, the second temple, finished in 2008. Our nun raved about how ecologically friendly the new temple was. It used very little energy and was highly sustainable. From my own admission, I noted that the air ventilation system in the ceiling was identical to that of the also highly sustainable Starin Residence Hall here at UW-Whitewater. While I sat cross-legged on my cushion, I noticed the marble floors were comfortably warm. Perhaps some geo-thermal floor heating was at work.

As the nun detailed the story of Siddhartha Gautama’s life to us, I examined her. She was of age, maybe early 60’s, like someone who was a recent retiree. A sort of inner-peace characterized her; she was calm, collected, and she never made unnecessary movements. Yet, when she spoke, she was incredibly animated and enthusiastic. She wore no jewelry, sported a shaved head, and wore a long, wool-ish burgundy skirt and an insulated burgundy vest. Her attire was very simple, it was not flashy, and in fact looked very comfortable. Despite her increasing age, she moved with the vigor, lightness and fluidity of a bunny or a swan. At one point, she walked back and forth, and she did so on her toes, her heels never touching the ground. I pondered on whether this came from her inner-peace or if perhaps she was a ballerina or a jazz dancer in her pre-ordainment life.

After some Q+A with our hostess, she showed us the rest of the Center grounds. Some ways back behind the main temple was the original temple, completed in 1979. It was empty and quite run down. Nearby, our tour concluded with a circumambulation around a recreation of a Stuppa.

Chase what matters

I am a big fan of the television show Dexter. I began watching this past February and am still catch up by watching episodes online. Because I don't wish for anyone out there to throw a hissy-fit, let me put up a good ole' fashioned SPOILER ALERT. ... Hold on, it's a really good one. Ahh, here is it.

Stop reading this post at once, unless you want the truth to eat at your future love of Dexter.

Now then...

 The primary antagonist of Dexter’s fifth season is a character by the name, Jordan Chase, a motivational speaker. Chase is a well-dressed, confident man who encourages others to “TAKE IT!” (it, of course, being their true desires in life). He’s a charming and all around stand up guy—if you ignore the fact he moonlights as a crime lord who tortures and rapes women.

Chase’s monologue, one episode, got me thinking; he asks, “Do you want to have control of your life? You have that power...you just have to learn how to use it. You can make up all the excuses you want; you're too tired, too old, too fat, too stupid! You know, I've heard them all. But if you want something...TAKE IT! You want that job? Well then TAKE IT! It's entirely up to you.” I liked this. People spend their lives complaining and stressing about things out of their control far too often. If only they could just read this nifty flow chart I have right here.

Like the most obvious thing that pretty much everyone forgets

From Chase’s monologue, I just thought he was some generic, confidence and empowerment self-help type… until I heard Chase tell Dexter, “Trauma is also opportunity. Tragedy tears us apart, sure, but it’s the one chance to recreate yourself. You get to put yourself back together again any way you want.” …Woah, now. Has Chase been reading some Viktor Frankl? Telling Dexter we find meaning in our hardest times to self-improve sounds very logotherapeutic? Hell, the more you look at it, Chase is a full-blown Existentialist! “Taking it”, defining and re-defining our lives however we want; that level of choice, free will, and self-empowerment rests only in Existentialism.

Later on, Chase even says, addressing some fans, “You're all going to die—some of us sooner than others. And if you're not in touch with your primal self, you're already dead. You may be breathing and walking around but you're an empty shell—just one of the herd. Completely unaware of what you truly want.” This sounds like something straight out of Fight Club (a shining model of Existentialism portrayed through film, not to mention one of my all-around personal favorites). Existentialism and Chase...okay fine, I would say that the only thing we really posses—call it our “existential currency”—are the few years of our lives. When relationships, emotions, and material possessions come and go, our time allotted by our biology—by which we make choices and act on them—is all we really ever have. Why would anyone waste them not loving every possible second?! Yes, there are some things that our out of our control, but many people grossly overestimate how much stuff that is. We control our lives, always.

Chase tells his followers, “We're gonna cast off those shackles that bind us to jobs we hate, people we don't love, lives that aren't worth living. We are going to TAKE IT.” Existentialism gets a bad rep from some, for they see it as cold and disloyal to loved ones. They don’t understand what others do, when they wake up one day during their unhappy and unfulfilled lives and ask, “Why do I keep doing this?” They see the man or woman that leaves it all behind to go create a new life somewhere else as selfish. In truth, what this person is doing is weighing their options—looking at the connections, the relationships, the luxuries, the comforts, and the responsibilities of their current life, and seeing how they compare to the grind, the uselessness, the aggravation, the boredom, the total inapplicability of everything around them to their very core, all things that are just as much a part of an unhappy life as the luxuries it may provide. The existentialist asks, “Is it really worth it?” “Do I truly owe anything to this husband or wife of mine? Is this monotonous task really going to matter to me in the long run? I’m not expressing who I truly am. This environment isn’t one I feel comfortable in.” They look at what’s holding them there. Is it tradition? Perhaps it’s simply expected or assumed you’d stay and do what you always were supposed to. Is it lack of power of will or fear of failure? Are they just too afraid to try and live without the fancy car and supportive community? Maybe it's a combination.

At its core, in a radically unhappy life, the Existentialist chooses to leave it all behind and recreate his or herself. They recognize that the only thing that matters is that they’ve enjoyed their life, and the only thing that truly belongs to them and depends on their actions is their own existential currency—time. And yes, I am well aware I used a nauseatingly obnoxious amount of italics in this connection. I hope my charm has somewhat made up for it. Cheers!

Fus Ro Dah

There is some superb music composed for video games these days.

This first track comes from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a game that--in my opinion--has one of the best soundtracks of all time and among any media. This game's music is on a level comparable to that of Inception, Lost, or Star Wars.

While Legend of Zelda embodies the near-perfect soundtrack, this second compilation represents what I believe to be the best song in all of video games. In all of the Elder Scrolls games since Morrowind, those same thematic musical elements remain as the skeletal structure of each game's musical centerpiece track. That central theme is purely Elder Scrolls to me.

Honestly, this is just beautiful music.

Live life as an exclamation, not an explanation

I'm fairly certain a large portion of my personality is a result of modeling after childhood role models. Most boys hold their fathers or the occasional teacher as their role models. But me? I always looked up to enthusiastic, educated, and entertaining (ACHOO! Agh, I'm allergic to alliteration) men that I probably watched on TV or something to that extent.

These dudes knew how to do it. They had a spark for life, a certain magnetism about them that was so invigorating. Bill Nye, specifically, ignited a desire within me to learn about this wonderful world. Sort of a, "Hey kids! You know this stuff, this awesome stuff that we all experience everyday? Well here's how it works. Isn't that cool?!" I loved it.



Now that I am older and probably not any wiser, I find that those I look up to most are the wise sages. Elderly men with a vast array of world experiences in their past; those who have travelled the world, simply to see what's out there. I find that they're generally easygoing, kindhearted, charming, and above all, wise.

All nerddom aside, observe now Dr. Wade Dazey, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Now let me just say, what a dude! A personal mentor for myself and I'm sure many others, Dr. Dazey has truly lived life. Someone who is, in my opinion, my personal epitome for a liberally educated person, I can hold a conversation with Dr. Dazey regarding just about any topic (excluding, maybe, the internet or technology), and he never fails to impress me with his breadth of knowledge. He has lived such a vide variety of experiences, and, from everything, walked away towards the future with a great attitude.
I feel a liberal education is what life is about; becoming a lifelong learner. The beautiful planet the human race lives on is so NUTS because of its diversity. One can't by just being interested in one thing. Critical thinking, psychology, history, ecology, astronomy, mythology, philosophy, photography, filmmaking, drama, literature, kinesiology, dance, music, exploring, traveling, technology, the internet, lore, relationships, humor, individualism. This is my life.



So how does one become wise? I suppose I would jump on a flashy TV show titled something along the lines of Buddha Siddhartha Gautama's 15 Steps to Wisdom, but come on people, this is America. Now that I think about it, a show about Buddhism would probably do pretty poorly in the Television market. Just look at All-American Muslim, that ambitious beast is getting ALL kinds of flack.
Wisdom. I think the way to get there is definitely experience... a wide variety of it. Living one's entire life in a white, affluent middle-class, Christian, Midwest America could perhaps lead to being an expert in something or even being smart, but not wise. I feel true wisdom requires, at the very least, empathy--examining situations from a totally different perspective.
If Albus Dumbledore and Wade Dazey embody my long-term ideal, what must I do in the short term to achieve that? Well, stories like THIS GUY'S come to mind...

Watch the epic video here

When people ask me what I want to be doing in 5 years, I show them this video.

Let me conclude by saying this whole idea of "role models" is something I don't really put that much thought into. I think a simple desire to watch an episode of Bill Nye compelled me to write this post. Trying to think about who I looked up to while growing up is pretty foreign. I am Ryan, I am me, dammit. That's all it really ever is or has been.