Wisdom Quarterly visited Against the Stream, Hollywood's punk rock Buddhist center (Seattle, New York, and elsewhere too). What we found was an artsy, roomy, concrete floor storefront across the street from L.A. City College.The nicest thing about ATS is not the synthesis of Theravada, Zen, and "Searchers," it is the grand acceptance, the community, all in mindfulness. And the way mindfulness is defined is as not-judging, not-evaluating -- attentive acceptance of what is, whatever is, to see everything just as it is. The Dharma, the truth, after all, is never limited to our labels. Why should American-Buddhists be?
I don't "believe" in anything. I practice mindfulness-of-breathing, to stay in the present moment. I value Gwan Yin, who to me represents the divine feminine. I think Pali is a remarkable Buddhist language, more important than Brahminical Sanskrit. I have a FREE TIBET sticker on my bike, but I don't think the Dalai Lama is enlightened. (He just has a fantastic PR firm). My logo is the Zen zero. I'd rather walk with Thich Nhat Hanh than talk with Lama Surya Das. I'm what Wisdom Quarterly calls a halfitarian, because of my Scandinavian love of dairy. I'm an American. I'm a Buddhist. I feel free. And look, ma, no tattoos! Does that make me iconoclastic enough to be one of the Dharma Punx? I don't know. But I know this: It's enough to make me feel welcome at Against the Stream. So I'm going back this weekend to learn to "Meditate & Destroy."
- How so? Well, to "meditate" is to search. And to "destroy" is like when the Buddha perplexed people by stating that "The noble disciple delights in destruction." Having got their attention, he explained: "The noble disciple delights in the destruction of craving."
It became an aphorism memorialized in the Dhammapada: "There is no satisfying sensual desires, even with a shower of gold coins. For sensual pleasures give little satisfaction and much pain. Having understood this, the wise person finds no delight even in heavenly pleasures. The disciple of a supremely-enlightened buddha delights in the destruction of craving (Dhp XIV, 186-187).
LYRICS: "Day after day I comb my brain/Searching for words which sound the same/Choosing these words and making them fit/Hoping, somehow, they'll all make sense/If they don't, don't blame me/I'm exploring my identity/I set the stage for the anonymous play/Composing good and evil in an offhand way/So if you should turn on me/It's because you don't understand/And won't until you assemble the fragmented picture/Of a shattered man/I'm searching/And my own MIND/Is my latest, greatest/Most fabulous find/I had to explore everything... /Never know what I might do next/Destroy myself or this karmic debt."
- Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society
(againstthestream.org) Calendar - Audio - Weekly Classes - Programs - Contact - Dharma Study Course - Teachers - MBSR - Seattle Dharma Punx: Against the Stream
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