A Discussion between Zarko Andričević and Reb Anderson:
The transformation and challenges Chan is facing in the West
Chan Buddhism, with its abundant connotation on oriental culture, has been spreading to the West for the past decades. We wonder what parts of the oriental spirituality of Chan was retained and what parts have been transformed?
What are the approaches that the Westerners use to train their disciples in order to pass down the oriental Chan Method?
The two Chan Masters, Reb Anderson and Zarko Andričević, discussed what they had learned, their insights on the subject, and gave their valuable feedbacks for the audience to reflect upon, particularly from the perspective of oriental culture.
On Oct 1, a symposium titled as “The Transformation and challenges the Chan Method is facing in the West” held by the Graduate Program of Humanities and Social Sciences in Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts (法鼓文理學院人文社會學群) and the DDM Meditation Activity Department (法鼓山傳燈院); hosted by the Managing Director of the DDM Three Study Institute (法鼓山三學研修院), Venerable Guo-Guang (果光法師) and simultaneously interpreted by Dr. Chen WeiWu (陳維武博士).
At the DILA’s invitation, Reb Anderson, the fist-generation disciple of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi (鈴木俊隆) who also served as the Abbot of San Francisco Zen Center for over a decade, along with Zarko Andričević, one of the Western dharma heirs of late Master Sheng Yen, discussed their thoughts vividly at Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts.
In their discussion, both Western Chan (Zen) masters of oriental lineages raised their points sharply and shared their remarks wittily with 120 audience members, who listened to the inspiring discourse with ears wide open.
At his young age, Reb Anderson admired a lot the eminent Zen Masters and therefore kept seeking for great Zen teachers and their teachings. One time, in the San Francisco Zen Center, he caught a glimpse of two legs standing in front of him, while he was at sitting meditation; he knew at that moment, this master could teach him the Chan method. That was his first encounter with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi.
Zarko Andričević, on the other hand, got in touch with Chan through martial arts and yoga later on; he has gradually raised a hot pursuit of exploring the answers of life’s origin over the decades. About 20 years later, at a 7-day Chan retreat guided by Master Sheng Yen, he realized that he finally found his true Chan teacher.
As Western culture is deeply rooted in Christianity, propagating Buddhadharma is noticeably challenging; yet both masters still strived to use every possible approach to spread the Buddhadharma in the West, sharing the significant benefits they gained from their learning and practices, and to introduce Buddhism to the Westerners.
“It is vital that people have desperate needs in Dharma.” Inspired from his long-term practices, Zarko Andričević proposed three fundamental prerequisites for propagating Chan in the West: people should take Buddhadharma as a good form of spiritual medicine; dharma teachers should spread their beliefs with wisdom and offer corresponding dharma resolutions to the practitioners with all kinds of needs; and the lastly, Buddhist sutras should be translated in a broad scope, serving as the preparation and cultivation to help Buddhadharma flourish.
From another aspect, Anderson realized that Buddhadharma can be learned in different approaches. This can be noticed during its practices, in spite of the core spirit of Buddha teachings, sitting meditation is not completely irreplaceable.
Notwithstanding, Anderson still advocated the ideals that derive from practicing Chan and the clear contemplation of it should be always carried on by some practitioners, which is the pivotal foundation for passing down Buddhadharma.
When it comes to carrying on the Buddhadharma, Teacher-disciple Relationships truly matters
Reb Anderson further shared his experiences, “The key of carrying on Buddhamdharma neither solely relies on the teacher, or on the disciples. What truly matters is that the teacher and the disciple share a relationship of interdependence.”
Reciprocal interactions, mutual communications and imitations are correlated dynamically, to each other and their practices. During the dharma discussions and practices of both Reb and Zarko, they have concluded that the role of teacher and disciples can be interchangeable: one can always learn from the other.
Zarko Andričević deeply agreed that “to contemplate the way we act in our relationships is a good approach to understand ourselves and others better, which is also what the transmission of Buddhadharma is all about.” The scenario of mutual interactions has indeed inspired us to contemplate the depth of our minds.
Gradually Learning on Dharma teachings
“Is it still Dharma if we overlook some key concepts of Buddhism?” An essential question was raised from the audience, concerning some westerners who choose to skip some concepts that are incompatible with western culture, such as samsara.
Reb Anderson responded that we usually introduce new practitioners to Buddhism expediently, and then bring about those concepts after the practitioners have become more accepting of them.
Abruptly, Reb Anderson stood up and walked toward the audience, and said, “I stand before you to show you how shocked it is for the Westerners when they hear the concepts of ‘samsara’”. Next, he pated Mr. Chen on his shoulder and said, “How I dealt with this is to ask them to sit down, and calm their minds first.”
According to Reb, people are also at a good point to start on their journey as they learn to deal with the shocking philosophies they are faced with.
“Zarko Andričević disclosed that the way Europeans think is significantly different from that of Americans. Although they’re both considered Westerners, some European students do not necessarily exclude the ideas of samsara.
Zarko, however, disagreed on the idea that beliefs could be established without rationality. He said, “Buddha would surely ask his disciples to cultivate their practical experiences, and to closely examine their purpose, not simply believe without thinking.”
According to Zarko, “In the world of globalization, where the eastern and western cultures are in frequent communication, the modern lifestyle is in fact unprecedented in history.” He philosophically concluded that it is exactly what Buddhists considered as impermanence; to adapting to it, we just need to be more open when encountering changes.