Nudging toward the Dharma

It is the adepts’ preservation of an authentic Buddhism that anchors Folk
Buddhism. Folk members of Buddhist societies traditionally rub shoulders
with admirable adept friends, often daily, bringing themselves under their
influence. The Buddha asked his monks to enter the villages on daily alms
rounds, and to store no food, in order to ensure that level of contact and
dependence. Folks most reliably approach the adepts when they have a
question or have been debating with a friend about a matter of Dharma and
would like expert advice, or alternatively when they wish to air issues in their
personal lives or moral dilemmas. Folks notice that the adepts, and particularly
the Noble Ones, are different from the rest of us and find in their deportment
and behavior eye-opening examples of what the Buddha must have been
getting at. Adepts may sometimes take the liberty of admonishing folks, as
well as each other, when faced with views or behaviors that are decidedly un-
Dharmic. Adept Buddhism is an inward force that tends to hold and shape
lives of all to at least approximate accord with the Dharma.

Folk understandings and behaviors, on the other hand, can be expected to fall
roughly into three groups:

1. (1)  suitable, i.e., wholesome and Buddhism-friendly,
   

2. (2)  tolerable, i.e., of little consequence to Buddhist functions,
   

3. (3)  unsuitable, i.e., unwholesome and Buddhism-unfriendly.
   

The teachers among the adepts are those who cultivate the suitable, rectify the
unsuitable, and more than likely tolerate the tolerable. (1) and (2) are both
consistent with the Dharma-Vinaya. Even while the noble and pure among the
adepts cleanse the Folk Buddhist with what is suitable, at least ideally, the
ruffians, marketers and ubiquitous influences among the common people
might sully her with what is unsuitable. Suitable are the Refuges, generosity,
virtue, kindness, merit-making, an appreciation of the highest aspirations of
Buddhist practice, wisdom, refined cultivation of mind and simplicity.
Unsuitable are slaying, slaughter, swiping, swinging, swindling and swigging,
desire, ire and mire (the triple-fire), excessive exposure to advertising or hate
speech, multitasking and shopping ’til dropping. Incessant exposure to adepts
generally shapes values, views, conduct and character, away from what is
unsuitable.

Most significant among the tolerable factors in the present context are many of
those “cultural accretions” found in virtually any Buddhist tradition. For
example, it is common among the Burmese, representing a fundamentally

100 A Culture of Awakening

animist culture, to attribute special powers to monks, and particularly to senior
monks of great attainment. Just the fact of ordination makes one immune to
the scourge of angry tree spirits. The presence of monks on auspicious
occasions such as weddings and birthdays, as well as during periods of
misfortune, is regarded as enormous good fortune, and people go out of their
way to make offerings to monks when a karmic boost is likely to get them past
an impending danger. The body of a deceased monk of great attainment will
not decompose in the familiar way and when cremated will leave behind
crystalline relics that then proceed to multiply.

Now, in the “more rational” West such beliefs would be unsustainable, but for
reasons of scientific rationalism rather than of Buddhism, that is, for reasons of
Western folk-culture. They are tolerable from a Buddhist perspective because
they do not conflict with authentic Buddhist functions; in fact they express a
well-meaning if exuberant veneration of the Sangha. And so they endure.
Neutral elements of Folk Buddhism seem to mix even with Adept Buddhism
quite readily. Since Adept Buddhists generally start out as wee Folk Buddhists
and in their studies of authentic Buddhism would see no reason to evict these
elements, this is hardly surprising. Accordingly we find monks generally
offering blessings, consecrating Buddha statues, sprinkling wisdom water on
people, engaging in elaborate rituals, even exorcising ghosts as part of their
routine tasks, or simply incorporating folk customs and artifacts into the
manner of performing various tasks.

As for the unsuitable, certainly the recognized adepts constitute traditionally a
moral voice, admonishing folks to avoid what should be avoided: violence,
theft, adultery, deceit and intoxication. Monastics are expected to represent, for
emulation, standards of conduct in their behavior that exclude what is even
mildly unsuitable for the Buddhist: gossip, mindless distraction, backbiting,
judgment, anger, etc. Adepts will tend to correct misunderstandings of
Buddhist teachings and views that cause harm. Although they traditionally
have been tolerant of what in the West would be widely regarded as
supernatural or superstitious, on some key points – for instance, with regard to
the efficacy of rituals and blessings – they commonly point to psychological
alternatives to folk explanations.

In these ways, the Noble Ones bring into a world perpetually insane, their
civilizing influence, gently nudging the culture toward greater kindness and
wisdom, toward a culture of Awakening.