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Renowned secular Buddhist teachers to hold public retreat
By John Wark
In Tallahassee's Railroad Square, not just in monasteries in Korea, Nepal or Tibet, people are awakening from an existential sleep.
With a regularity rivaling the trains screeching along the track that edges the city's only "art park," world famous Buddhist teachers have been arriving and showing people how to awaken.
Yes, one of the city's best-kept secrets may be the Tallahassee Buddhist Community Hall in Railroad Square Art Park near FAMU.
In the past year, the Tallahassee Buddhist Community has hosted public teaching sessions with Mu Soeng, resident scholar at the prestigious Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Massachusetts, and the author, Vietnam war veteran, and Zen monk Claude Anshin Thomas.
This March, the scientists, artists, teachers, students and others who support the city's Buddhist community have arranged a five-day visit by Martine and Stephen Batchelor.
Martine Batchelor, a native of France, was ordained as a Buddhist nun in Korea in 1975, and studied Zen in Japan and Korea. She wrote "Women on the Buddhist Path," and her most recent book is "Let Go: A Buddist Guide to Breaking Free of Habits."
Steven Batchelor, a contributing editor to "Tricycle" magazine, is a former monk in both the Zen and Tibetan traditions and is now associated with a secular Buddhist movement. He wrote several books on Buddhism, including "Buddhism Without Beliefs," which became a national bestseller in 1997. His most recent book is "Living with the Devil. A Meditation on Good and Evil."
This will be the first time that the couple, who live in France, visit Tallahassee. In a recent e-mail exchange, Stephen Batchelor suggested that people with no knowledge at all of Buddhism could benefit from secular Buddhism.
"For someone unfamiliar with Buddhism, it could be argued that a non-denominational approach might offer an ideal introduction since the teachings are not biased in favor of any single tradition but respects them all," he wrote.
Familiarity with Buddhism isn't necessary for anyone to participate in the Tallahassee retreat, he said.
"More important than familiarity with Buddhism or meditation is to have an open mind and a willingness to explore ideas and practices that may be unfamiliar and challenging."
If you have considered learning about Buddhism or meditation, "instead of standing on the bank observing others, jump into the pond and see what it's like to swim for yourself," he suggests.
Already a meditator? Then you will likely understand immediately what Batchelor is getting at in "Buddhism Without Beliefs," when he writes that meditation, or "focused awareness," is difficult "not because we are inept at some spiritual technology but because it threatens our sense of who we are.
The apparently unthreatening act of settling the mind on the breath and observing what is occurring in the body and mind exposes a contradiction between the person we wish to be and the kind of person we are."
What happens when meditation exposes this contradiction? Then, he says, meditation "has succeeded in introducing an element of truthfulness . . . into one's self-awareness. This is the basis, the keynote, for all that follows: . . . to be more truthful with oneself and others."
What does he think about the possibility of you or me gaining freedom from the causes of our suffering, and awakening in this life as the Buddha did?
I e-mailed him, "It is clear from your writings and talks that you are unambiguously in the camp that holds awakening from our existential confusion as the Buddha did is within anyone's reach. It is not some mystical and rare experience. Could you elaborate . . . ?"
"Sorry," he answered, "the question is too general and would take too long to answer adequately."
See you at the retreat.
The retreat takes place March 8-11, 2007. More details are to be announced soon.
For information, visit www.tallahasseebuddhistcommunity.org or call 222-7304.
You can also e-mail for information at tally_buddhist@yahoo.com.
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