Letter from the Editor -
One of my friends told me how he misses walking in the morning while living in Cambodia as a monastic. The reason you see is that in Cambodia the Wat is situated within walking distance of the village, and he walks there in the morning to beg from householders for the morning meal.
The term “beg” and “begging” is appropriate, and no one has to be ashamed of using it. This practice was taught by the Buddha, as he instructed the bhikkhu, people who wanted to be his ordained disciples to leave their homes and all belongings. How do they live? They must rely on the lay disciples, the householders, for the four requisites of food, clothing, medicine, shelter.
My friend said walking quietly in the morning for alms is a good mindful practice for the monastic. It is a time to reflect on the Dhamma and interdependency of householders and monastics. Without one, the other can’t exist.
Without the monastic, we the householders would not know the Dhamma, and we would not be able to practice the Dhamma as taught by Buddha. Part of our householder practice is to make offerings to those of us who dedicate their lives to realizing and teaching the Dhamma.
These morning exchanges also can allow small talk with the monastics. Inquire on their health and other needs. Ask for a Dhamma teaching, such as clarification on what is meant in a particular passage of the Mangala Sutta.
The householder who offers the four requisites practice charity. While doing so, be mindful, be aware of the significant situation, and practice giving with a generous intention. This is a kind of practice called sati, mindfulness, one of the eight noble paths described in Buddha’s first teaching, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. The householder also can reflect on the interdependence of monastic and householder.
However, our community life is far from the ideal village life in Cambodia. Wat in West Linn is situated very far from householders. To get to the Wat or any householder requires driving a car for 30 mins one way.
How long would it take a monastic to visit enough houses every morning? To complete such a journey to return to Wat, by foot, and be able to eat a meal by noon? So here in our Watt Dhammarangsi community, this ideal daily schedule for the monastic to walk in the morning is not practical.
Although not intentionally, we as a community (both monastics and lay) have changed Buddha’s teachings. Our practices have deviated away, and now we are seeing the consequences of straying far from the Dhamma. What are those visible signs? Children not knowing or practicing the Dhamma. A fear that once the older generation passes away, so too will our Khmer and Buddhist traditions. We do not need to have such fear, though.
The reality is that change occurs whether we want to or not. In our modern world, there is now the car, TV, Internet, cell phones, the suburbs and big city life. But what we should realize is that we can direct the change, and not just accept things as they randomly occur.
We can move towards the ideal state that we want to be in. With a concerted effort, together we can strive to live as the Buddha taught. We can recreate a virtual village in this modern world that seems at odds with our Buddhist teachings and practices, for example with the use of this website to communicate with each other.
Specifically in this essay, the small problem of not living close to the Wat, means that the practice of the morning walk by the monastics and morning offerings by householders is not followed.
Until that ideal time of recreating the village life for our monks, to be able to walk in the morning to collect alms, we must consider how to be practical today and still live according to the Dhamma.
On buon and major festivals, people gather from all over, including from Salem and Seattle, to offer the monks. With so many people there is so much food that more is thrown away than monks can eat on that day. But what about on those days that there are no festivals to bring people together?
Though we all live far away from the Wat, we must consider visiting the Wat not just for buon and big celebrations, but also more periodically. For example, starting from this summer, bring your children to the Wat to study Khmer and Dhamma. Also, consider coming once a month to help clean up, and we can have a barbecue. We can turn these gatherings into assembly’s of our members, and help make decisions on major issues, like finishing construction of the vihara, the ordination hall.
Hope I’ve given you somethings to think about for the future, and somethings you can do today.
May you know, practice, and find protection in the Dhamma, realized by the Buddha, and taught by the Sangha.
Sincerely,
Website Editor
