India, Nepal and The Way of the Elders

by Brenda Frechette
A dharma talk given February 18, 2025

(As you may know, I don’t usually write out my talks, but I did get some requests for info on what I discussed on Feb 18, so I recreated it in writing.  A bit more pedantic than when I talk, but hopefully helpful!)

I’ve been in Nepal and India for the last month and just got back a week ago.  I’ll talk about that some in this talk, but I first want to acknowledge that I’ve been feeling that the world is chaotic and uncertain right now.  I stayed in touch with what was happening in the news by reading the New York Times but last night I watched the news on tv!  Perhaps seeing and hearing it through another’s tone and reaction resulted in me feeling even more anxious…so I wanted to own that and talk about how my meditation practice helps me to manage anxiety around things I don’t feel comfortable with and am unable to control. I also want to note that we make an effort in this sangha to welcome all opinions and views—but I think we do find common ground in wanting to react to distress with compassion and kindness.

Acknowledging helpfulness of Centering and prayer—and action: Following is a Thich Naht Hahn story about the Vietnamese boat people fleeing Vietnam by sea after the Vietnam War ended in 1975:

"When the crowded Vietnamese refugee boats met with storms or pirates, if everyone panicked, all would be lost. But if even one person remained centered and calm on the boat, they showed the way for everyone else to survive.”

I came across this lovely Jewish prayer recently that I found supports me in keeping grounded and not falling into crippling despair when I view the chaos in the world.  I like how it emphasizes staying centered in the storm so one has both the capacity to not turn away from difficulty and choose right action when appropriate.  It follows:

But I do also want to talk some about my adventures in India and Nepal—an entry into the mystical and magical—as well as the hells of pollution and poverty.
My traveling companions were long time friends that have met each other through a Tibetan Buddhist Rinpoche (Rinpoche means precious teacher) over the past 25 years.  We gathered from the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand.  I had asked our teacher if he would give us a particular teaching in Kathmandu, Nepal.  He had agreed—but first we traveled to Bodhgaya, India.  The area known for where the Buddha attained enlightenment and then began to teach (now approximately 2600 years ago.)

I love going to Bodhgaya because Buddhists from all different traditions gather there to offer respect to the Buddha and to practice their form of Buddhism.  There are many temples there—and they look very different from each depending on the culture that they arise from.  Thai temples, Tibetan temples, Sri Lankan temples, Burmese temples, Chinese temples…People come to circumambulate the Bodhi tree (where Buddha was believed to have sat under during the period he opened to enlightenment) as well as circumambulate around the Mahabodhi temple that was erected to honor the spot.  But the best part for me is hearing the prayers and chanting that arise out of the different Buddhist traditions—all interweaving with each other even though the languages and chants are very different.  I’ve practiced in both the Thai tradition where they chant in Pali (a now dead language but believed to be the language Buddha taught in) and practiced in the Tibetan tradition—which chants in Tibetan.  And once in a while, you’ll even hear someone chanting in English.  World peace prayers were being offered in all the traditions the week I was there.  So imagine being surrounded by people from different cultures, and a cacophony of sound, all in the spirit of compassion for all beings. 

In Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India

In Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India

Although there are many traditions and practices in Buddhism, the different varieties of practice all agree on the fundamental principles the Buddha taught. These are the teachings we emphasize in the Theravadan tradition—the tradition Insight Meditation is based on.  This includes recognizing what are called the 3 characteristics—which are dukkha, aniccha, and anatta.  Explaining this further— there is suffering (dukkha) and it is good to examine how we can exacerbate and make our suffering worse.  And NOTHING is permanent (impermanence or aniccha)—everything changes whether it is pleasant or unpleasant—and in fact we create a lot of our suffering by holding on tightly to our attachment to what we like as well as our hatred or aversion to what we don’t like.  Anatta is the teaching that we have no inherent self—and that we create a lot of our suffering by holding onto what is Me or Mine.

Another fundamental, basic principle all varieties of Buddhism agree on are the 4 noble truths—in brief being:

First Noble Truth—there is suffering (dukkha)
Second Noble Truth—There is a cause of suffering (pointing again to how we attach to what we want, hold onto aversion for what we hate, and not having the view of impermanence and emptiness.)
Third Noble Truth—There can be a cessation of suffering
Forth Noble Truth—There is a path (called the Noble Eightfold Path) that we can follow to practice these principles

Our tradition is based on these foundational teachings—also called the Way of the Elders—the Theravadan—but there are actually three primary yanas (Sanskrit for vehicles that take you towards the path of enlightenment) Buddhist practices fall within—these are the Hinayana, the Mahayana, and the Vayjrayana.  
Hinayana—are the foundational teachings found in the Pali Canon. The oral tradition passed down from monk to monk (primarily through chanting in Pali) until the suttas were written down around 29 BCE—long after the Buddha’s death.  The Pali Canon is comprised of 3 main areas and referred to as the Tripitaka (or 3 baskets of teachings.) These are the Vinaya (monastic ethics and rules), the Suttas (teachings of the Buddha) and the Abhidharma (commentaries and explanations on the Buddhist teachings).  There were 18 schools in this tradition—the Theravadan view is the one that survived and is the basis for the teachings we do at Prescott Insight.   This view of Buddhism is practiced in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, and Burma (Myanmar) — as well as in the Insight tradition in Europe and U.S. (In the U.S., Spirit Rock in California and Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts are leading centers of this tradition.)

Mahayana teachings emphasize the practice of the paramitas—focusing on a slow cultivation of wholesome states.  The paramitas include generosity, ethical conduct, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom.  (The Theravada paramitas also include renunciation, equanimity, loving kindness, truthfulness, resolve).  Taking the bodhisattva vow (the resolve to seek enlightenment in order to help all sentient beings) is a core element of this tradition.  Also the view that all beings arise out of the pure compassionate spaciousness of Buddhanature is taught. The Heart Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, and the Diamond Sutra are core teachings within this tradition.  So practicing wholesome qualities remind us of who we really are.  This tradition arose and is now primarily practiced in Japan (Zen), China (Chan), and VietNam as well as in the Himalayan countries.  There also are many centers in the West that practice in this tradition.  

Vayjrayana rose primarily in the Himalayan countries and is primarily practiced in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and parts of northern India—and of course has been transmitted to Western countries also.  The Vayjrayana encompasses all three yanas (calling this the 3 principles of the path).  This includes the Hinayana as foundational teachings, the Mahayana for opening the heart to wholesome qualities and the Bodhisattva vow, and the Vayjrayana—working with experiencing the opening of the mind through emptiness teachings and practices that work with the subtle vibrational body energies, channels and chakras.  (Hinayana is a term that is translated as the lesser vehicle—you can imagine that doesn’t go over well with Theravadan practitioners—in our modern age, we refer to this term more as meaning the foundational teachings.)
The Vayjrayana monasteries really emphasize learning the view through vigorous debate.  This in fact is a very old tradition within Buddhism. During the period when Buddha was teaching, it was not unusual for him to be challenged by practitioners in different traditions—debate was welcome to deeply explore the teachings and was a main teaching tool.  

Buddhism arose during the Axial age (800 to 200 BCE).  This was a time of crosspollination of cultures, opening of trade routes, and when many of the world’s religions emerged.  Buddha was definitely influenced by Hinduism and the Brahman culture he grew up in.  It was prophesized when he was born that he would either become a world ruler or be a great spiritual leader.  He was raised in a wealthy household (the warrior caste in India), but he chose to leave his wealth and become a wandering ascetic in reaction to the suffering he saw.  This was a very iconoclastic move at that time (just as it would be today.)  There are elements of Hinduism in Buddhism, but there are some very different views.  For example—Hinduism points to beings having souls (Atman), whereas Buddhism points to there not being any inherent self at all.  Buddha also strongly challenged the caste system that was arising and encouraged the equality of all beings.

The Mahabodhi Temple (literally: "Great Awakening Temple") or the Mahābodhi Mahāvihāra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an ancient, but restored Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India

The Bodhi Tree ("tree of awakening" or "tree of enlightenment"), was a large sacred fig tree (Ficus religiosa) located in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India. Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher who became known as the Buddha, is said to have attained enlightenment, or buddhahood, circa 500 BCE, under this tree.

It can be very enriching to look at all of these perspectives and my hope here is to just give an overview of the different traditions to increase understanding of all the different roads encompassed by Buddhism.

But ultimately, I think the real juice in the practice is how to work with the challenges in daily life.  The Sallekha Sutta (Mahjima Nikaya # 8) challenges us to take practice to our daily life and to work with the obstacles that arise—while also acknowledging the concentration meditation practice of the 8 attainments of jhanas. It starts off with a monk asking the Buddha what he should focus his practice on.  Buddha discusses the deep concentration practices of the jhana states (there are 8 of them.)  But he says the real point is to cultivate wholesome qualities—and he lists 44 different qualities to consider cultivating.  Here are just a few examples:

"Others will be cruel. We shall be kind. Thus we will incline the heart. “Others will speak falsely. We shall speak truth. Thus we will incline the heart.” “Others will exploit and steal. We shall be honest and generous. Thus we will incline the heart.” – Sallekha Sutta  Mn 8

I think this is really the grit of our practice—especially in challenging and chaotic times.  It’s developing the capacity to be the calm and centered one in rough waters.  
When one goes on retreat in the Insight tradition, we take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.  We also take 5 vows—which are actually pretty easy to do on a silent retreat. These are:

I vow not to steal.
I vow not to kill.
I vow not to take intoxicants.
I vow not to engage in sexual conduct.
I vow not to engage in false speech. (kind of easy when you’re being silent!)

Phillip Moffitt—a teacher at Spirit Rock offers the following  renunciation vows—which for me I find more challenging—but also put me at my edge to recognize how I create more suffering for myself.
For the duration of….(if you’re on retreat—for the week of retreat—but you can say you are making this commitment just for your meditation sit, or just for the day, or just for the next few hours.  The point is to bring awareness to our judging, comparing, having to fix things self talk that is so frequent and causes us suffering.)
These are:

I renounce judging mind as best I’m able.
I renounce comparing mind as best I’m able.
I renounce fixing mind as best I’m able.

I ended this talk with a request to the sangha to let the teachers know what would be of interest for us to cover in our dharma talks.
And a bow to dedicate the merit of us meeting together and discussing the dharma for the benefit of all beings.  

If you are interested in learning more about the suttas, there are websites that offer them freely.  For example:  www.accesstoinsight.org    Keep in mind that the suttas were remembered through chanting in the oral tradition and not written down for a few centuries.  So they can seem very repetitive and challenging to read.

For lovely free dharma talks on thousands of subjects in the Theravadan tradition, I recommend www.dharmaseed.org  All free talks offered at Spirit Rock, Insight Meditation Society, and Gaia House.