I am most fortunate that there are three places in this country that I consider “home.” Of course, the home where I grew up was my first home and, since I now live in the very house where we lived, I still consider it home. However, when I was in the Navy, I was stationed in Northern California at a remote facility on the coast in “Redwood Country.” After I had been there for a while, I started calling them “our redwoods.” I also started feeling so much a part of the community.
Now I have to include Drikung Meditation Center and the Arlington community where it is located as another place that I consider home. I felt so much at home not only in the center itself, but also in the area. With a “Link Pass” for each week, I mastered navigating the Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority system to get where I needed to go. Although it was cool at night or when it rained, the weather was generally quite moderate. I could really get used to becoming a “snow bird,” wintering in Florida and summering in Massachusetts.
However, it was not really the geography that made me feel so much at home, but rather the people both at the Center and in the neighborhood. My vajra brothers and sisters in the Sangha of the Center made me fully a part of the life of the Center. Furthermore, their neighbors like the “old hippie” across the street with his version of “edible landscaping” also make me very comfortable. Even the grocery store on the corner that gives a $.05 discount for each bag you bring in to use instead of theirs speaks to a positive concern for what we are doing to our environment.
I even appreciate the cultural events that are accessible with the variety of museums and similar venues although I can seldom afford to avail myself of such. On top of that, community resources that address our need for responsible commerce like coffee shops that offer organic, shade grown, fair trade coffee as well as coop groceries that help make organic and environmentally sound products more available and affordable seem to be more common in the Boston area than they are around Tampa Bay.
I do believe that whether I am a Ngakpa , as I am now, or a monk, as I hope soon to be, my Buddhist ethics must be evident in all that I do. Just as my concern for preserving the lives of all sentient beings requires me to be a vegetarian and even to seek different ways to deal with “pests,” it also requires me to examine other aspects of my relationship with them. Furthermore, that concern has to include my fellow human beings wherever they may be, whether I ever see them or not. Indeed, putting on the robes of a monk will require that I be even more circumspect in my conduct as far as all samayas are concerned not only those specific to a monk, but also those common to all Buddhists. It is notable that in the Theravadan tradition among the items that a man must bring when he is to be ordained is a filter for his water in order that he will not inadvertently kill a tiny insect. If we are to be that careful of such a creature, are we to have any less concern for our fellow human beings.
I seek not only to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, but also to avoid burdening them in their lives. How could I attain enlightenment if I am adding to my negative karma by my actions toward those same sentient beings? It is repeatedly said that without compassion there can be no enlightenment. Shakyamuni Buddha's compassion required him to share it with us through the Dharma and the creation of the Sangha.
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