I'd like to see if we can do fifteen minutes of question-and-answer.
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About Dr. Ruben
Habito…
Dr. Ruben Habito is a Professor of World Religions and Spirituality at
Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University in Dallas,
Texas. He is also Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Habito
completed his doctoral studies at Tokyo University in 1978, and taught
at Sophia University in Tokyo. He is the author of numerous books on
Buddhism, was President of the Society for Buddhist Christian Studies
from 2003 to 2005, and serves as spiritual director and Teacher
(Roshi) at Maria Kannon Zen Center in Dallas, Texas.
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Dr. Ruben Habito:
Both the things that we acquire and the things that we do, that
creates their own results. So it's a… give and take of cause
and effect in our lives that results in blocks of more results that
become more causes and so forth. It's a very complicated picture. But
yes, all of those are involved: everything we learn as well as our
responses to the things that we learn that create their own effect.
Questioner 1:
The more I hear you, the more complicated it is for me.
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Yes.
Questioner 1:
There's nothing simple about it?
Dr. Ruben Habito:
There's nothing simple about it. Sorry if I sounded overly complicated.
Questioner 1:
So you just work on your own?
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Well, yes. That's where we begin: our own…
Questioner 1:
And then we get to a point where we can help someone and understand
ourselves?
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Yes, but the main thing is that we know that it's already there so we
trust our most spontaneous impulse. And so, in the stillness we
somehow get a guide as to how to respond. If, we are able to respond
from our inner voice. Then, that's the voice that we can trust. That
is the most genuine response. But if something comes in that says,
"But I want this," or, "that's not my preference," and so on, that's
the kind of thing that blocks that deeper voice.
Questioner 1:
I understand that. Thank you.
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Thank you.
Questioner 2:
Thank you for being here. I'm Dave from Shambhala… Dallas
Shambhala Center… and from Unity.
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Ah, Thank you… sister community. Yes…
Questioner 2:
I think I'm going to follow up what she said. One of the things that
even I hadn't believed after studying Buddhism, Taoism for
years. Reading it as a student, I thought, was that I would find the
simpleness in it and I would learn how to become it by reading it. But
it wasn't until a year ago, when I found the Sangha and began sitting
and practicing in it, simpleness started to come. And I don't know, I
can't explain that. Maybe you can comment on it.
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Thank you. I think you said it very well in that the invitation to
come… to come home to that core of love with a capital L is in
all of us. And so it's like reading perhaps a menu or a recipe. And we
look at the picture of the dish and our mouth waters. And then we read
another menu and our mouth waters some more. So this is what reading
spiritual books can do to us. It whets our appetite. But, at some
point, we have to set those aside and actually eat. It's practice with
a community that enables us to really taste that food together. And it
is something that makes a difference. It's no longer just looking at
the menu and having a nice salivating experience. But really getting
to touch and taste something that can be satisfying. So I do highly
recommend finding your spiritual community and being persistent and
consistent and regular, and go deep into this practice of
silence. Precisely, so that the transformation can occur. And it will
be an arduous task because you feel, "Ah, my legs are aching," or "I
can't do this. I can't remain inside this for too long. My mind is too
busy"… monkey mind and so forth. Well, welcome to the
club. That's why we need one another. To help one another in really
going deeper. And thank you for that. And there are several
communities here in Dallas that are available for that kind of
support. So by all means, find one that fits you and go to it and be
consistent and go to that core. And when you meet like-minded friends
from other communities, you will have a deeper sense of being one
really. Because, you know, that your practice leads you there. And
that other person and those other persons are also on the same path
and you can recognize one another. Thank you for that.
Questioner 2:
Thank you. It's going from recognizing you're hungry to being nourished.
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Exactly. Thank you. Thank you. You said it very well.
Questioner 3:
I loved your opening about being beloved and there are times when we
don't feel that beloved. One specific time for me is, if I'm in the
midst of anger and then I'm sitting down and trying to get to this
stillness. That's kind of a blockage. So I just wondered if you had
any sort of hot tips about dealing with anger and these times when
we've got something that's really rattling us.
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Indeed, you put… you point a sore spot that all of us will
recognize. And all of the beautiful thoughts and ideas that we
cultivate in our sitting and in our reading and so on… can just
vanish when something happens that crosses our path and so on. And it
doesn't happen the way we want it. And so we react and we get mad and
we try to see how to insist on our way and so forth. And it's the
"I, me" mind that gets in the way of that love. So, I have no
hot tip for dealing with that. But I think Thich Nhat Hanh has a whole
book on dealing with that.
Br. ChiSing:
It's called "Hot Tips."
[laughter…]
Dr. Ruben Habito:
It's one on anger.
What I have learned in our practice of Zen meditation just sitting in
silence is when something arises in a human encounter, for example
whatever the emotion is precisely, anger… the main thing is to
be able to recognize it, and acknowledge it and breathe with it. And
then somehow, you'll know how to take care of it… before it
gets you off-track and leads you to doing something or thinking
something or saying something that is based on that anger…
before any more harm can come out based on that anger. This practice
of sitting in stillness enables us to watch it. "A ha, there it goes."
And not want to try to eradicate it. Because we can't. It's there. We
can't deny it. We're angry.
Questioner 3:
To be like… be present with it.
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Exactly. Be present with it. Acknowledge it. Breathe with it. And
somehow, you'll know what to do with it. And there's some types of
anger that need to be continued. But not in a hateful way. But in a
way that transforms society. There's so much in our society that's
happening that really that makes you mad. The kind of things that are
happening: spending money in killing people rather than for health and
for education and so forth. Anyone who's not mad here is not
listening really. But, we have see how to live with that anger in a
way that can transform and can heal rather than destroy someone. So
anger is a natural human emotion that arises in terms of… in
times of conflict. But it's not that we have to eradicate it. We
can't. Nor can we. But how we deal with it is really what is
important. So, this practice of silence is what enables us to
recognize it, acknowledge it, and then deal with it in a way that can
be creative and healing. And there's no… Again, there's no set
prescription for all cases but we just have to learn how to deal with
case by case. That's a very important point. Thank you.
Questioner 4:
Somewhat along those lines, I find that I cannot deal with it alone. I
need to have the Sangha… community…
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Indeed and when you find yourself in the Sangha, again you might
think, "Now I've found my dream community and so on." And we find that
within that Sangha itself, there are all sorts of convoluted things
that you have to deal with and again you might be disillusioned. But,
you realize, "Well, we're all struggling with our rough edges and
struggling with our karmic baggage." And so hopefully, we will find
the gem in each one rather than getting put off by the baggage of each
one carries. Indeed.
Questioner 5:
Can you tell us, one or two ways that your Christian practice was
transformed by your experience of Zen.
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Ah yes. Thank you.And that is really a running theme… an
ongoing theme of my life. I was born and raised in a Catholic family
in the Phillipines and was sent to Japan as a young Jesuit in
1970. And that's where I met the Buddhist Zen master that is now my
lifelong teacher. And basically, I was taught how to sit in silence in
a very methodical way in a community and had periodic one-on-one
interviews with the master in a way that showed me my karmic baggage
and showed me how to deal with it. They had a powerful set of tools
called koans that enables the practitioner to go through the different
angles of our own inner life. And through that, basically what I
learned was a very systematic way of sitting in stillness in the
context of a community. And what I discovered was that, it's already
there in my Christian tradition. But unfortunately, it has not been
fully given the emphasis that it needs to be given because, well,
there is a lot of ritual and doctrine and a lot of external stuff that
has gotten in the way. So what it has enabled me is… what it
has… What my Buddhist practice has given me is a new
appreciation of the riches of my own Christian tradition. So, it's a
way of pointing out that the contemplative life is also within the
Christian tradition in a way that needs to be recovered and cultivated
again so that Christians can also take part in it. And so that's
basically the gift that I received from the Buddhist tradition which I
continue to cherish and also hope to be able to offer to others.
Questioner 5:
Do you find Christian communities where that work unearthing the
contemplative practice and opening it up for more people is
happening?
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Yes. In fact it has been a very traditional form of spiritual life in
the Christian community. Like, well there are so called contemplative
communities. There is a community of nuns in Oklahoma, in Osage, who
run a small retreat house. There are about six or seven nuns. And they
open their place to people who seek a context of contemplative living
with Christian liturgy and with guidance from some of the nuns there
who are also experienced in the spiritual path. And also there are
different groups now, lay Christians who are precisely rediscovering
the contemplative dimension of the Christian tradition. So, if you
know some keywords, just Google it and you'll find a community that
meets that context, I'm sure. And right now for example, in some
churches, they may have the regular offerings of liturgy and masses or
worship services, but at certain times within that community, there
are groups who get together in silence like this. So, there's one at
an Episcopal Church… Where's Gary's group sitting?
[Various people in the gathering say "Church of the
Transfiguration…"]
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Church of the Transfiguration… Thank you. So there are groups who do
not feel that they need to get out of their Christian context but are
seeking a contemplative life. So there are also those groups that you
can find within that context. And so we can also find them as kindred
spirits in that regard. Thank you
Br. ChiSing:
Thank you. I think we have time for one more question.
Questioner 6:
What's one of your favorite spiritual films and why?
Dr. Ruben Habito:
One of my favorite spiritual films. I have been watching many
films. And so many of them are so spiritual. They don't carry the name
spiritual. But, anything with a deep human message that brings up that
Love with a capital L… I try to remember some. I'm
sorry… I have… Well, the one that keeps coming back is
an old, old film done by a French director about… with
Brazilian actors… The Black Orpheus. It takes the myth of
Orpheus in a Brazilian context with Samba and so forth. I don't know
if anyone has seen that.
[Several people say they know of the movie…]
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Oh yes, thank you. But somehow that's one of the things that lingers
in my mind. So it again, is something that talks about new life
through death… New art… So we face all sorts of crises
in life. We face all sorts of twists and turns. And at some point,
what happens is really a challenge: Can you give your life to this?
And if we don't, then we just go on in our very limited ways. But we
are able to see that challenge and really plunge ourselves and we
really give ourselves, then somehow, there is a new life that
emerges. So, many movies are what we call tragic in their
conclusion. But that tragedy itself may speak of a different kind of
triumph so to see through those themes maybe the thing that challenges
in watching films. But yeah that's one of the films that comes to mind
right now. Thank you. And I'm sure that each one would be able to give
one or other or more that we can all learn from. And I'd like to learn
some of it. What's yours by the way? Can you give me one that
you've…
Questioner 6:
"Powder"
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Oh thank you, I'll have to check that out. I haven't seen it. Thank you.
Br. ChiSing:
Thank you very much everyone and thank you for coming.
Dr. Ruben Habito:
Thank you.
[ Go to part 1 of this talk ]
