Arcata residents share questions, inspirations and dreams before praying and meditating.

By Jill McAree

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The Buddha is within us all — every one of us is capable of obtaining enlightenment, if we so desire. Many of us here in Humboldt feel pretty enlightened while standing on a cliff and looking into the horizon of the Pacific Ocean, or by hiking a few miles through the redwood trails at Fern Canyon. Being in this serene environment and seeing friendly, familiar faces can make us feel at peace. But behind many of those friendly, familiar faces are serious spiritual seekers, those following the path of the Buddha, or “Awakened One.” Buddhism is alive and thriving behind many doors in Humboldt County.

One of the places residents can go to practice Zen meditation is the Arcata Zen Center. This center has been active since 1974, and began in the Old Arcata Creamery before finding a more permanent and comfortable location. The Arcata Zen Group now has approximately 80 members, and meets every Sunday at the Aikido Center in Arcata. During this meeting, they practice kinhin, or walking meditation, followed by a dharma talk led by a monk, and discussions on their readings. Once a month teachers are invited to speak to the group. Some members also practice zazen, or sitting meditation, on a daily basis.

Quynh Schafer, who works at the reference desk in the Humboldt State University library, practices Zen Buddhism. She grew up in a Buddhist home in Vietnam, but did not consider herself Buddhist until a few years ago, after both of her children left for college. While growing up, she went to the pagoda once a year, and said there was no difference between paying respects to Buddha or to a deceased relative. It was not something she thought about too much until after leaving home - the glamour of the West was much more attractive to her as a child than were the drab temples.
Schafer has lived in Humboldt County since 1981 and did not belong to any religion until she began to search, and she re-considered Buddhism. She saw fliers for a Tibetan group and went to a meeting, but it was not the style she was looking for.

“Everyone was bowing to the Rinpoche when he entered, and he was seated on a throne. It wasn’t how I interpreted Buddhism,” she said.

She was introduced to the Arcata Zen Group by a friend, and was immediately drawn to the quiet, still atmosphere of the zazen meditation.

“I thought, yes, this is more like it,” she recalled.

She also had a better understanding of the teachings in English and has felt more connected to them. She has been a regular member of the group for the past three or four years.

Schafer, unlike other Buddhists, does not meditate — she doesn’t feel like she needs it. She said meditation is a self-observation, and she doesn’t need to sit and meditate to gain that. She prefers walking or yoga as a way to relax and rejuvenate.

Another aspect she feels strongly about are the areas of praying and offering . She sees those things as asking for favors from outside, when it is really more about looking within yourself for the answers.

“Buddhism is a philosophy and is about guidance - it is not a religion,” she said. “It fits into the modern world well because it is not rigid.”

The Arcata Zen Group’s focus is on Soto Zen (gradual enlightenment), as well as on the koans, or questions asked to deliberately boggle the mind and force you to look at things in a different way. The main teachings are on the Four Noble Truths about suffering and the Eightfold Path for liberation from suffering. Much is taught about emptiness and attachment, and the “no-self.” Schafer finds comfort in these teachings.

Maylie Scott, who died last year, began leading the group in 1989 and moved to Arcata in 1999. Some of her lectures are posted on the group’s Web page. In one lecture from February of last year, she said, “Sitting zazen offers us the opportunity of watching the activity of presenting a ‘self’ to ourselves. A Zen saying says, ‘Pick up the corner and the whole piece is there.’ We may get lost for awhile, but sooner or later (thanks to impermanence) the mind construction wears out and we all recall our intention of returning to the present moment. If we are suffering we begin to find that this is where comfort, even a subtle sort of pleasure, lies.”

Lynda McDevitt, board president for the center, said that Buddhism could be attractive to Humboldt County residents because the emphasis is on nature and people here are less materialistic than people in other parts of the country. She also said that Buddhism is a way of life and an attitude of obtaining mindfulness in every moment.

“It reminds me to be here,” she said.

Patrick Tam, a physics professor at HSU, has a different perspective on the subject.

“Buddhism is a religion, it is not a way of life. The purpose of the practice is to return to the eternal, no matter what you call that eternal being - God, Allah, whatever,” Tam stated. “Everyone has different names and forms of practice, but all religions share a common objective.”

Tam is a lay minister for the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives, which currently has 12 members in this area. According to its Web site, the Order is dedicated to the practice of the serene Reflection Meditation tradition, known as Ts’ao-Tung Ch’an in China, and Soto Zen in Japan. It was incorporated in 1983 as an umbrella organization for monasteries, priories (local temples) and meditation groups led by priests of the same lineage in Britain, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. Its purpose is to bring together members and congregations to one harmonious branch of the sangha, or community.

The order has a monastery in Mount Shasta, and was brought to Humboldt by Tam, who came here in 1969 from San Francisco. He had been part of the Zen center there. This group meets once a week and invites senior monks to come and give dharma talks once a month. They are currently in the process of finding a public place to hold their meetings. Tam gives lectures and talks about his personal training and practice. He said that this area seems receptive to inspirational growth.

Buddhism is a philosophy, and is the broad term for those who follow the path of Siddhartha Gautama; a prince-turned-ascetic living in India in the sixth century BCE. He lived a life full of indulgence, but was apparently unconvinced of its value. He was struck by the fact that life always leads to decay and death.

He left his “pleasure palace” to become an ascetic, learning from different teachers and trying different methods. After years of this lifestyle, he finally experienced Supreme Enlightenment following a period of reflection and deep meditation. He passed through four states of serene contemplation, then recalled all of his past lives, realized the cycle of deaths and rebirths, and finally had a realization of the cause of suffering and the means for ending it. It is said that after this, he radiated light. This realization made him an enlightened being, and that is how he became known as “Buddha.” His teachings found their way to Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, where it has evolved and been interpreted differently in each country. Zen is one of the most popular forms of Buddhism among Westerners, and comes to us from Japan.

Mary Pat Fisher, author of “Living Religions,” explains in her book, “Buddhism has often been embraced by Westerners because of their longing for the peace of meditation. In the midst of a chaotic materialistic life, there is a desire to discover emptiness, to let identity with the self fall away, or to become familiar with the mind’s tricks in the still simplicity of a zendo (Zen meditation hall).”

Beyond the local meditation halls, there are temples located within a few hours drive. Among them are Rigdzin Ling, a Tibetan monastery in Junction City, the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Ukiah and the Daishu-in West temple in Benbow, south of Garberville. (Daishu-in East is in Kyoto, Japan.)

HSU offers two courses that include weekend retreats to the Buddhist monasteries. Nolan O’Brien, a journalism major, attended the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas retreat last year. He initially enrolled in the one-unit class out of curiosity.

“I felt at peace the whole time I was there. The exposure to that type of devoted lifestyle has helped me to become more aware of my own desires,” said O’Brien.

The building used to be a state hospital, and rests on 480 acres of land, with gender-specific schools on the grounds. Carvings of Buddha - 10,000 of them - painted gold, cover the temple walls. Both monks and nuns live at the temple. They woke everyone up from their dorm-style rooms at 5 a.m. for meditation, followed by a big meal.

The purpose of the sit is to become aware of your own desires and consciousness, to release yourself from the desires of the senses, with the ultimate goal of reaching enlightenment.

O’Brien said he felt peaceful while there, but the lifestyle of the monks was too ritualized for him. He admired their devotion and pure motivation for trying to “save the world through their own suffering and desire.”

“I learned that I don’t want to be a monk,” he said, laughing.

Mike Dronkers, music director for KHUM and an HSU graduate, attended Rigdzin Ling in 1998. He said he only signed up for the class, called “Paths to the Center,” because it was a general-education requirement that fit his schedule, and the weekend retreat was required for the class. Similar to the ritual of the monks at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, they were also awakened at 5 a.m., had an early- morning meditation session, and learned about the teachings. According to Dronkers, the monks were quiet people who communicated through action, and seemed to relish daily tasks in a way that most people do not. Although this was not something he was particularly looking forward to, he is very glad that he went to the temple and was able to see how they live and get a new perspective.

“One of the monks spoke about the importance of not exerting negative energy. It takes enough energy just to live, and it’s a waste of time to expend energy to hurt others,” Dronkers reflected. “I think about that every day.”