Buddha at the Apocalypse: Awakening from a Culture of Destruction

193 Pages·2010·1.07 MB·English

by  Kurt Spellmeyer (Author)

BUDDHISM / CURRENT EVENTS
B
TIMELY AND AUDACIOUS, BUDDHA AT THE APOCALYPSE
u
challenges us to look directly at the devastating assumptions
d
underlying the very mechanisms of the modern world—and d
offers a clarion call to awaken from a pervasive culture of h
destruction into a natural, sustainable, and sane peace. a
a
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“BuddhaattheApocalypseiseasygoing,wellwritten,andsolidlyreasoned—andlivelyintheway
itinterweavesBiblicalanalysis,Zenliterature,andWesternphilosophyandsociologywithpop- t
ularcultureanddeepwisdom.Iamdelightedtogreetthisimportantandmeaningfulwork.” h
—fromtheforewordbyRobertA.F.Thurman,authorofWhytheDalaiLamaMatters
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“Theself-centereddreamfromwhichKurtSpellmeyerstrivestoawakenusisnot A
simplythedreamofourindividualegobutthedreamofhistory.Wemustawakenfromtime p
itself, from beginnings, from progress, from goals, and from visions of the end of time.
o
Buddha at the Apocalypse challenges our assumptions about who we are, where we come
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from,andwherewearegoing—inourlifeandinourspiritualpractice.”
—BarryMagid,authorofEndingthePursuitofHappinessandOrdinaryMind a
l
“Spellmeyerpresentsafascinatingandwide-ranginganalysisoftheconsequencesofWestern y
civilization’s assumptions about the very nature of reality. Yet even when provocative, p
Spellmeyer’stoneisgentle,writingwithanappealingclarityandaccessibilitythatattesttohis s
ownwarmthandkindnessasalong-timeZenpractitionerandteacher.” e
—RokoSherryChayat,abbessoftheZenCenterofSyracuse,andeditorofEloquentSilence
“Aboldinvestigationintotheroleofreligionin,amongotherthings,thecreationoftheenvi-
ronmentalcrisis.Spellmeyer’swritingiscrispandhonest,andrefreshinglydirectevenashe
raiseshardquestions.”—RichardK.Payne,editorofHowMuchisEnough?
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“ThisbookhelpedmetoseeWesternculturemoreclearly,andinspiredmetorebelagainst E
theapocalypticparadigmwithrenewedvigor.”—NoahLevine,authorofDharmaPunx L
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KURTSPELLMEYERisanaward-winningteacherandscholarintheEnglishdepartment Y
atRutgersUniversity.HewasalsoauthorizedtoteachZenbyKanganGlennWebbin E
1985,andnowleadstheColdMountainSanghainNewJersey.HeistheauthorofArtsof R
Living:ReinventingtheHumanitiesfortheTwenty-firstCenturyandseveralotherbooks.
ISBN978-086171-582-4US$16.95
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Spellmeyer,Kurt.
Buddhaattheapocalypse:awakeningfromacultureofdestruction/KurtSpellmeyer;fore-
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Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-86171-582-9(pbk.:alk.paper)
1. Time—Religiousaspects—Buddhism.2. Buddhism—Doctrines.3. Time—Philosophy.
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BQ4570.T5S642010
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1413121110
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B UOD CD AHLAYAPT TSHEE
A P
A W A K E N I N G F R O M A
C U L T U R E O F D E S T R U C T I O N
K U R T S P E L L M E Y E R
FOREWORD BY R OBERT A.F. THURMAN
WISDOM PUBLICATIONS • BOSTON

Asinglemeditationcushion,andoneiscompletelyprotected,
Earthmaycrumble,heavencollapse—buthereoneisatpeace.
—Xinggang,
inDaughtersofEmptiness:
PoemsofChineseBuddhistNuns

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ForewordbyRobertA.F.Thurman IX
Preface XI
Introduction:WelcometotheApocalypse 1
PART I: WORLD DESPISING
Chapter1: IntheBeginningofHistory 19
Chapter2:WorldDespisingandtheOriginsoftheModernWorld 33
PART II: WORLD EMBRACING
Chapter3: AnEndtoHistory,anEndtoSuffering 51
Chapter4: OneBody—TheHiddenGroundofLiberation 69
Chapter5: FromRevolutionaryThinkingtoanEcologyofMind 87
Chapter6: ImagesofOrderinaComplexWorld 105
Chapter7: OnandOfftheRoadofHistory 123
Conclusion:BuddhaattheApocalypse 139
Notes 151
Index 167
AbouttheAuthor 179

FOREWORD
I
nacriticalsceneinJamesCameron’sblockbustermovieAvatar,ahuman
characterwarnsthealiensoftheplanetPandoraofthedangerhispeople
represent to all Pandoran life. “There’s no green there,” he says of his
ownhomeworld.“They’vekilledtheirplanet,theirmother.”And,hesays,
they’ll do that to Pandora as well. It’s a powerful artistic evocation of a
futurewerecklesslyracetobringabout.
Butwhyisthisso?Whydoboththemassesandourdominanteliteinsist
onself-destructioninthenameof“progress”?Whydowerushlemming-like
towardtheprecipiceofecocide,genocide,andsuicide?
In this truly apocalyptic era, Kurt Spellmeyer has combined his broad
anddeepunderstandingofWesternreligiousandphilosophicalliteratures
with his Zen learning and meditational practice to illuminate part of the
answerofhowwegothere.Hehasproducedaninsightfulanalysisofwhat
heidentifiesasan“apocalypticorientation”towardtimeitselfthathasbuilt
a“mentalarchitecturethatcontinuestoshapemodernlife.”
BuddhaattheApocalypseiseasygoing,wellwritten,andsolidlyreasoned—
and lively in the way it interweaves Biblical analysis, Zen literature, and
Westernphilosophyandsociologywithpopularcultureanddeepwisdom.
I am delighted to greet this important and meaningful work and wish its
authorandmanyreadersafruitfulwalkinitsgardenofperceptiveinsights
andheartfeltadvice.
RobertA.F.Thurman