the buddhist nuns; quest for happiness

Last night, my task was to pick up two Buddhist nuns at the San Francisco airport. When A. and I arrived to find them, we joked about running around frantically: "Help! We've lost two Buddhist nuns!"

They were easy enough to spot, descending the staircase, with huge smiles and easy laughs. Seeing them against a backdrop of commuters with weary eyes and tense jaws was a ridiculous conjunction. I had taken my camera along but never discovered the moment in which a photograph would not have been rude (Is photography essentially unBuddhist in that it is less about experiencing the present moment than about trapping it in a cage?)

One Sister was only 23 years old. She was French and told us that she had been certain she would be a nun since the age of 16. That is the age at which she started approaching the monastics at Plum Village in the Bordeaux region of France.

The destination for the nun delivery was a small party in Berkeley where there were other monks and laypeople preparing for a weekend retreat in Ukiah. (I am not among them. I am simply reporting this as a privileged observer)

The focus of the retreat is to engage in Zen meditation as well as to ponder life's questions. My friend A. herself was one of the organizers. Here is an excerpt from an email exchange from the young organizers to the Buddhist monks who will be in attendance:

I'm emailing in regards to the questions. I wrote the questions as a way of trying to capture the key issues that young adult practitioners face in the secular world. When we come to visit you in the monastery, we are surrounded by the wonderful monastics and the peaceful atmosphere of the monastery; and we try to see clearly and quiet the noise inside of us. But when we leave the monastery, we come out into the securlar world, and all the hopes and dreams and fears and aspirations that we put aside when we were with you come back to us. ...
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The questions are a way of trying to open the gateway between the world of the secular practitioner and the world of zen. If I could ask one thing of you, it would be to think through what parts of the dharma, espcially the mindfulness trainings, the heart sutra, the dharmapada, and hakuins song of zazen, and to speak to the questions below. However, please understand that these are all only words and concepts and perceptions, and what I am asking is really beyond words (you are thinking. stop thinking.
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when we secular folks are looking at each other, comtemplating sex, we are caught up in an emotional and hormonal whirlwind. And it is very difficult to maintain our footing. And we have been very lonely for a long time, for most of us, our families are not close to us, and maybe we don't have anyone to cuddle with or to hug us. So this whirlwind of emotion and hugging and being loved and cared for and feeling safe is very powerful. We feel we see truth after a long time of lack of clarity. We feel we are able to drink a glass of water after a long time in the desert.
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Despite all this griping about how our social fabric is broken, we love our freedoms as individuals. And more and more, young adults opt for an extended adolescence that celebrates this freedom. The adolescence means unlimited travel, exploring new places, lack of obligation, many opportunities, and a certain kind of freedom that is deeply pleasurable. But lonely. One of the things that we find confusing, is "the pursuit of happiness"... The thing about a consumption culture is that you think you choose what you want to buy. Well, we're not consuming obligation and commitment very much anymore. If we were to become monastics, our obligations and commitments would be very clear. ..
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Questions I have for you: What is true freedom? What does the dharma tell us about freedom and how to realize it? What is happiness? What obligations should we take on and should free oursevles from? What does the dharma say about obligation and resonsibility? What does the dharma say about doing what you want? What does it say about family commitments? About community commitments?
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These are all only words. My objective is not to ask you to respond in words. But to help us realize the real nature of zen on a fundamental and inituitive level that we can use as we struggle in the secular world. I hope this email makes our suffering and delights more clear