You might have observed that a constant theme in my writings is a holistic comprehension of Buddhist teachings and practice, which as the Buddha describes it has many aspects that function together as a system. American Dharma tends to be out of kilter. For this reason I have focused in my writings on those parts that are often sidelined, such as religiosity, faith and virtue, or on the interrelatedness of the parts, represented in my discussions of the Noble Eightfold Path and of Karma. Of course the thinness of the monastic sangha has been a special concern of mine.

Meditation is the part clearly most favored in American Buddhism. It is great that Americans have so much energy around meditation; it is a valuable pursuit, one that occupies much of my time. However, meditation alone is not Buddhism, it is Yoga. Many American Buddhists, even teachers, regard meditation either as the entirety of Buddhist practice or as the gateway to the rest of Buddhist practice. I can understand how this misunderstanding can arise in American Zen. Zen means meditation (from Jhana, which is Samadhi). Dogen often emphasized that zazen is the entirety of the practice, but you have to be careful in reading Dogen: He also said ritual conduct is the entirety of the practice. But even Theravada, normally the most orthodox school of Buddhism, is represented by the Vipassana or Insight Meditation movement which again gives almost exclusive attention to meditation. Rather than the gateway to the rest of Buddhist practice meditation is the culmination; it is the climax of the Noble Eightfold Path; that is primarily what makes it Buddhist meditation rather than simply Yoga.

So this is why I have not put much attention on meditation. There are many strong meditators in America, wonderful meditation teachers and many good books on meditation, so I have not felt there is a gap I could contribute to. However, I am available for one-on-one instruction for people in the Austin area, and from afar for those who have been unable to find a good meditation teacher in your area. But I don’t feel my writing on this topic has a particular urgency. My favorite book on meditation is Mindfulness in Plain English, by Bhante Gunaratana, which in spite of its Theravada orientation I always enthusiastically recommended to my Zen students when I was a Zen priest. It covers obstacles to practice very clearly. It is for everybody.

But see the question on Theravada and Zen below.

I am so sorry I still have not produced a review of your excellent four volumes of Jataka stories. I have spent little lime studying these stories of the previous lives of the Bodhisattva but was hoping to find myself in the position to say something insightful, other than that your rendering is very well written, a delight to read and wonderfully illustrated, formatted and packaged. I hope I can find time to sit down and compare the various renderings of the Jatakas and learn more about their origin and role in the teachings.

Al, As a matter of fact I was thinking of writing a series on householder practice. Most of the Buddha’s discourses are addressed to monastics, and the same can be said about Dogen’s writings, etc. On the other hand over all of the Buddha’s many hundreds of discourses much can be found addressed to lay folks. However, I think though that a lot of extension and adaptation of the Buddha’s advice is required to deal with modern circumstances. This is more true of lay practice than monastic practice.

See my reply under Rick Potts below.