Indianapolis Zen Center
(317) 921-9902
3703 Washington Blvd
Indianapolis, IN 46205
www.indyzen.org
Email the Indianapolis Zen
Center
Institutional History/Information
The Indianapolis Zen Center is not a Buddhist temple, but rather
an institution that offers sessions of meditation and chanting,
dharma discussions, and organized spiritual retreats. It follows
the Korean Zen tradition, which is a subgroup of Mahayana Buddhism.
The center is intended to provide a spirituality-focused atmosphere
while not enforcing a strict religious environment. The
Indianapolis Zen Center is a part of an international organization
called the Kwan Um School of Zen. This school was founded by Zen
Master Seung Sahn, the first Korean Zen Master to teach in the
United States. The Indianapolis Zen Center was founded in 1991 by a
group of Buddhists who bought a house to use as a place to
establish a community and a support system to follow the Zen
practices together.
Demographics
The Indianapolis Zen Center has about forty members, most of
whom are Euro-American. Approximately ten people attend a typical
Sunday service. The majority of attendees are younger adults and
college students, with a good number of middle-aged adults. Most
seem to be a part of the middle socioeconomic class.
Service Style
The atmosphere of the service is calming. The services take
place in the living room of a renovated house. There is a small
altar in the front of the room with a statue and flowers. On three
sides of the altar, cushions are set up to form a square. The room
is very simple, and the smell of incense fills the room at the
start of the service. A bell and bowing begins the service, which
lasts for about twenty minutes. One hundred and eight prostrations
are performed to symbolize repentance and respect to the Buddha.
The numerous prostrations can be very tiring, so it is
understandable if a visitor cannot complete the full amount. If one
must rest, repeatedly bowing from the waist (rather than fully
prostrating) is acceptable. After the prostrations are finished,
there is a forty-minute period of chanting. The chants are in
Korean as well as English and include well-known sutras such as the
Heart Sutra and the Lotus Sutra. The service concludes with a
thirty-minute silent meditation. The meditation practices of the
Zen Center differ slightly from other forms of traditional
meditation in two ways: the attendees deliberately face a wall, and
they keep their eyes slightly open. A legend about a monk named
Bodhidharma (the putative founder of Zen Buddhism) explains why
they do this. The story says that Bodhidharma sat facing a cave
wall and meditated for nine years. He even cut off his eyelids so
he would not fall asleep. They meditate in this specific way in
imitation of Bodhidharma, and also to help ward off drowsiness. The
meditation is followed by a very brief dharma talk. After the
service, the attendees split up the housework, and then a light
meal is served.
What To Expect
First time visitors to the Indianapolis Zen Center should call
ahead of time to inform the teachers of their visit. In addition,
they should ask what sort of clothing is appropriate to wear. As is
common in meditation-orientated centers, it is acceptable for
visitors to wear comfortable and casual attire to the Indianapolis
Zen Center. Regular practitioners will wear traditional robes over
their clothing. When entering the Indianapolis Zen Center, visitors
should first remove their shoes at the door. When one enters the
meditation room, one should bow toward the altar. The bowing is
repeated when one leaves the room. A short preparation for the
service, which sometimes includes instructions for meditation, is
offered upon request. This session helps eliminate confusion for
visitors and allows them to better concentrate on the service.
Visitors should expect some form of bowing and chanting, as well as
sitting for extended periods, during a typical Sunday service.
Women and men are allowed to sit together; however, beginners are
encouraged to sit closer to the altar. Although Buddhists are not
required to attend services weekly, those who do attend are very
welcoming to new guests and are eager to answer and explain
questions one might have about the religion.
Biographies of People Associated with the Indianapolis Zen
Center
"John Minninger," by Megan White and Danny Gardner
Continual inquiry into one's own true nature is a central idea
in all Buddhist thought. This is especially true in Zen, a branch
of Mahayana Buddhism that literally means "meditation" in Japanese.
Many stories throughout the historical texts of different strains
of Buddhism relate various stages on adherents' paths to such
mindfulness. More often than not, these stories begin with
questions, distractions or frustrations, but end with a perception
of the world that sees beyond such things. A modern day example of
such a story can be found in the life of Abbot John Minninger.
John was born in New Jersey into a Jewish family. He had no
noteworthy exposure to Buddhism until high school when he read a
book about Buddhist meditation, and did some individual meditation
practice. After high school however, John studied in Israel for two
years and became much more acquainted with his family's religious
heritage. He did not encounter Buddhism again until he was back in
the states and attending New York University. While a student at
NYU, John attended a lecture by Clark Strand, a notable Zen
Buddhist writer, and was invited to an event intended for students
who wanted to learn more about Zen. It was at this event that John
was reintroduced to the practice of meditation in a group setting,
and actually got to try it out for himself. This first experience
however was difficult for him. In fact, after spending only a few
minutes in meditation, he left the event. Meditation attracts many
people because they think it streams an instant flow of peace and
calm into one's life. John's experiences illustrate that this is
not necessarily the case, and his retrospective explanations of the
nature of meditation help to illuminate this.
According to John, true meditation involves sitting in the
presence of one's own thoughts and whatever else is actually
happening in the moment. The initial experience is often mentally
and physically uncomfortable for people. He emphasizes how
overwhelming it is for people to focus on, and be wholly mindful
of, their own thoughts. After one has spent some time doing
meditation practice, he says, one develops more of an ability to be
present without judgment. Meditation gives rise to awareness and
thereby responsibility for one to improve the areas of one's life
that seem to be lacking. John illustrates it in this way: when
someone meditates, they encounter, without distraction, what
appears in their mind. Eventually, through becoming familiar with
one's own desire, anger and ignorance, one has the impulse to
"clean things up." Meditation engendered shock and distress for
John. However, once he came to spend more and more time in
meditation-once he started being honest with himself- he began to
realize and experience its utility. He understood that the shock he
felt was in response to a cluttered, reactive state of mind. This
understanding, or realization, was not instant. In fact, it took
John several years as well as several different experiences with
Zen and lapses in practice for him to see that he really wanted to
practice Zen Buddhism consistently.
Clearly, meditation and its uncompromising honesty played a
large role in drawing John towards Zen. When asked what aspect of
Zen practice is most important to him, however, meditation was not
the answer. The question is technically unanswerable: one must
accept the entire practice of Zen. Indeed, the effect of Buddhism
on one's life is holistic. It can't really be said that meditation,
or virtue, or anything else alone allows one to reach a particular
stage. In fact, too much attention to progress in practice is
viewed as a hindrance because it is focused on gaining benefit for
oneself. John does say, though, that something he highly values is
sharing the benefits of his practice with others who express an
interest. In fact, when pressed, John said he has two central tasks
in practice: (1) to find his true self, and (2) to help all
sentient beings. In one of those ironic, "It's one of those funny
things…" expressions common in Zen, John said that he understands
the two to be one-and-the-same.
If meditation continues to help John find his true self in the
clutter of his mind, then formal interviews now help him to help
others in their practice. The importance of the two- meditation and
formal interviews- in Zen practice is what sets it apart from other
forms of Buddhism. Formal interviews are somewhat like a
mentor-protégé relationship. Now the Abbot (administrative leader)
of the Indy Zen Center, John conducts consulting interviews with
the center's members. The interview is a time of assistance from
the senior dharma teacher of the practice community.
There is also a Zen Teacher at the Indianapolis Zen Center who
is authorized in the lineage of Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn to
teach kung-ans. John does not have such authorization-he is a
senior student. Kung-ans are a teaching tool that is unique to the
Zen tradition. Frequently, they consist of a question that one
cannot answer through cognition, and that one can almost never
answer right away. Instead, instinct or intuition is often the way
in which one answers, and usually only after struggling with it in
one's practice. This struggle or inquiry is viewed as beneficial in
itself, and it can help an individual to come to realizations that
might not otherwise occur.
Although John emphasized that formal interviews at the Indy Zen
Center are rather subdued, the history of Zen is rife with
anecdotes of Zen masters yelling, haranguing, and even physically
striking their students to change their way of thinking. In fact,
before finding the Indy Zen Center, John had a strained
relationship with a dharma teacher in Chicago. Eventually, it
became so adversarial that John had to leave. It was no longer
beneficial; the experiment didn't work.
Experimentation is, actually, a common theme in Buddhism,
especially in Zen. The Buddha even said of some of the things he
prescribed, that if they were not beneficial to one's pursuit of
enlightened, one should discard them. The diversity of the forms of
Buddhism bears this out. Whereas Tibetan Buddhism places an
emphasis on mantras, visualizations, and Buddhist scriptures,
American Zen, as is obvious by now, emphasizes meditation. There
are even differences within Zen. For instance, Japanese Zen
utilizes black robes, and has relatively little chanting in its
practice. On the other hand, Kwan Um, the school of the Indy Zen
Center that originated in Korea, uses gray robes, and has chanting
for nearly half of its practice. This notion of experimentation
alludes to two aspects of Zen that John finds most appealing. The
first is that it is truly inclusive of all other faith traditions.
In contrast with his adolescent environment-an acceptance of other
dogmas but a notion of the superiority of one's own tradition-Zen
wants individuals to find what works for them. John says that if
someone expresses interest in other faith traditions, he would
encourage them to explore. If there were a specific part of the
Kwan Um school's practice that didn't jive with a practioner, then
he would refer that person to another school of Zen. There are some
who both practice Zen and attend a Christian church.
The second aspect of Zen that John finds appealing is that there
are no required beliefs or dogmas- one does not "have to" believe
anything. Certainly one will "connect with" certain beliefs, but
one must come to one's own conclusions. Indeed, John said that at
the Indy Zen Center, practice is primary, not adherence to
teachings or dogma. It truly is an experiment: something that one
replicates. The Buddha attained realization through meditation, and
the modern practitioner is repeating the procedure. A centuries-old
experiment, one must repeat the form, then figure it out.
Its antiquity does not, however, diminish its relevance. Some
may wonder if Zen Buddhism is more relevant now than in the ancient
world. After all, the 21st century is much busier with all its
technology, production, and consumption. Wouldn't Zen, with its
emphasis on quiet meditation, be a natural antidote to a frenzied
post-modern age? John doesn't think the time period matters. A
simpler yet harder life in the ancient world, or an easier but
busier life in the modern world? Both still require that one deals
with "the production of self."
Biography of "Charles Vance," by Bess Anderson, Adam Kegley,
and Brett Hunter
Charles Vance is currently the Vice Abbot of the Indianapolis
Zen Center. He has been a practicing Buddhist for about 8 years
now, and took an hour of his time to speak with us about his life
and experience as a Buddhist.
Vance was born December 16, 1970 in a "nominally" Christian
household in Indiana. And though Charles was "really religious" and
serious about Christianity in high school, he experienced a crisis
of faith in his 20s. Vance found the exclusivity of Christianity,
the view that "if you don't get it right before you die, you're
condemned" to be difficult and unforgiving. Nevertheless, Vance had
a strong desire to practice spiritually. This led him to pick up
Houston Smith's World Religions, where he found the chapter on
Buddhism particularly attractive. Thinking that Indiana had no
Buddhist communities; however, he pursued the issue no further
until August 2000, when he saw an ad for the Indianapolis Zen
Center in a local alternative medicine magazine, Branches. Vance
has been a part of the community ever since.
As of 2008, he has been on the Zen Center's board for five years
and held the position of Vice Abbot for four years. Vance joked
that he doesn't have too many responsibilities, "unless Robert [the
current Abbot] drops dead." For the most part, Vance is responsible
for maintenance and repairs and is also one of several Dharma
teachers at the Center. As a Dharma teacher, he performs a variety
of functions, from teaching training, liturgy training and leading
practice periods to giving talks at universities and teaching
meditation.
But what exactly attracted Vance to Buddhism? Egalitarianism is
one of the most important aspects of Buddhism for him, and it was
partially that which attracted him to the religion. As stated
previously, Vance felt uncomfortable with the idea of a higher
authority condemning people possibly to hell and a "no
second-chances" ideology. In Buddhism, one becomes responsible for
seeking one's own path, as well as for how open one is to that
path. There is a certain egalitarianism that quickly drew Vance
into the religion. The egalitarianism of Buddhism, especially
experienced in the cultural context of American Buddhism, allows
for the religion to avoid dogmatic laws. Vance states "There is
doctrine, but the dogma isn't exclusive. People of different
'everythings' can practice together." Along with egalitarianism,
reincarnation brought much comfort to Vance's growing involvement
in Buddhism.
He states that reincarnation is a "safety valve" of sorts. Even
if one tries to achieve enlightenment and fails, one gets another
chance. However, elaborating his point more fully, Vance stated
that one's focus should be on the current moment. It should be on
striving to achieve a higher level of wisdom and understanding of
Buddhism in the particular moment. Vance states "Whether one
believes literally in reincarnation or not, modern science explains
that one's body is constantly reborn at the cellular level. If your
body is in this way getting a new life, what will you do with this
life? How about this one?" With reincarnation, one has multiple
opportunities to perfect your religious experiences and journey in
each moment.
Vance said he had really aspired to try with Christianity but
was afraid to be wrong. Buddhism allows you to be wrong and, if you
are, gives you opportunities to get it right. This, according to
Vance, is one of the reasons he chose Buddhism as his path. He said
"The Buddha never said 'Believe what I say, but instead, do what I
do and see if you get the same results.' He said 'This is what
worked for me and you can try it and see what happens. It may work
for you, and it may not.'" Vance really admires this because the
Buddha was not acting as the one authority to all. He merely made a
suggestion, giving everyone the opportunity to seek out his/her own
individual enlightenment. This new insight into life provided Vance
with the tools he needed to reconcile himself to changing
faiths.
Vance experienced some "emotional turmoil, confusion, and
feelings of being judged" while he struggled with the Christian
faith. He tried so deeply to experience the religion, but that
judgment and those feelings kept him from truly feeling "at home"
in that faith. After leaving the Christian path, he did not want to
think about it for a long while. Fortunately, after practicing
Buddhism, he actually feels quite comfortable with Christianity and
people of the Christian faith. After practicing for quite some
time, he began to ask himself questions about why he was so angry,
not simply as a former Christian but as a person as well. He would
say to himself "What is it inside me that makes me uncomfortable
around people who instill those feelings in me?" This was one of
the most effective aspects of reconciling his faith. Buddhism
provided him with the introspection needed to reconcile his
negative feelings toward Christianity and the bias that had been
held against the religion for a period of time. Needless to say,
the introspection it provided him with a plethora of changes in his
life.
It is apparent from what is written above that Vance settled
down emotionally after his conversion. He learned to observe his
anxiety rise up and learned not to suppress it but to address it.
Vance learned to control his emotions and reactions to other
people. He could choose how to act and how not to act. "Things seem
more possible to me," Vance said after he spoke about this
perspective given to him by his religion. His trip to Singapore and
Malaysia in October of 2005 furthered this belief more than
anything else. It expanded everything for him, especially the idea
of possibility. He actually said the biggest reward he got from the
trip was "growing up." This can be quite challenging as it brings
the knowledge of vulnerability. As he stated it: "Practicing
stillness can be scary." This is why practicing both alone and in a
community setting is so important to him.
When asked which he prefers more, personal meditation or
community chanting, Vance said he preferred a mix of the two. He
mentioned that he enjoyed chanting very much. It was very nice for
him because the support of a group environment is comforting and
helpful. He also adores the fact that he helps others by chanting,
too. He said, "Your getting out of bed is helping someone else."
Still, it is hard for him to pick either chanting or meditation
over the other because he considers the two to be quite important
in their individual ways. The two ways of practice are, he said,
"different flavors." It is not so much that one is better than the
other but that the two forms of practice working together help to
keep him grounded. Both bring you to focus, and that is what
matters.
Vance has been part of the Zen Center since August of 2000 and
is one of its longest standing members. The Zen center has been
around for twenty years, but only found its permanent home in 2005.
Before that the Center rented space or met in accommodating
members' homes. Vance pointed out that the center is only one of
many little "pockets" of Buddhism in the city and throughout the
state. In 2004 with the induction of a permanent teacher at the
Center, over forty of Vance's brethren throughout the community
showed their support by attending the ceremony. (From 2000 to 2003
the Center had no permanent teacher of its own.)
Vance chose to practice at the Zen Center for several reasons.
The Center is a member of the Korean Kwan Um school of Zen which,
unlike the more commonly practiced Japanese Soto tradition, does
not emphasize the role of priests or one practice form over others
- although both traditions employ seated and walking meditation
along with chanting. After attending worship services at several
other centers in the city he found that the Zen Center embraced a
more communal practice, with a stress on chanting and collective
guidance rather than liturgy. An integral part of Buddhist practice
is self-motivated meditation; however Vance impressed upon us the
importance of group practice. He placed neither above the other,
but highlighted their different virtues. He enjoys chanting with
the group and feels a communal support and empathy with his
practice partners. Individual practice affords him the time to
concentrate on things he finds either uplifting or struggling,
however both achieve the same goal. Vance put it better, "Practice
is like that. It peels away your onion, but also makes you
available to anyone who needs your help. Practice is for all
Beings."
After years of practice Vance now understands his faith as a
constant process. When first discovering his inner Buddhist he was
full of questions. Now he recognizes that the Big Questions, such
as "What am I?" and "What is my life for?" do not hold as much
meaning for him as they once did. He also uses the scriptures less
as a roadmap and more as a spark. During an especially enrapturing
monologue he explained to us that a picture of an apple can't
really satisfy your hunger, no matter how high the resolution. You
must experience the apple to also experience the cessation of
hunger. He then went on to explain that there are two types of
reality. The Absolute Truth refers to the non-separation and
interdependence of all things, the ground of being. The Relative
Truth refers to our everyday perceptions of separateness. Vance
distinguished the two beautifully: "I am Charles - you are not. I
am a man - you are a woman. I was born - I will die. The Vietnamese
teacher Thich Nhat Hanh explains it this way: The ocean is the
Absolute, the waves are the Relative. While it is true that each
wave (person, etc) has a beginning, middle and end, it is also true
that it is at all times water and thus not separate from the whole
ocean. The purpose of practice is to realize the Absolute aspect
(non-separateness) and learn to use it in the midst of the Relative
to help all beings. To the degree that we realize that we are not
separate from one another, we will naturally have compassion for
each other, and act accordingly."
Biography of "Karen Timmerman," by Ariel Tyring and Samantha
Hyler
Karen Timmerman was born into a Methodist family near Lafayette,
Indiana and is currently a part time English professor and academic
advisor at the University of Indianapolis. She is 36 years old and
Caucasian. As a child she was expected to attend church with her
parents every week despite her reservations about the faith.
Christianity never felt quite right to her, and later in life, as
she explored Buddhism, she realized why. She never believed in most
of the key concepts of Christianity, such as the presence of heaven
and hell. She believed that once a person dies, he or she is simply
dead; their souls do not ascend into heaven. Buddhism provided a
different worldview that made more sense to her. About five years
ago, she officially became a Buddhist and is now a Dharma teacher
at the Indianapolis Zen Center.
A few key events in Karen's life caused her to start thinking
about other spiritual or religious paths. She received a Master's
degree in English and was strongly influenced by Beat literature,
especially that of Allen Ginsberg. While reading the book, Big Sky
Mind; Buddhism in the Beat Generation by Carole Tomkinson, she had
a revelation. Could Buddhism, a spiritual path followed by many of
the Beat generation, be the right path for her? Furthermore, the
death of a close friend caused her to dissociate herself with the
Protestant church. It is customary for many Christians to try to
console the surviving family and friends by telling them that the
departed person has moved on to "a better place." This viewpoint
did not make sense to Karen. Because she didn't believe in the
afterlife, she couldn't understand the notion that her friend was
in a better place--a glorified heaven. The religious viewpoint of
Buddhism provided a better explanation of death, and therefore she
felt more at peace. The Kuan Um School of Zen provided a structure
for these beliefs.
When Karen first visited the Zen Center in Indianapolis, she did
not immediately feel comfortable. It took time and practice of this
school's specific exercises before she began to see the connection
with her own beliefs, and feel more at ease with the structure of
the meetings. She persisted because she found certain
characteristics of this practice admirable. For example, the
emphasis on compassion for all other beings was one of the most
appealing attributes of the Indy Zen Center. Compassion is the
central virtue emphasized in Mahayana Buddhism, of which Korean Zen
is a part. The application of compassion leads to a wider, more
open mind. Since she began practicing Buddhism, Karen has been more
able to recognize and to feel genuine compassion for other's
suffering without judgment, regardless of whether she knows them
personally or not. Further, Buddhism does not rely on an outside
force to validate oneself and one's life. For example, there is no
need to pray and hope for someone or something else to help you
because, as she explained, "the divinity and enlightenment are
already within you." Being compassionate and practicing mindfulness
allows you to see this in yourself.
The most important idea in Buddhism to her is the concept of the
impermanence of all things. Accepting now that she has no "self" is
a radical change from the Methodist tradition in which she was
raised which taught her that every person has a unique soul. When
we asked her how she felt "having no self," she made it very clear
to distinguish no "self" from no permanent "self." To Karen, this
means that no one has his or her own individual, independent self.
The idea of impermanence further asserts that the body, mind, and
all physical conditions are continually changing; nothing can be
exactly the same from one moment to the next. It became easier for
her to deal with the troubling situations in her life when she
accepted the idea of impermanence.
Many non-Buddhists at first find the Buddhist worldview to be
pessimistic. However, Karen believes otherwise. She believes
Buddhism has a positive outlook because the tradition teaches that
all people are interdependent in this world, rather than
independent beings. She described this as the "circle of life." For
example, she said with death, nourishment can be provided for other
beings. This Buddhist concept acknowledges that things are not
black and white, but there are shades of gray. She told us a
parable to illustrate this point in which a monk is confronted by a
hunter, who asks the monk which way a rabbit the hunter had been
chasing went. The monk is torn between telling the hunter the
location of the rabbit, which would cause harm to the rabbit, or
not telling the hunter, which could cause the hunter and his family
to go without food. The recognition of shades of gray is a really
important shift for her from her previous Christian tradition.
Approximately five years ago, Karen decided that practicing at
the Zen Center was a good fit. She eventually wanted to deepen her
practice of Buddhism from when she took the five initial precepts.
She continued practicing at the Kuan Um School in Indianapolis but
has also visited the An Lac Temple located near the Zen Center.
However, she prefers the style at the Zen Center because it
contains a relatively equal mixture of chanting, scripture, and
meditation. Later, she took another five precepts to become a
Dharma instructor. The specific Dharma teachings from the Kuan Um
School are compiled by the more senior members of the school into a
syllabus, such as the emphasis on compassion and the concept of
impermanence. Karen tries to use these teachings to guide her
"outside" and "inside" work. Outside work refers to what a person
appears to be from day to day. For example, she is a teacher, a
wife, and a daughter. Inside work involves asking questions such
as, "what else am I?" and "who am I?" She explained that because
who we are, and what we are is constantly changing (impermanent),
the Kuan Um tradition focuses on inside work. Accepting the ideas
of compassion, impermanence, as well as the other teachings of this
tradition focuses a person on inside work.
Naturally, this practice has affected her daily life outside of
the Zen Center, including her relationships with people and the way
she deals with daily life. For example, acknowledging that nothing
has a permanent self has led her to recognize that, because
everything is constantly changing, there will always be positive
and negative aspects to life. This is a clear example of the first
Noble Truth given by the Buddha which states that there is always
suffering in the world and it comes from both the positive and the
negative attachments we possess. Buddhists believe that once humans
accept this fact they can be more comfortable and prepared for all
of life's situations. This realization affects her relationships,
especially the one she has with her husband who is a non-Buddhist,
by allowing her to pay more attention in the moment and engage in
its experiences more fully. She pays more attention to this by
being more open to positive situations, and confronting negative
situations. For instance, when the husband of one of her close
friends died, Karen felt that she was much more prepared to help
her friend because she began practicing Buddhism and understood the
inevitability of bad circumstances.
What is particularly interesting about her personal form of
practice is that while she accepts and holds true much of the
foundational doctrine, there are a few relatively central points
that she rejects. The notion of karma, which states that each
action has a consequence, played an important role in early
Buddhism. A person can receive the karmic results of his or her
action soon after an action, much later in life, or even many
lifetimes later. She described karma as "what goes around comes
around," and indicated that she is not sure whether she believes in
it, though she thinks it is a nice concept. Karen is also not a
vegetarian. She jokingly told us that she "likes hamburgers and
pepperoni on her pizza." Many Buddhists are vegetarians, though
there is some debate within the tradition as to how far the Buddha
himself took the practice. She explains that, similar to the story
of the monk, the hunter, and the rabbit, eating meat is justifiable
because she is not killing in excess, but simply using animals to
nourish her body. The Mahayana Buddhist tradition has frequently
used a concept of skillful means to explain changes and alterations
in Buddhist philosophy and practice. In early Buddhism, some
aspects of the Buddha's teachings were heavily emphasized which are
no longer applicable, and vice versa.
There are many people close to Karen who are non-Buddhists,
including her husband and parents. She explained that it took some
time before she felt comfortable enough to tell her parents, who
are devout Methodist Christians, that she had become a Buddhist.
She found that her father was more immediately open to her becoming
a Buddhist than her mother. For example, when she invited them to
the Indy Zen Center on the day she took the five precepts, her
mother chose to go to her Christian church, but her father came in
support of her. She jokingly told us that she still feels that her
mother is secretly concerned for her soul. Karen said that her
husband is not Buddhist but is very supportive of her.
Buddhism has provided a new foundation for this woman's beliefs.
Not only did this practice provide for her new ways of dealing with
difficult situations, but it confirmed some of her own personal
beliefs about life, death, and the way people should try to
interact with one another. Even when her beliefs and Buddhist
doctrines don't match up, she has never been discouraged but
continues to follow and implement the practices she feels are
helpful to her.