The Problem With Dharma Centres

This is in response to the points Daisy raised yesterday. What she wrote sounds familiar, although first we have to say that if we want to find out about the Buddha’s teachings, then we have to go to a Dharma centre where there is an authentic teacher. Books and blogs cannot tell us everything, although the purpose of this blog is to prepare people for Dharma centres.

A Dharma centre is a community of likeminded people, where we can make new friends, and it can even become an extended family. And therein lies the problem; family member can be irritating! Dharma centres can become quite intense, as we are taking a close look at all our dirty washing, coupled with teachings that the dirty washing doesn’t really exist!

From my experience, the problem lies in the tension between the inner circle around the teacher – the lama – and the outer circle of students. The inner circle comprises of people close to the teacher who become the organisers: they are also the go-betweens for the teacher and the outer circle, and thus, a certain dynamic is set up. The sane are the ones who just turn up, listen to the teachings and leave. The rest become involved in the politics of dharma-samsara 😉

Personally, I blame the teachers, because there is a spiritual/political set up, and as we know, politicians never want to hear genuine feedback, or admit that they were wrong. The whole point of the Dharma is to deal with our day-to-day emotions, and strangely enough, in Dharma centres these are often heightened; this needs to be acknowledged and explained, but teachers are usually so busy explaining their subject that they ignore what’s going on. There’s a possible reason for this. If we take Tibetan Buddhism, it’s very colourful – and therefore, expensive – and lamas have many projects requiring financial support, and so money is always needed. As a result, it takes delicate handling to avoid upsetting or alienating the people who are close to you, and working for you: the outer group has to sink or swim. Dharma centres are a bit like fire; move too close and you’ll get burnt, but stay too far away and you’ll not receive any warmth.

There is another solution however, and that is to become our own Dharma centre, wherever we are. Once we understand the essentials of the Buddha’s teachings – recognising awareness, and that awareness recognising the purity of awareness empty of contamination – then we are free. Until then, we have to cling to centres for support. Or we may wish to support a centre for others to be able to learn about the Dharma, remaining cognisant that it is all too easy to become elitist and arrogant. That’s the way all groups have to function. It’s something we have to decide for ourselves, while being aware of our own neediness. When we have inner confidence and therefore no resentment, we can be compassionate.

The object is liberation: once we feel free and happy, job done! We’re not obliged to keep on going back. Once we understand the Buddha’s teaching, then everywhere is a Dharma centre.

It’s important to remember that Dharma centres are peopled by people. Nothing special: just people. People who can become irritating. I know this for a fact – I am the most irritating person I know, and I have been kicked out of a few centres, basically because I can’t play games. The astonishing thing to me was, having left the centres, there was no communication and no concern for my wellbeing from people I had previously considered to be friends. That says everything – and strangely enough it actually helped as I began to look for the source of the Buddha’s teachings.