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 t “BuddhaattheApocalypseiseasygoing,wellwritten,andsolidlyreasoned—andlivelyintheway itinterweavesBiblicalanalysis,Zenliterature,andWesternphilosophyandsociologywithpop- t ularcultureanddeepwisdom.Iamdelightedtogreetthisimportantandmeaningfulwork.” h —fromtheforewordbyRobertA.F.Thurman,authorofWhytheDalaiLamaMatters e “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 c 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? S P “ThisbookhelpedmetoseeWesternculturemoreclearly,andinspiredmetorebelagainst E theapocalypticparadigmwithrenewedvigor.”—NoahLevine,authorofDharmaPunx L L M E KURTSPELLMEYERisanaward-winningteacherandscholarintheEnglishdepartment Y atRutgersUniversity.HewasalsoauthorizedtoteachZenbyKanganGlennWebbin E 1985,andnowleadstheColdMountainSanghainNewJersey.HeistheauthorofArtsof R Living:ReinventingtheHumanitiesfortheTwenty-firstCenturyandseveralotherbooks. ISBN978-086171-582-4US$16.95 Wisdom Publications / Boston wisdompubs.org ProducedwithEnvironmentalMindfulness Wisdom BUDDHA AT THE APOCALYPSE WisdomPublications 199ElmStreet SomervilleMA02144USA www.wisdompubs.org ©2010KurtSpellmeyer Allrightsreserved. Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechan- ical,includingphotography,recording,orbyanyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem ortechnologiesnowknownorlaterdeveloped,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe publisher. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Spellmeyer,Kurt. Buddhaattheapocalypse:awakeningfromacultureofdestruction/KurtSpellmeyer;fore- wordbyRobertA.F.Thurman. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0-86171-582-9(pbk.:alk.paper) 1. Time—Religiousaspects—Buddhism.2. Buddhism—Doctrines.3. Time—Philosophy. 4. Philosophy,Comparative. I.Title. BQ4570.T5S642010 294.3’423—dc22 2010007094 1413121110 5 4 3 2 1 CoverdesignbyPhilPascuzzo.InteriordesignbyLC.SetinWeiss11/15. WisdomPublications’booksareprintedonacid-freepaperandmeettheguidelinesforper- manenceanddurabilityoftheProductionGuidelinesforBookLongevityoftheCouncilon LibraryResources. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica. Thisbookwasproducedwithenvironmentalmindfulness.Wehaveelectedtoprint thistitleon30%PCWrecycledpaper.Asaresult,wehavesavedthefollowingresources: 17trees,5millionBTUsofenergy,1,648lbs.ofgreenhousegases,7,938gallonsofwater, and 482 lbs. of solid waste. For more information, please visit our website, www.wisdompubs.org.ThispaperisalsoFSCcertified.Formoreinformation,pleasevisit www.fscus.org. 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