Thank you to a very dedicated Buddhist scholar Dion Peoples, our paper with the Most Venerable Thich-Nguyen-Sieu and Dr. Bureau on The Art of Living according to Spiritual Leaders was published on the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Universities JIABU, Volume V, 2015: 90-94. To read the whole journal, please click here. Here are the words of the editor, Dr. Dion Peoples about our article.
THE ART OF LIVING ACCORDING TO
SPIRITUAL LEADERS
Dr. Phe Bach
Kim Quang Buddhist Temple and Drexel University Sacramento.
The Most Venerable Thich-Nguyen-Sieu
Phật Đà Temple of San Diego, CA.
Dr. W. Edward Bureau
Drexel University.
Abstracts:
Leaders, in any institution, may have many virtues and spirituality qualities.
As spiritual leaders, one must live peaceful and harmonious live in accordance
with our family, community, society, and homeland. They often have strong
relationships with others and have strong inner values such as selflessness and
harmony. Spiritual leaders also must have a lofty spirit and morals.
Some of these moral values include compassion, diligence, determination,
joy, gratitude, love, integrity, honesty, mindfulness, perseverance,
responsibility, trustworthiness, understanding and wisdom. This paper, through
examining our psychological experiences, as well as our personally lived
experiences in our own lives, suggests the five arts of living. They are:
1) The First Art Of Living Is To Live As Bamboo Trees;
2) The Second Art Of Living Is To Live As A River;
3) The Third Art Of Living Is To Live As the Mai Tree;
4) The Fourth Art Of Living Is To Live As Earth; and
5) The Fifth Art Of Living Is To Live As The Clouds.
These five core principles frame specific practices and directions for
everyone, Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike—including spiritual leaders,
laypersons, and the Sangha—who wish that individuals, families, and societies
be more harmonious, more peaceful and more happy.
Leaders and
spirituality
Boorom (2009) suggested that leadership has roots in
religion, as there is a direct correlation between leadership and spiritual
qualities. Marques (2010) suggests that “it is perfectly possible to be
spiritual yet not religious. There are many spiritual people who are atheists,
agnostics, or that embrace multiple religions at the same time” (p.13). For
her, “a spiritual worker is a person who simply maintains good human values,
such as respect, tolerance, goodwill, support, and an effort to establish more
meaning in his or her workplace” (p. 13). DeVost (2010) emphasized that current
research in organizations has found a relationship between the spirituality of
the leaders and the spirituality in the workplace. In this study, Devost (2010)
found that the practice of ‘encouraging the heart” – one of the five
exemplified leadership values -- was significantly positive. According to
Kouzes & Posner (1995), the five practices of good leadership are:
“challenge the process, inspire a shared vision, enable others to act, model
the way, and encourage the heart” (p. 9).
Meanwhile, leaders often put their spiritual lives into practice,
as well as their moral beliefs and ethical values. As Northouse (2004) has
argued, ethics and leadership are “concerned with the kinds of values and
morals an individual or society finds desirable or appropriate” (p. 342).
Furthermore, he pointed out that an ethical model of leadership consists of
five components: a) showing respect, b) serving others, c) showing justice, d)
manifesting honesty and e) building community. In another study, Zhu, May,
& Avolio (2004) define ethical leadership as “doing what is right, just and
good” (p. 16). Zhu et al. (2004) added that leaders exhibit ethical behaviors
when they are doing what is morally right, just, and good, and when they help
to elevate followers' moral awareness and moral self-actualization. Bass and
Steidlmeier (1998) suggest that a truly transformational and effective
leadership must be based upon: a) the moral character of the leader and his or
her concern for oneself and others, b) the ethical values embedded in the
leader’s vision, and c) the morality of the processes and social ethical
choices and actions in which the leaders and followers engage.
The art of living life is about how we live peacefully with
ourselves in accordance with our family, community, society, and homeland.
As men and women laity (laypersons), we must live to obtain harmony,
peace and happiness for ourselves. Reading from the classic Sutras (teachings
of the Buddha) and through examining our psychological experiences, as well as
our personally lived experiences in our own lives, we can see the virtues of
the bamboo, the rivers, the apricot (mai) trees, the earth, and the clouds.
From there, we can extract the art of living a Buddhist life.
The
First Art Of Living Is To Live As Bamboo Trees
We can see and understand the humble beauty and flexibility
of the bamboo trees—when a gust of wind blows through the bamboo, it, being
flexible, will be swept with the direction of the wind. This phenomenon
illustrates how life moves and bends under different conditions, and how we need
to live responding according to the elements for things to coexist. We
ought to understand ourselves as well as others around us. We must nurture our
true self—the core values within—therefore, when we make contact with difficult
real life situations we are not broken, nor do we feel like we have lost a part
of ourselves. Flexibility is a characteristic of the bamboo trees: they never
fall apart within the storm. They move within the storm, yielding to that which
will leave them standing, without breaking. As laypeople, when we are faced
with problems in life, we need to be flexible like the bamboo.
We need to build within ourselves the art of living with others
in different situations and circumstances.
The
Second Art Of Living Is To Live As A River
The spirit of Buddhism is both formlessness and Tùy
Duyên (Sanskrit: Pratitysamutpad--dependent arising). The
spirit of Buddhism is not a fixed character nor a phenomenon which is
subjective and always a rigid status quo. The spirit of Buddhism
depends on conditions. So the spirit of the Buddhist precepts (or spiritual
discipline) is not rigid. It depends on conditions and circumstances;
it is not fixed. Therefore, in the path of propagating Dharma
transmission in a new land, to a different ethnicity
or culture, Buddhism always flows as is appropriate and its transmission
is dissolved into the new ethnic culture.
For over 2600 years, the presence of Buddhism in this
world has eased pain and suffering. There is no trace of blood or tears in the
name of "Dharma Transmission" in Buddhism. That is because of
the spirit of Tùy Duyên (dependent arising) in Buddhism.
Therefore, we need to adopt the art of living as a river: water flows from
upstream to downstream and out to sea. If a river lies on a high plateau, the
water flows quickly downstream, but when the river is down below the
plateau, the water flows gently, slowly, more poetically, and then the river
merges and integrates into the sea without holding a fixed nature.
In
life, too, living in our environment or facing certain circumstances, we have
to apply the art of dissolving (in life with everyone, with other sentient
beings, and with the social environment) without holding on to our
self-centered egos. The reason that we have to suffer or face dissatisfaction
is because of our egos. We refuse to let it go; we want to cling to our ego or
we are simply not willing to dissolve it with the masses of people. We
identify with our ego and superego as our beings; and when we pay
attention to our ego, it gets bigger. Thus, we think that we are the most
important individuals and that others must listen to us. We tend to forget that
in this life, all sentient beings have Buddha Nature. We all have
access to the knowledge and the practices, as well as the potential
to be awakened. So, we have to respect each other. From an old man to a
child, we must always remain in harmony, courteous, humble, and compassionate
towards each other, according to the precepts. If our ego is too
big, it will create a big wobble and topple our life. The ego will never
put our life at ease or make it peaceful. As laypersons, we need to eliminate
or let go of our dogmatic views and ego. Everyday we need to
work at reducing our egos; the more we let go, the more harmony we
will have with others. In the language of the Sutras, the art of living as a
river is the ability to dissolve into the ocean. River water cannot retain its
personal, or ego-identified, identity of the river, but has to merge and
integrate into the vast ocean. Both the river and the ocean are
referred to as water. Water dissolves in water and so ought our own selves
with others.
The
Third Art Of Living Is To Live As the Mai Tree
The mai is a unique tree in Vietnam. It is
known as a great tree for its longevity. With its bulky and rough
bark, at first sight, we understand at once it must be able undergo many
hardships: rain or shine, season to season. The roots of the mai tree
are firmly grounded in the hillside supporting the tree to stand on its own and
exist in this universe. All kinds of weather conditions have coated its stems
and roots, yet the mai tree still reaches out and progresses with
endurance through time—rain or shine—until a day in springtime, when mai
flowers bloom with beauty and fragrance. The mai is the symbol for
patience and optimism. It faces weather and obstacles and yet it will blooms
and displays its beauty, although time may wreak havoc. People, too, are
always changing and aging—we are born, grow up and pass away. From observing
and understanding the mai tree, the layperson can cultivate Buddha-hood.
This does not happen within a short period of
time, but through many rebirths, many lives crossing the rapid currents of
suffering, life and death. Thus we have to train our mind with determination to
attain Buddha-hood. We can practice the teachings of the Buddha and affirm our
mind and heart in the Dharma Realm, similar to how the mai tree
patiently endures the rain, the sun, or the storm. Thus, when we are facing
challenges, difficulties or hardships in life, we must overcome them, careful
to keep our mindfulness, and not flinch, nor break our will in order to
achieve success on the path to enlightenment through our own practices.
The
Fourth Art Of Living Is To Live As Earth
Being patient, enduring, robust and forgiving, the earth
produces and raises all things in the world. Humans live well on this planet
because of the earth. We live and pass on this land and so does
everything else. Therefore, the earth symbolizes the virtue of fortitude and
endurance. When we irrigate the earth with polluted waters, it does not
reject or complain; likewise when we irrigate it with clean water, the earth
does not rejoice or become excited. On the path of our own practice, we need to
learn from the earth: that is an art of living. By doing so, we will have peace
and equanimity in this chaos of life. If we become unbalanced in our
lives, unlike the earth, we are dependent on the sound of praise and criticism,
and thus we suffer dis-ease or experience dissatisfaction. If we are pleased
with praise or displeased with criticism, then we are living by others’ desires
and that means that we have not mastered ourselves. So we have to live patiently
and endure as does the earth.
The
Fifth Art Of Living Is To Live As The Clouds
Clouds are floating. The art of living here is to be
free and not encumbered. The clouds do not stay still, they travel and dispatch
in all directions. They are neither stuck in one place nor contaminated by
other factors. Buddhists should keep their hearts and minds free, open and
unattached to phenomena. If our heart and mind are attached and not open,
this causes hindrances and obstacles to appear, which make it hard to reach
enlightenment. When our minds are filled with greed, hatred, and ignorance or
stuck by praise-criticism, love-hate, satisfaction-dissatisfaction, then our
mind are not as free-floating as the clouds. So, we need to live like the
clouds, which is the fifth art of living. Be free--selfless
and at ease, floating freely without attachment.
The above is a quick summary of the five arts of living. As
spiritual leaders, one must have strong relationships with others and have
strong inner values such as selflessness and harmony. Spiritual leaders
also must have a lofty spirit and morals. Some of these moral values
include compassion, diligence, determination, joy, gratitude, love, integrity,
honesty, mindfulness, perseverance, responsibility, trustworthiness,
understanding and wisdom (Bach, 2014). We pray for and encourage all of us to know
how to live an artful life: to be as flexible and humble as the bamboo trees,
as integrating and dissolving as the river, as enduring and optimistic as the mai
tree, as patient and forgiving as the earth, and as selfless and free as
clouds. These five core principles frame specific practices and directions for
everyone (including spiritual leaders, laypersons, and the Sangha) who wishes
that individuals, families, and societies be more harmonious, more peaceful and
more happy.
References:
Bach, P. X. (2014). Mindful Leadership–A Phenomenological Study of Vietnamese Buddhist Monks in America with Respect to their Spiritual Leadership Roles and Contributions to Society (Doctoral dissertation, Drexel University).
Bass, B. M., & Steidlmeier, P. (1998). Ethics, character, and authentic transformational leadership. http://cls.binghamton.edu/bassSteid.html
Boorom, R. (2009). “Spiritual leadership: A study of the relationship between spiritual leadership theory and transformational leadership”. Regent University. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses,175-n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/305133283?accountid=10559. (305133283).
Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B. Z. (1995). The leadership change: How to keep getting extraordinary things done in organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Marques, J. (2010). Spirituality, meaning, interbeing, leadership, and empathy: SMILE. Interbeing, 4(2), 7.
Northouse, P. (2004). Leadership theory and practice (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication
Zhu, W., May, D.R., & Avolio, B.J. (2004). “The impact of ethical leadership behavior on employee outcomes: The roles of psychological empowerment and authenticity.” Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 11(1), 16.
