The Tibetan word Rimé (shown above) means “unbiased,” according to Wikipedia. It has come to represent a nonsectarian and universalist movement in Buddhism. The Rimé Buddhist Center in the United States explains the approach as…
…recognizing the value and benefit of multiple points-of-view.
Just as different medicines are needed for various illnesses and individuals, everyone must choose the teachers and practices that suit them.
…[D]eveloping a Rimé philosophy means knowing how each system works, what are its defining characteristics, what are its strengths and how can it be used to alleviate dissatisfaction. While we may have a personally favorite view, a favorite practice or a favorite system, there is no contradiction. We can hold a non-sectarian view while recognizing that specific practices and teachings are especially suited for our needs.
In the previous From the Pure Land post, I wrote that…
…multiple teachers and slightly intermingled teachings are OK as long as one has experience on the path, honest self-knowledge, and reflection.
I omitted some details describing how my practice is intermingled for fear of making the post too long and complex. But hey, today’s another day.
The various terms for describing Buddhist schools, lineages, traditions, philosophies, and approaches are indeed complex, so here’s what I hope is an uncluttered understanding:
The Three “Yanas,” or Vehicles
The first yana began with the teaching of the Buddha in the years after his enlightenment. Those who practice later forms of Buddhism sometimes call this wave Hinayaya, or the lesser vehicle, because it focuses on the individual’s liberation from suffering. Those who today practice the Buddha’s early teachings call it Theravada, or the school of the elders. That’s the word I use.
Eventually, some practitioners focused more on interconnectedness with others and less on the ego. How could or should one’s “self” be enlightened without a commitment to universal liberation from suffering? That wave became known as Mahayana, or the greater vehicle, with a commitment to relieving the suffering of all.
In my previous post, I used this quote describing the Buddha's awakening under the Bodhi tree: “…he realized that what he had been looking for had never been lost, neither to him nor to anyone else. Therefore, there was nothing to attain, and no longer any struggle to attain it.” Vajrayana, the third major wave of Buddhism, teaches that we are already fully enlightened Buddhas and can wake up to that reality within one lifetime. Various “skillful means” lead us to that inner state, but they can’t be taught in words alone.
Each yana fully incorporates what came before. They are not replacements.
Each of the four main schools within Vajrayana—Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug—can be divided further into lineages, but my advice to Westerners is to forget all of that. Find the teacher and teachings that resonate with you and go with the flow. As you learn about the most respected teachers in Buddhism, you’ll find that many didn’t restrict their education to one school or lineage.
To complicate things further—and explain why I didn’t cram all of this into one post—some traditional approaches may be closely associated with one school and lineage but practiced in many. I’ve mentioned two that I practice: Dzogchen and Mahamudra.
I don’t practice Chöd regularly, but I respect the tradition and have benefitted from my exposure to it in books and from one of my teachers, Anam Thubten Rinpoche. It employs meditations and tantric rituals to “cut through” attachments, especially to the ego.
Pure Land Buddhism is considered part of Mahayana but has a definite place within Vajrayana. I consider it an essential part of my practice—so much so that I refer to it in the name of this blog. One way to be reborn in the Pure Land is to recognize that I already live in one—at least, that’s my belief. I recite an aspiration to be reborn in the Pure Land as part of my daily practice, and I go to bed every night visualizing the Buddha Amitabha, who presides over the Pure Land.
That’s why I’m writing to you From the Pure Land and inviting you to join me here.
I've used myself as an example that’s hardly unusual in Vajrayana Buddhism. Many of us are Rimé practitioners regardless of whether we use the word or are even aware of it. That doesn’t mean we can cut and paste practices before we are grounded in any of them. On the other hand, not everyone’s path needs to take the 40 years that mine did.
Mine began in the mid-1980s with the Mahayana teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. Although I considered him my teacher for 30 years, I also learned from Theravada teachers such as Bhante Gunaratana and brief exposure to Pure Land. My meditations led me to the sense that we are much closer to the Buddha within than we are usually taught. So, I was ready for Vajrayana.
I began that part of my journey with Dzogchen teachings and then added Mahamudra and Chöd. Finally, a retreat with Andrew Holecek helped me incorporate Pure Land into my Vajrayana practice.
That sounds complete to me—Vajrayana Buddhism in the Dzogchen and Mahamudra traditions with a heap of Pure Land and a dash of Chöd. But I’m not so attached to any of it that I won’t welcome whatever remains ahead for me.
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My outrageous sense of humor continues with this post’s musical bonus. Spiritual traditions aren’t the only things that can be intermingled. Watch as dancers in old, old movie clips groove to a song that melds funk, soul, and pop.