8 - Sunday, August 5, 1990 ~- North Shore News

SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING
Buddhism enlightens local

WHEN MOST Westerners
want to learn about Bud-
dhism, they pick up a book.
When Tim Ward wanted ito
learn about Buddhism, he
travelled through Asia, lived
in a Buddhist monastery —
then wrote a book.

By Peggy Trendell-Whittaker
News Reporter

What the Buddha Never
Taught, his account of life in a
strict Buddhist monastery, was
recently published by Somerville
House. In the book, the former
Vancouverite describes not only
the Buddhist philosophy, but what
it's like to live with a shaved
head, get up every morning at 3
a.m. and follow the teaching that
forbids killing — even mos-
quitoes.

“To not kill them was almost
impossible,’’ Ward said in an in-
terview from his Ottawa home,
teferring to the several times he
stepped on a nest of swarming,
biting, red ants. ‘‘But you learn to
see even mosquitoes as your
teachers.””

Ward had undergone a
“dramatic conversion to Chris-
tianity’’ when he was 18, at which
point, he says, ‘‘l bought into
Christianity wholesale and tied
myself into a straitjacket I spent
the next several years getting out
of.”

Ward graduated from UBC
with a degree in philosophy, but
felt he didn’t know enough about
any Eastern religions so decided to
go to Asia.

= SWIM & DANCE WEAR * SWIM & DANCE WEAR * SWIM & DANCE WEAR * SWIM & DANCE WEAR *

7)
[= 4
=
=e
=
<=]
Oo
=
<<
=
ss
=
=
wa
es
net
=
a
=
=
oO
=
=
a
BS
=
=
7)
Ld
eet
<=
kal
=
<=
oO
=
=
Pas}
we
=
=
za

..book describes
Buddhist life.

“A lot of people in the Chris-
tian church didn’t understand why
1 was going,’’ he recalls. ‘1 was
just going to explore whatever was
there to learn."’

In India, he says the ‘‘pillars of
his faith’’ crumbled. It was at that
point he discovered that his faith
didn’t need pillars, that it could
exist without religious structures
or with structures different from
those provided by his Christian
background.

By the time he arrived at the
Tibetan monastery, he was ‘‘very
flexible’ in his attitude towards
religion. He did, however, have an
ongoing struggie with the rigid
manner in which the institution
was run.

“The most difficult part for me
was following the rules that were
just there for the sake of the
rules,’” he said. ‘‘I was in a con-
tinuous mental battle against the
regime.”’

The most important lesson he
learned from. stilling his critical
faculty and following the rules of
the community he sums up by
relating Buddha's parable of the
mangy dog.

Buddha and his followers, he
says, were watching a dog with
mange run from place to place to
try to relieve its discomfort, the
source of which, of course, was
on the dog itself.

People, says Ward, are similar.
They strive to achieve happiness
by changing their environment —
buying a new car, getting a larger
house — without realizing that the
source of contentment or sorrow
lies within themselves.

He says the Western world can
learn a fot from Buddhism.

‘‘Meditation is one of the
primary things,’’ he noted. ‘‘h
helps people get in tune with their
spirituality, intuition and in har-
mony with their environment.’’

[t also encourages humans to
think of themselves as one with
the rest of the natural world, not
superior to other life forms.

Incorporating Buddhist princi-
ples and practices into one’s
spiritual life doesn't mean one has
to give up one’s own religion,
Ward emphasizes.

‘In many ways, Buddhism and
Christianity complement each
other,”” he says. ‘Christianity,
with its emphasis on love and
forgiveness, ‘vorks primarily
through the heart. Buddhism, with
its stress on observation and
detachment, works primarily
through the mind. Both Jesus and
Buddha said that by clinging to
life, we lose it, but by dying to
self, we gain spiritual liberation.”’

— Five Different Paint Services
Here are our Most Popular Two!
“| PRESIDENTIAL...

Our most popular paint service. Surface
preparation includes machine sanding as well
as hand sanding. Full coat of primer sealer.
Baked enamel finish.

~. °° SUPREME

That high quality look is achieved with additional
surface preparation and excellent refinish
materials. Includes catalyzed enamel.
Integrated clear coat. Oven baked.

NORTH VANCOUVER
945 West 1st Street
Next to Beaver Lumber

984-4111
CO RICHMOND aes
11591 Bridgeport Rd.

270-1517
HOURS: 8-6 Mon. to Fri. 10-2 Saturday

Receive a FREE GIFT

With Your Purchase

any SPEEDO 2" “SPECIAL F/X”

Swim Suit!

lof

REFRESHMENTS!

PRIZES!

At PARK & TILFORD CENTRE
#330-333 BROOKSBANK
NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C.

CALL 980-SWIFi (7946)

SWIM & DANCE WEAR * SWIM & DANCE WEAR * SWIM & DANCE WEAR * SWIM & DANCE WEAR °

$

“COMPLETE COLLISION &-RUST:REPAIR EXPERTS -

PARTIOPATION ™ ©

of

WIMS © YVGM GONVG 9 WINS © HVOM DONVO 9 WIMS © WVOM GONVO 9 WINS