Chanting at the Zen Buddhist Temple in Ann Arbor

Posted on Sun, May 9, 2010 : 5:01 p.m.

Chanting at the Zen Buddhist Temple in Ann Arbor

By Brent Lofgren

This week's visit by the Itinerant Chorister to a house of worship involved no choir, but included a bit of chanting in traditional Buddhist style. The Zen Buddhist Temple at 1214 Packard St. in Ann Arbor teaches a pragmatic faith, which includes such things as saying that if you are shot by a poison arrow, pull it right out rather than first bothering to ask where it came from. They also are very helpful to people who are there for the first time.

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Brent Lofgren is a scientist and amateur musician in Ann Arbor who writes about visiting various houses of worship. He can be reached at itinchor [at] gmail [dot] com.

Comments

Brent Lofgren

Wed, May 12, 2010 : 11:42 a.m.

More familiar to me as an outsider were the Zen koans, most famously "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" and "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" With these, the idea is that the literal meaning of the riddle is unclear and needs to be meditated upon, and finally it does become clear. However, the poison arrow parable is something different that has parallels in the Christian tradition. Despite being separated from the current disciple by millenia of time and differences of culture (we don't often encounter poison arrows or even the sheep of the Christian gospels), the literal meaning of a parable is easily understood. Instead, it is the metaphorical application of the parable that needs to be understood and applied to one's life and belief.