A Gesture of Respect

Following the death of the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, in Zion, Illinois, on November 5, 1981, at 8:30 in the evening, his body was taken to a mortuary, in order to be prepared for the flight back to Sikkim. 

During that tearful night, a young Chicago, Illinois dharma student named William Schwartz -- seen in the photograph above -- reckoned that it wasn't right for the Karmapa's body to remain at the mortuary all alone. Early the next morning, accompanied by a friend, he arrived at the mortuary and asked to remain present for whatever might happen. Thus it is that he came to be the last American witness, as the Karmapa's body was crated for transportation. 

"I did not know what to do," he remembers, "so I just tried to see everything as emptiness, and stay stable. But, every time they hammered a nail in the shipping container, it was like they hammered a nail into my heart."

Mr. Schwartz then accompanied the body to the airfield, and watched as it was loaded on the plane.

I am thankful that at least one of our own was on duty that day. On the other end, on November 9th, it was of course a different story:

So, that was just shy of thirty years ago, and of course some things have changed. Today, Mr. Schwartz is a popular contributor to the online forum elephantjournal, and is himself struggling with advanced stage congestive heart failure.

In his online journalist's capacity as a commentator on Buddhism in America, Mr. Schwartz has recently come into confrontation with what he calls a Buddhist "franchise:" in this case, the infamous cult surrounding a certain former "new age channel," rather controversially claimed by her followers as "...on the same level as Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche, himself.  There is no one higher in the world today."

Yes, that is a direct quotation.  

We can also add that these same followers have replaced the "Vajra Guru" element of the Vajra Guru mantra with their teacher's name, and presumably believe that Kool-Aid is good for you.

Nevertheless, what I find striking is that none of the people who now confront Mr. Schwartz had any connection to -- or indeed interest in -- Buddhism on any level, at the time the Sixteenth Karmapa's body was being loaded on the aircraft. The majority of them appear to have been rather too young, or in the alternative, rather too submerged in various addictions. I could also add that there wasn't any money in it, back in the day, but perhaps that is being less than charitable. 

So, what seems interesting is the unflattering sidelight this all throws on the aging of Tibetan Buddhism in America. 

What can we expect? Many of the misguided generation really never had the blessings that accompanied contact with the real deal. They content themselves with Milli-Vanilli Mahayana, and behave accordingly.

For example -- we see the followers of "none higher in the world" openly taunting Mr. Schwartz with his medical challenge, alternately threatening him with eternal damnation, or making sport of his illness: "Ha, ha... you're gonna' die!"

We also encounter them engaged in on-line thuggery of the lowest possible stripe, as well as an unpleasant censorship technique borrowed from the fascist playbook -- "SLAPP," or "strategic lawsuit against public participation," wherein they have threatened elephantjournal with legal action should anything they don't like be published about them.

This, together with like and similar conduct, has earned them the online nickname of "Slander Sangha."

Mr. Schwartz has a slightly different take on the matter:

"There's an out of control franchise operating -- they've lost control of the brand and the brand is being damaged beyond recognition."

Indeed, it seems precisely so.

As a gesture of respect to an American practitioner who himself offered a gesture of respect, I would suggest that this wickedness not go unnoticed. I would also like to read what Mr. Schwartz has to say about Buddhist "franchises," in the iDharma era of johnny-come-lately revisionism sold in unsatisfying pieces by the Slander Sangha.

Someday, we are all going to be on the plane.