Saturday, November 15, 1997

Lecture on Buddhism at Church of Heavenly Rest Wednesday

By LORETTA FULTON Senior Staff Writer

About 1 million people in the United States are followers of Buddhism and the number is growing.

Two movies this year, the current "Seven Years in Tibet" and the upcoming "Kundun" search for the secret of inner peace in Tibetan Buddhism.

Buddhism is enjoying box office success as well as gaining coverts.

Buddhism may not be in the forefront locally, but people interested in learning more about it may attend a lecture at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander.

It will be the last session in the Interfaith Journey sessions which began at the church in September. Dr. Tin Than Myint, a psychiatrist practicing at the Veterans Medical Center in Big Spring, will discuss his faith.

Myint is a Buddhist by tradition and is just completing a pilgrimage to Nepal where, in the sixth century, Gautama Buddha was born, received enlightenment, and taught.

This year's movies are capitalizing on a renewed interest in Buddhism. "Seven Years" stars Brad Pitt, who portrays Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountain climber who had a poor record as a husband, father, friend and human being until his transformation.

Scheduled for release this Christmas season is "Kundun," a film by director Martin Scorsese which will explore the early life of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and political leader of Tibetan Buddhism.

Buddhism is gaining popularity in the West for several reasons.

"Many of America's Buddhists see Buddhism as a philosophy, or even a psychological approach toward life, but not a religion," Steve Raby wrote in an article for Religion News Service.

In fact, Rabey says, one reason Buddhism is enjoying its tremendous growth is because "millions of people seem to be looking for a spiritual path that's Eastern, slightly exotic, compassionate, provocative, inclusive, ancient and hip - in short, just about everything they believe is lacking in the more familiar faiths of their upbringing."

Buddha was born more than 2,500 years ago, found enlightenment while meditating under a bodhi tree, and taught that lasting inner peace could only be found by transcending all worldly desires and passions.

Today there are around 300 million Buddhists in the world, most of them in southeast Asia.

American's interest in Eastern philosophy and religion dates back to the 19th century, Rabey wrote. In the 1840s, it was 'transcendentalist' writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau who first introduced the American masses to Eastern concepts," Rabey said.

Since then, Buddhism has become the philosophy of choice for literary figures such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac in the 1950s and in the 1990s for a variety of sports, film, and music celebrities.