FINDING THEIR INNER PEACE
Many westerners turn to Buddhism
It was all that sitting, crosslegged, while seemingly levitating that made any thought of being a Buddhist sensei far from the first thing on James Martin’s searching mind. To be honest, it never even crossed it.
After all, he’d been raised a typical Prairie boy, growing up in the 1960s in Neepawa, just outside Brandon, Man. Back then, the United Church was the religious bedrock of such small-town Canadian communities. It’s strange how life works out.
Today, Sensei Martin is the main man at the Calgary Buddhist Temple in Bridgeland. Yes, he’s still living on the high northern plain, but there’s been a lifetime of learning between then and now.
He still hasn’t found that elusive magic to levitate but he can live with that, as can the increasing number of Calgarians turning up at the temple he presides over, looking for answers to questions they can’t even frame.
Martin — now aged 66 and beginning to wonder aloud about stepping back from the role he’s filled since April 2008 — doesn’t see his calling as glamorous or exalted.
“I change light bulbs, I vacuum — you don’t get to see much here that is below me,” he said.
Martin still breaks a wry smile when first-time visitors arrive at the temple, expecting to see a venerable Asian master greeting them.
“We have high school kids come here as part of their world religion classes and one of the first things I say to them is, ‘you probably didn’t expect to see an old, white guy standing up at the front.’ They usually chuckle,” he said.
Yet, more and more westerners are turning toward Buddhism in search of answers in a confusing and troubling world.
“I know from my own search, I kept asking: Why wasn’t I happier? And then I saw, in parts of Asia, people who had a lot less but seemed to me to be a lot happier than people I saw coming back to Western society.
“I think people are still walking in the door here with that in mind. Things don’t seem quite OK. It’s a tough time today; society has big challenges ahead and I think Buddhism may have some answers to offer.
“One of the teachings is that you are never going to get any lasting happiness out of things that are just that, things. All the things we buy, believing they will bring happiness into our lives, thinking those things will make us happier, ultimately don’t. Certainly not a lasting happiness,” said Martin.
There are eight temples across Canada in which the Japanesebased Jodo Shinshu school of Buddhism is practised. The mother temple is in Kyoto, Japan, which is where Martin looks for guidance and leadership.
The Calgary temple has undergone a major renovation. The building is more than 100 years old, so it was essentially stripped down and rebuilt again, at a cost of almost $2 million.
“We thought about moving but we liked the location, being so central here in Bridgeland. We have people coming from all quadrants of the city, so having something central was important,” said Martin.
The temple is certainly central to Martin’s life, though there was a time he was hesitant to even pass through the doors.
“I grew up in a Prairie town where 99 per cent of people were white and Christian, so Buddhism to me was an unknown. I’d seen a bit of it on TV — where you sit on a cushion with your legs crossed and float a little bit,” he said.
It was a trip to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia several decades ago that set him on the path. Recently divorced, he left Calgary and spent three months in Asia searching for an answer to life’s questions.
It was the first step on a long path home and to a volunteer position at the temple.
“I was a little hesitant, even a little scared about going to the temple at first because of my background,” Martin recalled.
The serving sensei saw something in Martin to cultivate and, after training in Kyoto and Berkeley, Calif., he emerged as a Buddhist teacher almost nine years ago, taking over the sensei role in Calgary.
He intends to step back from that role in the next year or so and let one of his two assistants take over.
But the kids in the world religion studies will still get a surprise — assistant ministers Bob Gubenco was born in Montreal and Ken Madden comes from B.C.
That levitation will have to wait.
... I saw, in parts of Asia, people who had a lot less but seemed to me to be a lot happier than people I saw coming back to Western society.