Chattanooga area Buddhists say their way of life is often misunderstood in the South

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Buddha in the Bible Belt: Local Buddhists say their way of life is often misunderstood in the South

Do not look for a sanctuary in anyone except yourself.

To the non-practitioner, understanding Buddhism can be a confusing, obstacle-strewn path.

It is not precisely a religion, although it is often confused for one and, even more confoundingly, is treated as such by some adherents.

It is possible to be both a Buddhist and hold fast to another faith, even as far as being member of the clergy.

It's principles are, in some cases, best communicated through silence.

In the predominantly Christian South, the gulf of understanding often gapes even wider, local Buddhists say, because exposure to Buddhism and Buddhist practices is still so rare.

"With all due to respect to the South, which I've grown to really love it's an area of the country that was so insulated for so long," says Lynne Lockie, a 76-year-old Chattanoogan who began studying Buddhism in 1959 and moved to Chattanooga from Minnesota in 1992. She now occasionally teaches a Buddhist meditation group that meets weekly at the Center for Mindful Living on Main Street.

When she first moved to the South "there was a sense that, 'Don't let anything from the outside come in and disturb our sense of order,'" Lockie says. "I think it's changing, in places but, of course, it wouldn't be like it is in California, which has been so open for so long, or on the East Coast."

According to the Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Study released in 2015 and surveying the religious beliefs of 35,000 Americans, Christians represent the overwhelming majority - 76 percent - of religious adherents in the South, with even higher percentages in Georgia (79 percent), Tennessee (81 percent) and Alabama (86 percent). Buddhists, meanwhile, represent 1 percent or less of the population in those states, where they often are outnumbered three to one by agnostics, according to the same study.

Many Buddhists say that response in the Bible Belt to practicing Buddhism, which emphasizes continual self-improvement in pursuit of spiritual enlightenment, is largely one of disinterest. There have been exceptions to that, but on the whole, Lockie says, awareness and education of Buddhism in the South is growing.

Since those early days, when Lockie arrived in Chattanooga and could find no meditation group to attach herself to, the Buddhist community has expanded greatly. There now are several weekly meetings for adherents of various Buddhist schools, including Japanese Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, as well as guided meditation classes and meetings for practitioners of Centering Prayer, a form of worship blending Christian theology with aspects of Buddhist meditation.

"I remember when I first moved here, someone told me yoga was the work of the devil," Lockie laughs. "Now there are yoga studios all over Chattanooga. There's been such a big change here. It's been really great."

Ringing true

Buddhism dates back about 2,500 years to the teachings of its spiritual leader, Guatama Buddha, in Northern India. These teachings and Buddha's disciples later spread throughout Eastern Asia and, in the 20th century, into the West.

Much like the hybrid origins of Centering Prayer, many say they came to study Buddhism later in life after being raised as members of another religion.

Janka Livoncova, 39, grew up in the former Czechoslovakia, where "98 percent of the population" was Catholic, but few actually worshipped due to religious persecution under Communist rule. Her mother was a non-practicing Catholic and her father was an atheist, she says, but she was always in search of a deeper truth than what they espoused.

"I was pretty much raised and was told, 'This is it. You die, and that's it,' but somehow I always knew that there had to be something. So I looked," Livoncova says. "I also was interested in Christianity, but I could never believe in heaven or hell. I just could never believe it; it doesn't sound true to me."

There were few movies to watch in Czechoslovakia during those days, she says, but one, a martial arts film starring Bruce Lee, had a lasting impact that later guided her to the teachings of Buddha.

"I saw how [the martial artists'] minds were so well-trained, and I would say, 'My mind is so weak. It's just blown by every experience. It needs to get trained,'" she says with a laugh.

Four years later, Livoncova attended her first daylong meditation course and the sense of ease she felt - the mental stillness - spoke to her in a way that other theologies never did.

"You're not pursuing the future. There's just a sense of letting go, and the experience is at ease and at peace," she says. "I remember telling myself, 'Wow, this is worth cultivating.'"

Livoncova is now a certified yoga instructor and host of a weekly silent meditation at Clearspring Yoga Studio. She also serves as an adjunct leader of Chattanooga Insight, a guided meditation and Buddhist-informed discussion held at the Center for Mindful Living that is led by former Buddhist monks Kittisaro and Thanissara.

Like many Buddhists, Livoncova says she doesn't hide her affiliation with Buddhism, but neither does she showcase it or push its practice on others. Too often, she says, people express mistrust or apprehension for philosophies they don't understand or that seem in conflict with their beliefs.

"I get that; I totally get it," she says. "I get it that people say that dharma [one of the cores of Buddhist belief] doesn't ring true. They don't have faith in it. That's great. I have faith in dharma, and I wasn't attracted to anything else, so I get that. I get that when they say, 'No, I don't want to hear about it.'"

Enlightenment, Misunderstanding

Despite their relative rarity in Chattanooga, local Buddhists say people rarely express interest in learning more about their practices.

"Most people want to know if I'm a vegetarian," says Paul Elliott, 56, who was raised as a Southern Baptist but began studying Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies in 1975.

"People rarely ask questions [about Buddhism]," he says. "They assume and go from there."

As a result of their seeming disinterest, Buddhists says, many misconceptions about the practice persist among non-practitioners. The absence of a central figure to worship is one of the primary differences between Buddhism and monotheistic religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam, yet many non-practitioners assume all Buddhists worship Buddha when many simply revere him as an enlightened - yet human - spiritual leader.

"Buddha is not worshiped as a god as Christ is," Elliott says. "It is, in fact, possible for a person to be Christian and practice Buddhism; it is possible to be an atheist and practice Buddhism. Buddhism is only concerned with the transformation of the self to become more compassionate and to relieve suffering of all living things."

Although worship of a deity is not central to Buddhist practice, most Buddhists do value faith and spiritual worship. According to the Pew Research Center's religious study, the majority of Buddhists are either "fairly certain" or "absolutely certain" that God exists (58 percent) and consider religious belief to be "very" or "somewhat" important (72 percent).

Yong Oh is a 44-year-old acupuncturist who also leads weekly meditation groups in Chattanooga. He began seriously studying Buddhism 10 years ago after reading "Turning Your Mind Into An Ally," a self-help book written by Sakyong Mipham, a Tibetan Buddhist.

Oh says the advice the book offered about using meditation as a way to calm the mind helped him deal with the mental turmoil he experienced during a relocation from New York City to Chattanooga. After the move, he later began studying Buddhism and meditative practices in greater depth.

Despite being in the extreme minority in Chattanooga, Oh says he isn't interested in moving to a city like San Francisco, Los Angeles or New York City, where the Buddhist communities are larger and comprise a higher percentage of the population. Interest in Buddhism and meditation here is on the rise, Oh says. And besides, he adds, he's content.

"It's not something where I feel like, 'Oh, I need to move right away because this is something that's really important,'" he says. "I feel quite happy here in Chattanooga."

Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.