Myosho-ji 妙声寺 Wonderful Voice Temple

Building

In the neighborhood where I live, right behind the temple they are tearing down numerous houses. The removal of these dwellings is for the purpose of reclaiming flood plain areas along a creek. It is amazing that I can walk by one day and a house is standing intact and then the next day it is a pile of rubble. By the third day it is all cleared and by day four it has been seeded over and there remains no evidence of a building ever having been there.

It is also noteworthy that it only takes a couple of people to accomplish all this. When we contrast this with the amount of effort it takes to build a house it is really striking. It takes many men with a variety of skills several days, if not weeks, to build a house. Then it takes more crews of men to come in and do the finishing work, such as wiring, plumbing, and so forth. Finally more people come in to do the painting and carpeting and other such projects. All of this takes a lot of skilled labor, a lot of time, and planning. Yet to tear down that same structure takes only a few hours.

“How can you attain unsurpassed Bodhi? The enlightenment of the Buddha is far off. It can he attained only by those who perform the Bodhisattva practices with strenuous efforts for innumerable kalpas.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter XII)

We cannot expect our practice of Buddhism, wishing to become enlightened, to take a short period of time, or little effort. Yet we can destroy all that we have attained all that we have accomplished within a short period of time by being discouraged and abandoning our practice.

“I wish to give the wisdom of the Buddha, the wisdom of the Tathagata, the wisdom of the Self-Existing One, to all living beings. I am the great almsgiver to all living beings. Follow me, and study my teachings without begrudging efforts!” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter XXII)

“Any Sravaka or Bodhisattva who hears even a gatha of this sutra which I am to expound will undoubtedly become a Buddha.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter II)

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Opportunity

Throughout our lives we are presented with opportunities continuously. There are opportunities presented to us in every moment of our existence.

“A man who misses his opportunity, and monkey who misses his branch cannot be saved.” Hindu proverb

When you consider the many opportunities we have had to practice any number of other religions other than Buddhism we can appreciate how rare the chance we were presented with. Buddhism is not the most common religion in America. I have heard that Buddhism is the fourth major religion in America, yet it is still rare to come into contact with Buddhism, especially in some area of the country.

The two princes presented in chapter XXVII of the Lotus Sutra realized what a rare gift they had been given to meet the Buddha.

“‘We accumulated so many merits in our previous existence that we are now able to meet the teachings of the Buddha in this life of ours. Allow us to renounce the world because it is difficult to see a Buddha, and also because it is difficult to have such a good opportunity as this to see him.’” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter XXVII)

The choice has been presented to us, we have been given a wonderful and rare opportunity. Now, do we miss this chance, will we be like the monkey who misses his branch as he swings through the forest? There is no saving either the monkey who misses his branch, nor the person who misses the opportunity to practice the Lotus Sutra when given the option to do so. The branch presents itself, the Lotus Sutra presents itself, but it is up to us just as it is up to the monkey whether or not we reach out and hold fast.

“‘Your teachings have these inconceivable, wonderful merits. The practices performed according to your teachings and precepts are peaceful and pleasant. From today on, I will not act according to my own mind. I will not have wrong views, arrogance, anger or any other evil thought.’ Having said this, he bowed to that Buddha and retired.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter XXVII)

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Learning

Here in the United Sates people are known to say that two things in life are guaranteed, death and taxes. Thinking about this I am struck by the fact that learning is not one of the two, nor is it a third. It is true, though, that learning isn’t promised, it is a fact. There is no certainty that we will learn, in fact it is a choice we choose to make; to learn or not to learn.

Just as learning is not mandatory, nor is it promised to us, neither is survival. We don’t have to learn as we go through life, we can choose to continue to do the same things over and over never changing. We also have the same correlational option for survival. We tend to survive in relationship to how well we learn in life.

Learning the facts of wisdom of life is as important as learning the facts of life. It is not enough to know what words mean, it is important to know how to use the words. It isn’t sufficient to learn numbers but to learn how to employ the numbers. It is true in everything; we learn the facts but we need to learn how to use those facts in skillful ways, in productive ways, in ways that enhance not only our lives but the lives of others.

“They learned good teachings one by one, and obtained the ability to answer questions skillfully” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter XV)

In Buddhism it helps to learn as much as we can, that way we are better prepared as the Sutra says, to answer questions skillfully; to answer not only the questions of others, but our own questions as well. Yet, perhaps as important if not possible more so is the requirement that we learn how to use the knowledge of Buddhism in our lives in both practical and useful ways; in other words to bring the wisdom of the Buddha into existence in our life.

“…strenuously seek the knowledge of all things, the wisdom of the Buddha, the self originating wisdom, the wisdom to be obtained without teachers, and the insight and powers and fearlessness of the Tathagata, who give peace to innumerable living beings out of their compassion towards them, and who benefit gods and men, that is to say, who save all living beings, are called men of the Great Vehicle.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter III)

“I once told you that you had attained extinction. But you eliminated only birth and death by that extinction. The extinction you attained was not the true one. What you should do now is obtain the wisdom of the Buddha.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter III)

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Going Through

“If you’re going through hell, keep going” Winston Churchill

Makes sense to me. There isn’t much point in stopping in hell, not if you can keep going and get out.

“We once had many troubles in the world of birth and death because of the three kinds of sufferings.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter IV)

The trick is to know and realize that we are in hell, since sometimes we are not even aware that we are suffering. I think many of us become so acquainted with sufferings that we just think they are a normal part of our lives and there is nothing to do about it.

“…those who are ignorant of the cause of all sufferings, and who are too deeply attached to the cause of suffering to give it up even for a moment…” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter III)

Yet as we learn in Buddhism that doesn’t have to be the case. We can wake up from our anesthetized state, a state of almost being immune to the effects or feelings of suffering and begin to move on through.

For others they may recognize they are in the hell of suffering but are so lost they do not know how to move, or even if there is any way to go forward to end the suffering.

“Once upon a time there was a dangerous, bad road five hundred yojanas long. It was so fearful that no men lived in the neighborhood. Now many people wished to pass through this road in order to reach a place of treasures. They were led by a man, clever, wise, and well informed of the conditions of the dangerous road.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter VIII)

To those walking their path of suffering and who become tired or discouraged the teachings of the Buddha offer a way out, a way to continue, a way to end the suffering.

“I will save them from suffering. I will give them the pleasure of peace.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter V)

We only need to embrace the teachings of the Buddha.

“That world will be even, pure, adorned, peaceful, and fertile, where gods and men will prosper. The ground of that world will be made of lapis lazuli; the roads will fan out from the center to the eight directions. Those roads will be marked off by ropes of gold, and the trees of the seven treasures on the roadsides will always bear flowers and fruit.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter III)

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It’s Your Choice
If you would like to receive these daily meditations in your email please feel free to enter the information into the subscription form on the right hand side.

A few years ago I was helping a Japanese exchange student as he settled in to life here in the United States. He asked me if I would take him to a store to purchase some basic necessities. Without giving it any thought I took him to one of our larger department stores. He asked me to show him where the shampoo was located and so I took him over to that area. I showed him a whole long row floor to 6 foot high selection of shampoo. He turned to me flabbergasted and asked how do I know which one to pick.

We probably think nothing of having a choice of probably close to a hundred different kinds of shampoo, but for most people in the world the choice may be limited to only a couple dozen or less selections. Our society has become one where we assume we can have an almost customized experience. We have come to expect that we can pick and choose among a variety of selections. We want things our way.
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Questions

I have a friend who has recently welcomed a new baby into his family. I myself have never had children, but I can imagine it is a pretty exciting thing. I frequently see parents out in the neighborhood, as I walk around with my puppy, out walking with their young children. Children are amazing things aren’t they? Just imagine where we would be without children.

Parents who have children or even folks who have raised pets from early birth understand something about questions and inquisitiveness. Good teachers understand this as well. The key to learning and perhaps the first requirement to real learning is questioning and being inquisitive. Yes, we can force something on someone and try to make them learn something but the real learning the deeply embraced learning comes when the learner has an excitement to learn what is being taught. Children come with this automatically built in.

Examining the teachings of the Buddha we see that the Buddha frequently waits until he is asked a question before he teaches. In fact our Buddhist practice really doesn’t begin to take place until we ourselves ask and prepare for the answer to the question of how to end suffering.

“They do not hear, know or notice it, or ask a question about it or believe or understand it.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter XIV)

It isn’t until we become aware that we suffer, or that there might be an alternative to suffering do we begin to even look for a way to end suffering. When we awaken to the truth about suffering being an option we begin to ask questions about how to end it, how to practice Buddhism.

“You asked me a very important question. All of you should concentrate your minds, wear the armor of endeavors, and be resolute. Now I will reveal, I will show, the wisdom of the Buddhas, their supernatural powers without hindrance, their dauntless powers like a lion’s, and their great power of bravery.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter XV)

All we have to do is to seek out the answer. If however we only do so from a merely intellectual perspective, thinking that the acquisition of more knowledge, will solve the problem then we have not embraced the heart of being inquisitive. Think again of the child who when very young really is looking not just for the answer to a question but an understanding of the complete nature of the object or thought.

So too, we need to delve deep into the nature of our suffering and the way to eliminate it, always seeking.

“The Buddha will remove any doubt of those who seek the teaching of the Three Vehicles. No question will be left unresolved.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter I)

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Change Us
Gandhi Assassinated on this day in 1948

At night my dog likes to sleep in my bed. Isn’t it amazing how the littlest dogs can take up the most amount of space. They may enjoy sleeping in bed but they sure don’t get the concept of sharing. It is comforting to have my dog curled up at the foot of the bed. And in our case if she takes up too much room I just put my feet on top of her or my leg, this dog doesn’t seem to mind.

Several times a night though she’ll come up to the head of the bed and paw at the covers hoping that I’ll let her climb underneath. I usually don’t, because it gets too hot after a while and then she wants out and when she does she pulls all the covers off me. Sometimes though she’ll paw and paw at the covers, insisting I let her under. She’ll go to first my face side and paw and if she has no luck she’ll climb over me and paw at the backside. Then she’ll climb back over and do it all again.

“Because they have many desires, they will fall into the three evil regions, or go from one to another of the six regions only to undergo many sufferings.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter II)

Without even realizing it, sometimes we live our lives just like my puppy looks for comfort under the warm blanket. We travel through existence after existence, through suffering after suffering going from one desire to another or from one way to trying to fulfill a fleeting desire to a different way, always to no avail.

One of the reasons we fail is because we have not clearly understood what it is that we are truly seeking. We think that if we change this one condition or another or if we were in a different situation we would be happier. We fail to understand that the condition of Buddhahood, the condition of our indestructible and complete end to suffering exists within us already.

Some situations aren’t meant for us to change, they are meant to change us.

“Anyone who hears the Dharma will not fail to become a Buddha. Every Buddha vows at the outset: ‘I will cause all living beings to attain the same enlightenment that I attained.’” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter II)

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Empty Cup

Frequently in Buddhism teachers and others will use the analogy of emptying the teacup. It is a good image when you consider that before you can receive more tea, fresh tea, hot tea, different tea you need to first empty your cup. If your cup remains full then there is no space for more.

The same is with our lives. If we cling tightly to what we have and do not seek to give it away then we have no space for more. If we are feeling good and have received merit from our practice of Buddhism what good does it do us to cling tightly? Just as if we hold the tea in the cup it becomes stale, cold, and bitter, so too if we hold on to our merit, our joy.
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Sculpture

It is said that Michelangelo once replied, when asked how he created such beautiful sculptures, that all you had to do was carve away the stuff you didn’t want. Of course, now I understand!

It should be very easy to sculpt with that kind of instruction.

Every day we are the sculptor of our day and lives. What we decide to chip away and what we decide to leave will determine how our day sculpture looks.

“Those who carved an image of the Buddha with the proper physical marks in his honor have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter II)

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