Prajna (Wisdom)

Year of the Monkey

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As we welcome 2016, the Year of the Monkey, I would like to share with you a traditional Buddhist Jataka Tale that holds much wisdom for us as we consider the direction of our lives for the year to come. It is said that Sakyamuni Buddha once told the story of a troop of monkeys that lived in a banyan fig tree by a river. The tree bore ample and delicious fruit and the monkeys lived comfortably, never needing to worry about what they would eat. The monkeys were led by a wise and compassionate king who warned them not to leave any fruit hanging on the branches that reached out over the river.

Despite the best efforts of the monkeys to keep those branches clear, a day came when they overlooked a piece of fruit that grew under a thick bunch of leaves. In time, the fruit ripened and fell into the river, which carried it downstream where it was discovered by the king who ruled the local people. The king assembled an expedition party and set off up the river in search of the tree that had borne the delicious fruit. When they finally found the tree, the king became enraged by the sight of so many monkeys eating the delicious fruit, while he had none for himself. He ordered his soldiers to attack the monkeys, and as arrows and stones rained down on them they could do nothing but scream out in terror.

Moved by great compassion for his subjects, the monkey king boldly leapt from the tree to the side of a mountain that stood nearby. He quickly found a tall bamboo stalk, and grasping the top of the stalk with his feet, he leapt back over to the tree to rescue the other monkeys. The bamboo stalk was just long enough for the monkey king to grab hold of the nearest branch of the tree with his hands while his feet clung to the bamboo stalk.

When the other monkeys saw that he had created a way for them to escape, they rushed across the bamboo stalk over to the safety of the mountainside, many stepping on the body of their king as they fled. After all his subjects had escaped, the monkey king continued to hold himself between the tree and the bamboo stalk, too exhausted and injured from the trampling to climb away to safety.

Moved by courageous compassion of the monkey king, the human king ordered two of his finest archers to simultaneously shoot down the banyan branch and the bamboo stalk while another group of his men held out a cloth sheet to gently catch the monkey king as he fell. Once the monkey king was brought down, the human king went to his side to express his admiration for the monkey king’s virtuous actions and ask him what motivated him to practice such generous kindness for his subjects, even though it was their duty to protect him as the king.

The monkey king replied by saying: “Your highness, though my body be shattered, yet my spirit has attained perfect well-being, inasmuch as I have relieved the distress of my subjects who I have ruled for so long.” He then went on to instruct the king on the path to realize happiness for himself, saying “Beasts of burden, army, country people, townsmen, ministers, the helpless poor, monks, and brahmins—the king should, like a father, endeavor to procure for them all a fruitful happiness. By increasing your merit, your wealth, your fame in this way, you will earn happiness both in this life and in the next.” (Once the Buddha Was a Monkey: Arya Sura’s Jatakamala, trans. Peter Khoroche, p. 191)

While the courage of the monkey king is truly remarkable, what I find most compelling about this story is the way in which he responds to the human king who, motivated by greed, ordered the attack on the monkey king’s subjects that led to his own pain and serious injury. Rather than expressing anger and vengeance toward the human king, he shows great compassion teaching him the path to realizing true peace and joy—which can only be found in serving and caring for others free of concern for one’s own comfort and convenience. We are told that this monkey king is the bodhisattva who would go to realize awakening in our world and become the true teacher or our world Sakyamuni Buddha.

When I think about the story above, I find that I am most like the greedy king, chasing after the things I want, without regard for the harm I may cause to others. I am grateful that just as the monkey king provided a wise teaching for that greedy king, Sakyamuni Buddha provides me with the Nembutsu, so that I may welcome the coming year with my path to a life a peace and bliss clearly illuminated by the Buddha’s wisdom.

 

Namo Amida Butsu

Taking the Stage

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This past month, our family took part in a traditional Japanese-style talent show called an oyugikai, which was organized as a collaboration between three Japanese playgroups and held in the Social Hall of the San Mateo Buddhist Temple. The three groups are based on the year in which the participating children were born: Usagi-kai (2011, the Year of the Rabbit), Tatsu-no-ko-kai (2012, the Year of the Dragon), and Me Babies (2013, the Year of the Snake, or mi-doshi in Japanese).

The program began with the Me Babies group taking the stage to sing preschool standards like “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Kira-kira Boshi (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star).” As the two-year olds paraded onto the stage in their spider outfits, one little girl stepped out under the stage lights, took one look at the audience of about 150 parents and children staring back at her, and began screaming at the top of her lungs. She continued screaming throughout the performance, pausing briefly at one point to join in the singing and dancing with remarkable skill for her age.

The range of performances was what you might expect from groups of children between the ages of two and four. On stage at any given time, there were some children who were quite impressive in their mastery of choreography and lyrics, along with those who stood stock-still—impervious to the exaggerated gesticulations of the parent-conductors stationed in front of the stage. One boy sat very comfortably on the floor at center stage throughout his group’s performance.

While the children performed in many different ways, I observed a common response from all the parents: each one welcomed their child with a big smile and a hug, praising them for their courage and hard work. As parents of small children, we are all learning to encourage our children to step out onto the stage of their lives, try new things and face challenges with calm minds and courageous hearts. Having someone in our lives who shows us that we are precious just as we are gives us the courage to venture out into the world and respond to whatever we encounter there with the best wisdom we have.

At times, we may find that presence of boundless care and support in our parents. Other times in our lives, we may find it in grandparents, teachers, coaches, coworkers, spouses or friends. Once we have an encounter with true compassion, the transformation of our lives is permanent. Even if we are separated from someone who has been a presence of genuine compassion in our lives, the deep feeling of peace we received from them remains. In the life of the Nembutsu, Amida Buddha is that presence of boundless compassion in our lives. We use the word shinjin, or “entrusing heart,” to describe that peace of mind that we receive from the light of the Buddha’s wisdom shining into our lives. In the Notes on Once-Calling and Many-Calling Shinran writes: “When one realizes true and real shinjin, one is immediately grasped and held within the heart of the Buddha of unhindered light, never to be abandoned.” (Collected Works of Shinran, p. 475)

The world around us may be telling us that we ought to stand in a certain place on the stage or sing and dance in a certain way. Living in the Nembutsu, we find the courage to take the stage just as we are, discovering a life that is full and beautiful, just right for us at this very moment.

 

Namo Amida Butsu

Thanksgiving

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Here in United States, the month of November marks the beginning of the busy holiday season, a time when many of us find ourselves busier than usual shopping for gifts for loved ones or preparing special meals for family gatherings. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of trips to the mall and the grocery store, I have to remind myself not to overlook the true significance our Thanksgiving celebrations—the opportunity to come together with friends and family and reflect in gratitude on this life that I am able to live thanks to generosity and patience of so many people in my life, including those who have already gone forth to the Other Shore.

At the San Mateo Buddhist Temple, our annual Eitaikyo Service held in November is a special opportunity for all of us to come together and express our thanks for the past members of our Sangha who overcame great difficulties to establish and maintain the thriving temple community we enjoy today.

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Living Together in the Nembutsu

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In late twelfth-century Japan, an unusual Buddhist gathering took shape around a charismatic monk called Honen-bo Genku who was living in the Yoshimizu district of Kyoto. Honen had spent much of his life as a student on Mount Hiei, one of the great centers of Buddhist learning in Japan at the time. The depth of Honen’s knowledge and understanding was well-known. Leading monks of his day referred to him as “The Most Wise Master Honen,” and he was regularly summoned to conduct Buddhist services for the imperial family and high-ranking members of the nobility.

Given the high esteem in which he was held, it was no wonder that a gathering of Honen’s regular students in Yoshimizu included ladies from the prominent families of the capital and erudite monks from Mount Hiei. However, a first time visitor to Yoshimizu would likely have been surprised to find a motley assembly of samurai warriors, common peasants, fishermen, monks who had broken the precepts, prostitutes and even notorious outlaws sitting down together with the high-class ladies and dignified monks to listen to what Honen had to say. All these people came to hear one simple teaching: “Entrust yourself to the great compassion of Amida Buddha and say the Nembutsu. If you live in the Nembutsu completely free of doubt, then you will surely realize liberation through birth in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha.”

One of the ladies who heard these teachings given by Honen at Yoshimizu was the daughter of Miyoshi Tamenori, the head of a powerful family in Echigo province (modern-day Niigata Prefecture). It was a common practice in the provinces for young women from prominent families to be sent to Kyoto to learn the ways of sophisticated society by serving as a lady-in-waiting to an aristocratic family. While in Kyoto, Tamenori’s daughter encountered Honen’s teachings and became one of his dedicated students, eventually taking the Dharma name Eshinni.

Around that same time, a monk by the name of Hannen joined Honen’s Sangha at Yoshimizu, eventually taking the Dharma name Shinran. Shinran had studied on Mount Hiei from the age of 9 to 29, and like Honen became disillusioned with the life and practices of the elite monks there. Shinran sought out the teachings of Honen after having a vision in which the World-saving Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Jp. Kannon Bosatsu) appeared before him and gave the following instruction:

“If you, practicer, are obliged to have sexual contact with a woman through some past karma,

I will transform myself into a beautiful woman and become your partner.

I will adorn you with virtues throughout your life,

And at your death I will guide you to the Land of Utmost Bliss.”

(An Illustrated Biography of Shinran, http://horai.eu/denne-1.htm)

As a monk who had been observing a strict vow of celibacy for the previous twenty years, Shinran must have been at a loss regarding how to understand this profound vision that he received from the Bodhisattva of Compassion himself.

When Shinran met Honen at Yoshimizu, he surely confided in him and sought guidance on how to continue his study and practice of the Dharma now that he had abandoned his life as a monk on Mount Hiei. Honen, for his part, taught that the most important matter of Buddhist practice is not conforming to one specific lifestyle, but rather finding a life style that supports your life in the Nembutsu. He emphasized this matter such that we find the following words in “The Sayings of Honen-shonin as Stated by His Disciples”:

“To live this life means to create the conditions in which one is able to recite nembutsu in a natural way. . . . If one cannot practice nembutsu as a monk, one should take a wife and recite nembutsu. On the contrary, if one cannot practice nembutsu with a wife, one should recite nembutsu as a monk. If staying in one place makes nembutsu impossible, go on a pilgrimage and practice nembutsu. Conversely, if nembutsu is difficult on a pilgrimage, stay in one place and recite nembutsu.. . . If the practice of nembutsu in seclusion is impossible, practice it with other nembutsu devotees. Conversely, if practice with other devotees is impossible, recite in seclusion. Food, clothing, and housing are considered to be supporting elements for nembutsu.”

(The Promise of Amida Buddha, Wisdom Publications, p. 319)

While we have few details about how Shinran and Eshinni first met, it is clear that Honen’s nembutsu teaching was a key karmic circumstance that brought them into each other’s lives. We know from a letter written by Eshinni to their youngest daughter, Kakushinni, that by 1211 they were married, living together in Echigo with three children. In the subsequent years, they would continue to have children and live their lives as a family dedicated to sharing the Nembutsu teaching they received from Honen.

At 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 18, 2015, we invite you to join us at the San Mateo Buddhist Temple for a special service in remembrance of Eshinni, Kakushinni, and Lady Takeko Kujo, a descendent of Shinran and Eshinni who worked tireless to share the Nembutsu teaching in the early decades of the 20th Century.

 

Namo Amida Butsu

Remembering Loved Ones on the Other Shore

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On the morning of Saturday, August 8, we will begin our Obon Observances by visiting the graves of our loved ones to conduct memorial services at four local cemeteries. Later that evening we will have our Obon Odori Dancing at the temple. The following morning, on Sunday, August 9, we will have our Obon Service in the San Mateo Buddhist Temple, including the Hatsubon Observance, which is an opportunity for all the families who have also lost a loved one this past year to come together and find comfort and support in the Sangha. All of these activities are treasured Buddhist rituals that help us to appreciate the truth that birth and death are not two opposite ends of our lives, but constantly present with us in each moment.

A few years ago when my parents were visiting from Minnesota, we observed the Fifty Year Memorial Service for my paternal grandmother Norma Elizabeth Corcoran Adams, who passed away suddenly during a routine operation when my father was just fourteen years old. As an only child, losing the single mother who was raising him turned his whole world upside down. He rarely speaks of that difficult time in his youth, and when I first suggested that we observe the Fifty Year Memorial, he did not seem particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of revisiting memories of his mother’s passing. He was even less enthusiastic about my suggestion that one day we might visit her gravesite in Montana. However, as the date of their trip drew near, he began to take an interest in the memorial service.

My father loves to digitally archive photos, and enjoyed going back through the scanned pictures he had of his mother to find a beautiful image of her as a young woman in military uniform from her service during the Second World War. On the day of the memorial service, we set the framed photograph along with a simple arrangement of flowers made by my mother on a small table in front of the incense burner in the main hall of the Oxnard Buddhist Temple. It was a simple service with just my parents, Shoko, Ryoma, and me. After the service, my father told me that it had been decided when his mother passed away that it would be too troubling for him to attend the funeral. The Fifty Year Memorial that we held was his first opportunity since her passing to formally express the gratitude he feels for his mother.

Prior to the service I explained that while offering incense is a Buddhist tradition, one need not be a Buddhist in order to participate in the ritual. Offering incense in remembrance of someone does not make you a Buddhist, nor does it negate any other religious beliefs you might have.  Likewise, if the person who passed away was not a Buddhist, offering incense in their memory is not an attempt to convert them to Buddhism in the afterlife. Even though my parents are Christian and my grandmother Norma was a good Irish Catholic, a Buddhist memorial service provided an opportunity for us to come together in the remembrance of her life and the way she touched us all.During the service, we discovered a special closeness as a family remembering the wonderful woman who raised my father to become the kind and caring husband, father, and grandfather we love.

A few years later after we moved to San Mateo, my parents drove out here for a visit. Along the way they stopped in Montana to visit my grandmother’s grave. My father called me up on his cell phone from the cemetery and talked about the feeling of peace it gave him to visit his mother’s gravesite. My father would not call himself a Buddhist. And yet, I have observed how participation in these Buddhist memorial practices has helped to transform the sadness he felt when his mother passed away into gratitude for the life they lived together. Indeed, that togetherness of mother and son continues today in the care my father shares with his own wife, son, daughter-in-law and grandsons.

Even though I never met my grandmother Norma, the love she gave my father and the appreciation for stable family life that he learned from parting with her at such a young age had a great influence on the way my father cared for me as I grew up.  In her life and our experience of remembering her, I encounter the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha at work in my life. Now her photo sits next to the Buddha Shrine in our living room in San Mateo. We remember her daily as we light incense and join our hands in gassho. Visitors to our house often ask questions about the photo. As we share her story with friends, we are reminded that her life made the lives we live today possible, and in that way she is always present in our lives.

May this Obon season be an opportunity for all of us to come to a deeper appreciation of how our family and friends who now dwell on the Other Shore and continue to guide and support us each day.

 

Namo Amida Butsu

The weight of a table

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I am very much looking forward to our annual temple bazaar on Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28. Thanks to all of you who make time in your busy schedules each year to help—whether setting up, helping on bazaar day, or helping with clean up and putting things away afterward. As we were setting up for the bazaar last year, I was impressed by how we are able to continue using the materials and equipment that have been passed down from previous generations. Many summer festivals I have been to use only commercially available pop-up tents and lightweight plastic tables. However, here at the San Mateo Buddhist Temple I was awed by the sturdy booths we construct with steel pipes and joints that have been custom fitted to make the best use of the space that we have.

Last year during the bazaar setup, I was admiring the construction of the tabletops made from thick plywood and two-by-fours as teams of volunteers were carrying them across the parking lot. As we paused for refreshments, one of the younger crew members shared a memory from his first year helping out with the bazaar set-up. When he suggested to one of the senior Nisei members that it was about time to replace the heavy wooden tables with a more modern and lightweight plastic model, the Nisei member proceeded to tell him the story how his Issei father hand-crafted those tabletops in the years after they returned to San Mateo from the internment camps at the end of the Second World War. As the young crewmember recounted the story he had heard of how the tabletops were made, I realized with deepened appreciation the caring wishes for future generations that went into their construction. The temple is a treasure in our community where we continue to receive the benefits of the Buddhist way of seeing our lives of that has been passed down by previous generations.

As I consider the way in which our San Mateo Buddhist Temple parking lot is completely transformed each year during the last weekend of June, it occurs to me that if we relied solely on cookie-cutter manufactured booths that come in two or three standard sizes, we probably wouldn’t be able to create the kind of comfortable and efficient space we have during our bazaar, where each booth fits perfectly into its place. When I think back to last year’s bazaar and the way my son spent a gleeful afternoon running back and forth between the game booths, I realize that it is those special spaces designed by our temple’s pioneering generation that create the lasting memories for our Sangha and our guests at bazaar time.

The wisdom and creativity to take what we have in our life and make the happiness we need, enables us to create the circumstances that perfectly meet our needs and the needs of the people around us. There is infinite possibility in this way of truly appreciating the value and potential of what we have in this very moment. The Japanese expression mottainai captures the spirit of a life lived with deep gratitude for all that is received.

The San Mateo Buddhist Temple is our place for gathering in the Nembutsu. To say the Nembutsu is to hear the words “Namo Amida Butsu” and encounter the light of wisdom that has been passed down over generations, through Honen and Shinran , all the way back to Sakyamuni Buddha himself. The Nembutsu is the Buddha’s message to each of us that we already have everything we need; we already are everything we need to be to realize true peace of mind. We do not need to acquire something new. What is necessary is a shift in perspective—to turn and see that our purpose in life is not to accumulate and grasp more and more, but to recognize the boundless potential of what is here right now.

It seems to be in my nature to be dissatisfied with what I have. Part of me says, “This can’t be enough. There must be something more that I can get that will make me happier.” However, in the rare moments when my mind turns to the Nembutsu and I am able to pause in my constant chasing after the next pleasure, I glimpse the truth of profound peace of mind and boundless joy. As Shinran writes:

When beings just turn about at heart and often say the nembutsu,

It is as if bits of rubble were turned into gold.

(Collected Works of Shinran, p. 42)

Namo Amida Butsu.

Sakyamuni and Amida are our father and our mother

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We hope to see you at the San Mateo Buddhist Temple on May 17, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. for our Gotan-e Service celebrating the birth of Shinran, the Buddhist teacher who we look to as the founder of our Jodo Shinshu tradition. Shinran was born in Hino near Kyoto on May 21, 1173, during a time of great social turmoil in Japan when warlords battled for control of the country, severe famines caused widespread starvation, and epidemic disease took many lives. Shinran’s mother is said to have passed away after falling ill when he was just eight years old. Shortly thereafter, Shinran left home at the young age of nine years to receive ordination as a Buddhist monk from Jien, the abbot of the Shoren-in Temple. For the next twenty years, he dedicated his life to Buddhist training in the Tendai tradition on Mount Hiei outside Kyoto.

As a young monk growing up on Mount Hiei, Shinran spent the remaining years of his childhood and adolescence under the care of the temple community rather than with his parents. Even though Shinran spent relatively few years living with his parents, we find that he uses metaphors of father and mother in several key passages of his writings to express the deep gratitude he feels for the Buddha’s compassion. The following passage from the Hymns of the Pure Land Masters (Koso Wasan) is a personal favorite of mine:

Sakyamuni and Amida are our father and our mother,

Full of love and compassion for us;

Guiding us through various skillful means,

They bring us to awaken the supreme shinjin.

(Collected Works of Shinran, p. 380)

I do not believe that Shinran would have the deep appreciation of compassion that we encounter in his writings had he not encountered great kindness and nurturing from the monks with whom he spent the formative years of his youth. After leaving the monastery on Mt. Hiei at the age of 29, Shinran joined Honen’s Nembutsu community that included men and women of all walks of life. Under Honen’s guidance, Shinran continued to dedicate his life to studying and sharing the Dharma, but with an expanded view of the possibilities for Buddhist practice in any lifestyle. Eventually, Shinran married Eshinni and they raised several children together.

At the San Mateo Buddhist Temple, we continue to follow Shinran’s example of Buddhist practice in family life. On Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 10), we will celebrate the arrival of new babies into our Sangha family with our Hatsumairi Service. We will also express gratitude toward our parents by dedicating that Sunday Service to Parents’ Day activities. This service is an opportunity to express the gratitude we feel for our parents, but also to reflect upon the many people who care for and nurture us with the same loving commitment of a mother for her child.

I recently heard one of our Buddhist Women’s Association members whose mother lives far away refer to the senior BWA members as “my temple moms.” This reflects the deep insight that the compassion we encounter through the Buddha goes beyond blood relations. It even goes beyond gender. The wisdom often associated with a father’s love can be received from a woman. The kindness often associated with mothers can be received from a man. When Shinran refers to Sakyamuni Buddha and Amida Buddha as our father and mother, he is pointing to the deep love and compassion that goes beyond the difference between man and woman.

For some people, the most familiar kindness comes from their mother. But it could come from a father too—or a grandmother or grandfather. It could come from a teacher, a coach, a coworker, or a friend. While that experience of kindness comes into our lives through many different karmic relationships, it is something we all encounter in life. The nembutsu that we recite with a sincere heart of entrusting is our everyday celebration of the Buddha’s boundless compassion that we encounter through the kindness of others.

 

Namo Amida Butsu.

“I alone am the Honored One”

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In the springtime, Buddhists throughout the world hold special observances in celebration of the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha who lived in Northern India roughly 2,500 years ago. Japanese Buddhist communities celebrate Sakyamuni Buddha’s birth on April 8, which is called Hanamatsuri, or the “Festival of Flowers,” inspired by the traditional account that flowers spontaneously bloomed at the moment when Sakyamuni was born. We hope you will be able to join us at the San Mateo Buddhist Temple for our Hanamatsuri Service on Sunday, April 12, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. This year, we will also have a special “Kids’ Hanamatsuri” for children to celebrate the birth of the Buddha with snacks, sweet tea and crafts from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 11.

Since the time of the Buddha, it has been customary in many Asian cultures for pregnant women to return to their ancestral home to deliver their babies. While on her journey home, the Buddha’s mother Queen Maya stopped to rest in the gardens of Lumbini, a site located in present day Nepal. We are told that while delighting in the beauty of the gardens, she gave birth to her son from her right side while standing up and holding onto the branch of a tree for support. Immediately upon being born, the future Buddha is said to have taken seven steps representing his resolution to transcend the six realms of death and rebirth. It is said that a lotus flower blossomed under each of those seven footsteps. We are told that he then raised one hand to the sky and declared, “Above the heavens and below the heavens, I alone am the Honored One.”

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The Patient Ox

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We will be observing our Spring Ohigan Service on Sunday, March 15 at 9:30 a.m. Ohigan is observed twice a year during the spring and autumn equinoxes, when days and nights are of equal length and the sun sets directly in the West. The Pure Land Sutras describe the Pure Land of Amida Buddha as a world of enlightenment located in the West, so Ohigan is an ideal time to reflect on the direction of our lives and reorient ourselves on the path to liberation from suffering.

As we consider what it means to lead a life guided by the Buddha’s wisdom, the Japanese Buddhist observance of Ohigan traditionally focuses on study and reflection on the Six Paramitas, a set of Buddhist virtues which are perfected by those who have crossed over from “this shore” in the deluded world of birth and death to arrive at the “other shore” of enlightenment. The Six Paramitas are generosity, moral conduct, patience, diligence, contemplation, and wisdom.

Stories of Sakyamuni Buddha’s previous lives are called Jataka Tales. Many of these stories provide clear teachings on the virtues of the Six Paramitas that can be appreciated by Dharma students of all ages.   One of these stories tells of a mischievous monkey who dwelled in the forest near a great ox. Every day the monkey would amuse himself by tormenting the ox, climbing all over his body and mocking him. In spite of the monkey’s consistently obnoxious behavior, the ox never became angry or punished him. One day, a forest sprite happened to pass by just as the monkey was in the midst of harassing the ox.

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The parent’s heart leans wholly toward the sick child

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I hope that you and your family are enjoying good health and have managed to avoid catching a bug during this cold and flu season. I am grateful to report that at the time of writing this article all four members of my family are finally back in good health after several weeks of taking turns coming down with colds and the flu, starting during the precarious holiday travel season and lasting well into the month of January.

Before becoming a father, I would often make it through the entire winter without catching so much as a cold. Now that our oldest son is going to preschool, he brings home artworks that warm our hearts as well as the occasional virus that lays us out in bed for a day or so. Despite our best efforts at hand washing and improvised quarantines using our guest bedroom, just as one of us starts to feel better, another member of the household will start coughing or spike a fever. On a recent trip to the pharmacy to stock up on cold medicine and children’s Tylenol, the cashier encouraged me to go home and stay in bed for 24 hours straight. Regrettably, with two small children in the house that’s not an option.

At some point, all children come down with an illness and require special care and attention. In the Nirvana Sutra, the Tathagata (i.e. Buddha)’s compassionate concern for all beings is likened to the concern of a loving father or mother for a sick child:

Suppose there are parents with seven children. When there is sickness among the seven children, although the father and mother are concerned equally with all of them, nevertheless their hearts lean wholly toward the sick child. . . . it is like this with the Tathagata. It is not that there is no equality among all sentient beings, but his heart leans wholly toward the person who has committed evil.

(Quoted in the Collected Works of Shinran, p. 133)

It is common for children to have illnesses such as chicken pox, a bad cold or the flu. When kids get sick, fathers and mothers often take time off work so they can dedicate all their energies to caring for the sick child.

Illnesses and chemical imbalances in our bodies can cause physical and mental suffering. The Buddha teaches that spiritual suffering arises from failing or refusing to recognize the deep connections that we share with all beings. It is in those moments when I lose sight of the deep connection that I share with all beings—people, animals, even insects—that I find myself doing harmful things that make life difficult for myself and others. The Buddha’s teachings speak with wisdom and compassion that is equally relevant to lives of all people, but the compassionate heart of the Buddha reaches out to us with the greatest urgency in our moments of harmful foolishness.

In Buddhism, the word “evil” does not refer to actions that stand in opposition to the will of a divine creator being. Rather, “evil” refers to thoughts, words, and actions that arise from mistaken views and a failure to recognize our deep connection with all beings. It is precisely at those times in our lives when our selfish thoughts, words, and actions have caused harm to others and ourselves that we are called to turn to the wisdom of the Buddha’s teachings for guidance.

Just as a loving parent is there for his or her sick child, the Buddha is always there for us, providing strength and clarity in our moments of selfish weakness. When we come to feel the supportive presence of the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion in the here and now, we learn to stop committing harmful acts of ignorance, and our lives overflow with kindness and the joy of the Nembutsu.

 

Namo Amida Butsu.