Friday, September 23, 2011

Study Hall

More from Returning to Silence: "Repentance is to realize exactly the oneness of merging all sentient beings and buddha, delusion and enlightenment. All sentient beings are allowed to live, and are, from the beginning, forgiven for living their lives in this world. Everything, whatever it is, has some reason why it exists: evil, good, even something neither evil nor good. You cannot destroy devils just because you don't like them. Even though you don't like monsters, still there is some reason why they exist. Everything is entitled to live in the world in peace and harmony beyond our judgment, our evaluation. This is the first condition we have to realize - everything is buddha.
The second condition we have to realize is that the self must readily accept the compassion of Buddha's world. 'Buddha's world' means the Truth, or the same and one ground, or that which is beyond good and bad. Whether we like it or dislike it, we have to accept this. What is meant by readily accepting Buddha's compassion? It means that we must actualize Buddha's compassion in our everyday lives. We have to live our lives in the complete realization that we are already forgiven, that we are already allowed to live, and that we, ourselves, must make our lives come alive...But who is it that lives? We live by our effort, but this is a narrow understanding, so we have to live our lives with the understanding that we are allowed to live. This means we should appreciate our life. Then, if we appreciate our life, we can make our life come alive. To do this, we must not only be passive, but also active. Someone may say, 'The universe takes care of me, so I don't have to do anything'. Of course this is true, but it does not mean we can take a nap in the universe. The universe is always working with us, so if we become lazy, the universe appears as laziness. Then very naturally we are confused. So, constantly, we have to take the initiative. When we do gassho, we have to practice gassho with the forgiving universe, with appreciation for our lives, making gassho come alive. This practice is not a matter of discussion".

10 comments:

Shonen said...

Thanks for these excerpts Shundo - the first one spoke very eloquently to the "when to give" theme.
This sentence:
"To do this, we must not only be passive, but also active" is a koan for me - knowing when to do one or the other or how much of both simultaneously.

Shundo said...

Hi Shonen,
This is where listening to your heart is probably most useful

Shonen said...

does anyone know where I can get a spiritual hearing-aid...?

Shundo said...

Only you know the answer to that question...

Shonen said...

As insightful as ever Shundo. I'm going to Burma in November and will spend 12 days following my breath (or rather that is my intention - how much of that time I am present with my breath remains to be seen - the left hemisphere is quite active these days...). So, perhaps that will increase the volume....

Kelly said...

"We have to live our lives in the complete realization that we are already forgiven..."


Timely for me.

Shundo said...

I think it is always good to be reminded of these things, Kelly.
Shonen, don't disparage your effort before you have even started...

Chris Burnham said...

If we are lazy, the universe appears as laziness. How is the universe appearing to you these days?

Shundo said...

Looking kind of sunny here, thanks Chris, what about you?

Chris Burnham said...

Copasetic