Saturday, March 10, 2012

Study Hall

"As long as demons exist in this world, they have their own reason to exist. That reason is completely beyond our human speculation., but demons exist in Buddha's world. So we have to find the realm of buddhas within the realm of demons. In other words, in the realm of pain and suffering, we have to find the realm of peace and harmony. This is religious practice. You cannot find any peace by escaping from human pain and suffering; you have to find peace and harmony right in the midst of human pain. That is the purpose of spiritual life.
The important point is: don't react quickly to pain and suffering with hatred or anger, because that is the cause of human troubles. Deal with demons immediately, but try to deal with them with a calm and peaceful mind, not with hatred or anger. If you become angry, as soon as possible make your mind calm. Be kind. Be compassionate. That is the practice of patience. If you do that, very naturally demons will subdue themselves" - Katagiri Roshi, Each Moment is the Universe.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

thank you thank you for sharing this wonderful quote ...

it is helpful ... very helpful ...

a good practice

hope you are settling in to your new room and that all is well and calm after all the moving about and changes

more virtual chocolate of your favorite kind offered to you with a bow of thanks today

much appreciation for your postings and quotes and photos and personal observations and insights and humor

thank you thank you

Shundo said...

Thank you as well, virtual chocolate is most tasty. Please feel free to click the "name" button below and give yourself an identity so I can have a sense of who is writing.

A said...

Thanks for that post. I appreciated the line: "You cannot find any peace by escaping from human pain and suffering; you have to find peace and harmony right in the midst of human pain...Be kind. Be compassionate." Victor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning" came to mind. Thanks for the reminder :)

Shundo said...

We can never have too many reminders Sierra.