Good morning!
We have a nice bright Sunday morning. We had the bright full moon even with the total eclipse. The full moon represents the Buddha mind, clear and calm, bodhi (awakening) and nirvana – windless of karma, where the whole world is penetrated in illumination.
The zen tradition has it that he was awakened on the 8th of December. Thus we have Rohatsu sesshin (one week intensive sitting) all over the world to commemorate his awakening. He strived hard for six years and achieved the total awakening in the truth.
He witnessed unconditioned peace and unsurpassed awakening for the first time in our history. Until then nobody knew what our life conditions truly were and how we can stop our karma-driven lives, and transcend the karmic living or samsara in suffering (dukkha).
The awakened way is to transcending the six ways of hell beings, hungry ghosts, beastly beings, fighting devils, human beings, and celestial beings – our transmigrating states from moment to moment. This is not a soul transmigrating through them as in Hinduism,
Since the Buddha’s awakening it took a millennium for the awakened way to reach China, more than five centuries to reach Japan since then, and more than five centuries to reach this country. We are fortunate to know how to practice and witness nirvana and bodhi.
Yesterday I had a glance of a Japanese TV program about Mr. Shimizu, an Olympic skate gold medalist. Except for his father who saw his potential and strictly trained him, nobody believed him to become such, because he was so short and sick with asthma.
He said he trained all his potential, muscle, respiratory system, and so on. He was confident of his winning at the Olympic game. Now he wants to share his way with other potentials. Only through continuous and constant cultivation can we achieve our goals.
We can conquer our diseases and develop our faculties, which ordinary people don’t believe, much less try to develop. But, if we try, we can achieve whatever our predecessors tried and achieved. Gandhi said, “If one can achieve, millions can.”
It only depends on our faith in our potential and practice of putting it into realization. This awakened way is not gaining something from outside, but throwing away karmas, bad actions or habits we already have. So, anyone can do it, sick or short in situations.
It doesn’t depend on gender, generation, race, religion or anything else. When we achieve this to a certain degree, we find the merits of it and want to share them with others. Especially at this critical moment of the global problematique, it is crucially needed.
This has individual benefits anyone can attain and appreciate, and at the same time has benefits and merits for all in space and time. We, therefore, must continue our practice and attain unsurpassed awakening and unconditioned peace together with all.
11/12/11
