Good morning!
When I went out early this morning, I saw the half moon mid-sky and heard the heavy sound of insects singing. On the way here the sun was already up in the sky. When I entered here, I saw fresh flowers everywhere inside and also out. While we were sitting, we heard the continuous sounds of water falling. Occasionally we had a nice cool breeze coming in and coming into contacting with us. We can enjoy abundant, beautiful nature.
But, when we hear our news and watch our TVs, we see a lot of problems in the world. In Japan, since May 5, all nuclear reactors have been shut down following the March 11 triple tragedy of the record earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. Yesterday, the prime minister announced that he wants to restart the nuclear reactors, not just during peaks in power demand, but continuously, and eventually maybe with all reactors.
The sound of water streaming, onomatopoeia, is sâra in Sanskrit, and sara sara in Japanese, from which the word samsâra, full flow, incessant flow, or impermanence, came. Also the name Sarasvatî (saras+vat, flow-ful), Goddess of Music, came from it. When we sit and stop our karmas, we can enjoy the sound of nature. Even if and because things are impermanent, we can enjoy flowers, the cuckoo, the moon, and snow. We can enjoy the life light of a liberated mind.
The stream may turn into a big tsunami and swallow tens of thousands of human lives and other beings, creating nuclear disasters that irradiate all throughout the world. So, it can become the deadly domain of land mines. Once we restart nuclear reactors, especially in a country of earthquakes, we must worry always. As Japan is a volcanic island, we have active faults everywhere, even though nuclear proponents have hidden them or downplayed the problem.
Law regulates that the sites of nuclear power must not be located on places where big earthquakes and tsunamis have happened or may potentially happen. However, many plants have been built on such sites. Nuclear proponents proclaimed the safety of the sites, plants, operation, maintenance, etc. Once the disaster occurred, they had to provide all kinds of provisions to protect the plants. This means that the plants were built on dangerous sites illegally.
There is a common saying: “incidents twice occurring lead to the third occurrence.” Unless we change our minds, we repeat the same mistakes. Two nuclear disasters will lead to a third. Japan with the nuclear bomb and nuclear reactor disaster may have its third disaster at any time. The world may have its third disaster after Chernobyl and Fukushima. People are short-sighted and short-circuited to expect a divine wind or safety myth. This is selfish sin and human hubris.
We continue to cause all kinds of problems in our human civilization. When we have the triple poison of delusion, desire, and divisiveness, we must go through the six ways or worlds of hell beings, hungry ghosts, animal beings, human beings, and celestial beings. We have the triple tragedy of samsara, suffering, and sin (separation and schism in our systems).
We know the triple learning of sila (morality), samadhi (concentration), and prajna (prognosis), which leads to the triple treasure of buddha, dharma, and sangha: awakeing, truth, and holy community. The eight holy ways are usually translated as “right” seeing, etc., but the original word “sat” means “being” (corresponding to the verb “be”), existential truth. Existential truth, sat-ya, is impermanence, like the water flows. So, we must devote ourselves to here and now.
Today we are going to have a tea way demonstration here in the afternoon. The motto of tea way is “ichigo ichie (一期一会),” one meeting in one lifetime, each moment is a once in lifetime occurrence. After a tsunami, disaster, or death we remember, saying, “Oh, that was the last time I saw him or her.” We don’t expect a moment in our life now to be the last one. With our whole power we must existentially see, think, speak, act, live, strive, concentrate, and prognosticate.
Our world at each moment and each place is absolute. Our world appears and disappears. As we cultivate, we verify. As we sow seeds, we reap. So, we must sit and stop our karmas, selfish sins, and human hubris to really see our treasures, the abundant treasures we already have, rather than seeking somewhere else or sometime other than now. We don’t know when the next tsunami, tornado, traffic accident, or heart attack will come. So, let us practice this awakened way to witness abundant truth, goodness, beauty, and holiness.
6/10/12
