Among all living things
mountains and rivers,
grasses and trees,
even the sounds of blowing winds
and rising waves -
there is nothing
that is not the nembutsu
- Ippen
during Shokai, while viewing the beautiful slides of Shogyoji a visiting priest kindly brought with him to show us all, a good dharma friend exclaimed to me how easy it is to miss the beauty that is all around us. as pictures of lotus flowers, dry river-beds and trees wearing their autumn foliage, all set against the back drop of the temple appeared on the screen i got to thinking how busy and occupied we let our minds become and how much as a consequence, we miss. (note - the following are my own photos and in no way compare to how beautiful those of the temple were to see)
i've always loved the above waka by Ippen since the moment i first came across it but i feel much as i cherish it there is a danger upon reading of mistaking the nembutsu for some kind of pantheistic life force (certainly a danger i have come across in my own understanding frequently). and admittedly, my understanding of the complex doctrine of sunyata is a shallow one but it seems that, if we spend our time searching for the nembutsu in something, then we miss its calling us. a tree is just a tree, a mountain just a mountain, a rising wave just a rising wave - none of them require us to look for or discover some inherent essence lying inside them in order for them to retain their wonder and meaning.
but how often, as my dharma friend mentioned, do we miss what is right infront of us? i think of the times my mind has shamefully wandered during otsutome, or as i've recited the nembutsu or even, despite my best efforts, during a dharma talk by friends and teachers at Three Wheels. is it any surprise then that if, even during times we would wish our minds to be calm and receptive they swing about from branch to branch, we miss out on the beauty and wonder that surrounds us each and every day?
nonetheless, i find myself asking - does a tree require my noticing it in order for it to be? or again, does a mountain? a rising wave? similarly, the nembutsu is working all the time...it has been calling us even before we came into this life and it is precisely because our minds are unsettled and clouded over that such a Vow as its cause was pledged by Dharmakara.
of course, it would be wrong of me to say therefore that it's perfectly okay to just lie back and let the mind drift along chasing concern after concern. no, certainly it's right to want to focus and approach otsutome, nembutsu recitation and hearing the Dharma with the respect they deserve. but believing that Amida's compassion will somehow fail in its working if i can't attain constant, undivided focus is really just so much noise and jiriki.
namu amida butsu
a tree is just a tree, a mountain just a mountain, a rising wave just a rising wave - none of them require us to look for or discover some inherent essence lying inside them in order for them to retain their wonder and meaning. - Jon
ReplyDelete-----------------------------
Arguably the more we realise their lack of inherent essence the more wonderous they seem! Consider Eihei Dogen's words:
"All beings do not see mountains and waters in the same way. Some beings see water as a jeweled ornament, but they do not regard jeweled ornaments as water. What in the human realm corresponds to their water? We only see their jeweled ornaments as water. Some beings see water as wondrous blossoms, but they do not use blossoms as water. Hungry ghosts see water as raging fire or pus and blood. Dragons see water as a palace or a pavilion. Some beings see water as the seven treasures or a wish-granting jewel. Some beings see water as a forest or a wall. Some see it as the Dharma nature of pure liberation, the true human body, or as the form of body and essence of mind. Human beings see water as water. Water is seen as dead or alive depending on causes and conditions. Thus the views of all beings are not the same. You should question this matter now. Are there many ways to see one thing, or is it a mistake to see many forms as one thing? You should pursue this beyond the limit of pursuit." (from Sansui-Kyo)
"Arguably the more we realise their lack of inherent essence the more wonderous they seem!"
ReplyDeleteyes! i remember us talking briefly about this down at Shokai.
thanks for sharing the quote from Dogen's Sansui-Kyo Kyoshin. i really must pluck up the courage to approach his writings. i was very much struck by this comment -
"Some see it as the Dharma nature of pure liberation, the true human body, or as the form of body and essence of mind."
as it makes me recall the words of Shinran in Yuishinsho-mon'i -
"Buddha-nature is none other than Tathagata. This Tathagata pervades the countless worlds; it fills the hearts and minds of the ocean of all beings. Thus, plants, trees, and land all attain Buddhahood."
Gassho
Jon
Arguably the more we realise their lack of inherent essence the more wondrous they seem!
ReplyDeleteor, in other words,
"Form is the form of the formless."