Month: September 2013

The Color Gold

Posted on by Christopher in buddhist fellowship, Buddhist practice, nembutsu, salt lake city, salt lake city buddhist fellowship, Shin Buddhism, Uncategorized

The Color Gold – excerpt for River of Fire River of Water by Taitetsu Unno

Though Shin Buddhism improvised a radically new form of practice, its goal is one and the same with that of Mahayana  Buddhism The goal is to awaken to the true self as a manifestation  of dharma or “reality-as-is.” What this means may be   illustrated by some popular metaphors in the Pure Land tradition.

The lotus  flower, the second metaphor, reveals the distinctive meaning of  suchness or thatness. The lotus has been an important religious  symbol in the Asian world for more than five thousand years with   different signilications. In the Pure Land tradition it represents    the uniqueness of each person, or each reality-as-is, distinct          from all others each with its own uniqueness.

 

The multiple colors of the lotus blossoms, each radiating its distinctive  luster, creates the glory of the enlightened realm. This is the  realm of the Pure Land, the world of enlightenment. But this world  is not a given; it is to be realized through undergoing a radical   transformation.

This transformation is suggested in the third metaphor of transformed rubble, based on scripture that reads: “We who are like bits of rubble are transformed into gold.” All-embracing and nonexclusive,   this path accepts everyone, even the lowliest who are considered   nothing more than “bits of rubble” in  the eyes of society. But no matter who or what one is, everyone is   transformed through the power of compassion to become authentically real as an awakened person. “Bits of rubble” is the realization of those who, illuminated by Immeasurable Light and Immeasurable   Life that is Amida, are made to see their essential finitude, imperfection,    and mortality. This realization may not sound too inspiring, but  affirming one’s basic reality is the crucial factor in the transformative  process. To bring about such a transformation is the sole purpose,   of the Primal Vow of Amida, the working of great compassion that courses through the universe.

This metaphor of alchemical transmutation is based on the Mahayana  teaching of the nonduality of samsara and nirvana, delusion and enlightenment,   rubble and gold. This is not a simple identity, for it involves a            dialectical tension between the two poles, between limited karmic  beings and unbounded como passion. The two remain separate, yet they   are one; they are one, yet always remain separate.

Transformation

Posted on by Christopher in amida buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist practice, NASBA, salt lake city buddhist fellowship, Shin Buddhism

This transformation expresses the boundless compassion, nonjudgmental and all-inclusive, that is the moving force in the Buddhist tradition. It is not, however, a simple, naive optimism, for the starting point of Buddhism is a recognition of the universal fact of human suffering, born of both personal and collective karma. In fact, it is a realistic appraisal of life as it is, not merely on the surface of things but at its most profound depth. In this depth, abundant with the accumulated pain and sorrow of humanity, is also found the capacity of the human spirit to achieve its fullest potential, no matter the obstacles, through awakening to the working of boundless compassion deep within our life.

 

From

Shin Buddhism
From “Shin Buddhism: Bits of Rubble Turn into Gold” by Taitetsu Unno

The Metta Karuna Prayer

Posted on by Christopher in Buddhism, buddhist fellowship, Buddhist practice, NASBA, nembutsu, salt lake city, salt lake city buddhist fellowship, Shin Buddhism

Oneness of Life and Light, Entrusting in your Great Compassion,
May you shed the foolishness in myself, Transforming me into a conduit of Love.
May I be a medicine for the sick and weary, Nursing their afflictions until they are cured;
May I become food and drink,During time of famine,
May I protect the helpless and the poor,
May I be a lamp,For those who need your Light,
May I be a bed for those who need rest, and guide all seekers to the Other Shore.
May all find happiness through my actions, and let no one suffer because of me. Whether they love or hate me, Whether they hurt or wrong me,
May they all realize true entrusting, Through Other Power, and realize Supreme Nirvana.

Namo Amida Buddha

Grasping

Posted on by Christopher in Buddhism, buddhist fellowship, Buddhist practice, NASBA, salt lake city buddhist fellowship, Shin Buddhism, Uncategorized

Grasping is the source of all our problems. Since impermanence to us spells anguish, we grasp onto things desperately, even though all things change. We are terrified of letting go, terrified, in fact, of living at all, since learning to live is learning to let go. And this is the tragedy and the irony of our struggle to hold on: Not only is it impossible, but it brings us the very pain we are seeking to avoid. The intention behind grasping may not in itself be bad; there’s nothing wrong with the desire to be happy, but what we try to grasp onto is by nature ungraspable.

Sogyal Rinpoche.

You are….

Posted on by Christopher in amida buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist practice, salt lake city, salt lake city buddhist fellowship, Shin Buddhism

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.

.lotus

                                                                                                                                                                         Alan Watts

The Four Noble Truths

Posted on by Christopher in amida buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist practice, NASBA, nembutsu, salt lake city, salt lake city buddhist fellowship, Shin Buddhism, Uncategorized

When the Buddha rose from the Bodhi tree he arose awakened.  He discovered the Four Noble Truths of existence, which are:
1. The Truth of Suffering 
The Buddha declared that this world if full of suffering;        that actual existence including birth, decrepitude,        sickness and death is suffering and sorrow. This is called the Truth of Suffering.

2. The Truth of the Cause of Suffering.
The cause of human suffering lies in ignorance and Karma. Ignorance and its resulting Karma have often times been  called “desire” or craving. The Buddha declared:

Verily it is this thirst or craving, causing the renewal of existence, accompanied by sensual delight, seeking  satisfaction now here, now there – the craving for gratification of the passions, for continual existence in the worlds of sense.
3. The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering.  
The extinguishing of all human ignorance and Karma results in a state known as Nirvana. This is the Truth of the        Cessation of Suffering.

4. The Truth of the Path to the Cessation of  Suffering 
The Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering is the Noble Eight-fold Path.

Some have said that Buddhism is rather negative since the FIrst Noble Truth is that Life is Suffering.  I would whole heartedly disagree.  During our next Dharma gathering we will discuss as a group we will discuss our engement with this truths and how they inform our daily practice.

The Greatest….

Posted on by Christopher in Buddhism, buddhist fellowship, Buddhist practice, salt lake city, Shin Buddhism

The greatest achievement is selflessness.
The greatest worth is self-mastery.
The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.
The greatest precept is continual awareness.
The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.
The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.
The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.
The greatest generosity is non-attachment.
The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.
The greatest patience is humility.
The greatest effort is not concerned with results.
The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.
The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.