Orange County Buddhist Church
Orange County Buddhist Church
A Way of Seeing (Katrina)
About two weeks have passed since Hurricane Katrina nearly destroyed a large part of the south coast of Louisiana and surrounding states. One of the first things that came to mind was, What if the really Big One hit US and wreaked similar havoc? There would not be any warning, as there usually is with a hurricane, albeit action following the warnings about Katrina was late, as I understand it. Would we be prepared for, say, an eight-point or higher earthquake? More to the point, am I prepared for it? All I have are 48 half-liter bottles of water and a few cans of diced tomatoes (for spaghetti sauce). It sounds like a joke, but it will not be a joke when it happens. Notice I said “when,” not “if.” If I am lucky, it will not happen until I am white ashes.
This is what is known as knowing what the Buddha Dharma teaches, but not really understanding it or not really taking it to heart. This is what is at the heart of the term “ignorance” as it is used in the Buddha Dharma. It does not mean that I am stupid, although I might be. It simply means that I have been taught by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and, even, by my own experience, that something is the case and, yet, I ignore it.
For example, if I drive through a red light, the chances that I will either hit, or be hit by, another car are very high. Therefore, I will rarely, if ever, go through a red light. I know this more by seeing others do it (fortunately, rarely) and either causing an accident or barely getting through. Of course, technically speaking, the driver who goes through a red is not involved in an accident, although the driver who is going with the green light is. The red-driver willingly chose to go through, so it is a purposeful incident on his part. He created bad, even evil if he causes someone to be injured or killed, karma. The green-driver was creating neutral karma until he was adversely affected by the evil karma of the red-driver. Red-driver is ignorant because he chose to ignore what he knew to be the case.
The Buddha Dharma teaches that all things are interdependent, yet we often think, talk and act as though we were completely independent. In that respect and to that degree, we are ignorant. Sometimes, ignorant is modified by “blind,” the reason being simply that we blindly ignore the teachings. If our ignorance causes us to suffer, we have only ourselves to blame. Keep in mind that “ignorance,” as it is used in the teachings, does not mean that we do not know; indeed, it is the opposite: we know, but we ignore.
So if you are not yet prepared for the Big One, do so now. It will come. If it does not come in your lifetime, be grateful. In the meantime, be prepared.
Gassho,
Donkon Jaan
Rev. John Doami
