Orange County Buddhist Church

A Way of Seeing (Are you happy?)

    It seems as though a lot of things are creeping up on me as I age, like this article.  Now that it is here, the time to write it, that is, my thoughts seem to be creeping as well.  They are certainly not jumping into my line of sight.  A suggestion was given to me by church secretary and member, Jeanie (I’ve forgotten her last name, and I hope I’m joking when I say I must be suffering the early [middle?] stages of dementia), namely, Are You Happy?  For that matter, was that the suggestion she gave me?  Wow, this is getting worse and worse.  Maybe I should not even be writing this, even though it is already a day late.

    Are you happy?  I am definitely not happy, if for no other reason than that my memory seems sometimes, like right now, to be going to hell in a hand-basket.  I probably should not be using that last phrase, not because “hell” is in it, but because I do not know the real meaning of it.  I know that the usage is correct, and that is about all.  Clichés make writing somewhat simple.

    “Being happy” is also a hard thing to define, even though we use the phrase pretty freely in one or another conjugation, as though we knew what it means.  One reason it is hard to define is simply that the word “happy” is hard to define in such a way that everyone would agree with the definition.  In other words, what makes you happy might not make me happy, and vice versa.  I just looked in The American Heritage dic-tion-ar-y of The English Language, and I urge you to look in a comparable (not a paperback) dictionary.  You might be surprised by its meanings.  And you thought you knew what it meant!

    The Buddhas, of course, would have us be happy and glad to be alive, but teach us what to do when we are suffering and why we suffer.  If we know why we suffer and what to do when we suffer (it is the rare person who suffers all the time, as well as one who never suffers), then we should be able to direct our lives in such a way that we would be happy.  Having said that, though, we all know it is easier said than done.  On the other hand, the true purport, or intent, of the Pure Land teachings, i.e., Jodo Shinshu [Joodo-kyoo no makoto no mune] is to get us to know exactly those things.  Through the teaching of the 18^th Vow, we are emptied of notions of being able to free ourselves from suffering so that we might pursue whatever we feel will make us happy, which is to say we are emptied of notions of self-power and filled with Other-Power, the wisdom and compassion of Amida, and come to the understanding that we are fulfilled, enabled to be truly happy, only by all others.

            Give it a thought.  [Shimozono – remembered it!]

Gassho,
Donkon Jaan
Rev. John Doami

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