Orange County Buddhist Church
Orange County Buddhist Church
At our Ohigan service a couple of weeks ago, Dr. Nobuo Haneda gave a wonderful Dharma message. In that talk, he stated that Buddhism is a life of “….ing”. I believe in English it is called the present progressive tense. Instead of Buddhism being a life of the past tense, as in “enlightened, or awakened,” Buddhism is a life of “…ing.” It is a life of learning, listening, hearing, becoming, seeking, awakening, realizing. Buddhism is a most dynamic life. It is not static, but moves forward.
The more I reflected on this message, I realized how deeply true it is. I also realized that the teachers I have known that to me most exemplify what it means to live Buddhism, have been individuals who live a life of “…ing.”
Rev. Kusada, our teacher at IBS, was a most amazing man. In addition to his full-time work as the director and teacher at IBS, he was accomplished in many fields. First, he was a great tea master, in the Yabunouchi school of tea. He was accomplished in Aikido, with a black belt of around the 4th degree. He was our sutra chanting teacher, and after going to Japan, I realized that Sensei was one of the best in the whole world in Jodo Shinshu liturgy, or chanting. But yet, if you ever tried to compliment Sensei on his accomplishments, he would always humbly reply how he is “still learning.”
Amazingly, despite the fact that in my eyes, Sensei was a master, he never considered himself accomplished in any of the fields I mentioned. In fact, in the sutra chanting class he would never allow us to tape record him. Part of the reason was that he wanted us to learn in the traditional manner, without the use of modern technology. Just listen and recite it as we heard Sensei chant it. I think the other reason why he never allowed us to tape record him was because he truly felt that he was not an authority, that he was not accomplished enough to be taped. Rev. Kusada always lived in the “….ing.” He was constantly learning, practicing, and growing in the arts and disciplines that he deeply loved. He even pursued new interests and hobbies. He loved photography and even made his own darkroom and developed his own pictures.
Martial arts are all about “.,..ing.” In the west, people are more concerned about the goal. As soon as someone starts to learn karate, they ask, “When do I get my black belt?” They do not realize that the objective is to learn the discipline. The objective is not necessarily the black belt. When you look at the Chinese characters it becomes even more clearer. In Japanese, the word for the first degree black belt is called “shodan.” Shodan consists of two characters. Dan means “rank.” Sho means “beginning.” It can be translated as “beginning rank,” but I think the real meaning is one of “Now your practice really begins. Now you must really practice. It is the real beginning of your discipline as a martial art.
Ordination in Buddhism is also similar. That is why we really struggle with trying to put it into western, English terms. Ordination has the connotation of graduation, or completion, or becoming officially certified, here in the west. However, the first level of ordination for a minister in the Shin tradition is called, tokudo. The two characters for tokudo have the following meaning. Toku means “to attain,” or “get.” Do means “to cross over,” as in to cross over to the other shore of enlightenment. It means however, not the completion of the path, but the entering into the path to enlightenment. It is a beginning.
Rev. Kubose expresses this life of “…ing” in one of his essays in his book, Everyday Suchness.
“The
life of becoming is a becoming in the spiritual world. It is the continual
revealing of truth in our lives and in all things. Truth is forever revealing
itself in all forms and in all phases of life – this is the spiritual becoming;
it is the continual truth and becoming truth within truth in our spiritual
world. This is not in the past or future; it is life here and now in this
present world, fulfilling its purpose, realizing its value and revealing its
beauty. Real happiness is always in the state of becoming because truth is
always in the becoming. And in this becoming there is freedom and naturalness;
no artificiality. Also, there is creativeness, for as we live in the truth we
are creating new life within us.
p. 99
Everyday Suchness,
By Rev. Gyomay Kubose
A good way to measure if you are living the teachings is to ask yourself if your life is one of being in the past tense, or if it is a life of the present progressive tense, a life of “…ing.” Am I listening to the Dharma? Am I hearing the truth of Namuamidabutsu within my heart and mind? Am I seeking the teachings? Am I learning from others and from the Dharma? Am I following the path of the Nembutsu? Am I growing in a spiritual sense?
I realize that “eating and sleeping” are also “..ing” words which I love, but as you can see, Buddhism is a life of listening, learning, seeking, realizing, awakening, studying, reflecting, becoming. It is a dynamic life like a graceful, flowing river.
Namuamidabutsu,
Rev. Marvin Harada
