Orange County Buddhist Church
Orange County Buddhist Church
Every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. I have been conducting the Meditation Service that we started about a year ago. It has been most gratifying to participate in these services, to sit in quiet meditation, to chant the entire Shoshinge and wasans, and to give a short Dharma talk. Traditionally, Shin Buddhism has not emphasized meditation, but I am convinced that it must be incorporated into the tradition in the modern context.
Shin Buddhism focuses on
listening to the Dharma, or monpo as its central “practice” if you will.
In Japan, Shin Buddhist temples have a long history and tradition of this
“practice.” While they do not have the custom of meeting every Sunday like we
do here in America due to the influence of Christianity, in Japan at special
services a speaker would be invited and there would be many opportunities to
listen to the Dharma.
Especially at Ho-onko, Shinran’s Memorial, which we
just observed last month, at temples in Japan there would be several days of
talks by a guest speaker or speakers. There would be sermons or lectures given
morning, afternoon, and evening. Through this tradition, followers of the
Nembutsu have been nurtured and cultivated for centuries in our Shin Buddhist
temples in Japan.
Because of that long and rich tradition of listening to the Dharma, there is a certain “atmosphere” or “context” when one attends services or lectures in Japan. People listen sincerely and attentively, and over the course of many years, wonderful followers of the Nembutsu are nurtured.
Here in America, we do not have that long history or tradition of listening to the Dharma. The “context” is different here, as it is for the modern man. In this day and age of mass media where we might change the TV channel twenty times within one minute, our mind and thoughts cannot focus for very long on one speaker or lecture. Even for myself, when one of the other ministers are speaking, I might hear my stomach rumble, and then rather than focusing on the message, my thoughts are, “Gee, should I have Jack in the Box or Burger King for lunch? Should I have a hamburger or chicken sandwich?” Before you know it, five minutes have passed and I haven’t followed the message.
Meditation helps to prepare our hearts and minds for listening to the Dharma. It settles, clears, and focuses our mind, such that we are more receptive to listening to and truly hearing the Dharma.
In our meditation service, we are not meditating as some kind of self power practice to get enlightened. We are simply sitting quietly, giving our scattered hearts and minds the opportunity to stop and reflect, even for just a moment.
To pause, to stop and reflect, can have great ramifications in our everyday life. Many conflicts, personal problems, even wars, could be resolved or avoided, if only people would take a moment to pause and reflect.
One of my favorite singers is James Taylor. One of his songs is titled, “That Lonesome Road.” I think the lyrics have a wonderful message. It goes as follows:
Walk down that lonesome road all by
yourself
Don’t turn your head back over your shoulder
And only stop to rest yourself when the silver moon
Is shining high above the trees.
If I had
stopped to listen once or twice
If I had closed by mouth and opened my eyes
If I had cooled my head and warmed my heart
I’d not be on this road tonight.
I don’t know the context of this song, but I can imagine it is about someone who has fallen out of love, who perhaps has had a bitter and painful separation. The words and lyrics express the pain and regret of the separation, that has left him or her on “that lonesome road.”
