Orange County Buddhist Church
Orange County Buddhist Church
Recently we started a meditation service on Sunday mornings at 8:30 a.m. for those who are interested in a different format. It has been going very well and I too have been enjoying the service. More and more, I have begun to see the real value and need for meditation in our modern lifestyle.
Although traditional Shin Buddhism does not advocate or even have meditation as a part of its tenets like in the Zen tradition, my feeling is that in our modern lifestyle and culture, it is deeply needed. Traditionally, Shin Buddhism only offers “listening to the teachings” as what a person can do to deepen one’s understanding. However, in our modern day life, we don’t even have the mind to listen to the teachings. We find it hard to even sit and listen to a twenty minute sermon. We cannot focus because so many thoughts occupy our mind.
Meditation calms our heart and mind, allowing us to develop a mind that is able to truly listen to the teachings. The quiet sitting meditation nurtures a heart and mind that is able to reflect, such that we may find ourselves in reflection even when we are not meditating.
In music, many notes strung together can make a beautiful song. But in a beautiful song, it is the pause between the note that is just as important as the note itself. Just the right pause between the notes is equally important and interdependent with the notes itself in the composition of a beautiful song.
Our life now is like a song with nothing but notes pounding, and no pause in between. That is why our life lacks beauty, serenity, and harmony. We need that short pause in our life of notes. Meditation gives us that short pause in the myriad of activities that comprise the notes of our life.
Meditation has such practical benefits in our everyday life, and in our religious and spiritual life as well. That short pause, even though it is brief, can make a great contribution to our everyday life, and to our religious understanding and appreciation of the teachings.
Namuamidabutsu,
Rev. Marvin Harada
