25, March, 2012The Oko meeting for the Group 4 of Shinko District and HBS Singapore.
This sermon by Seiho Arima, priest of Myoshinji temple.
The theme of the lecture that we are going to learn today, is that;
"Buddha teaches that we will come to find ourselves living accordingly to Buddha's teaching as we keep on serving Buddha in spite of labour."
Practicing Buddhism or Bodhisattva work naturally takes some labour, as it is the act of turning us common mortal to Buddha in the far future, and promoting progress on us in this present life, through distinguishing the effect of bad karmas from the remote past.
If you get discouraged and take the easy way out, you won't be able to achieve progress and attain benefits.
This theme is taken from the teaching verse of the Kaido Nissen Shonin.
To make a day-to-day living through having a job or attending to school itself, is indeed a real labour.
So we have a chance to have a distressing feeling towards chanting, attending the meeting, being engaged in propagation work and so on in addition.
If someone is not used to it, he or she will tend to be reluctant towards chanting in the morning and in the evening, or attending the meeting although they are encouraged.
Even after we start off to self-practice, when they look around, there are people who still make earthly living for the present life only.
When things get very busy, our faith tend to get discouraged and start thinking why I'm doing this.
Even after we made up our mind to start off to Bodhisattva work and propagation, when we actually take actions and speak to people, those people who don't have faith might give heartless and mean words and actions back to you, unlike the members.
However, if we get trapped by such reluctance and stop or regress blindly on the Buddhist way, the chances to make actions of faith, of to make Buddha happy through our deeds, to extinguish the effects from our bad karmas and to attain benefits will be gone, though we have met the Odaimoku, Namumyohorengekyo in which Buddha put all the enlightenment that he had attained, and all his abilities to save the people and all the living beings for us to receive through it.
Isn't it such a waste of this great opportunity!.
So it is very important to be attending to the meetings and listening to the lectures so that we can learn what Buddha actually teaches.
Also let us be asking to the one who have converted you or other experienced members, if you have some questions.
Then we can think back about this faith and of the people who tell us about it.
We will be able to recal the joy of practicing, and the hope that we hold in our hands.
Then let us take the actions once again, in chanting and for others and attending the meeting, for yourself and for others, for the ones you love.
Then our bad karmas start to extinguish once again, and the negative fate in our life that we ourselves have been shaping, will be positively converted.
You will encounter with people or the situation that you have never expected before and receive courage and assistance.
We will also be able to encounter the teaching necessary to overcome the difficulty and step up in life.
We will be able to get the attitude to not blame on others, not to be downcast and to live aspiringly and with gratitude.
We will be able to live with caring mind and have the significance and purpose of living firmly in our mind.
When we are so, we won't be reacting nervously to every single happy or unhappy incidents that occur in our life.
Our progress will not stay merely as our self-content, but we will be able to grow to the content that other people will also be able to acknowledge it.
Thus we will be able to not only help ourselves but others also, and carry out the Bodhisattva work.
Buddha will undoubtedly be happy and praise us on that.
Kaido Shonin states, "To accomplish the duty is a tough labour, but the very labour will be the delight for us, as that the merit we attain through that labour is immeasurably great."
Running in to a wall, is the proof that we are now coming to climb up to the next step, and that Buddha is now pulling us up.
Please let us think that when we are in trying condition, we are encountering the chance to step forward in the Buddhist way.
Let us think a great deal of the Oko meeting and other opportunities to attend lectures, and earn the Buddha's teaching well.
Let us make it our mental fallback and proceed a step or even a half.
And let us provide a fallback for those willing to proceed and support them, and let us both achieve progress, and let us make Buddha happy.
