Seeing Clearly, Making Choices
When you were young and dreaming about the life ahead of you, did you know where it would lead? Were you able to imagine all the people and events you would encounter; all the choices you would make; the kind of world we would be living in? It’s useful and informative to reflect on what has really come to pass, as opposed to the stories that our minds may have told us.
We can control what happens in our lives to some degree, but because of the interdependence of all life, it is impossible to know what situation may come our way, or whose sleeve we might brush in passing on a crowded sidewalk. Although our dharma teaching points out that each being is shaped directly or indirectly by all other beings, it’s difficult for us to truly comprehend this and live in its truth. We use the metaphor of Indra’s net. Imagine a vast, limitless net. At each intersection of the net is a many-faceted jewel. Each jewel reflects all the other jewels in the net, thus connecting and defining every jewel as all in one, one in all, endlessly. Beings are like this, too. And whatever affects one of us, affects all of us.
We also have to keep in mind the truth that each of us is constantly changing due to the many and varied influences on our lives. Thinking of this, we can see that the jewels in the net are not static and solid, but constantly morphing into something new, depending on all else and our reactions to everything. The reality is that life is vibrantand full of possibility and potential but nothing can happen on its own power alone. Thanks to other, life flourishes.
With this in mind, we might use these truths as a guide to inform our decisions, behaviour, and actions anytime, whether it’s our relationships with others, our spending habits, the way we vote, or how we face difficulties – even illness or death. The dharma is always a reliable guide but it is not a set of rules to be memorized. Unless we awaken to the teaching in our real life situations, it is as useless as a light bulb without a power source. If we want to enjoy an abiding sense of peace and harmony in this turbulent world, it would be futile to sequester ourselves in some isolated hiding place and cling to “reality” as we wish to see it. We would still feel a deep sense of unease. To truly live, we must learn to live in harmony with all things, and in the truth that everything is constantly changing.
This may seem overwhelming, but we can take small steps in the practice ground of our own lives. Little by little, we are brought to realize how easy it is to forget that we would not be who we are, have what we have, or even exist, were it not for other. And yet, despite our selfish outlook, we constantly receive unconditional compassion from life. We cannot rely on ourselves alone.
On a larger scale, let us apply these truths to the way we make decisions regarding organizations, communities, nations, and the world. Our temple is strong today thanks to the many and varied people who make up the sangha. It is not the same as it was 100 years ago, 50 years ago, or even 10 years ago but our teaching is alive and accessible and we are thriving because we are going with the flow of change. In ten years from now, we should be sharing the dharma in ways that resonate with the sangha of the day, whether it is with more technology, or perhapswith another minister.
On the community, national, and global scale, we must all do our part to reflect our understanding of interdependence and impermanence. No life flourishes unless all life flourishes. The world has changed markedly in the last few decades, and sadly not always for the better. Though we are interdependent, we must each make choices, and those choices affect not only ourselves, but also others. We, who have received so much, have a responsibility to act mindfully for the benefit of all.
Namo Amida Butsu.
Gassho,
Rev. Patricia Usuki