Be Aware, Beware
What do you stress about? Money? Work? Possessions? Family? Relationships? Lack of time? As we’re often reminded, the Buddha-dharma, our teaching, is only helpful to us if we are mindful of it and apply it to all aspects of our lives. While it may make sense to us when we listen to a dharma message, it is often quickly forgotten. It only becomes real when we experience the truth of it in our personal daily activities.
Everything is an opportunity to practice being aware. Becoming aware of our thoughts, feelings, and motivations leads us to truly know ourselves. This is a step along the path of understanding that there really is no “me, myself, or I” and we get a glimpse of the interdependent nature of all things, a revelation of true Wisdom. At the same time, we may notice that we experience greed, aversion, and a preoccupation with a self that is totally delusional. The Four Noble Truths tells us that these “poisons” are the cause of our dukkha, meaning discontent, frustration, dissatisfaction, struggle, suffering, and sense of unease. If we are to find abiding peace and equanimity, we must walk the path of our teachings and wake up not only to our true nature, but also to the reality of the world in which we live.
Human nature never seems to change. In our main sutra, the Sukhavativyuha Sutra (commonly called the Larger Sutra) which came about over 2,000 years ago, for example, Shakyamuni Buddha is heard to say,
“Whether noble or corrupt, rich or poor, young or old, male or female, all people worry about wealth and property… Groaning in dejection and sorrow, they pile up thoughts of anguish or, driven by inner urges, they run wildly in all directions and thus have no time for peace and rest.”
Does this sound familiar? The Buddha goes on to point out that people are so busy trying to find happiness through attaining things and being attached to false ego that they don’t seriously seek a way to be freed from their dukkha struggle.
Compared to Shakyamuni Buddha’s era, our world has become fast-paced and complex in a relatively short time. While our human condition is still the same, the challenges are magnified by global production, marketing, and finance, not to mention technology-enhanced communication and media that present unlimited fuel for our desires and ego enhancement. Ours is a hyper-consumer society and with it come such related consequences as stress, anxiety, dissatisfaction, greed and envy, not to mention poverty, pollution, global warming, crime and even war.
In reality, we must consume in order to survive and thrive. The question is, how much is enough? We must each ask ourselves that question, if only to begin reflecting on what we are doing, and how we impact not only our own lives, but also that of others.
While being aware of ourselves, we also need to be aware of and knowledgeable about the world of which we are a part, and the social and economic paradigm that interpenetrates our lives. For example, something that did not exist in ancient Indian times was the multi-national corporation. Almost everyone in the world is affected by these entities, whether they own stocks in them or rely on them for work, food, information, or other products. Countries have thus come to believe that in order to prosper, we must have constant growth. It is generally thought that unlimited economic growth will cure all of the world’s problems. But think about it: we are asking for more people to want more endlessly—causing constant dukkha. Or, as Tim Jackson put it in a TED talk in July, 2010 (An Economic Reality Check), “It’s a story about us, people, being persuaded to spend money we don’t have, on things we don’t need, to create impressions that don’t last, on people that we don’t care about.”
How do we square our Buddhist teaching with the way we live our lives? We don’t have to abandon everything and become hermits, but let us be aware of our thoughts, words, and deeds. And as our Nembutsu teaching shows us, let us reflect on all that we have and all that we receive from life unconditionally, without striving, without greed or special efforts. In the gratitude that arises from that realization, perhaps we will be more thoughtful and aware of the kind of lives we are living, and take action accordingly not only for our own benefit, but also that of others.
Namo Amida Butsu.
Gassho,
Rev. Patricia Usuki
Note: If you would like to explore this issue further, please attend our Spring Seminar Series (p. 8) and our next Book Club meeting (p. 10)