Helping Others

In these times of uncertainty, I’ve been trying various ways to help causes I care about: donating more,¹ making better environmental choices at home, and trying to be a better person, but even then, it feels like it’s never enough. Like Ashe from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, I feel like in spite of my efforts, I’ve accomplished nothing.

A conversation with “Ashe”, one of my favorite characters in FE3H.

Being able to start small and focus on helping someone is a great start. From there, you might branch out and help others too.

Photo courtesy of the hilarious “Skeletor is Love” Tumblr.2

Yet in the big picture, this still doesn’t feel like it is enough sometimes.

Mahayana Buddhism, which is everything you see from Tibet to Japan and between, tends think very big picture. Thus, it often holds up the bodhisattva as the archtype for Buddhism: a being who lifetime after lifetime helps others, fulfilling very grandiose vows. The idea is that you can’t help everyone in one lifetime, but on the grand scale of time, it is possible to help everyone eventually. But of course, because time and space are so vast, it is a kind of never-ending story. The Buddha, Amitabha (aka Amida) completed his vows in 10 kalpas (aeons), roughly 160 million years.³

Anyhow, point being: if we look at it from a Mahayana-Buddhist endpoint, every little thing we do now does add up, but it happens on a scale of time that we can’t fully grasp. Nonetheless, it does add up in the long-run.

But maybe that’s small comfort here and now.

In truth, I don’t have a good answer here. I still try to help where I can while not burning myself out in the process, but I can only hope it makes a difference someday, even if I can’t see it.

¹ I used to have a donations page on the blog pointing to various causes, but I’ve had to take it down temporarily to update some broken links, change some charities, and revise the content a little. The page is now back online!

² I used to watch the original cartoon “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” as a little kid, so this takes me back. I remember one Christmas I received the Castle Greyskull playset, which was really neat, but then fell apart later. Ah, the impermanence of all phenomena and kids’ toys.

³ Kalpas are interpreted differently in different texts, so I am just using the more conservative estimate of 16 million years. Kalpas are meant to convey astronomical amounts of time, not literal ones.

Nature and Balance

SPOCK: War created an imbalance and nature counterbalanced it.
Star Trek, “The Omega Glory” (s2ep23), Stardate unknown

In some form or another, Climate Change has been with us since the beginning of Time. If you look at geologic time, gradual changes to climate happen, moving toward a hotter Earth or a colder one, and in the past once these changes lead to a tipping point, this leads to mass-extinction events. These changes in climate are often driven by natural forces: plate tectonics, accumulation of CO₂ (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere, shifts in the ocean currents and so on. Eventually, the pendulum swings back and the climate shifts toward the other direction. Meanwhile, life gradually recovers, diversifies again and so on.

But it’s important to understand that these changes happen very gradually over tens of thousands of years, or even hundreds of thousands of years.

Climate Change in the modern context refers to human-driven changes. The buildup of CO₂ gas in the atmosphere is nothing new, but the output of that gas in the last 100 years is far higher than natural forces can account for. We know that this extra buildup is due to fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels is literally like throwing gasoline on a fire.

Fossil fuels are not a sustainable energy source anyway, and they are condensing a process that should take a hundred thousand years into only tens of years. It’s small wonder we see such dramatic weather now: mass wildfires, mass rainfalls, mass drought and so on.

As Spock says, if we create an imbalance, nature will balance it out. But may not happen the way we want it to. The greater the imbalance, the greater the correction.

But just as 8-billion humans have, across generations, contributed to the problem, those same humans can contribute to fixing the imbalance (before Nature does it for us):

Reduce energy consumption at home. Even switching off lights at home helps.
Plant local, native plants in your neighborhood
Eat more vegetables (which I am trying to do anyway)
Cut back on fossil fuels: the less you use, the less accumulates in the atmosphere
and so on…

Find something you can reasonably do, and don’t hesitate to do some small good in the world.

Other Power and the Nembutsu

The saying of nembutsu is neither a religious practice nor a good act. Since it is practiced without any calculation, it is “non-practice.” Since it is also not a good created by my calculation, it is “non-good.” Since it is nothing but Other Power, completely free of self-power, it is neither a religious practice nor a good act on the part of the practicer.
The Tannisho, section eight, translation by Dr Taitetsu Unno

This quote comes from a 13th century Japanese text called The Tannisho, a record of conversations between an aging Shinran, the founder of Jōdo Shinshu-sect Buddhism, and his disciple Yui-en.

It’s a strange quote, and many aspects of the Tannisho are also strange at first glance. But the details are important and worth exploring.

Shinran is basically deflating the idea, still common today, that the nembutsu (reciting the name of Amida Buddha) is a practice in the traditional Buddhist sense. Shinran says the recitation of the nembutsu isn’t a magic spell, mantra, or anything that could accomplish a desired result. From Shinran’s perspective, the nembutsu doesn’t do anything.

So, why recite it? From the Jodo Shinshu perspective,¹ the nembutsu is simply means calling out to Amida in our hour of deep need. That’s why it’s not a good act nor a practice. Further, Amida Buddha hears all beings and shines his light upon them, a combination of wisdom to illuminate our ignorance, and compassion to embrace us.

The Other-Power described here is called tariki (他力) in Japanese. The idea is that Amida Buddha’s light (i.e. wisdom and compassion) is what transform us. There’s nothing we do that adds or subtracts from this.

Sometimes when I reflect on this, it feels a little bit like sophistry to me, but then I remember an anecdote about Shinran’s teacher, Honen, that helps illustrates this.

One time, someone asked whose nembutsu was better: Honen himself, or Awanosuke, a former-fortune teller who was not well-regarded by others in the community. Honen scoffed at this question and said that there was no difference between his nembutsu and Awanosuke’s because neither skill, nor style, nor conduct, nor grasp of the Buddhist doctrines mattered. It was all through Amida Buddha and not through one’s own efforts.

The whole idea is that in spite of who we are, Amida Buddha’s compassion shines on us all. It is simply that many people may be unaware of this.

Namu Amida Butsu

P.S. Just to clarify, the concept of Other Power wasn’t invented by Shinran and his teacher Honen. It was alreaady prevalent in earlier generations of Chinese Pure Land Buddhists such as Tan-luan and Dao-chuo, but I suppose that Shinran/Honen took it to its logical conclusion centuries later.

P.P.S. I have a backlog of fun things I wanted to share with readers, but the backlog is growing, so I am posting three a week or now just to help catch up.

¹ … and arguably the Jodo Shu sect, too. The emphasis of both sects is on Amida Buddha’s compassion, rather than one’s own efforts as depicted in other Pure Land traditions. Sometimes, this feels like a case of “tomayto vs. tomahtoe” to this old Buddhist, but it’s how the various sects of Pure Land Buddhism sometimes define themselves.

Small Things Make a Difference

With all the turmoil going on lately, I figured it would be a good idea to re-post some helpful tips from the NOAA to help keep the planet healthy. You can also access them here, or the original source here.

A while ago I talked about Eco-Buddhism and the Buddha Amida. Amida Buddha, like any “cosmic” Buddha (a.k.a. Vairocana, or whichever) is often seen not just as another character in the Buddhist pantheon, but the embodiment of existence. Such a Buddha embodies the Dharma (the principle of existence), and the Dharma embodies reality. Seen in this light, Amida Buddha and his rays of light that shine across the Universe reinforce the idea of all things being interconnected. It’s not that “all is One”, in a New Age sense. It’s that what one thinks or does or says affects others even if we never meet them. Similarly, what they do affects us.

This is true in an ecological sense too. The tips provided by NOAA above are small steps, but each one helps others in ways you might not expect. Even one plastic bottle recycled helps keep it out of the landfill for the next 500 years, or the tree you plant now may help generations later. Choosing to not use plastic straws, plastic shopping bags, or adopting public transportation one day a week, shutting off lights in the house, picking up one bit of trash, and so on all benefit others and ultimately ourselves. Imagine if 10 people do this, 100, 1000, and so on.

Even if we cannot rely on government policy to help us keep the Earth healthy, we can do plenty ourselves by making positive choices, and inspiring others to do the same.

Life Finds a Way

Here in the Pacific Northwest, there’s nothing more depressing each August and/September than seeing the summer sky filled with wildfire smoke, and constantly scanning air quality sites to see if I can safely walk the dog, or shut in for the day.

This is a view from my house one morning last week while walking the dog.

It’s very gloomy, and it’s hard not to get depressed knowing that in the years to come this will probably get worse, not better. On the other hand, I thought about it, and I was still thankful to be alive, able to breathe, and see the sunrise. I don’t mean this in a naïve “live laugh love” sort of way. It’s just like that Zen aphorism about every day being a good day: it’s not that every day is happy and blissful, especially if you have to deal with work, kids, and bills, it’s just that simply being alive one more day is still kind of remarkable in a way.

Also, each little thing you do, each decision you make, each word you say, does matter even if you can’t see the results right away.

Namu Amida Butsu

Amida Buddha, Ecology, and Shin Buddhism

As I continue my (re-)reading of various Pure Land Buddhist books in my collection, I realized that all my reading was centered around a medieval-Japanese-Buddhist viewpoint, with all its arguments about the minutiae of the tradition. It’s been a fun time for me, and with the benefit of age and hindsight, I have come to understand some things I didn’t when I was younger.

However, one thing pre-modern Buddhist authors seldom wrote about was Ecology.

To be fair, medieval authors never had to worry about climate change, mass extinction of wildlife, plastic in oceans, etc. They did have to worry about plagues, natural disasters, feudal rulers and other issues. Different generations, different issues.

Buddhism and its concept of metta, or goodwill towards all beings, implicitly includes an ecological outlook, as does the notion of interconnectedness of all things. So, Buddhism definitely lends itself towards a more ecological viewpoint, but it’s never been really emphasized.

However, faced with monumental ecological problems we have now though, we have no choice but to confront them and adapt Buddhist teachings to educate and inspire people to make wiser choices. This is the problem of our era. But where to begin?

I think Jodo Shinshu, or “Shin” Buddhism as Westerns often call it, provides a particularly helpful attitude into how ecology and Buddhism can work. Shin Buddhism focuses awareness of, and gratitude toward everything arounds us that sustains us and carries us forward. This is embodied by Amida Buddha, the same Buddha in other Pure Land traditions, but Shinran the founder’s interpretation heavily leans toward the side of “other-power”. In other words, it’s through Amida’s grace, rather than set of practices, that one is led toward the Pure Land. Thus, one says the nembutsu (namu amida butsu) as an expression of gratitude than an explicit practice.

Further, other Buddhist practices are done out of gratitude, or because one is inspired by the Dharma (the Buddhist teachings), rather than because one is aiming towards something.

With me so far?

Out of any Buddhist tradition, Jodo Shinshu/Shin Buddhism probably has the most “Calvinist” viewpoint of anything I can think of. Granted that, under the hood, Buddhism and Christianity are quite different, but Shin Buddhism shifts the emphasis away from traditional Buddhist practice toward the power of Amida Buddha and his compassion towards all beings. Amida calls to us (just like Parable of the Two Rivers), and if we heed that call we are brought along the Buddhist path.

Thus in popular Shin-Buddhist culture, people often referred to Amida Buddha as Oya-sama (親様, “Honored Parent”). It’s not that we are born from Amida Buddha, but his compassion surrounds and sustains us like a parent. Even the famous haiku poet, Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶, 1763 – 1828), a Jodo Shinshu follower himself, once family wrote a haiku at New Year’s when he was broke and penniless:

Japanese	Romanization	Amateur translation
ともかくも	Tomokaku mo	At the closing of the year
あなたまかせの	Anata makase no	I turn to you, Amida Buddha;
年の暮れ	Toshi no kuré	come what may.

Rough translation by author, all mistakes are mine

So, what does this have to do with Ecology?

First, Shinran, the founder, didn’t see Amida Buddha as just another Buddha within the larger Mahayana pantheon. He felt that Amida was the embodiment of the Dharma itself, and since the Dharma, the Buddhist teachings, reflect reality as it is (even if us unenlightened beings don’t fully get the full scope of it) whenever we see reality, we see Amida Buddha, and his compassion for all beings. The restorer of Jodo Shinshu, Rennyo, taught similar sentiments.

Thus, goodwill, and awareness of the interconnectedness of all things, is us seeing Amida at work. When we “pay it forward” and help others, or help the environment, this is an expression of our gratitude toward Amida, but also to the life and nature around us that sustains us daily. In this light, the nembutsu isn’t just a bunch of words chanted over and over, it’s a living expression of our gratitude.

It’s something I haven’t fully fleshed out yet in my head, but I realize more and more the years that Rev Castro had been ahead of his time.

P.S. This post is pretty unpolished (I usually try to proofread things at least once), but I wanted to write down this stream of thought in my head before I forget.

Eco Buddhism Now More Than Ever

Years back, when I used to go to a certain Buddhist temple here in the Pacific Northwest, we had a lay minister named Reverend Don Castro, who was passionate about Ecology and Buddhism. He would encourage the congregation to recycle, talk about Buddhism as a religion of ecology and so on. He was a beloved minister,¹ and I fondly remember many times practicing liturgy with him, but I admit that at the time I didn’t think about his ecology message too much. It was an abstract thing for another day.

The EcoSangha logo, which Reverend Castro hoped will be widely used in the Dharma community.

But now, fast forward ten years, I believe that the message of Buddhism and Ecology is more important than ever.

Reverend Castro famously said in various sermons and publications:

To be a Buddhist is to be both an ecologist and a conservationist.

What does this mean?

Buddhism as a religion is somewhat complicated, but its teachings, the Dharma, include some important teachings that are worth nothing here:

Goodwill towards all beings (e.g. metta)
The interdependence of all beings (e.g. shunyata)

Goodwill towards all beings doesn’t necessarily mean that you be their best friend, or that it is a bleeding-heart compassion for all beings. Instead, it’s about appreciating the value of all living beings, wishing them at the very least that they be free from harm and well. This includes tiny little bees in your garden to angry, obnoxious people. This is harder than it sounds, especially when faced with a drunk, swearing idiot blocking your way. But then in the Dhammapada, the Buddha encourages the following viewpoint:

129. All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.
130. All tremble at violence; life is dear to all. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.
131. One who, while himself seeking happiness, oppresses with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will not attain happiness hereafter.
132. One who, while himself seeking happiness, does not oppress with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will find happiness hereafter.
The Dhammapada, section 10, translation by Acharya Buddharakkhita

The Buddha asks us to put ourselves in the shoes of others, to see what they see, to feel what they feel. It might not change your mind, but at least it gives a newfound respect and appreciation for others.

The interdependence of all beings means that our life and our existence is contingent on so many other beings, external causes and such. We are nurtured by our parents, taught by our teachers, and fed and clothed by hard-working people in factories, whom we will probably never meet. In the same way, may others around us are contingent on what we say, think and do too.

Thus, your actions and attitudes towards others do help shape the world around us. It’s not that we can make a difference, it’s that we do make a difference each day. Thus, if we make a conscious effort to make the world a better place for others (even the angry, obnoxious ones), bit by bit it does happen.

Looking back, we can see how the Dharma teachings of goodwill and interdependence relate to Ecology too. By our actions, however small, we’re making the world a better place for others, even the ones we don’t necessarily like (but still are an important part of this world). Planting trees, bee-friendly flowers, recycling, cutting car emissions, keeping our rivers and streams clean, and so many other things do make a difference.

Will it be enough? Who knows, but somewhere down the line, someone will benefit from what we’ve done, and we too will benefit as a result.

Namu Amida Butsu

P.S. The symbol of the Eco-Sangha, is the Buddha touching the earth in the famous Earth-Touching Mudra. Historically speaking, this was the Buddha-to-be, Siddhartha’s vow to stay put and meditate until he reached Awakening (with the earth as his witness), but in the ecology sense, it takes on a new meaning. More on the local Eco Sangha community here.

P.P.S. Although I’ve lost contact with Reverend Castro, if he ever reads this, I hope he enjoys. ☺️

¹ Reverend Castro had a talent for singing Buddhist liturgy nicely, unlike me who was pretty tone-deaf. I remember him being very patient with me. 😅

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