Tag: Buddha

The Dynamic Duo of Zen and Pure Land

A few months ago, I made this post about how the Obaku Zen sect interprets Amida Buddha and the Pure Land. To my surprise, I keep reflecting on this phrase from time to time, almost like a Zen koan:

This mind is the Pure Land,
this body is Amida Buddha

This idea of merging Zen and Pure Land ideas is somewhat rare in Japanese Buddhism, but it’s surprisingly common in Chinese-Buddhist thought. Originally, I thought it was limited to later Ming-Dynasty Buddhism (which Obaku descends from), but similar strands of thought exist much further back.

A famous Chinese monk named Yongming Yanshou (永明延壽. 904 – 976) once wrote a poem titled the “Four Alternatives” (sì liào jiǎn 四料揀):1

Lacking both Chan and the Pure Land, it will be the iron beds and bronze pillars [of hell] for ten thousand kalpas [eons] and a thousand lives with no one to turn to.

Having Chan but lacking the Pure Land, nine out of ten will stray from the path; when the realm of the aggregates appears before them, they will instantly follow it.

Lacking Chan but having the Pure Land, ten thousand out of ten thousand who practice it will go [to rebirth]. Having seen Amitābha, why worry that one might not attain enlightenment?

Having both Chan and Pure Land, one is like a tiger with horns [i.e., doubly capable]. Such a person will be a teacher in the present life, and a buddha or patriarch in future lives.

translation by Charles B. Jones, “Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, Understanding a Tradition of Practice”, pg 210

Yongming is advocating a supportive model where both Zen practice and Pure Land practice work in concert. The Pure Land path is the “safer” path to follow, due to the vows of Amida Buddha, but if supported by Zen practice here and now, one is really making progress on the Buddhist path.

Further, a later writer named Yunqi Zhuhong2 (雲棲袾宏, 1535 – 1615) explained that these things were not mutually exclusive (Chinese added by me):3

To contemplate the Buddha (nianfo 念佛) is to contemplate the mind (nian-xin 念心). Birth there (in the Pure Land) does not entail birth away from here. Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings are all of one substance; the middle stream (non-duality) does not abide on the two banks (this world and the Pure Land).

Similarly, Ouyi Zhixu (蕅益智旭, 1599 – 1655) in his excellent work “Mind Seal of Buddhas” makes a similar argument: Zen and Pure Land practice are the same thing, just operating at different levels. You’re not forced to chose one or the other in your practice.

But such ideas aren’t limited to medieval Chinese-Buddhist monks. You can find such sentiments in Pure Land sutras themselves! In the Immeasurable Life Sutra is this passage (emphasis added):

“In this world, you should extensively plant roots of virtue, be benevolent, give generously, abstain from breaking the precepts, be patient and diligent, teach people with sincerity and wisdom, do virtuous deeds, and practice good. If you strictly observe the precepts of abstinence with upright thought and mindfulness even for a day and a night, the merit acquired will surpass that of practicing good in the land of Amitāyus [a.k.a. the Pure Land] for a hundred years. The reason is that in that buddha land of effortless spontaneity all the inhabitants do good without committing even a hair’s breadth of evil. If in this world you do good for ten days and nights, the merit acquired will surpass that of practicing good in the buddha lands of other directions for a thousand years.

Translation by Rev. Hisao Inagaki

In this passage, the Buddha is clearly advocating both bending your efforts toward rebirth in the Pure Land, but also making the most of the time you have here to undergo traditional Buddhist practices too because even a modest effort here is a great benefit in the future (both for yourself and others).

As I often tell my kids: “go nuts”!4

What I mean is: recite the nembutsu, meditate, uphold the precepts, or some combination thereof. You have nowhere to go but up.

But what if you can’t decide or don’t have the time?

In my opinion, start with the nembutsu. Begin just as you are, and recite it just 10 times daily. From there, add the Five Precepts when you are ready, and once you have that foundation, and are ready to branch out, then look into Zen practices. This make take months or even years. Take your time, go slow, and don’t be afraid to explore.

When I talk about the flexibility of Tendai Buddhism in Japan as well, this is what I am alluding to: start with something simple and small at first (such as a devotional practice), and gradually building upon it as you gain confidence and see the positive transformation in your life. Buddhism is kind of a SLOW, gradual religion, but like a glacier, once it starts moving, it has a wonderful momentum all its own even if you can’t see it.

Namu Shakumuni Butsu
Namu Amida Butsu

P.S. Featured blog image is another famous “Dynamic Duo”: Batman and Robin from the 1960’s series.

P.P.S. Posting kind of off-schedule just because it is fun. 😊

1 I found this on Wikipedia actually and I thought to myself “wow, this person quoted exactly the same way that I would do!”, then I realized that I had put this on Wikipedia a few years ago. 🤦🏼‍♂️

2 Pronounced like “yoon-chee joo-hong”.

3 Again, I managed to pull a quote from Wikipedia that I had unwittingly added years ago and then promptly forgot.

4 My kids ask me if they can watch TV, play Switch or whatever, and my frequent answer is “go nuts” [go crazy, have fun].

The Art of Dying

One thing that really annoys me as a long-time Buddhist is the tendency for self-help and spritual seminars to cost so much money. I saw this advertised locally in my area for weeks, and the starting price for a seat is $250 for a backrow seat, which to me is totally bonkers.

The Dharma, as taught by Shakyamuni Buddha was freely given, and required nothing.

Having said that, as a counter to pricey spiritual seminars, I wanted to promote a concept: the Art of Dying.

DYING?!

It is a simple concept: you are going to die. You cannot necessarily choose the hour or manner of your death. But it will occur inevitably occur.

You do not have to take my word for it. Here’s a Buddhist sutra (freely given I might add) from the words of the Buddha:

There is no bargaining with Mortality & his mighty horde.

Whoever lives thus ardently, relentlessly both day & night, has truly had an auspicious day:

So says the Peaceful Sage [Shakyamuni Buddha].

MN 131, translation by Ven. Thanissaro Bhikkhu

The Lotus Sutra, a later Buddhist text but in my opinion the capstone of the Buddhist canon, describes this using the famous Parable of the Burning House in the third chapter. You can find Dr Burton Watson’s translation here (again, for free!).

But, to summarize the Parable, the Buddha Shakyamuni asks us, the reader, to imagine a great, big mansion that’s old, rickey, and so on. Then, imagine the house is burning. Deep inside, some kids are playing in a room, unaware the house is on fire. The father, having just returned from a trip, sees his kids in danger and calls out to them to leave the house at once. The kids, engrossed in their games, fail to see their situation. Finally, the father offers them great rewards if they leave (specifically carts of goods), and the kids finally come out.

The father, Shakyamuni Buddha, has left the burning house and stands outside. He calls to those in danger, namely the “kids”, to see their peril and to come out too.

What about the burning house itself? That is the world we live in, with strife, conflict, disease, chaos, aging, and death.

The late Thich Nhat Hanh wrote about this too:

“Imagine two hens about to be slaughtered, but they do not know it. One hen says to the other, “The rice is much tastier than the corn. The corn is slightly off.” She is talking about relative joy. She does not realize that the real joy of this moment is the joy of not being slaughtered, the joy of being alive.”

Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching

This gets to the heart of the Buddha’s teachings: do not squander the time you have on this Earth. It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy life and your loved ones, but remember: Death will not wait for it to be convenient for you.

When you hear this, your instinct might be the “live, laugh, and love”, indulge in all the fun things in life before it’s too late. But that’s not what the Buddha intended. When you look back at the Parable of the Burning House, the father wasn’t asking the kids to play more, he was telling them to get out before it’s too late.

Further, in the Mahayana tradition, one can get themselves out of the burning house, but helping and guide others to get out of the burning house is even better. One can call such people bodhisattvas.

But you can’t help others (let alone yourself) until you :

  • Recognize the situation
  • Put down your own toys and find the way out before you can help others.

This is part of the progression of the Buddhist path: get your foundations in order, increasing confidence in the Dharma (which you can see in your own life), and turning outward to help other beings.

But starting at the beginning, how does one establish a foundation?

Everyone is different, but generally it starts with some simple things:

  1. Taking the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha as one’s chosen refuge (you can do this by yourself or in a community). You can setup a small shrine too.
  2. Taking up an ethical life, such as undertaking the Five Precepts
    • If all five are too hard, start with one, and work your way up over the months and years.
  3. Cultivate metta:
    • Say to yourself (yes, you): May I be well, may I be free from harm.
    • Now think of loved ones: may they be well, may they be free from harm.
    • Now think of all living beings (even the awful ones): may they be well, may they be free from harm.
  4. Setup a reasonable daily practice. Think of it like exercise or stretching: if you start too aggressively, you’ll injure yourself and set yourself back. So start small, and build up.
    • What does a daily practice look like? Some examples here.
    • A small meditation practice can be beneficial too, but intention matters.
    • Study the sutras. Not self-help books, but the sutras. Commentaries on the sutras, such as those provided by Thich Nhat Hanh are quite good and easy to find in used and independent bookstores such as Powell’s City of Books.
    • Find worthy teachers and communities, not slick, overpriced seminars or cults. Caveat emptor.
  5. Give yourself permission to screw up, then reflect on it, and move on.
  6. Repeat. Buddhism is a long-term practice. “Play the long game“, but also remember you are on the clock. Time is short.

So, that’s your free teaching for today. Thanks for attending this seminar. Want to support the blog? Pay it forward or something. This is “Buddhism on a Budget”, and I strongly feel this is how Buddhism should be.

Namu Shakyamuni Butsu
Namu Amida Butsu
Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu

P.S. apparently this also a band with this name. As fellow PNW residents, I salute them.

Pride and Meditation

常に大慈大悲に住して、坐禅無量の功徳を、一切の衆生に回向せよ。憍慢・我慢・法慢を生ずることなかれ。これ外道凡夫の法なり。

“Always keep the noble spirit of goodwill and mercy in your heart, and dedicate the limitless merits of meditation to all beings. Do not allow pride, conceit, or sanctimony to dwell, lest this becomes the Dharma of heretics and fools.”

Keizan’s Zazen Yojinki (坐禅用心記, “A Guide to Zazen”), amateur translation by me.

The Zazen Yojinki of Keizan (1268–1325) is a text I have never encountered before and I was unable to find any English translations or information on. Japanese sources say that it is similar to, and inherits from, Dogen’s Fukan Zazengi but tends to emphasize more practical matters by comparison.

Anyhow, I thought this was a great quote.

There are many reasons why one starts Buddhist practice, including meditation, but Keizan emphasizes that it’s not about personal benefit. In fact, chances are you’ll not feel any personal benefit at first, at least not in the way you’re expecting. In a sense, meditation is useless.

But that’s not the point.

You do not live in isolation with others. We depend on one another, even when we can’t stand each other. What we do affects others, what others do affects us. No matter how you try to come out ahead, you will always depend on others, and even when others come out ahead, they still need you.

So, like it or not, we’re all in this together. Thus, the only way to find peace and well-being is to stop being a dick. The only way to stop being a dick is to take up training rules such as the precepts, to quiet the mind through meditation, and finally to dedicate any good merit you accumulate for the sake of others even when you feel they don’t deserve it.

Namu Shakamuni Buddha

P.S. Bonus 4th of July post. Ee’d Plebnista, baby!

Madness

SPOCK: Jim, madness has no purpose or reason, but it may have a goal. 

Star Trek, “Alternative Factor” (s1ep25), Stardate: 3087.6

I was going to write something based on this excellent quote, but then the good folks at Extra History published this fascinating and hilarious video about Goodwin Wharton (1653 – 1704), and his autobiography describing his secret life as the King of the Faeries, unbeknownst to the rest of the world:

There is also a great blog post from 2015 that goes into more details.

It’s kind of baffling that someone like this could be a (more or less) functional individual yet also be completely consumed by their own fantasy, and so totally divorced from reality. Goodwin Wharton had goals, per Spock’s comment, though. However, Wharton was totally devoid of both reason and purpose. He was just quietly living out his fantasy life as “King of Faeries”.

It kind of makes one wonder how many more such people exist in a world like this. Would we even recognize them?

Thinking further on this, could any one of us be living in such fantasies? Could I, the writer of this blog, be similarly devoid of reality? I assume “no” of course, but then again, how would I even know? Are my personal goals just further extension of my own madness?

Looking at it form a Buddhist standpoint, our understanding of the world around us is obscured by ignorance, or misconceptions, which become the foundation of how we interact with the world. In a loose sense, this can be a form of madness, but most of us are functional adults with varying degrees of emotional maturity.

Further, we do have the capacity to ask ourselves, “is this the right thing to do?” or “does this even make sense?”. I think that ability to analyze ourselves is what helps counterbalance ignorance and madness. Further, the Dharma, that which is taught by the Buddhas, is meant to act as a kind of benchmark for one’s actions. It doesn’t what you think is right, if it aligns with the principles of the Dharma, than it is considered skillful, wise, and conducive to liberation and well-being. The Buddha doesn’t decide this, it is just how things work.

Conversely, those who never bother to analyze themselves, though, can go through life in a single trajectory and not realize their mistake. Just like Goodwin Wharton…

P.S. I felt like posting a bonus episode today since it is Spring Ohigan week. Please enjoy the weather and have a great weekend! 😊

Misery

Suffering is endemic to this world, whether it be a stripper hustling just to make $20, refugees who lose their homes, or soldiers fighting to defend their homeland, or children who are simply neglected and unloved.

If you stop to think about all this suffering, pain and misery, it’s completely overwhelming, heartbreaking.

Even if you had all the money in the world, and give it away, it provides only temporary relief. If you held all the power in the world, you could only affect so much change. Worse, you might fall into hubris.

From the game Fire Emblem: Three Houses

I think this is why the Buddha-Dharma is so helpful.

Photo courtesy of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper. This is the fumetsu no hōtō (不滅の法灯), the “Unextinguished Lamp of the Dharma” at Mount Hiei.

A candle flame doesn’t seem like much, but in a very dark place, that candle flame really stands out.

The majestic light of the Buddha Amitāyus is the most exalted….If, sentient beings encounter his light, their three defilements are removed; they feel tenderness, joy and pleasure; and good thoughts arise. If sentient beings in the three realms of suffering see his light, they will all be relieved and freed from affliction. At the end of their lives, they all reach emancipation.

The Immeasurable Life Sutra, translation by Rev. Hisao Inagaki

I often think about the old stories of Honen, the 12th century monk who spread the Pure Land teachings in Japan. It was a time of rampant disease, warfare, and income inequality. Honen couldn’t fix any of these things but he taught a simple message to any who would listen. If nothing else, it gave hope and a sense of direction in a directionless world.

A multilingual sign posted at the front of Chion-in Temple in Kyoto, Japan. Reads in English: "This is the road of respectful affability toward Chionin temple. It is the road to encounter Master Honen. It is also the route to obtain the way of Buddhism. For the old, the weak, women, and children are lead to brightness, peaceful, and the meaning of life by collecting wisdom from the Buddha. To free tiresome beings, to let them gain dignity, and to accept the true happiness ingenuously. This is, Buddhism."
A multilingual sign posted at the front of Chion-in Temple in Kyoto, Japan.1

Sometimes, small, sincere gestures of kindness can be the best help of all.

Namu Amida Butsu

P.S. an older post on the same subject.

P.P.S. Two days and I am already violating my own blog schedule. 🤦🏼‍♂️ This was an impromptu post I wrote after yesterday’s political disaster.

1 the sign above reads in Japanese:

親しみ慕われる知恩院への道。それは法然さまに出会う道。そして、お念仏のみ教えをいただく道。仏さまの智慧をいただいて、老若男女すべての人が、明るく正しく仲よく生きることに通じる道。人生の疲れを癒し、生きる尊さ、喜びを素直にいただくことができる道。それがこの道。智慧の道。

In English I would roughly translate this as:

This is a path toward closeness with Chion-in Temple. That is to say the path for encountering Master Honen. It is also a path for receiving the teachings of the nembutsu. One receives the compassion of the Buddha, regardless of age or gender, a path that leads to a bright, upright, affable life. A path that heals weariness, reveres life, leads to sincere joy; this is that path. A path of Compassion.

In Ukrainian via Google Translate:

Дорога до улюбленого храму Чіон-ін. Це шлях до зустрічі з Хонен-самою. І шлях до отримання вчення Нембуцу. Шлях, який веде до людей різного віку, чоловіків і жінок, які живуть яскраво, праведно та гармонійно завдяки мудрості Будди. Шлях, який дозволяє зцілити втому життя та насолоджуватися гідністю та радістю життя. Ось цей шлях. Шлях мудрості.

In Arabic via Google Translate:

الطريق إلى معبد تشيون إن المحبوب. هذا هو الطريق لمقابلة هونين-ساما. والطريق لتلقي تعاليم نيمبوتسو. طريق يؤدي إلى الناس من جميع الأعمار، رجالًا ونساءً، للعيش بشكل مشرق وصالح ومتناغم من خلال حكمة بوذا. طريق يسمح لك بالشفاء من تعب الحياة والاستمتاع بكرامة الحياة ومتعتها. هذا هو هذا الطريق. طريق الحكمة.

In Spanish via Google Translate:

El camino hacia el querido templo Chion-in. Ese es el camino para encontrar a Honen-sama. Y el camino para recibir las enseñanzas del Nembutsu. Un camino que lleva a personas de todas las edades, hombres y mujeres, a vivir de manera brillante, recta y armoniosa a través de la sabiduría de Buda. Un camino que permite sanar el cansancio de la vida y disfrutar de la dignidad y la alegría de vivir. Ese es este camino. El camino de la sabiduría.

One Big Family

I finished watching the Netflix spinoff series Castlevania: Nocturne, season 2 last week, and I wanted to share this great quote:

Alucard: Your mother and I never met. But when you’ve lived as long as I have, you start to understand. We’re all part of the same story somehow. And these connections run very deep.

Castlevania: Nocturne, season 2, episode 6, “Ancestors”

This inter-connectivity of all beings, all being part of the same story, is a very Buddhist notion.

In Buddhism, especially the Mahanaya tradition (i.e. pretty much all of east Asia, and beyond), there is a famous analogy of the Jeweled Net of Indra (sometimes Brahma). The idea is that within the celestial palace of Indra (or Brahma), there is treasure room, and within that room is a great net woven with jewels at each node.

Now, imagine this great net of jewels, and how each jewel reflects the light of every other jewel. That’s how interdependence works. Shatter, remove, or replace one jewel and the light from the others diminishes as well. So it is with all sentient beings. The effect may not be noticeable, but it does happen.

The entire series of Perfection of Wisdom sutras, including the Heart Sutra, covers this in great detail. The Buddha Vairocana also embodies this truth (especially as described in the massive Flower Garland Sutra); alternatively Amida Buddha does too in some interpretations.

Indeed, there’s many ways to describe it, but the implications are the same: we are all in this together.

Namu Amida Butsu

P.S. Castlevania: Nocturne is great. It covers a lot of characters from later Castlevania games that I didn’t play (Richter, Juste, Maria, etc), which confused me at first, but season 2 builds really nicely on season 1. Great series and worthy spinoff to the original.

Going Off The Rails: A Cautionary Historical Tale

Speaking of going off the rails, I once wrote about how politics had a pretty corrosive effect on the Tendai Buddhist monastic community on Mount Hiei during the late Heian Period of Japanese history, but there’s aspect to this increased corruption and declining monastic discipline: the esoteric Buddhist tradition itself. Scholar Paul Groner has done extensive research about Tendai Buddhism and history, and published an article in 1987 about an influential Tendai monk named Annen (安然, 841–889?) who’s innovations to esoterica and Buddhism had a detrimental impact to the community.

This is also covered in a book I’ve been reading recently about the “Original Enlightenment” teaching that medieval Tendai strongly advocated at the time. More on that book later (it’s a tough read, so it’s taking me a while).

A quick history of Tendai Buddhism in Japan and the Esoteric tradition.

Esoteric Buddhism (a.k.a. Vajrayana) was imported into Japan in early centuries of history, but mostly as an afterthought.1 It wasn’t until a monk named Kukai (空海; 774 – 835), founder of Shingon that Vajrayana Buddhism came to the fore. Kukai had studied it thoroughly under Indian and Chinese masters in the Chinese capital, and brought back a full program to Japan. It was the hot, new thing among the elite classes of Japan at time.

Saicho, founder of Tendai, had made the same journey to China, but was focused on learning Tian-tai (parent sect of Tendai) teachings, and only had a partial, incomplete training in Vajrayana. His disciples Ennin and Enchin also journeyed to China, and came back with a much more complete training, and helped establish a separate esoteric lineage from their rivals, the Shington sect under Kukai. The esoteric tradition within Tendai is called Taimitsu (台密).

Esoteric Buddhism was hugely popular among the affluent nobility in the capitol of Kyoto, who employed monks to officiate ceremonies, exorcise demons, cure illnesses, and bring prosperity. The Imperial Court also employed large numbers of monks regularly to pray for the safety of the nation from natural disasters, plagues and such. Over time, the Tendai sect in particular, due to its close proximity to the capitol, and extensive esoteric tradition developed a very close relationship with the government. Monks who were esoteric masters (阿闍梨, ajari) were especially popular among the elite. Further, because high-ranking monks in the Tendai order often came from noble families, there was increasing social relationships too. Popular monks were invited to parties, participated in poetry recitals and so on.

Back to Annen.

According to Dr Groner’s article, Annen was trained by two eminent monks at the time: Tankei (湛契, 817-880) and Henjo (遍昭, 817-890), the same Henjo who wrote poem 12 of the Hyakunin Isshu anthology. Both were part of the Tendai order on Mount Hiei, but found favor with the aristocracy and became “celebrity” priests.

Tankei was later defrocked after an affair with the Imperial prince’s wet nurse, but due to connections went on to serve in the Imperial bureaucracy and rose through the ranks until he reached junior fourth rank (equivalent to minor nobility). Strangely, while the Imperial government supported his defrocking over the affair, the Tendai sect establishment were angry about it, apparently not viewing the breaking of the vow of celibacy as a serious issue.

Similarly, Henjo was a nobleman for a long time, eventually who ordained in the Tendai order after the death of his liege Emperor Ninmyo in the year 850. By 868, after becoming an accomplished esoteric master, he mingled with the nobility again and was even granted a property by Ninmyo’s son for a new temple: the Unrin-in (雲林院). As Henjo established a monastic community there, in close proximity of the capitol, he started running the community his own way, shortening monastic training time, relaxing standards, etc.

Annen through training under Tankei and Henjo, developed into an accomplished master of the esoteric practices. He became a prolific writer and advocated a more urbane approach to monastic discipline where sincere intention was more important than actual discipline through the monastic precepts. For example, in his work, the futsu jubosatsukai koshaku (普通授菩薩戒広釈), Annen downplayed violating the precepts by explaining them away as an training expedient. It would be OK to violate the precepts in some situations, for example as an act of compassion for sentient beings.

Not everyone within the Tendai order agreed with this: The venerable Enchin complained in his generation that monks were already getting lax, wearing expensive robes, skipping the fortnight assembly, and so on. But Annen’s influence was too strong, and his interpretation of following the precepts loose enough for monks to bend the rules as this wished. This coupled with certain trendy theories at the time, such as the idea that “grasses and trees were enlightened”, led to a decline in monastic discipline that persisted all the way until the Edo Period (17th -19th century) when serious efforts to reintroduce monastic discipline were finally re-introduced. This was the Anraku Movement, by the way.

The issue is twofold: the vagueness of the Bodhisattva precepts employed by the Tendai sect exclusively allowed for individual interpretation. A monk with sincere intentions might still uphold proper behavior, but a monk with less sincere intentions might bend the interpretation to suit his conduct, rather than the other way around.

The second issue was the increasing intermixing of monks with the aristocracy. In the Buddha’s time ages ago in India, this was strictly forbidden. Monks were to withdraw from the contemporary world, and concentrate on strict monastic practice. Now, monks were fraternizing openly with the Imperial court instead of focusing on practice. This was done under the guise of “compassion for others”, but the results speak for themselves.

Anyhow, it easy to see how religious practice and teachings can fall under the sway of sophistry and go off the rails. Even in the Buddha’s time, he addressed this. In a conversation with the senior disciple Kashyapa in the Saddhammapaṭirūpaka Sutta (SN 16:13), the Buddha explains:

“These five downward-leading qualities tend to the confusion and disappearance of the true Dhamma. Which five? There is the case where the monks, nuns, male lay followers, & female lay followers live without respect, without deference, for the Teacher. They live without respect, without deference, for the Dhamma… for the Saṅgha… for the training… for concentration. These are the five downward-leading qualities that tend to the confusion and disappearance of the true Dhamma.

Translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Once people started interpreting the Dharma their own way, the real Dharma got obfuscated, monastic disciples get confused, and things go off the rails.

Not surprisingly, this wasn’t the last time this happened in Japanese history.

P.S. Dr Groner’s article is a good read, so check it out.

1 Called Mikkyō (密教) in Japanese, “secret teaching”.

Ablution

A floor tile mosaic showing two peacocks flanking a foundatin. Above the fountain is the Greek palindrome "ΝΙΨΟΝΑΝΟΜΗΜΑΤΑΜΗΜΟΝΑΝΟΨΙΝ".

Recently, I have been dabbling in learning ancient Greek language for the first time in years. I polished off my old DVD copy of the Greek 101 course from The Great Courses which I bought during the Pandemic after my local library no longer had it available.1 It’s been fun to review old lessons, get reacquainted with such a gorgeous language, and so on.

Anyhow, something I wanted to share was a famous axiom in Koine Greek found throughout the Eastern Roman (a.k.a. the Byzantine) world:

ΝΙΨΟΝΑΝΟΜΗΜΑΤΑΜΗΜΟΝΑΝΟΨΙΝ
(Νίψον ἀνομήματα, μὴ μόναν ὄψιν)

“Wash your sins, not only your face.”

This is pronounced as Nipson anomēmata mē monan opsin. This is a famous palindrome (same forwards or backwards) that according to Wikipedia is attributed to one Saint Gregory of Nazianzus. I am not super familiar with the Orthodox tradition, but feel free to consult Wikipedia for more details. You can find it at many monasteries across the Eastern Roman world, including the holy font at the Hagia Sophia, the central church of Constantinople.

A floor tile mosaic showing two peacocks flanking a foundatin. Above the fountain is the Greek palindrome "ΝΙΨΟΝΑΝΟΜΗΜΑΤΑΜΗΜΟΝΑΝΟΨΙΝ".
A floor mosaic at the monastery of Panagia Malevi, image by Christina Kekka from Athens, GreeceLight correction by Basile Morin, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In any case, the concept of ablution is also found in Buddhism and expresses a similar sentiment.

Buddhism has a popular custom whereby one performs some kind of ablution with water or incense before approaching a Buddhist altar to pray. It is not strictly required, but is commonly performed as a gesture of respect toward the Buddhist deity you are visiting by cleansing oneself at a superficial level. Within Japanese Buddhism, some sects encourage this more than others; from what I have learned Tendai Buddhism tends to emphasize this a lot, Pure Land Buddhist sects (e.g. Jodo Shu and Jodo Shinshu) do not. The emphasis varies, in other words.

But also ablution in Buddhism is not limited to the external ritual; we also the concept of repentance (e.g. “washing the soul”). This is not the same thing as Western religions, where someone begs God for forgiveness for transgressions committed. Instead, the Buddha strongly encouraged us to constantly evaluate our past conduct, and use the Dharma as a kind of yard-stick to measure them: were they skillful actions, or unskillful actions? Inevitably, one must confront their own unskillful actions. We all do. It is part of being a human being.

So, in Buddhism, many traditions have a ritual were people reflect on their past actions and renounce them, resolving to do better. It is encouraged to do this in front of a statue of the Buddha, and to repeat the liturgy out loud, not just in one’s mind:

All of the misdeeds I’ve committed in the past, are the result of my own greed [or craving], anger and delusion [or ignorance]. I renounce [or repent] these misdeeds.

Translations vary by community, this is just one example.

The idea is that by acknowledging and confessing one’s faults, one not only learns from one’s mistakes, one also potentially diminishes some negative karma that one has sown, and also prevents further self-harm (i.e. guilt, self-recrimination) by letting go and forgiving oneself.

So, just as the old Greek palindrome says, Buddhist practice is not only washing one’s face, but also one’s “soul”.2

Namu Shakamuni Nyorai

P.S. A common misunderstanding is the primary language in the Roman Empire was Latin. In fact, most of the population spoke Greek as their primary language, though this varied widely by region. This prevalence of Greek was both a leftover from the Hellenistic Age, but also because even Romans felt that Greek was a prestige language, and wealthy Romans hired Greek tutors for their children when possible. Julius Caesar’s famous “Et Tu Brute” quote was actually recited in Greek (Kai Su Teknon).

1 I prefer having hard copies of things, whenever possible.

2 Buddhism is somewhat unique among world religions in that it teaches the concept of “no-soul” (anatman), so by “soul” I don’t mean a literal soul, but the mind and one’s provisional self.

Live And Let Live

SPOCK: Insults are effective only where emotion is present.

Star Trek, “Who Mourns for Adonais?” (s2ep2), stardate 3468.1

SPOCK: Where there’s no emotion, there’s no motive for violence.

Star Trek, “Dagger of the Mind” (s1ep9), stardate 2715.1

I wrote about the Buddhist virtue of forbearance before, but I had an important reminder recently why this matters so much in Buddhist practice.

Our natural tendency is to hold a grudge when someone slights us, or when we have been wronged. This is normal human pattern of behavior. But, like self-doubt, this is a form of conceit, putting ourselves and our ego before others.

In the Dhammapada, a collection of sayings attributed to the Buddha and one of the very earliest Buddhist texts still preserved, the Buddha has much to say regarding the subject. For example:

133. Speak not harshly to anyone, for those thus spoken to might retort. Indeed, angry speech hurts, and retaliation may overtake you.

134. If, like a broken gong, you silence yourself, you have approached Nibbana [a.k.a. Nirvana, final Unbiding], for vindictiveness is no longer in you.

The Dhammapada, translation by Acharya Buddharakkhita

The Buddha was uncompromising on this: no vengeance, lest you bring even further misery upon yourself.

Indeed, the Buddha taught by freeing oneself of ill-will and other negative emotions, one is liberated:

197. Happy indeed we live, friendly amidst the hostile. Amidst hostile men we dwell free from hatred.

198. Happy indeed we live, friendly amidst the afflicted (by craving). Amidst afflicted men we dwell free from affliction.

199. Happy indeed we live, free from avarice amidst the avaricious. Amidst the avaricious men we dwell free from avarice.

200. Happy indeed we live, we who possess nothing. Feeders on joy we shall be, like the Radiant Gods.

The Dhammapada, translation by Acharya Buddharakkhita

Of course, this is easier said than done.

As with self-doubt or any negative emotion, stop and think like a Vulcan: assess the situation including your own feelings. Is this productive? Is it harmful? Is it based on conceit?

Spock in season 3 episode 21, the “Cloud Minders”, played by Leonard Nimoy

Many times, we are prone to act or lash out, but if we take a moment to assess our feelings, and the situation, we are more capable of handling it rationally. In so doing, we avoid further misery for ourselves and others.

When the ego is bruised, it demands attention and resolution. But that is short-sighted, and rarely fixes anything.

SEPTIMUS: Our way is peace.

Star Trek, the Son Worshiper, “Bread and Circuses” (s2ep25), stardate 4040.7.

A commitment toward peace and well-being towards others feels counter-intuitive at times, but peace toward others inevitably leads toward peace for oneself.

Namu Shakamuni Butsu

Battlefields

Spock: To expect sense from two mentalities of such extreme viewpoints is not logical.

Star Trek, “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” (s3ep15), Stardate: 5730.2

In the infamous episode of Star Trek, season three, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, we see two aliens who have been chasing and attempting to defeat one another for “50,000 standard years” because the patterns on their faces are different.

“Bele” (L), played by Frank Gorshin, and “Lokai” (R), played by Lou Antonio

In the big climax at the end, they commandeer the Enterprise and return to their home world which is now a dead, lifeless world: their people have annihilated one another in Bele and Lokai’s absence. Rather than giving up, Bele and Lokai beam down to the surface (after an awkward running scene through the hallways) and continue their battle for all eternity.

This scene included stock footage from the Second World War, iirc. Because the war was only a generation earlier, the message was not lost on viewers.

The final dialogue of the episode between the crew is:

SULU: But their planet’s dead. Does it matter now which one’s right? 

SPOCK: Not to Lokai and Bele. All that matters to them is their hate. 

UHURA: Do you suppose that’s all they ever had, sir? 

KIRK: No, but that’s all they have left. 

While the episode exaggerates the topic, it does beg the question: how can people get into such a death spiral of conflict and hatred?

The single most important thing in Buddhism is the mind. Not a god or deity, but the mind. We see the world through our mind, we shape our view of the world through our mind, etc, etc. In a sense, even the gods are a product of the mind.1

The implications of this are really profound, but on a practical level it also helps explain why two seemingly rational adults can have such profoundly different views, to the point of being entirely hostile to one another.

When the Buddha spoke to a wandering ascetic named Vaccha, the Buddha called this need to assert a view-point “I-Making”. In the Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta (MN 72 of the Pali Canon), Vaccha is trying to pin down the Buddha’s stance on this philosophical debate or that. But the Buddha is having none of that:

“A ‘position,’ Vaccha, is something that a Tathāgata [a Buddha] has done away with. What a Tathāgata sees is this: ‘Such is form, such its origination, such its disappearance….Because of this, I say, a Tathāgata—with the ending, fading away, cessation, renunciation, & relinquishment of all suppositions, all excogitations, all I-making & mine-making & obsessions with conceit—is, through lack of clinging/sustenance, released.”

Translation by Ven. Thanissaro Bhikkhu

In modern English, the Buddha is saying that holding onto views and beliefs just “feeds the ego”. By feeding the ego, it also imprisons us.

It’s hard to see this, because we naturally piece together the world around us through our experiences, but no matter who we are, the picture is incomplete and we fill in the rest based on conjecture, belief and hearsay. Nonetheless, if someone attacks our beliefs, it is an attack on our deepest sense of self too. This leads to the death spiral I alluded to earlier: the stronger we try to assert our beliefs (even if they are logical and sound), the more we stir conflict, forcing us to push even harder against perceived resistance.

But, like the honey badger, the Buddha don’t care. And because he has stopped clinging, he has no ego to bruise. Without an ego to bruise, he no longer suffers and is fully liberated.

This sounds far easier than it is, but that’s the gist. Sometimes it’s just better to shut up, don’t assume you know the answer, and just pay attention to the world around you. Imagine a blade of grass bending in the wind.

Afterall, what is the alternative?

P.S. as with the previous post, I started this months ago, and just now catching up.

1 put another way: we create our god by projecting our own ego.