Dharma Talk by Dr. Reeves - Doing Good

"Doing Good"
May 27, 2001

Before the service, the Venerable Biku Narathevo, a Japanese monk of Wat Pa Sukato, Thamafaiwan Village in Thailand, gave a talk about meditation in the Theravada tradition. He explained that meditation is to gaze at one's self. "Although we can hear sounds of our external world, it is sometime difficult to hear the voice of own hearts," he said. "In order to hear that voice, wisdom is needed and not knowledge. There will be a release from a state of slavery through introspection with the eye of wisdom." This was followed by a lesson on the practice of meditation.Dr. Gene Reeves' Dharma talk was entitled as "Doing Good."

Although asking, "What is your gohonzon (focus of devotion)?" is important among Buddhists in Japan, a more important question among Western Buddhists is, "What is your main practice?"

In East Asian countries including Japan, chanting and meditation are both popular, and members of Rissho Kosei-kai also practice chanting. Zen has become popular in West, in part due to Japanese teachers. Consequently, meditation is often equated with Buddhist practice. People often ask, "How many hours a day do you practice?"

The Lotus Sutra, however, emphasizes "practice" as a matter of following the bodhisattva way. Yet this practice is sometimes understood in complicated ways. The Lotus Sutra often speaks of the importance of the six practices (generosity, morality, patient endurance of hardship, perseverance, meditation and wisdom) which are associated with the bodhisattva way. In other sutras various levels of bodhisattva practice are distinguished Thus, practicing the bodhisattva way may seem complicated and especially difficult.

Dr. Reeves, however, said that the basic idea of the bodhisattva way is quite simple-"doing good." In Chapter Two of the Lotus Sutra, the Chapter on Skillful Means, it is said that:

"Sinful living beings, because of the evil they have done in the past throughout immeasurable kalpas, fail to hear the names of the three treasures. But those who do good, are gentle and do what is right will all see me here teaching the Dharma."

Chapter 20 of the Sutra is the story about a bodhisattva called "Never Disrespectful." This bodhisattva did not chant sutras. He did not meditate. He did not go to temples. He did not do anything that had been thought of as bodhisattva practices. What he did was to bow in respect before everyone he met, whether monk, nun, laymen or laywomen, and praise them saying, "I deeply respect you. I would never dare to be disrespectful or arrogant toward you. Why? Because all of you are practicing the bodhisattva way and surely will become Buddhas."

For a long time people despised him for this. Sometimes he had to run and hide behind a tree to escape from the stones and sticks they threw at him. But later the extremely arrogant monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen who had slighted and shown contempt for this man and given him the name "Never Disrespectful," seeing his great goodness and tranquility and having heard him preach, believed in him and followed him. This bodhisattva transformed a multitude of a thousand, ten thousands of millions enabling them to live in a state of supreme awakening. And it is written that this bodhisattva went on eventually to become Shakyamuni Buddha.

Dr. Reeves concluded his talk by saying "In simple acts of kindness, we too can become the hands and feet of Shakyamuni Buddha. This is a core message of the Lotus Sutra. We believe in the eternal life of Shakyamuni Buddha. This means that his life depends on our hands and our feet. This is one very important reason why Shakyamuni Buddha is alive in the world of today. The Lotus Sutra encourages us to take the bodhisattva way by being kind to our friends, our neighbors and to all people. That is the truth which brings joy to the hearts of all the living!"