Dharma Talk by Dr.Reeves - Sukhavarti

"Sukhavarti"
October 21, 2001

"Basic Buddhism," usually refers to basic Buddhist doctrines, such as the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Six Practices, and so on. Dr. Gene Reeves, International Advisor to the IBC, however, suggested seven things which seem to be beyond or before such basic Buddhist teachings. His talk this week was entitled "Sukhavarti."

1. Living with suffering
Buddhism begins with suffering, with the experience of suffering, in ourselves and in others. As the first concept of the Four Noble Truths, it is the state of suffering. What is important is feeling the suffering of others, not just some truth or idea about it, but the reality of real suffering. In Buddhism, this truth begins with a story, Shakyamuni left from his comfort place in his palace and met sick, old age and death. What he got from that was experience of other people's suffering. He understood the suffering not in an intellectual way but felt a kind of sympathy for the suffering of other living beings.

2. Living skillfully
The Lotus Sutra's One Buddha-vehicle of skillful means is a way to overcome suffering. It is to live by helping others with skill and intelligence.

3. Living wisely-intelligently
The Bodhisattva way involves helping others with intelligence, insight and understanding. Traditionally this is called "wisdom."

4. Living compassionately
Buddhism proposes a way of behaving and way of life--a life of compassion. Compassion is not primarily an idea, nor is it primarily a part of meditation practice, it is first of all a matter of how we live own lives in relation to other people.

5. Living imaginatively or creatively
Life is a kind of one way ticket. We can not predict our future exactly, therefore Buddhism calls us to challenge and adventure, and to living imaginatively and creatively.

6. Universal Buddha of Buddha Nature
Buddhism, especially the Lotus Sutra, talks of embodying the Buddha in own lives, thereby fulfilling our own Buddha nature.

7. Sukhavarti
Sukhavarti is usually translated into Japanese as "gokuraku." "Goku" means utmost or extreme, and "raku" means happiness or bliss, with overtones of comfort. In Pure Land Buddhism, it is called as "the Pure land," the land of Amida Buddha located in the West.

Buddhism is not about the elimination of suffering. As we see, babies are born crying and, while we hope to die calmly, life is filled with loss and suffering. This is why Buddhist organizations should be about the business of creating happiness of all. Buddhism, however, is, not only for individuals but also for the world, it embodies a global vision. "World peace" is a contemporary term for speaking about the Buddhist notion of Sukhavarti.

Throughout the Lotus Sutra, all are encouraged to develop the Buddha nature that they have in themselves by living the life of a bodhisattva. It summarizes Bodhisattva practices as being two things: transforming individuals into bodhisattvas and purifying Buddha lands.

This world is Shakyamuni's land, not Amida's. As the Buddha said in Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra, "I am the father of this world," he chose this world for himself. This is why enlightened bodhisattvas understand themselves to be transforming this world into a pure land in the tradition of pure land Buddhism.

Dr. Reeves then told a couple of stories found in the Lotus Sutra.

"The Treasure in the Robe" in Chapter 8 is a story about a poor man who one day visited his friend. They drank together and had an enjoyable time. Then the poor man fell asleep in the friend's house. The rich friend took an extremely valuable jewel and sewed it into the poor man's robe in order to help him. In the morning the rich friend went off to work without saying anything to his sleeping friend. Later, the poor man woke up and left the house.

Years later, the two met accidentally in another town. The rich friend saw that his poor friend was still wearing a tattered robe and said to him:

"Wanting you to be in comfort and able to satisfy the five desires , a long time ago?, I sewed a precious jewel into the lining of your robe. It should still be there. In your ignorance you are slaving and worrying to keep yourself alive. How dumb! Go and exchange that jewel for whatever you need. Then you can be free to have whatever you want, and be free from all poverty and want."

After hearing parable, the monks who were in the assembly said to the Buddha as;

"…World-honored One, now we understand that we are really bodhisattvas, assured of attaining supreme awakening. For this we are filled with joy…" This story tells us what the Buddha is trying to do. It is to make us happy and joyous.

Then Dr. Reeves told the story of "The Fantastic Castle" in Chapter 7. It also provides an image of the Buddha's skillful means in guiding human beings to be happy. He concluded his talk by referring to the "Twelve similes" in Chapter 23, "Former Lives of Medicine King."

May all those who are thirsty find cool, clear water.
May those who are cold find a warm fire.
May those who are naked find clothing.
May those who are without leadership find a lead.
May children find their mothers.
May those who need a ferry find a boat.
May those who are sick find a doctor.
May those who are in the dark find a lamp.
May those who are poor find riches.
May those who in need of one find a ruler.
May those who want to trade find the sea.
May those who are in dark find the light.

All of these are images of happiness, of being satisfied and of being rewarded in life. That is what Buddhism is finally about. What is basic to Buddhism finally is the goal of happiness. In Sanskrit this is called "Sukhavarti," which is the goal of happiness, of well-being, even of "salvation" for all.It is a goal which:

always stands before us, never completed
never requires doctrines, but benefits enormously from them
always recognizes our utter interdependence
never requires obedience, but loves faithfulness
always seeks the best that is possible from what is given to us
never requires more of us than we can give
always balances fantastic vision with rootedness in the world
never insists on more than we can do.

"Are your ailments and troubles few? Is your daily life and practice going smoothly? ... Are the affairs of the
world tolerable? Are the living beings easy to save? Are they not excessively greedy, angry, foolish, jealous
and arrogant? .... Don't they have wrong views and inadequate goodness? Are they not unrestrained in their
five emotions?"

Dr. Reeves concluded this talk by suggesting four things Buddhists can do now in response to this tragedy.

First of all, we can express sympathy-sympathy for the victims, their friends and loved ones; sympathy for those who have worked so hard to rescue or treat or comfort victims; and sympathy, too, for those who are now and will suffer from acts of vengeful retaliation.

Second, we can reflect on what contributed to the Tuesday's tragedy. We might ask ourselves, for example, whether by blindly supporting American policies on the Middle East Japan has also contributed to Tuesday's tragedy?

Third, we need to work to spread the dharma. Too few Buddhist voices are being heard in America today. Buddhism is becoming more and more popular in the West, but this week I haven't heard a single Buddhist voice on American television or radio.

Finally, we might cooperate with those who seek peace. Many Christians, Muslims, and Jews are, in a sense, practicing Buddha-dharma without knowing it. Through a variety of international agencies we can try to support them, encourage them in many ways. The same Bible that says, "an eye for an eye" also says, "turn the other cheek." We need to join the peacemakers of every religious tradition, promoting interfaith cooperation and encouraging them to work together to build a more peaceful world.

"Bodhisattva" means one who seeks to be enlightened by working for others. But another meaning of "bodhisattva" is one from whom we can learn, just as Shakyamuni learned from Devadatta. May Tuesday's tragedy be Tuesday's bodhisattva for all of us?