Dharma Talk by Dr.Reeves - The Good News

"The Good News"
April 07, 2002

The following is an abbreviated version of that talk.

Last Sunday was Easter Sunday, the most important holiday for Christians. Easter tells us that the coming of Christ is good news. In the early days of Christianity, when it spread around the Mediterranean area, Christianity was indeed good news for people who were in slavery, people who were poor, people who were sick, and so on. That good news grew out the experience of the apostle Paul. He had been persecuting Christians. He hated the followers of Jesus. But one day walking on a road, he was grasped suddenly by a powerful insight which changed his life from hatred to love. He realized then that anyone's life could be changed. He though that one of the most important things that could happen to a human being was to have their life transformed into a way of love or compassion. He called this "resurrection." Resurrection, for him, meant for one's life to radically transformed from darkness or death to life and love. This is the Christian good news, brought to the sick, the enslaved and the poor. Shakyamuni was born with a different cultural background, one that included what we call "caste," a social system based on the religious texts of India. Saying that all that we normally see and think is mere illusion, it depreciated this world and the lives of human beings. Everything should be accepted, it said, just as it is. In this system every part of one's life was destined. One could not do anything to improve one's lot in this life. If we are born the child of a slave, one must always be a slave. If we are born as a woman, whose role in those days was to serve, we had to live as a slave. If lucky, a woman might be born as a man the next time, but for now she should accept her servitude.

This was the kind of world in which Shakyamuni was born. After his enlightenment, he started the Buddhist Sangha, a community in which people could opt out of the traditional life and become a monk or nun and serve the Dharma. They could change their lives by leaving their traditional lives behind to follow the Buddha. The Buddha went through an experience of awakening under the bodhi-tree, the tree of awakening. Though no one can know what the content of the experience was exactly, according to his teachings it is assumed that it was a very profound and deep insight into "causation." It means that there are reasons for the way of all things are. Nothing happens for no reason. If we want to understand present circumstance, whether it is social or personal, we have to understand the causes. But it is terribly important to realize that if we are results of the past, we are also causes of the future. What Shakyamuni had begun to offer people was this kind of alternative, a monastic way of life that eliminated hereditary caste, the four stages of life, the guru system, religious sacrifice, etc..

Probably Shakyamuni did not concern himself with changing the whole society. He basically offered people an opportunity to change their lives by leaving the world behind and joining the Sangha. It was, however, not so long before people began to realize that the Buddha's teachings, the dharma, had profound social implications. Gradually, in the years following the death of Shakyamuni, who had died as an ordinary human being, the Buddhist tradition began to adapt to new circumstances. Some began to think that the teachings of Shakyamuni included a profound concern for society. This movement which took shape gradually over centuries, called itself the "Mahayana," the Great Vehicle.

Among the Mahayana sutras, perhaps the most important is the Lotus Sutra, the full title of which is, "the Sutra of the Flowering of the Wonderful Dharma."

One of the ways in which the Mahayana defined itself was by stressing the importance of the world, and of working in the world by helping others. Where some earlier Buddhists had stressed the importance of the individual experience of awakening, the Mahayana says: "That is good, even wonderful, but not enough. You need to practice awakening. Implement it in your daily life, by following the bodhisattva way of helping others, in the world."

Meditation, reciting (even "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo"), studying (even the Lotus Sutra), copying and all those things thought of as Buddhist practices, are important, but they are not enough. In the Mahayana tradition, we have to bring the Buddha and the dharma into our bodies, and make them live through our own hands and feet. Our mind and mental life are very important. Our heart or will and emotional life are very important. But so is our body. This is the teaching of the Mahayana. This is the teaching of the bodhisattva way, the way of being in the world, and the way of helping others as the way of becoming a Buddha.

It is not only for those who call themselves bodhisattvas, however. In the Lotus Sutra. shravakas (traditional monks), beggars and even Shakyamuni Buddha are bodhisattvas. Shakyamuni is described as one who has practiced the bodhisattva way for countless years, and is not finished yet. The central message of the Lotus Sutra is that all of us are also bodhisattvas, whether we know it or not.

Dr. Reeves explained the meaning of being a bodhisattva by discussing the three parables found in Chapters 4, 8 and 12 of the Lotus Sutra.

Chapter 8, the story of "the gem in the hem"

A poor man, one day, visited his good friend who was rich. The poor man became drunk and fell asleep.
The friend, later having to leave to take care of his business, put a priceless jewel inside the robe of his sleeping
friend and left. After a while the man woke up and went to another place, where he had great difficulty earning
enough for food and clothing. Eventually he happened to meet the rich friend again, who scolded him, and
explained that he had given him the jewel so that he would not have to struggle so much. Then he told his poor
friend to use the hidden jewel to buy whatever he wanted so that he would no longer be poor.

The Buddha is like that rich friend. He reminds us of roots which were planted long ago. The poor man, satisfied with what little he had already attained, does not realize that he is in reality a bodhisattva who will attain supreme awakening. This story means that no matter how poor we are in spirit, we too can be rich. In fact we are already rich, but we just don't know it. We have riches inside of us that we need to discover. We have riches deep inside of us that cannot be taken away from us.

Chapter 4, the story of "the poor son and rich father"

There was a man who as a boy had run away from his father and lived a life of desperate poverty, moving from place to place in search of menial work. Meanwhile his father, who had become extremely rich and powerful, searched everywhere in vain for the lost son. One day the son accidentally came to the town where the father lived. There he saw his father in the distance but did not recognize him, and fled in fear of such great wealth and power. The father, secretly longing for him for many decades and wanting to give his wealth to his son, recognized the man immediately and sent a servant after him. When the servant caught up with him, the son, fearing that he would be forced to work or even be killed, pleaded that he had done no wrong, fainted and fell to the ground. Seeing this, the father told the servant to douse him with cold water to bring him to, tell him he can go wherever he likes, and then leave him alone. The son then went to another village to seek food and clothing. Later, the father secretly sent two servants to go to the son and offer to hire him to work with them at double-pay shoveling dung. To this, the son agreed. Later, seeing how poorly the son looked, the father, disguised as a lowly worker, went to the son, praised his work and promised him better wages and treatment to continue to work for him and assume greater responsibilities, explaining that as he was old he wanted to treat the man as a son. The poor man was pleased, and continued to shovel dung for another twenty years, gradually becoming more confident and more trusted by the father. Eventually the rich man became ill. Knowing he would die soon, he asked the poor man to take charge of his various properties and businesses. As the time of death grew near, the father called together various officials and all of his relatives and friends and servants and revealed to them that the poor man was in fact his son and would inherit all of his wealth. Thus, enormous wealth came to the poor man quite unexpectedly and he was very amazed.

The meaning of this story is that we too can be responsible and wealthy human beings whether male or female, whether rich or poor or whatever the conditions of our lives are. Most important is to notice that the son who was eventually replaced his father, who represents the Buddha, is ourselves. We too can be Buddha. This is our inheritance.

Chapter 12, the story of "the dragon princess"

A bodhisattva called Accumulated Wisdom asked Manjushri Bodhisattva whether he knew of anyone who had followed the Sutra so strenuously that he was qualified to become a Buddha instantly. And Manjushri replied, "Yes, the clever eight-year-old daughter of the Dragon-King. She has entered deeply into meditation, has understood everything, is eloquent and compassionate, etc. She is capable of becoming a Buddha instantly."Accumulated Wisdom, recalling that Shakyamuni had devoted much time and effort to achieving awakening, expressed doubt that this girl could do so instantly. Then the girl came to Shakyamuni and praised him, expressing the thought that she was qualified to attain awakening because she had heard the dharma and preached the Mahayana and saved all from suffering.Then Shariputra spoke to her, expressing conventional belief: "It is impossible to believe that you could soon achieve awakening; the body of a woman is too filthy even to receive the dharma! Only those who have practiced strenuously over many eons can become truly enlightened." Taking a jewel she had with her, the girl offered it to the Buddha, and he received it immediately. Then she asked Shariputra and Accumulated Wisdom whether the Buddha had received the gem quickly or not, to which both of them responded, "Very quickly." And she said, "Watch me with your divine powers and I will become a Buddha even more quickly!" Thereupon the whole congregation saw her suddenly change into a man, do the bodhisattva practices, go to the pure world in the South, sit on a jeweled lotus flower, attain supreme awakening, acquire the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks of a Buddha, and begin teaching the Dharma.

From this story, we can understand that we too can be a Buddha whether young or old, rich or poor, healthy or sick, male of female, even whether we are good or bad. The teaching of the Lotus Sutra is that every single human being has within them the wonderful, magical capacity to enter the bodhisattva path, becoming a Buddha.

Rev. Reeves concluded his talk by saying: "This is the good news which the Lotus Sutra brings us."

"You too can be rich, enriched by the Dharma, you too can be proud, responsible, and successful in what you undertake, you too can be a bodhisattva by being helpful to others, and you too can be a Buddha.” Inside of us, the Buddha is already there, waiting to be let out.

And that is one important meaning of the legend of the Buddha being born from the side of his mother--being born as a little adult, as a Buddha before he became a Buddha under the bodhi-tree. That story expresses the idea that there was a little Buddha in Queen Maya. So, too, there is a Buddha in each of us, waiting to be born.

Dharma Talk by Dr.Reeves - Ride the White Elephant

"Ride the White Elephant"
February 03, 2002

Rev. Gene Reeves gave a Dharma Talk this week entitled "Ride the White Elephant."

Universal Sage Bodhisattva, whose Sanskrit name is Samantabhadra, in Japanese is called "Fugen[i]." The literal meaning of the second Chinese character includes both "virtue" and "wisdom." The English translation, "sage" combines these two meanings. This Bodhisattva is often portrayed representing practical wisdom. He is usually found to the left of the Buddha, with Manjushuri[ii], representing wisdom, on the right.

Entering the Great Sacred Hall (Daiseido) of Rissho Kosei-kai, we find three portraits: Universal Sage Bodhisattva in center, Manjushuri Bodhisattva on the right and Maitreya[iii] Bodhisattva on the left. I think this order is unique, probably an idea of Nikkyo Niwano, the founder of Rissho Kosei-kai. It can identify an integration into daily practice of Manjushuri's wisdom and Maitreya's compassion.

In the Chapter 28 of the Lotus Sutra, "Universal Sage Bodhisattva," it is said that Universal Sage rides a white elephant, a symbol of purity. The elephant has six tusks that identify either the six perfections or purification of the six senses. The elephant usually walks on lotus flowers or wears them like shoes. His symbol is the cintamani, the wish fulfilling jewel.

Universal Sage Bodhisattva has two important aspects-- "interdependence" and "practice." He is an embodiment of these two virtues.

Interdependence is a central idea of Buddhism, an attempt to put its central vision into words, but it is extremely difficult to understand clearly. The primal purpose of the Flower Garland Sutra (Avatamsaka / Kegon) is to lead people to a certain kind of meditation, a visualization, in which people see this Bodhisattva in their mind's eye. Within the vision, Universal Sage sees all the Buddhas in all the worlds of the universe. Then within each of the atoms of those worlds, he sees a Buddha, and before each of those Buddhas there is another Universal Sage Bodhisattva who, in turn, sees all of the Buddhas. This is complicated, but the idea is that everything reflects everything else and is an integration of all things. It is a kind of Buddhist vision of the interrelatedness and unity of everything in the universe.

While Hinduism emphasizes that all is one and differences are illusions, Buddhism wants us to understand such differences as equally real but within an interrelated harmony. The vision of Universal Sage expresses the combination of a real many within a real unity through the ideas of interrelatedness or interconnectedness. The Tendai teaching of three thousands worlds in one moment of experience[iv] tells us that every experience is influence by the whole universe. Thus sometimes in meditation, we can gain a kind of feeling of oneness or interrelatedness. This interrelatedness of the whole universe in all beings is one of the aspects of Universal Sage Bodhisattva. That is why the Flower Garland Sutra is known in the West as an ecological sutra. In our capitalistic world, one of the highest virtues is independence, a kind of measure of maturity in Western culture. However, in recent years people have discovered that having independence a primary virtue can be a big mistake. People are coming to realize, as Buddhists did centuries ago, that all events in this world affect us directly or indirectly.

In the IBC we recite a "Transfer of Merit." This also comes from this aspect of Universal Sage Bodhisattva. It is very interesting that Buddhist teachings tell us that we can gain merit by transferring merit. It is a kind of "Win Win Game." It is similar to the idea of gaining one's own salvation by saving others, which is often taught in Buddhism. Thus, the Transfer of Merit is a ritual embodiment of the idea of interdependence.

The vision of Universal Sage Bodhisattva, and our vision of him, is an aesthetic vision--a vision which arises out of a profound sense integration, of relatedness, of wholeness, which is finally a vision of beauty.

The second aspect of Universal Sage Bodhisattva is "practice." There are many kinds of Buddhist practice. In America, meditation is often thought of as being equivalent to Buddhist practice. Americans sometimes ask, "how long do you practice every day?" In East Asia, however, the primary practice is sutra recitation. In the Sutra of Meditation on the Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva, we are taught about "Repentance Practice." Visualization is another kind of practice, as is yoga. All of these are kinds of Buddhist practices and all are important.

The most important Buddhist practice, however, is embodying the Dharma, also known as the bodhisattva way. It is to have the Dharma alive in our daily lives in this world. In other words, it is doing the Buddha's work in this world. The Bodhisattva's vow or promise is to try to save all the living. Thus, the mission of Buddhists in this world is to make the Dharma live and to make the Buddha live. We need to embody the Dharma in this world in whatever ways we can, not only with our mouths and hearts, but with our whole bodies.

Universal Sage Bodhisattva is a symbol of the integration of two notions--one which is the most abstract and complicated of ideas, the interdependence of all, and the simple idea of embodying the Dharma in the world.

Embodying the Dharma with skillful means also requires an integration of wisdom and compassion. It is not just a matter of being wise or just a matter of being compassionate. It is important to be both. Practicing without intelligence is stupid. But we are not going to be motivated to practice without compassion. Wisdom, compassion and practice have to be together, and Universal Sage Bodhisattva symbolizes this.

The lion, carrying Manjushuri, the embodiment of wisdom, can represent the realization of truth, a kind of king of the universe. The cow, carrying Maitreya, the embodiment of compassion, can represent gentleness, generosity and caring for others. The great white elephant carrying Universal Sage, the embodiment of practice, can represent the sturdy determination and great power to do the Buddha's work in this world.

Like all other great bodhisattvas, including Wonderful Voice, Kuan-yin, Manjushuri, Maitreya and others, Universal Sage is famous for hidden practice, for being disguised as a very lowly person. He is said to be both everywhere in the universe and extremely difficult to see, but at times he can be seen anywhere, by anyone, and in anyone. He is among ordinary people, among us, practicing where we do not see him.

So, when we ride the lion or the cow or the elephant of these great bodhisattvas, we should not imagine ourselves riding above the masses of ordinary people, or riding to some place in the heavens above.

Rather, we should understand these great animals--the great king lion of Manjushuri, the wonderful and sad and compassionate cow of Maitreya, and the great white elephant with six tusks of Universal Sage Bodhisattva--as taking us to the people, taking us not onto the mountain tops, but into the valleys and low places where ordinary living beings struggle in this world where suffering has to be endured. It is only here that we can reveal our own bodhisattva natures.

[i]普賢

[ii]文殊

[iii]弥勒

[iv]一念三千

Dharma Talk by Dr.Reeves - New Year's Hopes

"New Year's Hopes"
January 13, 2002

Dr. Gene Reeves, International Advisor to the IBC, gave a talk entitled "New Year's Hopes." First, he spoke about a New Year's ceremony held at a Unitarian Church in Ohio.

Some years ago I was the minister of a Unitarian Church in the city of Dayton. In that church we used to have a unique New Year's celebration. The first part of the celebration was a funeral for the previous year. Participants brought something symbolic of things that had occurred in the previous year that they wanted to get rid of or put behind them, and they put these symbolic things into a coffin at the front of the room. Some people remembered things in the world at large, like the tragedy that happened last September in New York, others brought things eminding them of something that had happened in the city, other things reminiscent of things that had happened in their personal lives. Some shared the meaning of what they were putting in the coffin the congregation. Others kept them secret.

A similar idea of putting unpleasant things behind can be found in Buddhism. In many Buddhist temples in places of Chinese culture, we find that one of the common activities is exorcism. Somebody who has some kind of evil or bad spirit in them comes to the temple, and an exorcist helps them to get rid of an evil spirit which is bothering them. It is a kind of putting bad things behind. In Japan, I also notice that the expression "cutting karma" reflects a kind of putting something behind.

Our relationship to the past is always a kind of interesting mixture of keeping good memories and putting bad behind. It does not mean you can completely get rid of the bad things in your past, because the memories are always there, but it does mean that we have this kind of mixed relationship to the past, of both gratitude and regret.

Buddhists sometimes talk about cutting karma and putting things behind us. However what seems to me to be much more important in the Buddhist tradition is encouraging us to look at the past as a way of understanding the present. There is an enormous amount of emphasis in the whole Buddhist tradition on what we call causality, on causes and conditions, innen. It insists that if we want to understand our present problems or our present joys, we have to analyze and look to the past. This is strongly emphasized in Buddhism.

The term for causes and conditions has several meanings in the Lotus Sutra. It sometimes refers to a kind of the philosophical notion of causes and conditions, which is the literal translation. It is also used to mean stories about previous lives, which is also a way of explaining the present by the past. At the very beginning of the Sutra, in the Chapter 1, Manjushuri tells a story about a previous time and previous lives of himself (as Wonderful Light) and Maitreya (as Fame Seeker), when there was another Buddha (Sun and Moon Light), in order to explain the present miracles -- the omens, especially, the ray of light from Shakyamuni Buddha.

This means that if we understand what has happened before, we can understand, to some extent, what is going on now.

When the Lotus Sutra tells stories of previous lives, it is not putting the past behind. It is to keep, and understand or explain something in the past for the purpose of understanding the present. One of remarkable things in the Lotus Sutra as religious literature is its emphasis on the positive acceptance of the past as something for which we should be grateful, even when such things seem primarily negative.

The Devadatta story is a good example. The Buddha wanted to explain why he was going to announce that Devadatta would become a Buddha. He might have said, because Devadatta has Buddha nature, but that term was not available. He tells a story. "Once upon a time there was a sage, Devadatta in a former life, and I was a king in that life, and the sage guided me." The story is a way of saying that a good past lives within the present Devadatta.

When we look at the structure of the Lotus Sutra, we will find that one of the central messages is that everyone has the power and potential of becoming Buddha. As it says, "everyone has…," I think the people who compiled the Lotus Sutra wanted to say that everyone really means "we." We can all accept the abstract idea that everyone has this power, but it is hard to believe that "I" do. To make this point stronger, it says "everyone," including Devadatta who had been thought as an embodiment of evil.

Throughout the Lotus Sutra we can find expressions saying, "He will be able to become Buddha because he planted good roots or seeds somewhere in the past…." These phrases tell us that if we do good things, we can be assured that they will have good consequences. Of course, the opposite is also true, even going to a hell. But the Lotus Sutra does not say much about this. It emphasizes, "Do good and you will get good results." Instead of trying to frighten you out of doing bad things, it encourages you to do good things.

In the church in Dayton, the first half part of New Year's celebration was a funeral at the end of which pallbearers took the coffin away. Then the second part begun as a ceremony welcoming the New Year. In this part, people danced and looked forward to the New Year with hope. We tried to find ways to express our hopes for the New Year.

Rev. Reeves then gave a Buddhist perspective on hope.

A central message in the whole Buddhist tradition is to give us hope. Buddhism promises that your life and our lives can be better in the future. At the beginning of the Chapter 3, Shariputra, a shravaka who had heard the Buddha preach in the previous chapter, was filled with ecstatic joy. He realized that he too was in fact a bodhisattva, one who was becoming a Buddha. He had thought that assurance of becoming a Buddha did not apply to him. But in the story in chapter 3, he was promised by Buddha that he to would become Buddha. He was given a kind of hope, and a kind of taste of awakening and enlightenment. The Lotus Sutra is filled with such assurances. It teaches us that we can do better and invites us to imagine ourselves doing better.

But this hope is sometimes misunderstood. It should not be understood as a kind of prediction or forecast, like a weather report. Nor is like Old Testament prophecy, which is always a kind of bad news of punishments to come. The Lotus Sutra does not emphasis punishment. That is not the point. The point is to hold out promise of becoming a Buddha.

Hope is not a matter of certainty but a kind of assurance. You have the power and the potential to do wonderful things and to be bodhisattvas and to become Buddhas. But there is nothing guaranteed about this. What is guaranteed is that you can practice the teachings. You can develop even liberate or free your Buddha nature and your ability to help others. You can be bodhisattva just as Shakyamuni Buddha himself was a bodhisattva. You can discover the Buddha nature in others - in your son or daughter, your husband or wife. You can discover the Buddha nature in your boss or in the person who sweeps the floor,
in your friends and in your enemies. You can see a Buddha in anyone.

My hope for 2002 is that all of us see countless, innumerable, unlimited numbers of Buddhas, as many as the sands of the Ganges!


We should know, Reeves concluded, that this place is the place of awakened practice!

"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?