My forty-year high school reunion was truly amazing. The decades may have wrinkled our skin, thinned our hair, and turned us gray, but everyone’s personality was pretty-much intact. Although it was difficult to put a name to a face that had changed so much, memories came flooding back. I only had to say I was sorry one time, which was an improvement from the twenty-year reunion where I had to apologize most of the night for being such a jerk to people. From a Buddhist perspective, it was a most compelling experience. Let me explain.
How rare is to embrace The Way – to walk the path of the dharma in this saha world? It is rare indeed. It is more rare than finding a diamond in a corn field. Attending were some 300 classmates and their partners. They looked wonderful and our spirits corresponded to the fifth world of Rapture or Heaven with an array of mutually possessed worlds. I, Charles, was an observer. This is what I saw:
I observed three hundred people of varying degrees of secular accomplishment and nary an awakened being. When I arrived, I was greeted as a sort of rock star. Yes, everyone was greeted with great enthusiasm. It seems that many if not all my classmates had been following my career – some for quite a while, and most had read my profile. I was treated with a strange sort of awe that I found somewhat uncomfortable. People seemed eager to know what had changed me from an arrogant jock to a compassionate Buddhist, but they really didn’t want to know. With the thunder of so many drunken classmates it was not the right time or place to share the dharma, nor was it possible to hold anyone’s attention for more than a minute or two, as there was so much stimulation in the air. One would have come across as a total bore if they tried to do shakubuku or convert others in such a venue. One classmate told me that he received the Gohonzon in California some thirty years earlier, but didn't do anything with the practice. Even though I never drink alcohol, it was party time, and I watched as my friends got tanked. My friend who received the Gohonzon was too smashed to encourage beyond me saying, "That's Great!" That night, I'm sure he and a hundred others worshiped the Porcelin God.
One of my peculiar traits is wondering who among the crowd – any crowd - is awakened and who most needs to encounter the dharma. As I looked out among my beloved classmates, I realized that none of them had cracked the shell of the lesser ego, and were tied to the wheel of samsara with titanium shackles. Among the numerous profiles of my classmates that I had the honor to read, quite a few mentioned being reborn with their Lord Jesus Christ. I am happy for them if they are happy for themselves. Most of the classmates I encountered were intensely devoted to career and family, while many were obviously a slave to the grape, hops, or those gut buring spirits. The aura of an alcoholic is unmistakable, taking a merciless toll on facial appearence and the slow, yet subtle necrosis of one's vital innards.
So many were concerned with nothing more than the sensory trappings of mundane existence. I never felt above anyone nor did I feel out of place, but the experience made me wonder just how very rare it is to have encountered and embraced the Buddha dharma, let alone for decades. Even though Buddhism is an ancient teaching, I did not feel like some obscure relic of the past, but more like a visitor from the future to a primitive culture. I longed to help them all, but it was neither the time or place for such discussions. Better that I do shakubuku with my life and hope to connect with them later. By shakubuku with my life I mean, to beam with confidence and compassion, allowing other's hopes, dreams, and sufferings to merge into my life like tributaries into the ocean. If one shows sincere interest in others, that act alone surpasses eloquent argument, the flash of wealth or fame, and the mask of prejudice.
As the evening progressed, I engaged as many old friends and acquaintances as possible, enjoying all the stories of their lives that they would share. I listened carefully and without judgment. My experience was 95% listening and observing and 5% talking. The deepest question anyone asked me, besides where to get my book was, “How are you?” My answer was “Amazing.”
My experience drove home the fact that we have a tremendous amount of work to do in terms of spreading the dharma, teaching people how to practice Buddhism, and enabling them to awaken their Buddha nature, thus providing a means to conquer suffering. I suspect that there are many more diamonds to be discoverd in those endless cornfields.