Real Life with Ryuei

The Wonderful Dharma as taught by Mr. Rogers

Hi everyone,

When I grew up I know that I watched Mr. Rogers. I don't know how much, but I think quite a bit before I was my daughter's age. I all but forgot about him until one day listening to the radio when Howard Stern sent one of his stooges (Stuttering John I think) to harass Mr. Rogers as he does to so many stuffed shirts and other celebrities. But Mr. Rogers was no stuffed shirt and was not even fazed. Stuttering John yelled out, "Mr. Rogers, wouldn't you like to gun down O.J. Simpson with a machine gun?" Mr. Rogers, without missing a beat and in a voice that was so calm and gentle, just turned the question back and said, "Would you?" Neither Stuttering John nor Stern nor anyone else could reply to that - their mean-spirited silliness had been deftly turned back on them. Howard Stern used to have that reply "Would you?" replayed every so often - but I don't recall him ever making fun of it. And the tone of it was amazing - it was the tone of a man who was not offended, nor was he even being condescending, nor was he being taken in. He was simply turning the question back. To me it sounded as if he were asking, "Even as a joke, is this something you should want to be doing?" It wasn't a dodge - it had become a contemplation of character. So simple and kind. No other celebrity even came close to respondinig in such a manner to Stern's silly pranks - most just got in a huff or laughed it off (at best). It was on that day that I realized that Mr. Rogers was really and truly what he presented himself to be - and something finer than most of us ever even aspire to.

When Mr. Rogers passed away I read the obituaries and tributes to him and was even more amazed at all he had done and accomplished. By all accounts he was truly a sincere, caring, calm and contemplative individual. A real bodhisattva, as we Buddhists would say. In other words, he was everything we would say a bodhisattva should be - except that he didn't explicitly teach the Dharma. In fact, he was a Presbyterian minister (I hadn't known that).

Now just yesterday I came across a little remaindered book that collected many things Mr. Rogers had said or written. I read through it in less than an hour and was just astounded. The book is called Life's Journeys According to Mister Rogers: Things to Remember Along the Way. I'd like to share some excerpts from it because they sound to me like how someone today would express the key teachings of Buddhism without at all referncing any Buddhist jargon or myths. Just plain universal language for all humanity.

So for instance the last verses of chapter 16 that Nichiren Buddhists recite for their daily practice has the Eternal Buddha (i.e. the True Nature of Reality speaking as the person Shakyamuni Buddha):

"I am always thinking:
How shall I cause all living beings
to enter into the unsurpassed way
and quickly become Buddhas?"

Now here is what Mr. Rogers says:

"I believe that at the center of the universe there dwells a loving spirit who longs for all that's best in all of creation, a spirit who knows the great potential of each planet as well as each person, and little by little will love us into being more than we ever dreamed possible. That loving spirit would rather die than give up on any one of us."

Another example, in chapter 20 of the Lotus Sutra there is a story of a Bodhisattva named Never Despise whose only practice is to bow to everyone he meets and say to them:

"I deeply respect you. I would never be disrespectful or arrogant towards you. Why? Because all of you are practicing the bodhisattva way and surely will become buddhas."

Now, Mr. Rogers:

"For a long time, I've wondered why I felt like bowing when people showed their appreciation for the work that I've been privileged to do. It's been a kind of natural response to a feeling of great gratitude. What I've come to understand is that we who bow are probably - whether we know it or not - acknowledging the presence of the sacred. We're bowing to the sacred in our neighbor.

"You see, I believe that appreciation is a holy thing - that when we look for what's best in a person we happen to be with at the moment, we're doing what God does all the time. So in loving and appreciating our neighbor, we're participating in something sacred.

"As I bow, I always feel like saying, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.'"

In chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha states that there is one great cause for which the Buddhas appear in the world:

"The buddhas, the world honored ones, appear in the world because they want living beings to develop their buddha knowledge and insight and thus gain a kind of purity. They appear in the world because they want to demonstrate the buddha's knowledge and insight to living beings. They appear in the world because they want livinig beings to apprehend with the buddha's knowledge and insight. They appear in the world because they want living beings to enter into the way of the Buddha knowledge and insight. This alone is the one great cause, Shariputra, for which the buddhas appear in the world." (taken from Gene Reeve's translation)

Now, Mr. Rogers:

"Are you able to believe in a loving presence who desires the best for you and the whole universe?

"With all the sadness and destruction, negativity and rage expressed throughout the world, it's tough not to wonder where the living presence is. Well, we don't have to look very far. Deep within each of us is a spark of the divine just waiting to be used to light up a dark place. The only thing is - we have the free choice of using it or not. That's part of the mysterious truth of who we human beings are."

And of course Buddhism, and many passages in the Lotus Sutra, praise the bodhisattvas for taking time out for solitude and meditation. Some people mistakenly think Buddhism can be reduced to meditation. It cannot, but it is nevertheless an integral part of Buddhism - the ability to just be present without trying to add or take anything away from. Much of what Mr. Rogers says addresses this ability to be present in this way, but one passage addressed meditation itself:

"Here's a gift you may not have expected. It's a gift to give yourself. Sometime in your day today, try to turn off all the noises you can around you, and give yourself some 'quiet time.' In the silence, let yourself think about something. Or if possible...think about nothing.

"Most of us have so few moments like that in our lives. There's noise everywhere. There are some places we can't even escape it. Television and radio are problably the worst culprits. They are very seductive. It's so tempting for some people to turn on the television set or the radio when they first walk into a room or get in the car...to fill any space with noise. I wonder what some people are afraid might happen in the silence. Some of us must have forgotten how nourishing silence can be.

"This kind of solitude goes by many names. It may be called 'meditation' or 'deep relaxation', 'quiet time', or 'downtime.' In some circles, it may even be criticized as 'daydreaming.' Whatever it's called, it's a time away from outside stimulation, during which inner turbulence can settle, and we have a chance of becoming more familiar to ourselves.

"How many times have you noticed it's the little quiet moments in the midst of life that seem to give the rest extra-special meaning?"

Frankly, I'd like to cite the whole book. He talks about letting go, compassionately understanding others, accepting ourselves, the redeemability of even our worst qualities, and most of all about being loving and kind to ourselves and our neighbors. There is even one passage where he talks about something the Dalai Lama said that he really took to heart.

The point is that in reading these passages I realize anew what real spiritual maturity looks like and that it is possible to convey the key meanings of the Lotus Sutra and Buddhism in simple direct language without the need for jargon or esoteric allusions. Mr. Rogers is, I think, one of the 20th centuries most direct, deeply ecumenical, simple, unaffected, and supremely authentic of awakened teachers. In some ways I think he taught Buddha Dharma much more effectively precisely because he was not a Buddhist and did it so gently and inconspicuously.

I can only wonder how much of what I must have learned from his show rested in my heart and provided me with such a sense of recognition when I did encounter Buddha Dharma in high school and college?

I am also sure, that many kids may have had a similar recognition in encountering the best of other traditions as well when they grew up - including Christianity, the tradition Mr. Rogers was a minister in. Probably the Christianity they learned and practice looks very different from what most people think or expect or act out. It probably looks a lot like what the Lotus Sutra describes:

"With great compassion as their room,
Gentleness and patience as their robe,
And the emptiness of all things as their seat.
Doing this, they should teach the Dharma."

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei

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Posted by Ryuei at January 16, 2008 11:55 AM