Real Life with Ryuei

Buddhist Perspective - talk given at Greg's Memorial

Hi everyone,

Below is the "Buddhist Perspective" that I gave at the memorial service for Greg Dilley this past Sunday at the SGI's community center in Silicon Valley. This will include the parts that I edited out for the the actual talk, those parts are in italics:

Nichiren Daishonin wrote many letters of condolence and many letters dealing with the crucial issue of life and death. In one letter he wrote: "Once a person is born that person must die - wise men and foolish, eminent and lowly alike all know this to be a fact. Therefore one should not be grieved and alarmed by a person’s death; I know it to be so and teach others to do likewise. And yet when something like this actually happens, I wonder if it is not a dream or an illusion." (WND 2, p. 887)

Nichiren knew very well the Buddhist perspective that life and death are two phases of the Wonderful Dharma, what we call Myo Ho - the sublime or wondrous nature of all phenomena. We usually measure life and death by things that arise and fall due to causes and conditions, things that have a beginning and an end such as our physical forms and mental and emotional states. The changing nature of interdependent causes and conditions is one side, but the other side is the unconditioned true nature of which the passing changes are the superficial expression. The reality of our lives is this Wonderful Dharma that manifests both birth and death but is actually the unconditioned, unborn and deathless true nature of reality. In a key passage from chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha said of his perspective on this triple world of desires, passing forms, and formlessness: "All that I say is true, not false, because I see the triple world as it is. I see that the triple world is the world in which the living beings have neither birth nor death, that is to say, do not appear or disappear; that it is the world in which I do not appear or from which I do not disappear; that it is not real or unreal; and that it is not as it seems or as it does not seem. I do not see the triple world in the same way [as the living of] the triple world do. I see all this clearly and infallibly."

We are each of us, in life and in death, expressions of the unconditioned true nature that transcends birth and death. This true nature we name after the sutra or scripture that awakens us to it - the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Flower Sutra, in Japanese: Myoho Renge Kyo. We express our faith and conviction that this is so by chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo - "Devotion to the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Flower Sutra." In this regard, Nichiren wrote: “Shakyamuni Buddha who attained enlightenment countless kalpas ago, the Lotus Sutra that leads all people to Buddhahood, and we ordinary human beings are in no way different or separate from one another. To chant Myoho Renge Kyo with this realization is to inherit the ultimate Dharma of life and death. This is a matter of the utmost importance for Nichiren’s disciples and lay supporters, and this is what it means to embrace the Lotus Sutra." (WND 1, p. 216)

And yet, Nichiren Daishonin knew that the rather lofty perspective of the Buddha and all the doctrinal explanations of Buddhist philosophizing fall rather flat when a family member, loved one, or good friend is suddenly taken away from us. I honestly couldn't bear to read them now to you, but there are many passages in Nichiren's writings where he expresses his understanding of the shock and loneliness that those left behind feel. In light of this, Nichiren Daishonin began to convey his understanding of the vision of the reality that transcends birth and death in terms of the pure land of Eagle Peak. Eagle Peak is where Shakyamuni Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra, and in the Lotus Sutra it is the scene of a huge assembly that takes place beyond time and space as we normally understand it wherein the truth is revealed fully to all beings. The pure land of Eagle Peak is conveyed warmly and poetically but it is ultimately a state of awakening where we all meet one another in truth. As Nichiren Daishonin wrote: "The way of attaining Buddhahood is just like this. Though we live in the impure land, our hearts reside in the pure land of Eagle Peak. Merely seeing each other’s faces would in itself be insignificant. It is the heart that is important. Someday let us meet at Eagle Peak, where Shakyamuni Buddha dwells." (WND 1, p. 949)

To a woman who had sent him offerings for a prayer service for her late husband Nichiren Daishonin wrote: "Surely your late husband is in the pure land of Eagle Peak, listening and watching over this Saha world day and night. You, his wife, and your children have only mortal sense, so you cannot see or hear him, but be assured that you will eventually be reunited [on Eagle Peak]." (WND 1, p. 456)

What kind of place is this pure land of Eagle Peak, this state beyond birth and death? How do we reach it? How do we awaken to it? Nichiren explains to one of his lay followers: "As a lay believer, the important thing for you is to chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo single-mindedly and to provide support for the Sangha. And if we go by the words of the Lotus Sutra, you should also teach the sutra to the best of your ability. When the world makes you feel downcast, you should chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, remembering that, although the sufferings of this life are painful, those in the next life could be much worse. And when you are happy, you should remember that you happiness in this life is nothing but a dream within a dream, and that the only true happiness is that found in the pure land of Eagle Peak, and with that thought in mind, chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. Continue your practice without backsliding until the final moment of your life, and when that time comes, behold! When you climb the mountain of perfect enlightenment and gaze around you in all directions, then to your amazement you will see that the entire realm of all phenomena is the Land of Tranquil Light. The ground will be of lapis lazuli, and the eight paths will be set apart by golden ropes. Four kinds of flowers will fall from the heavens, and music will resound in the air. All Buddhas and bodhisattvas will be present in complete joy, caressed by the breezes of eternity, happiness, true self, and purity. The time is fast approaching when we too will count ourselves among their number." (WND 1, p. 761)

Each moment we live is a moment encompassing the reality of life and death. How can we meet this moment of life and death? In answer to this, Nichiren Daishonin wrote: "For one who summons up one's faith and chants Namu Myoho Renge Kyo with the profound insight that now is the last moment of one's life, as the sutra proclaims: ‘When the lives of these persons come to an end, they will be received into the hands of a thousand Buddhas, who will free them from all fear and keep them from falling into the evil paths of existence.’ How can we possibly hold back our tears at the inexpressible joy of knowing that not just one or two, not just one hundred or two hundred, but as many as a thousand Buddhas will come to greet us with open arms!" (WND 1, p. 217)

Greg lived his whole life practicing Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, living Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, and sharing Namu Myoho Renge Kyo with others. There is no doubt in my mind that a thousand Buddhas greeted him as the Lotus Sutra promises. In time, if we maintain our faith and awaken to the deathless, a thousand Buddhas will also greeted us, and one of those Buddhas is Greg.

Posted by Ryuei at June 24, 2008 10:00 AM