Real Life with Ryuei

That is a good question. I do think it's a positive step when you become self-aware. To me that is a sign of becoming a buddha. I wonder how many people have been annoyed on the bus, but have never stopped to consider their own effect on the atmosphere.

Nightclub
Billy Collins

You are so beautiful and I am a fool
to be in love with you
is a theme that keeps coming up
in songs and poems.
There seems to be no room for variation.
I have never heard anyone sing
I am so beautiful
and you are a fool to be in love with me,
even though this notion has surely
crossed the minds of women and men alike.
You are so beautiful, too bad you are a fool
is another one you don't hear.
Or, you are a fool to consider me beautiful.
That one you will never hear, guaranteed.

For no particular reason this afternoon
I am listening to Johnny Hartman
whose dark voice can curl around
the concepts on love, beauty, and foolishness
like no one else's can.
It feels like smoke curling up from a cigarette
someone left burning on a baby grand piano
around three o'clock in the morning;
smoke that billows up into the bright lights
while out there in the darkness
some of the beautiful fools have gathered
around little tables to listen,
some with their eyes closed,
others leaning forward into the music
as if it were holding them up,
or twirling the loose ice in a glass,
slipping by degrees into a rhythmic dream.

Yes, there is all this foolish beauty,
borne beyond midnight,
that has no desire to go home,
especially now when everyone in the room
is watching the large man with the tenor sax
that hangs from his neck like a golden fish.
He moves forward to the edge of the stage
and hands the instrument down to me
and nods that I should play.
So I put the mouthpiece to my lips
and blow into it with all my living breath.
We are all so foolish,
my long bebop solo begins by saying,
so damn foolish
we have become beautiful without even knowing it.

I had an experience some time ago, when my wife's IDs were lost. We had to deal with lots of different officials; the Philippines consulate, Homeland Security, the local Courthouse, the County Clerk, Social Security, the Police Department, the Driver's License Bureau, the Post Office. None of the above are famous for being especially helpful.

Around then, I was intensely into metta-karuna cultivations. As such, I had begun to notice the subtle positive influence I could have on people. Conversely, that also made me aware that had failed, in the past, to have that influence.

My wife is Catholic and more conservative than me, btw, fwiw. At one point, she asked me why all of those people were being so nice to us; trying to help us. Not just the clerks; but also people in traffic, people on the street, people in lines; they were all smiling and courteous.

I explained that they were smiling because we are funny looking, and helpful because they felt sorry for us. :)

One thing, is to be aware; but not conscious of being aware. It is getting rid of that second citta that is observing ourselves observing. We can not say to ourselves 'be patient' -- we either are or we are not. The same with compassion.

How can we be compassionate toward the frumpy clerk who has been ill treated by others all day? If she annoys us, attempting to be nice back is fake. If we feel authentic empathy, it is natural, and she picks up on it.

I also say we can not be become compassionate by doing forced acts of compassion. That is two mind compassion. There is also contrived politeness; and natural politeness. The latter comes from actually being attentive and considerate.

If I see someone acting like a fool, or rudely, I feel embarrassed for them; then instantly forgive.

May all beings be at ease!

Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings

Dear Ruyei,

How challenging, especially for you, kind soul that you are. I live in a small town with a major university where I work and was/am exposed to students whose manners vary widely. This bothers me, too. As, like you, one who intends to function as a Buddha, I realized that past, present, and future all exist at the same time. So, what I do with my morning gongyo is to explain, even COMPLAIN to my Gohonzon how far my city is from the Buddha's Land and how much I care about each and every being in it (the last part of the Jigage). There is nothing like the desperation enjoined by other peoples' rudeness to drive my daimoku for their growth along the Way, I have found, and it has driven me to considerable lengths.

Once I have attained the C in the Air, I frankly discuss with the Gohonzon the behavior of these besotted and rude beings that I have had to encounter and may encounter again. When I get to the part where I chant daimoku, I send at least one daimoku straight to the Buddha nature of every person I will be dealing with or seeing in the day's future. I have to interact closely with some very rude people, too, all day, and this is what I do. At least I know, as a human, I have done all I could do for them, per se, as a Bodhisattva, bearing in mind my own ethical behavior to the highest degree possible.

Sometimes, I also chant for these difficult beings to develop their consciences as they do abuse me (I do zange) and/or for their enlightenment, but mostly for their Buddha natures and for them to be able to grow correctly in the Way.

Bearing in mind the life condition that Robin has described to me before with Metta waves, I almost consciously try to uplevel the vibrational frequency of those who would be rude around/to me. We each have our Buddha's Land, don't we?, however we might define that, family, work, city, state, Country, etc.

When I get home at night and do the sutra, I revisit the day and send d's to those who need it specifically, both for reinforcement for good behavior (good effects that they will realize and see), and the encouragement of their Buddha natures.

I see progress, Ryuei, I really do, but it is like moving a mountain with a shovel. However, I notice that because of this, when I chant for things on a really big level, such as the planet, it appears my daimoku is very invested for one small person, and significantly effective at that level.

Some version of this is working for me with variously really challenging, even criminal people, so thank you for bringing this up as I have been wrassling about this a long time and you have clarified my thinking yet another step.

The thing I find about compassion and cultivating that life condition assiduously, is that the more sensitive I become is great for my personal relationships and love life, but it is oh, so painful when dealing with rude or even vicious people. It just makes me chant harder for them. As a long time member of an org who doesn't care or appreciate these ideas, I am certainly NOT backed up by them with d's as I navigate such perilous waters. Maybe I should, or we should send daimoku for the others of us who are doing this kind of work with such concern and realize some protection for each others' backs across the divisions of Nichirenism. What do you think?

Best regards,
Armchair

This from this morning's NY Times:

"The writer Suketu Mehta captured brilliantly the dogged, resilient compassion of Mumbai in his book “Maximum City: Mumbai Lost and Found.”

"In remarks he has given based on the book, he spoke of asking a man named Asad bin Saif, who worked at an institute for secularism, whether the chaos and slums and filth made him pessimistic about human beings. Here is how Mr. Mehta continued the story:

“Not at all,” he responded. “Look at the hands from the trains.”

"If you are late for work in the morning in Bombay, and you reach the station just as the train is leaving the platform, you can run up to the packed compartments and you will find many hands stretching out to grab you on board, unfolding outwards from the train like petals. As you run alongside the train, you will be picked up and some tiny space will be made for your feet on the edge of the compartment. The rest is up to you; you will probably have to hang on with your fingertips on the door frame, being careful not to lean out too far lest you get decapitated by a pole placed too close to the tracks. But consider what has happened: your fellow-passengers, already packed tighter than cattle are legally allowed to be, their shirts already drenched in sweat in the badly ventilated compartment, having stood like this for hours, retain an empathy for you, know that your boss might yell at you or cut your pay if you miss this train, and will make space where none exists to take one more person with them. And at the moment of contact, they do not know if the hand that is reaching for theirs belongs to a Hindu or Muslim or Christian or Brahmin or untouchable, or whether you were born in this city or arrived only this morning, or whether you live in Malabar Hill or Jogeshwari, whether you’re from Bombay or Mumbai or New York. All they know is that you’re trying to get to work in the city of gold, and that’s enough. Come on board, they say. We’ll adjust.

I just cannot imagine this happening in America. Maybe other forms of public good will, but not this.

Regards,
Armchair

One thing with cultivating metta and karuna-compassion is to balance that with the drier wisdom / insight practices to cultivate non-attachment. The hurt, pain, anger, frustration and so on that is out there belongs to us and it does not. It is empty. Too much empathy makes us drippy, and can lead to sloppy sentimentalism ; too much detachment can make as dry, sarcastic, or even apathetic.

I think Daimoku is closer to the dry side. nore of a wisdom / insight mantra. As such, I think Nichirenists can tend to be know it allish, self absorbed, sarcastic, and even snarky. Same with some secular Zenners. So I think there is a need to work more on the empathy part.

Reverend Ryuei's metta + medititations are useful. Reciting the Matta Sutta and / or the Chant of Metta should not pose a problem for all but the really strict fundamentalists. Note that Mettaya / Maitreya is on many of the Mandalas; as Namu Miroku Bosatsu.

The best devotional chants are channeling the healing metta-karuna power of Kannon. Even though there is a Kannon Chapter in the Lotus Sutra, some have issues with that. However the maternal Kishimojin can be connected with some female forms of Kuan Yin. The Fierce Kishimojin reminds me of Green & Yellow Tara / Tarani. Also, Medicine King {Namu Yakuo Bosastsu is on many Nichiren mandalas; and can be connected with Kannon.

Greetings, Robin,

Thank you for your considered advice. When I was a relatively new member in the lay organization of NSA in the 70s, I had a leader whom I much admired for her compassion, and her advice to me at the time was to "chant to feel others' suffering as if it were your own" in order to become a more compassionate being and thus endeavor to become a fully sensate Buddha in my future. I was moved by this advice and actually did that. It was painful and took a few hours. It happened. Do you think that was a mistake, and, if so, should I, now, chant to undo this?

With metta,
Armchair

The concept of chanting to feel others' suffering.... Pema Chodron write often of that perspective. In her school of Buddhism, one way of doing that is the practice of tonglen. For an example, check out:

http://www.shambhala.org/teachers/pema/tonglen1.php

While I continue to practice in the Nichiren tradition, companions outside that tradition provide a lot of useful tools for the path towards awakening.

Gassho,
Kris

Armchair,

I general, I see nothing wrong with that advice. I would pump of a lot of mettawaves in the direction of that suffering. I also think we need to balance those things with non-attachment. Everything conditioned is suffering {dukkha}, and suffering, all conditioned existence is empty.

Compassion, generosity, and forbearance should not be stupid. I have know decent people who were used by cunning evil people. I love dogs, big dogs. But if one ever harmed a child, or any innocent person, I would have them put down.

gassho

robin