Building
This post originally appeared February 5, 2012
I am taking a short break from original postings for a couple of days.
In the neighborhood where I live, right behind the temple they are tearing down numerous houses. The removal of these dwellings is for the purpose of reclaiming flood plain areas along a creek. It is amazing that I can walk by one day and a house is standing intact and then the next day it is a pile of rubble. By the third day it is all cleared and by day four it has been seeded over and there remains no evidence of a building ever having been there.
It is also noteworthy that it only takes a couple of people to accomplish all this. When we contrast this with the amount of effort it takes to build a house it is really striking. It takes many men with a variety of skills several days, if not weeks, to build a house. Then it takes more crews of men to come in and do the finishing work, such as wiring, plumbing, and so forth. Finally more people come in to do the painting and carpeting and other such projects. All of this takes a lot of skilled labor, a lot of time, and planning. Yet to tear down that same structure takes only a few hours.
“How can you attain unsurpassed Bodhi? The enlightenment of the Buddha is far off. It can he attained only by those who perform the Bodhisattva practices with strenuous efforts for innumerable kalpas.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter XII)
We cannot expect our practice of Buddhism, wishing to become enlightened, to take a short period of time, or little effort. Yet we can destroy all that we have attained all that we have accomplished within a short period of time by being discouraged and abandoning our practice.
“I wish to give the wisdom of the Buddha, the wisdom of the Tathagata, the wisdom of the Self-Existing One, to all living beings. I am the great almsgiver to all living beings. Follow me, and study my teachings without begrudging efforts!” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter XXII)
“Any Sravaka or Bodhisattva who hears even a gatha of this sutra which I am to expound will undoubtedly become a Buddha.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter II)
