Fourteen – January 14, 2012 Meditation
“I have reigned more than fifty years in victory and peace,” the great caliph Abdul Rahim once remarked. “During this time I have been beloved by my people, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honors, power and pleasure have all been at my beck and call, nor has any earthly pleasure been missing to complete my sense of perfect bliss. In this situation I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness that have fallen to my lot. They number fourteen.” (Harry Moody & David Carroll, The Five Stages of the Soul; p. 5)
Just fourteen days? Wow, there goes the myth that money and power can make you happy. What is it that makes us happy, and more importantly, what is happiness?
How much have we thought about what happiness really is? We all probably have at one time or another thought to ourselves that we are not presently happy. But do we even know what would make us happy?
Maybe there is a nagging voice inside your head that asks: ‘Is this all there is? Is this as good as it gets?” A sense of dissatisfaction may pervade our thinking and feelings, but have we really deeply considered what is the source of that dissatisfaction or disquiet?
“Just as a torch dispels darkness, this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma saves all living beings from all sufferings, from all diseases, and from all the bonds of birth and death. The merits to be given to the person who, after hearing this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, copies it, or causes others to copy it, cannot be measured even by the wisdom of the Buddha.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter XXII)
We may not realize the gradual lightening of our delusional self, but from the very first moment we contact the Lotus Sutra a change is taking place within our lives. It doesn’t matter how long a cave has been dark, thousands of years even, yet a single moment of light from any source instantly removes the darkness.
“Therefore, the man of wisdom who hears the benefits of these merits and who keeps this sutra after my extinction, will be able to attain the enlightenment of the Buddha definitely and doubtlessly.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter XXI)
