Happy New Year to all of you; to those here at the temple, to those who are joining us on line, and to those who will only be able to read this message on the blog. I wish the best for each of you, may this year be one of good fortune and great personal growth in enlightenment.
The year 2014 will be the Year of the Horse in which the Fourth Star is the center of the Nine Star Chart. The Nine Star Chart is one of many ways of interpreting the influences of the stars, planets, and in fact the whole of the universe on our lives. While one should not really consider these as absolute predictions they are in fact wise ways of living in harmony with the naturally occurring phenomena. Just as there are certain crops that grow in specific seasons and it is unwise to try to grow things out of season so too our lives have seasons.
Today could be considered the beginning of a season, the season of renewing our determinations, of laying out our hopes and goals for the New Year. While it is true that any day is a good day to review your goals and aspirations, it is especially significant to do so during the period of the New Year. The period of the New Year, for us lasts from the calendar New Year on January 1 through the beginning of the Lunar New Year on February 3.
The horse falls in the Third Trine of the four divisions of the Chinese zodiac signs. The attributes of the animals in the Third Trine (horse, tiger, and dog) are pursuit of humanitarian causes, defiant against injustice. These animals are productive, enthusiastic, independent, engaging, dynamic and honorable. They can also be rash, rebellious, quarrelsome, hotheaded, reckless, anxious, moody, disagreeable, and stubborn. I bring this up because it is a good example of how too much of a good thing can turn out to be a bad thing.
The Buddha, after six years of strenuous deprivation realized that too much of what was thought to be a good thing was indeed harmful. Frequently we will encounter people who are very determined to be right or correct and look down on people who do not conform exactly to the standards they would like to impose. The shortcoming in being so firmly attached to an exact way or doing some thing is then the activity or practice takes on a life of its own and becomes the focus replacing the original objective.
Frequently we might label this kind of attitude as one of arrogance. I personally like to think about it in terms of interdependence. When, for example, a person who practices not eating meat, takes the view that they are some how superior or more enlightened than those who do not. The fallacy in this belief is the thinking that they are removed from or independent of those who do eat meat. Not eating meat is good, it is humane, but not everyone can or will abstain from consuming meat. A more skillful approach might be to encourage the eating of less meat and fostering a greater appreciation for those who do and make it possible for others to not eat meat.
This is only one example of where we can become a victim of too much of a good thing when we fail to consider the entire dependent relationship of our lives.
Spring and planting are good times of the year in this Star cycle. Spring is the time of new beginnings, new growth, and increased hormonal activity. The year of the Fourth Star denotes a potential for prosperity and new beginnings such as marriage, or even the tending to matters at hand in a more diligent fashion such as care assistance or humanitarian aid.
The compass direction associated with the Year of the Horse is south, so things beginning or originating from the south might be favorable this year. Also the Horse is associated with summer and the hours of 11AM to 1PM. Between the attributes of the Fourth Star and the Horse this might be a really vibrant prosperous year through spring and summer.
But we should be cautious, always. As any of you who tend gardens or lawns, spring and summer are also times when weeds will sprout and spread. Also because of such vitality unwanted growth can occur if we do not tend to all aspects of our lives.
There are many areas where we might be suddenly fraught with troubles if we neglect maintaining a balanced life. Because we all are constantly being pulled in many directions trying to accomplish all of our tasks and goals, it is easy to become consumed with the larger goals and neglect the careful attention to foundational matters.
In our faith we need to constantly return to the basics of practice and study. It is very easy to let these slip on by us as we rush around daily. Yet maintaining the firm foundation of our practice of the Lotus Sutra will actually make it easier to make wise decisions based upon our innate Buddha wisdom. Yet that Buddha wisdom is a weak voice and is best strengthened through practice and study. When we study we gain greater understanding of the subtle workings of human nature and the universe. Study awakens us to the factual truth and practice instills those truths deep into the core of our lives.
Every year, every day, every moment has great potential. There is great potential for growth which sits right beside an equal potential for set backs and frustrations. Every year we look at the attributes of the signs, yet in reality it is up to the individual to create their own fortune. A person who fails to attend to all aspects of their lives will be out of harmony and thus more prone to discord and dissatisfaction in their lives, regardless of the zodiac sign. Yet a person who daily makes efforts to gradually improve and attend to all aspects of their lives, personal and interpersonal, health and habits, thinking and belief will regardless of the sign show steady improvements and increased fortune.
In closing let me wish each of you a wonderful New Year, one filled with good fortune based upon the Eightfold Path and practice of the Lotus Sutra. I pray for your good health, good family, good job, and your enlightenment.
With Gassho,
Ryusho, Shonin
