Good morning to you all, thank you for joining with me today to celebrate the Lotus Sutra by reciting portions of Chapter II and Chapter XVI as well as harmoniously chanting the sacred title. Today is the first day of Daylight Savings Time here in the United States. For most of us the next few days or even weeks will be challenging as our bodies adjust to the change in time. I know I am one of the group for which it takes several weeks to make the adjustment.
As I was thinking about this it reminded me of something I had read a short while ago.
“The things you do often create the things you believe.”
McRaney, David (2013-07-30). You Are Now Less Dumb: How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself
Each of us will over the course of the next few days, thanks to the necessity of following social conventions gradually adjust our bodies and our minds to becoming in rhythm with the new time. By doing the same things daily in the new time schedule we will eventually “believe” in the new time and we will forget the old time. In other words because we are forced into making the adjustment eventually we do make that adjustment.
The book I quoted is an interesting book, which explores the function of the mind delving into understanding why we think the way we do and some of the universal principals that we all seem to follow even unknowingly.
In Chapter II there is a section which talks about the merit to be obtained by doing various practices such as making images of the Buddha, making offerings to the Buddha including beating drums, by offering flowers and incense, and by expounding the Dharma to others. Not only do we gain the merit of the Buddha by doing those things ourselves but we also benefit from causing others to do the same.
“Those who respectfully offered
Flowers, incense, streamers, and canopies
To the image or picture of the Buddha
Enshrined in a stūpa-mausoleum;
Or those who caused men to make music
By beating drums, by blowing horns and conches,
And by playing reed-pipes, flutes, lyres, harps,
Lutes, gongs, and copper cymbals,
And offered the wonderful sounds produced thereby
To the image or picture of the Buddha;
Or those who sang joyfully in praise of him for his virtues;
Or those who just murmured [in praise of him],
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.”
Lotus Sutra, Chapter II
By doing the various practice of Buddhism, such as reciting the sutra, chanting the Odaimoku, meditating, making offerings, and teaching others are all acts which further strengthen our own belief according to science.
The really interesting thing which science has discovered is that the belief that is nurtured by doing then leads to becoming.
These things then influence you to become the sort of person who owns them.
McRaney, David (2013-07-30). You Are Now Less Dumb: How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself
In other words our practice, engaging in the various practices the sutra teaches us, enhances our faith, which then enables us to transform our lives into being those things we practice.
Faith, practice and study are the three cornerstones of Buddhism, which have been so since the very beginning. What the Buddha understood more than two thousand years ago today science is proving.
I encourage each of you to carry out your Buddhist practice faithfully day-in and day-out so that you are able to transform your lives into the lives of Buddhas and reveal your vast inner potential.
Let us together attain Buddhahood and enable countless others to do the same.
“Those who bowed to the image of the Buddha,
Or just joined their hands together towards it,
Or raised only one hand towards it,
Or bent their heads a little towards it
And offered the bending to it,
Became able to see innumerable Buddhas one after another.
They attained unsurpassed enlightenment,
Saved countless living beings,
And entered into the Nirvāṇa-without-remainder
Just as fire dies out when wood is gone.”
Lotus Sutra, Chapter II
