Today I would like to talk about the 5 practices of the Bodhisattva -, gogyo in Japanese. Also I want to tie this into a phenomenon that we as humans are all too skillful at but it is a skill that hinders us and causes us suffering. That skill is making comparisons, in particular comparisons to other.
Earlier this year I gave a Dharma talk on the concept of wining and loosing versus victory and defeat. Briefly let me again explain what I am referring to. Earlier in the year when we were in the midst of the primary season my comparison was to the selection of a nominee for president. Presently we are again engaged in the final stages of the race for president between selected candidates. The race for president offers a good illustration of the concept of win versus loss. We will have one winner and the others will be considered losers. In life there are many examples of winning and losing. However in Buddhism we are not engaged in a competition. There is no comparison between others and ourselves. One of us is not a winner and the others losers. Instead in Buddhism it is about whether we are victorious in our personal struggle to attain Buddhahood.
It is most important for us to keep this constantly in mind. Nichiren Shonin says in a letter to one of his followers Shijo Kingo “Buddhism primarily concerns itself with victory or defeat, while secular authority is based on the principle of reward and punishment [win or lose]. For this reason, a Buddha is looked up to as the Hero of the World”.
Now why is the Buddha the hero of the world. First let’s examine the meaning of the word hero. While there are many meanings that are attributed to this word, many of which have to do with gods, and in particular with Greek gods I would like to set those aside as not being applicable in this instance. The literal meaning of the word is “protector”, “defender” or “guardian”. Refer to characters (fictional or historical) that, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self-sacrifice – that is, heroism – for some greater good, originally of martial courage or excellence but extended to more general moral excellence.
In Chapter II of the Lotus Sutra the Buddha says this:
“Sariputra! What is the one great purpose for which the Buddhas….appear in the worlds? The Buddhas….appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to open the gate to the insight of the Buddha, and to cause them to purify themselves. They appear in the worlds in order to show the insight of the Buddha to all living beings. They appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to obtain the insight of the Buddha….Sariputra! This is the one great purpose for which the Buddhas appear in the worlds.” p. 32
In Chapter V of the Lotus Sutra the Buddha says:
“I will cause all living beings to cross the ocean of birth and death if they have not yet done so. I will cause them to emancipate themselves from suffering if they have not yet done so. I will cause them to have peace of mind if they have not yet done so. I will cause them to attain Nirvana if they have not yet done so.” p 106
These are just two examples to illustrate my point. That point is that the Buddha achieved victory over birth and death, over suffering, over the illusions of life. Further he did not keep this victory to himself saying look at me, how great am I. He was not engaged in a competition of himself and ourselves.. He was not concerned with being a winner and others being losers.
He achieved these victories and then sought to enable all people, ourselves included, to accomplish the same things.
There is a literary theory or explanation of literary devices of the hero called “hero-as-self”. I won’t attempt to go into a great deal of detail about his except to say that in this theoretical analysis of hero’s in literature the description of the hero is made in relation to oneself. That as we read a story with a hero we come to a personal understanding of the story by making a personal comparison between the actions and accomplishments of the hero and ourselves. The claim is that this is our only way of understanding heroes in literature.
I think there is some truth to this in that we are easily awed by the achievements of those we admire. We frequently allow ourselves to make comparisons between our selves and others we either admire or despise, and then place ourselves on some sort of comparative scale of good or bad depending on where we fall and to whom we are making the comparison.
In Buddhism and in life this is an illusory approach to reality. There is no comparison to others that can ever lead to happiness. The Buddha certainly does not teach this. In the above quotes the Buddha says that his purpose is to “show”, lead, open the way, and cause. These are not words of comparisons, they are not words spoken from a position of being better than. The Buddha, by example instructs us how to be our own heroes.
In Chapter VI of the Lotus Sutra the Bikshus as represented by Maudgalyayan, Subhuti and Maha-Katyana say “Great Hero, World-Honored One!” Further they say again, “You, the Great Hero, the World Honored one, Wish to give peace to all the people of the world.” So it is not just Nichiren, nor myself that say this about the Buddha. These respected disciples of the Buddha say the same things.
However they also express our doubts when they say; “Although we hear you say to us, ‘You will become Buddhas,’ We are still in doubts and fears about it.”
So about comparisons, about our tendency to make them, comparing ourselves to others, how do we eliminate this tendency and the harm it causes us. And what is that harm?
The first great harm it causes is that we tend to either devalue our own Buddha nature or else to over inflate our potential. When we look at someone and say, Wow, they are great because they have done this and this and that, and I could never do those things, that denies the greatness of our own actions.
Each of us has difficulties; we each have unique problems that no one else has. Our problems are to be valued and treasured as our opportunity to prove the truth of the Buddhas teachings.
Some may say, and some have said about me that they think I have done such a wonderful thing by becoming a priest and they have not done such a wonderful thing, or that they are not capable of doing such a wonderful thing. Let me say here, that as I look at each of you I see great people doing heroic deeds to achieve enlightenment. I see a mother who is raising a daughter and supporting a husband who does not practice her faith. I see in that mother someone who has no day off, who gives of herself unselfishly so that her family can be happy. I am amazed at that kind of devotion, I am not sure that I could be capable of such a thing.
I look at you all and I see a manger of a restaurant, who comes to learn about Buddhism, squeezing in the opportunity before rushing off to spend a day at work trying to do a good job and all the while applying the lessons of the Buddha to his life. How amazing is that? The Buddha tells us that to even ask one little question about Buddhism is truly remarkable and praiseworthy, not to mention the effort of squeezing in time to practice.
I see a young man who could just as easily take the morning off and sleep in after a hard day at work and yet gets up early and drives a couple of hours in order to hear the Buddha Dharma and practice and encourage others to do the same.
These are not the actions of ordinary people. These are the actions of heroes. What I do and have done is to me most natural. Yes it has been hard, but not any more so than what each of you has done. To you what you do may seem natural, you may not even consider what you do as anything significant at all, but to me it is awe inspiring, and what I do is just a natural thing for me to do.
Throughout the Lotus Sutra the Buddha gives examples of great and wonderful practices that people have done in previous lives. Often times they are mythic in nature. Why does he do this?
In most of the examples he does this to remind people of the practice they have done. And today I want to remind you of the practice you all have done and are doing. The Buddha tells these stories so that his listeners will respect their own efforts and realize the effort they have made. Today I wish to try to encourage you all to respect your own efforts.
So at the beginning I said I was gong to talk about the five practice of Bodhisattvas or gogyo., and you are probably wondering if I will ever get around to doing that. Yes, I will and here is what they are.
The first is Shogyo or Saint practice. This is study and practice, or our daily practice of reading and studying the sutra. Every day we practice we are acting as a saint. It isn’t that we do these things to become a saint ii is that by doing these things we are practicing as saints, from a Buddhist perspective that is.
Two is Bongyo or Brama practice. This is the practice of no wanting. It is also the practice of renouncing honor in order to benefit others. So, for each of us, as we think about our personal practice it is good to be humble in our efforts, but again we should not take those efforts lightly. And along with renouncing our personal honor we should also not deride our personal efforts.
Three is Tengyo, which is reality, or, practicing with the correct view of reality in our lives. We should always keep a clear perspective on what we base our assumptions or how we interpret life. Also it is a view that sees beauty and wonder.
Einigyo or the practice of a child is number four. This is a practice where we approach things in innocence and wonder and awe, an eagerness for experience and an eagerness for enlightenment. It is approaching practice with a trust in the truth and without the cynics mind. It also is without analytics or false rationalization.
Finally there is Byogyo. Byo means illness, in Japanese if one is ill you say byoki ni narimashita, I have become ill. This means to practice as if we are ill, physically and spiritually. When you are sick you seek out good medicine. The Lotus Sutra is the good medicine the Buddha has give us and we should seek it out and practice it as if we are sick and in need of medicine to cure us.
So from today let us each determine to try our best to apply these practices in our own lives, without the comparisons we often become trapped and ensnarled in. Let us determine to become victorious over our sufferings and become victors in life.
