Good Afternoon. Thank you all for coming today. I would like to thank the
following:
Rev. Faulconer
Rev. Ryuei McCormick (from San Jose to be an official witness)
Visiting Ministers
Shami Ryunen Sorenson
Haru – flowers
Members and Friends of Nichiren Buddhist Temple Hoto-ji
My Friends and classmates at PSU
Karen Shawcross
My parents
Today I hope you will bear with me for a brief while longer, it has been a long
ceremony for you all, I know you must be tired and have many other things to do
today.
When thinking about what I would talk about today I considered who would be
attending the ceremony and what I could possibly say to each of you that would
be meaningful. What I came up with was, that I am not sure there is anything.
Many of the respect-worthy teachers of the Dharma on the stage already know a
great deal of Buddhism and several follow a tradition different from my own. I am
certain they would not like to be preached to about Nichiren. The members and
friends of this temple certainly can hear more inspiring words from Rev.
Faulconer. That left me with the friends I have made since moving to Portland
almost 2 years ago.
As I think most of you all know I make no secret about being a Buddhist but I also
respect each of you and try not to be a preachy person. I think most of you know
that if you have any questions about Buddhism I would be more than happy to
answer them, because I am always very eager to share such a wonderful
teaching. However, many times actions speak louder than words and I probably
need to do a better job in that area first. Today, I am going to break with that for
a while as I dedicate this sermon to you all. I hope I don’t offend anyone by
doing this. However considering Buddhist history the Buddha gave his first
sermon to his fellow ascetics who had been practicing with him. Nichiren gave
his first sermon in much the same tradition we are following here today.
The Eternal Buddha Sakyamuni gave his first sermon on the Four Noble Truths,
and that is what I would like to share with you all today.
The Four Noble Truths consist of
1. Life is suffering
2. There is a cause for suffering
3. There exists happiness and way to overcome suffering.
4 Buddhism teaches us that way
On first examination by people of our age it may seem that Buddhism is a
pessimistic religion. It may seem rather discouraging when the first of what is
supposed to be noble or great truths is that life is suffering. How gloomy, right?
This would be true if it weren’t for some very important things. Those are; one
that the Buddha teaches a way to eliminate suffering, and that way is not through
dying but through living! If you think about it, how many other philosophies of the
time offered such hope? If we go back to core religious beliefs we find very few
that at their heart have such a teaching. At best, most offer some consolations to
the difficulties in this life with an assurance that after death things will be better.
Let me restate this again. Buddhism offers a way to live this life joyfully and
asserts that this joy belongs equally to us all in this life. It is not necessary to
rush off, or to long for death as a way to eliminate suffering. That it is possible to
live in the Buddha’s Golden Realm here and now.
This brings us right smack dab into number two which says there is a cause for
suffering. Buddhism is not a teaching where you will learn to run or hide from
your problems. No, instead you will be faced with the task of cleaning up all the
things you have done, and continue to do, that cause you to suffer. However,
with the teaching the Buddha gives us we can see clearly, what has to be done.
We do not have to waste our efforts on false cures and remedies causing us
further discouragement. We can see clearly the true nature of life and the
universe and how to live a life of joy. There is no need to run from it.
In the Third Nobel Truth, the Buddha tells us that there is a way to overcome
suffering and the Fourth Nobel Truth is that Buddha can show us that way.
I would like to briefly share with you all how I see these truths as they relate to
my life and practice of Buddhism.
When I first began to actively practice Buddhism many many years ago I was
basically an unhappy optimist slipping towards pessimism. That is to say I have
always tended to be a happy positive person however at that particular time I was
beginning to loose hope. Then I began to practice Buddhism and began to
understand a little more about life and the nature of suffering.
Without going in to a lot of details about all the wonderful things that have
happened along the way let me just briefly say that by practicing Buddhism and
in particular by practicing the teachings of Nichiren I was able to understand why
I suffered. I began to see what causes I make every day that led to unhappiness.
I also learned how to turn the sufferings from the things I have no control over
into experiences that I can grow from.
Through Buddhist practice, anyone can find out how to tap into the Buddha that
they already posses. Through various other teachings, we learn about the nature
of anger, why it exists and what we can do about it. We learn about greed and
why and how to overcome it. This examination and solution is about changing
the things within us so that we can become more Buddha-like and thereby
influence others to do the same.
Finally, in closing, I would like to talk about choices. Each and every day we are
faced with a myriad of opportunities to make choices. Sometimes we can know
immediately the outcome of those choices at other times we may not. Today
each of made a choice to be here, though our reasons for that choice may have
been different amazingly it allowed all of us here to share an experience together.
That is an obvious outcome, with an unexpected result. In closing, I would like to
offer this. I am certain that the greater affect of your participating in the joy of
Buddhist practice and of reciting the Lotus Sutra today will manifest itself in your
lives from today and far into the infinite future.
Namu-myoho-renge-kyo
Namu-myoho-renge-kyo
Namu-myoho-renge-kyo
