Dharma Talk for Ohigan – September 20, 2009
Today we celebrate Ohigan, which occurs twice a year at each of the Solar Equinoxes, March and September. During Ohigan season which is actually 7 day surrounding the actual day of the equinox, 3 days before and 3 days following, we strive with greater diligence to observe faithfully the Six Paramitas or Six Perfections.
It is thought that the Six Paramitas came about as a Mahayana response to the Hinayana concentration on the Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths. When we look at the Eight Fold Path and the Four Noble truths they are in fact personal guidelines to help us as individuals. They instruct us in how do things like enhance health, stay on an ethical path, establish correct views, establish correct views of the world and humanity, develop wisdom and so forth. Mahayanists felt that there was an imbalance in this approach as it gave greater weight to personal achievement and not enough attention given to altruism.
Mahayana Buddhist felt that the emphasis on the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold path alone was insufficient for its goal, which is to work diligently not only for personal enlightenment but also for the improvement of one’s fellow human beings and all of society.
Paramita originally was translated into Chinese as, crossing over, reaching the limitless, or reaching the other shore. Quoting from “Essentials of Buddhism” by Kogen Mizuno; “These translations are derived from traditional interpretations of the term as param-ita (param, “to the other shore,” and ita, “reached”). By means of paramita practice, a person leaves this shore of birth and death and reaches the other shore of nirvana.”
You will notice in your program that there is an explination of the Japanese word Higan.
Today during the service we offered food, water, flowers, and incense to the Eternal Buddha as described in Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra. Today we also offered light, each of you carried a tea light from one side of the Hondo, crossing over the center line in front of the Honzon of the Eternal Buddha. As you did so I hope you were careful and mindful, if for no other reason than you wanted to avoid spilling the candle and causing harm. Perhaps you had already grasped the symbolism in the act of carrying the candle, if not you know now.
There is also something else to be aware of and that is not just the physical act of carrying the candle, but of your act of intention, your mindfulness. So it is how we should approach this week of Ohigan. Our attention should be focused on grater striving to follow these Six Perfections so that we may cross the shore from this Saha world to the land of Eternal Enlightenment not just for ourselves but for others.
We are not just carrying our own candle, we are not just crossing over for ourselves, we should always be mindful of how we can give and how we can be more generous to the Dharma and to others, how we can observe the precepts so that we can be true to others, how we can have patience with others, how we can strive with greater effort to help others, how we can be mindful of others and how we can develop the wisdom to help others.
The Six Paramitas are the perfections for Bodhisattvas, as practitioner of the Lotus Sutra we are the Bodhisattvas who emerged from below the earth and who made a solemn vow to the Eternal Buddha in the presence of millions of emanations of the Buddha, in the presence of all the Buddhist deities, and in the presence of the historical Buddhas disciples. We pledged before such great disciples as Ananda, Sariputra, Kassyapa, Monjusri and others such as Maitreya, Many Treasures Buddha, Kanon, Kishimojin, Bishimon and so on, we pledged to do what none of them could do, what none of them would the Buddha allow to do and that is to spread the Lotus Sutra in this age in this the Saha World.
Following the Six Paramitas helps us to become better, stronger, more capable in carrying out our original vow to the Eternal Budha. They are like the stone on which we sharpen the blade of lives so that we may better cut through the illusions of suffering and lead countless others to the Dharma of the Eternal Buddha.
I hope you will continue to chant the Odaimoku and recite the Lotus Sutra with great joy as you strive daily in your lives and as you strive to perfect yourselves and reveal your true identities as Jiyu no Bosattsu, the Bodhisattvas from Beneath the Ground.
