Time – Dharma Talk – May 10, 2009 repost
Today I would like to talk a little about time. In two weeks I’ll be giving a lecture on Nichiren’s Major Writing – Senji Sho which in English is abbreviated as On Selection of Time. In this writing Nichiren lays out the argument that this time in which we live, this time called the Age of Degeneration of the True Law, the time in which the efficacy of the Buddhas teachings diminish or become completely obscured, is the time for the spread of the essence of the Lotus Sutra. That essence is Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. He points out in his thesis that time is a very important matter to consider when determining which teaching is to be followed. Today however, I want to talk about another consideration when thinking about time.
We have the teaching of the single practice of chanting the Odaimoku as outlined by the founder of our order Nichiren. During his life he carefully laid out the argument that this was the most appropriate practice, doing so from many different angles. We have already covered many of them looking carefully at how the Lotus Sutra stands out when compared to the other sutras of the Buddha.
So now that we have this wonderful simple practice outlined for us by Nichiren what are we going to do? We have the gift of the jewel of the Lotus Sutra and how shall we choose to use this gift.
In the study class last week when looking at Chapter XI we talked about how the Buddha recalls all of his emanations from throughout the universe so that the vow of Many Treasures Buddha can be fulfilled. How Sakyamuni Buddha purified the land and then sat beside Taho Buddha. During our study I talked about how this directly applies to our own practice, to our own lives.
I pointed out that daily we clean our home altar and prepare for morning service. We carefully dust and freshen up the flowers, change the water and place fresh fruit or prepared food if we desire. When we do this we are like Sakyamuni Buddha purifying the lands and removing all the bad elements. Then just as the Buddha recalled all of his emanations that were residing in various parts of the univers we too need to unify our selves.
Sometimes when we sit before the Honzon of the Eternal Buddha we may be in a hurry, or we may have thoughts about some problem or challenge or even some fun activity that awaits us. Or perhaps in the evening we may be stressing out over something that didn’t go right during the day. We need to remember that we need to recall all the ‘eminations of our own mind’ so that our entire unified being can participate in the joyful expression of faith by reciting the sutra and chanting Odaimoku.
Let me share a story with you to illustrate this a little differently.
There was a carpenter hired to help restore an old farmhouse who had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. Finally his boss drove him home, all the while he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited his boss in to meet his family. As they walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. After opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss. Afterward, he walked his boss to the car. As they passed the tree, his boss was curious and so asked him about what I had seen him do earlier. “Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied. “I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing for sure, troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning, I pick them up again.” “Funny thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”
In some ways we need to remember to hang up our troubles and distractions when we do our service. Preparing the altar, sitting properly, we ring the bell three times. This is our signal that we are beginning a solemn ceremony one which requires our full attention and participation.
When we perform our daily service and chant Odaimoku we are, remember, fundamentally praising the Lotus Sutra. It is difficult to fully praise something if we are distracted by other thoughts. As the carpenter hung his troubles on the tree outside his home we too should for the moments we are engaged in our prayers concentrate our mind and really focus on participating with great joy in the ceremony of celebrating the Lotus Sutra.
Time – use it or loose it
Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course! Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the “tomorrow.” You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today. To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade. To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper. To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train. To realize the value of ONE-SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident. Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time. Remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present!
Going back now to Nichiren’s writing on Selection of Time. The time coupled with the person, the land among others are very important to understand when practicing, spreading or understanding any religious teaching. For us, on a daily basis we too must keep in mind our person, our environment and our time of practice. All of these elements are present in our daily service.
When we can practice correctly we can practice wholeheartedly and with great joy. The Buddha says in the Lotus Sutra, “Know that, when you remove your doubts, And when you have great joy, You will become Buddhas!” Chapter II pg 49. Notice that it says when you have great joy you will become a Buddha, not when you become a Buddha you will have great joy. With firm faith in the moment in which we exist, in this moment, in the moment in which we practice in every moment, when we have faith and joy we will experience Buddhahood.
Let us each one of us renew our determination to rededicate ourselves to our continuing faith and practice in the Lotus Sutra.
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