In the previous section I gave a quote from Chih-I in which he talks about a free method of managing illness, one that doesn’t take much time, which can be done without any side effects, and may be taken with out limit. He laments that in spite of all the benefits of this offering people refuse to partake.
In the Lotus Sutra in the parable of the Gem in the Robe we learn that the main actor has wandered around for a long time, poor, hungry, destitute all the time not knowing of the priceless gem concealed in the hem of his robe by his friend. People walk around suffering even though within their grasp is the medicine to end all suffering, and even when told about it would rather turn their backs upon it.
I have seen this same sort of thing occur many times in the hospital. People are given instructions and medicines that if followed and taken in accordance with their doctor’s recommendations would improve their lives considerable and yet they do not and end up retiring to the hospital within a short time. There are of course many reasons for this occurring, some of the economic, some social, and sometimes it is because people pay attention to them in the hospital whereas at home they get ignored. These non-compliance reasons can usually be identified and addressed. The most challenging situations are when someone just simply will not do what they need to do to manage their condition.
Chih-I says that all you need are these ten characteristics. 1. Faith, 2. Utilization, 3. Diligence, 4. Constancy, 5. Distinction among disease, 6. Means, 7. Time, 8. Selecting and rejecting, 9. Protecting, 10. Know the obstacles.
Faith is to know the Buddhist path the first gate for entering. Faith is belief so strong that it is invincible against the strongest enemies of faith, doubt. In this case it doesn’t mean question free, it does not mean willful ignoring of inconsistency or study of the dharma. This is not blind faith or faith without reason or logic. Part of faith is to question, to seek understanding and wisdom of learning. The more we know in our faith the stronger our faith can become.
Let me see if I can offer an explanation here from my life, you may also have had a similar experience and perhaps not recognized it. When I first began and was faced with a problem my Odaimoku was part desperation and part determination. I chanted as if I were desperate, and several times I was and I did so with such determination that at times it was as if I was trying to bang the Odaimoku onto the Gohonzon. As write this I am trying to come up with an image and what comes to mind now is the idea of throwing grenades of Odaimoku at my problem through the Gohonzon, remember I was in the military then.
If one grenade was good then thousands would be better and there were times when I felt a thousand grenades would not be enough. My faith went only as far as if I lob enough grenades then I could blow this thing to smithereens. There is a quote from Nichiren that one Odaimoku can move a mountain and I was always searching for that one Odaimoku amidst the thousands I would chant. I knew I could overcome the challenge and I knew it took faith but I didn’t know what that was exactly and I certainly felt I didn’t have exactly that kind of faith. It was as if I had some other kind of faith, a desperate faith.
Years later working in the hospital I witnessed that kind of desperate faith in others of all religious beliefs. These were not people of no faith, or of weak faith, they were in a different place of desperation. It was as if they were saying I know this belief is true, yet I am desperate enough that maybe it isn’t and so I’ll pray that as well. I’ll pray with faith I’ll pray with no faith, I’ll just pray because I am desperate. That’s sort of where I was.
Then over the years as I faced problems, some of the of the same type and some different I noticed a change. It was I still knew I needed to chant abundantly and ceaselessly and I knew it would work out. It was that I didn’t need to have a stock pile of Odaimoku grenades any longer, I could chant soft gentle Odaimoku.
When I was in the Marine Corps I faced three occasions where my Buddhist practice was threatened. Sometimes there was an additional punishment of being passed over for promotion or being transferred. The first time it happened I was very scared, in a way the first time also impacted my possibility of being killed. I overcame it successfully. The second time it happened my life was directly threatened and it also impacted my rank. I successfully overcame that as well. Finally the third time it only affected my ability to practice freely and my rank, and this too I overcame.
As I said the first time I was very scared, the second time I was still scared but very determined. The first and second times I really depended upon the moral support and encouragement of members of the Sangha. I don’t think I would have succeeded and continued my practice without their support. The third time was so much different. I didn’t worry about it at all. It was as if the persecution was happening to someone else. I chanted with an awareness of the situation but never about it or with any thought to an expectation of an outcome good or bad.
It was a completely different experience to practice aware of the event, knowing it was there and knowing that if I simply continue doing the good things I was doing, continued with my daily practice, continued supporting the Sangha then at the right time things would appear. Now this is not simply ignoring the problem and hoping it would go away. It was practicing fully aware of the situation, knowing that my faith and practice would manifest what I needed and being afraid was not required.
The last persecution was trying to prohibit me from practicing Buddhism in the barracks, simply the punishment was to be that my small altar needed to be removed from the base and I could not do my prayers out loud or in view of anyone, tough to do in an open bay barracks with no privacy. When the time came for my court martial, because I had refused to comply the second in command of the squadron appeared on my behalf and said that until the squadron provided me a secure place to practice they could not prohibit my religious practices. He also said that I was the single greatest asset to positive moral in the unit, that I always had a cheerful disposition and always helped anyone who needed it, I encouraged people. He said that it would not be in the best interest of the unit to remove the very thing which provided me the ability to be that kind of person. The charges were dismissed, I was allowed to keep my butsudan, and I was given a meritorious promotion to Sargent, not bad. Though the rank was six month behind when I should have gotten it normally the meritorious looked better on my record even though I missed out on a lot of money from the delay.
Over the years the Odaimoku of desperation changed to Odaimoku of confidence and certainty. Now one secret is to realize that your idea of a solution may not be possible or even the best option. Sometimes when we begin chanting we do so from the perspective of having a specific outcome in mind. That doesn’t always work out so well, and this is part of the Odaimoku of desperation and grenades.
The important thing I believe is to have a determination that you will be able to manage this with faith and practice. I know it is natural to wonder if you have the right kind of faith, or if your faith is strong enough. I know it happens, I certainly felt those things. If there is anyway I can assure you that no matter where you think you faith is, no matter what quality you think your faith may be it is perfect. The faith you have is the perfect faith for where you are in this right now. Whether it is calm statement of “I have faith” or a through gritted teeth with much energy “I HAVE FAITH DAMNIT”, it is faith good enough. If you believe then it is faith. Over time your faith changes and it happens from within so don’t think you need to make it be a certain way. Don’t do as I did and continually search for that one Odaimoku that will move a mountain amongst all the Odaimoku you chant. Chances are you chanted it yesterday anyway and didn’t realize it because the mountain is still moving. That’s what happened to me, the mountain moved and it’s still moving.
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