For the new year, here’s a short Dharma talk from the last issue of Hanmaum Journal.
The Buddha’s teachings were never about sending bad people to bad places, and sending good people to good places. Instead, take those people heading towards bad places, and help them move away from those paths. This is how bodhisattvas respond.
Take good people and help them to forever move in good directions. This how Buddhas respond.
이 부처님 법은 “너는 나쁘니까 유치장으로 가거라 너는 좋으니까 좋은 데로 가거라” 이런 것이 아닙니다. 유치장으로 갈 사람도 유치장으로 안 가게 할 수 있는 게 보살의 응신이요, 지금 좋은 사람은 좋은 사람대로 끝끝내 좋은 사람이 되게끔 하는 것이 부처님의 응신입니다.
I take refuge in Buddha-nature, my center, foundation, and teacher, which transcends existence and nonexistence, and through which enlightenment is attained.
This section of the Thousand Hands Sutra has had a lot of descriptions of one mind. One of the reasons is because one mind, our foundation, is our connection with the workings of everything. It’s beyond our normal, dualistic capacity to fathom, and any attempt we make is, in a way, poisoned with duality. So the only way to approach it is unconditionally. Then, once we’ve stepped around our own (mostly) self-made hindrances and barriers, we can taste the whole.
To the extent that we are functioning as one with this, we bring this to bear when we face something. “How do bodhisattvas save beings?” was a question someone asked an awakened master. Their answer, “Like you adjust your pillow in the middle of the night.” There’s no “I’m doing,” “What I should do is…”, or, “I did …!” It’s just an awareness of what was needed, what could be given in those circumstances, and the response.
As if it needed to be said, there’s also the distinction between what we want, which isn’t necessarily what would be good for us! If you have a perfectly balanced wheel, it won’t roll anywhere on its own. It will just sit there. You have to take something away from one side – you have to unbalance it – then it will begin to roll.
I take refuge in one mind, the all embracing treasure of compassion.
How do we save others? How do we save ourselves? By becoming one with them. By becoming one with the lives within us. Daehaeng Kun Sunim sometimes referred to our inherent nature as a smelter. It’s a furnace that utterly melts down whatever is put into it. No matter how rusted or bent, whatever goes in there, is melted down and comes back out clean and shiny, and ready to be made into something new and useful.
Aside from the working at letting go, none of this is something “I” do. Rather, “my” work is trying to let go, and then, if this connection with the whole is made, the whole works together as one to make it happen.
Are you remembering to recite the verses below? 🙂 I find it takes at least three times before it begins to sink in.
I take refuge in one mind, like the love of a Bodhisattva, the thoughts it gives rise to embrace everything throughout all realms.
“How do you truly help people?” and “How do you have compassion on people behaving badly?” are two, not-minor questions. The answer is, you help them by becoming one with them through one mind. Then, to the extent that they are capable of it, the lives that make them up experience this ultimate wholeness, for lack of a better expression, and through it, gain a more harmonious view of the world. This may not translate to actions due to habits (of body and thought), but it’s still a push (a pull?) in the right direction.
Beating, pushing, and yelling rarely work at motivating people. Instead, become one with them through this foundation, and their stubborness will soften or completely melt away (as will yours!!) Like a giant ship changing direction, you may not see any noticeable movement, but it’s there. Have faith in this, and go forward trusting in your foundation.
I take refuge in one mind, always protecting us, it enriches us and gives us the taste of the Dharma.
“No beginning” sounds like it could mean, “no way to start it,” but what it really means is it’s always here. There’s no separate starting point existing someone where else. Right here, right where you are, everything is unfolding. You are in the midst of your path.
I take refuge in one mind, it guides all life to the bright path, which is neither longer nor shorter, sooner nor later.
Wake Up and Laugh! 