Wake Up and Laugh!

This year, aside from all the corona stuff, the lunar calendar also had a “leap month” that gave us two Buddha’s Birthdays. Normally the second one would be ignored, but with all of the quarantines and people avoiding gathering, the Korean Buddhist orders decided to have two Buddha’s Birthdays. The first was fairly simple, without any emphasis on public ceremonies at the temples, just quiet ceremonies with mostly just monks and nuns.

The hope was that things would have settled down in time to have a more public celebration on the second Buddha’s Birthday. Unfortunately, the latest outbreak has forced the cancellation of those plans. We’re still having a bit bigger celebration, with three nights of the lantern lighting celebration, but it’s a lot more low key than in previous years. Here’s a mix of photos from this year (taken by Hoon Park), and photos from previous years.

I hope you all have a wonderful Buddha’s Birthday! And remember, the point is to discover and brighten the light within us. This light that can show us our way forward and and help ease our suffering while dissolving some of the hindrances before us.

With palms together,
Chong Go

A single thought causes my mind to fall into the hell of boiling water,
but when that thought is dissolved,
this hell also collapses.

All of the hell realms within my mind vanish
as the thoughts that gave rise to them
are extinguished.

This is the start of an interesting section of The Thousand Hands Sutra that deals with hell realms and hellish states of existence. The “Hell of Knives” is traditionally just that – mountains of knives. But it could also perhaps be seen as everything that cuts you or cuts you down, emotionally and figuratively as well as literally.

Should the hell of knives arise within my mind,
let the all embracing energy of one mind
cause this hell to collapse.

My one mind hears and answers
all the cries of the world,
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.
Mind freely manifests and functions everywhere.
Let me discover that all enlightened teachers are my one mind.

Try to recite this a few times before going to bed, and seeing if your dreams change!

My one mind is the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.

Let me know that all Buddhas exist
within my one mind,
the place where enlightenment is attained.

Because we are so used to the material realm, we naturally try to match that format in our perceptions. Where things exist as separate entities, separated by distance and time.

However, they don’t actually exist that way. They are all part of one flowing, interconnected whole, and spiritual practice is the (attempt!) to live in tune with that. The more in tune we become, the more we become able to see things as they truly are, and the more we are able to act effectively in the world. And if you see everyone as yourself, could there be anything more natural than wanting to help them move from suffering?

My one mind is the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.

One mind,
the Way that isn’t a fixed path,
its inherent brightness is never troubled by birth and death.
I vow to realize one mind without delay.

It’s hard to know how to discover our fundamental nature, and hard to function through it, because we’ve also been giving equal (or more) weight to the things we can see and label. This is natural, and not something to get upset about. But, once you become aware of this issue, start by relaxing the urge to grasp onto things. Let go of everything, and entrust it all to your true nature. Then, when things begin to settle down, your true nature can come to the surface. Now your practice can really begin!

My one mind is the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.

Virtue and merit, upright behavior, and actions in harmony with the Dharma
are all done through mind.
I vow to attain these without delay.

My one mind is the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.

“Living” “Dying”
Such things are not my true essence.
Thus I will achieve one mind,
which transcends all distinctions
such as realms of the living
and realms of the dead.

These versus have a strange power to change us. Just by reciting them sincerely, it seems like there are parts of us that hear them, parts that have no ears or eyes.

My one mind is the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.

If I entrust everything I’m searching for to my one mind,
I will realize that the path I seek
is in everything around me,
and that inherently “I” does not exist,
so there is no need to obtain something else.
I will find the one who says
there is no need to obtain something else.

My one mind is the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.

If I entrust all of the great vows I have made to my one mind,
I will surely become a Buddha.