A Christmas Carol

Earlier this month, I was asked what I would be doing for Christmas. I replied that after having arrived in Toronto on Christmas eve, I would be giving my first lecture at the US-Canada Pure Land Buddhist Retreat. On hearing my reply that I would be working, Cameo and Jim were probably both even happier they were taking me out to dinner with them! I thought of how I was looking forward to trip: lecturing on the Amitabha Sutra, participating in a retreat, seeing old friends.  

After I got home that evening, I learned that in the United States, more people will have heart attacks today than any other day of the year. It's a combination of stress, too much partying, people not following their regular schedules and forgetting their medicine, and several other reasons. A day of celebration has, for too many people, become a day of anxiety and overindulgence.

And there is more. This is also the time of year the suicide rate increases as depression becomes more prevalent.

Regrets. Memories. Expectations. We think others are having fun but we’re not. We think by indulging ourselves and others, we’ll all be happy.

One of my favorite movies at this time of year is the 1951 movie, A Christmas Carol. Scrooge learned how to embody the spirit of Christmas by being considerate, by spending time with his family, and by giving small but needed gifts. Maybe he was on to something...

Social Anxiety

 

A recent post on the bog "No Impact Man"

Anyway, the day No Impact ended, Michelle and I bolted out to see Margo at the Wedding. The fact that we were seeing a movie was such a big deal in the narrative of No Impact that the documentary film makers even filmed us going to the cinema. A year of no movies. We were finally free. This was going to be great, right?

So guess what happened?

We were kind of bored.

The thing is, movies are okay, but honestly, it turned out we weren't missing much. Plus Michelle went to look around Barneys and came out not even wanting to buy anything. Plus, we've both ended up walking out of other movies.

You know what it is? We never missed movies, per se. We never missed stuff. But there was still some kind of pull, and here's what it was: wanting to have what other people around us had, wanting to do what they did, wanting to be where they were. In other words, it was, more or less, social anxiety.

If we get to do the things that other people do and have the things that other people have, that means we're as loveable as everyone else. If we go the places they go, then we're as cool and, therefore, again, loveable. Consumption has become a surrogate for being loved.

Instead of going and spending time with people we buy things or show up places like movies because the culture has sold us a bill of goods that says that this is what will make people love us.

How sad. So many of us are a bit lonely and need more human contact. We think the way to get it is to buy things. But really, if we want to be loved, what we we need is living rooms full of people instead of closets full of stuff. We need community. Isn't that an important point? We could be happy without the stuff and without wrecking the planet. We just need to hang out more.

How Buddhist! We have bought into the concept that "more will make us happy."

But in reality, with less, we will find contentment, and wisdom. 

Is the Pure Land real

Question: Is the Pure Land real? Why do you chant?

Response: The Pure Land exists on two levels. On one level, the Pure Land is a very real land that is far to the west of us. But on the ultimate level of understanding, the Pure Land is already within us. We ordinary beings see everything in terms of duality: pleasant or unpleasant, like or dislike, gain or loss. Buddhas no longer see duality.

They understand that we are all one and that everything outside of us is already within us. “Me” doesn’t exist for “I” am part of everything that is. When my mind focuses solely on Amitabha, I am Amitabha. When it focuses solely on the Pure Land, I am one with the Pure Land. It is already within me.

Black-nosed Buddha

 

A nun who was searching for enlightenment made a statue of Buddha and covered it with gold leaf. Wherever she went she carried this golden Buddha with her.

Years passed and, still carrying her Buddha, the nun came to live in a small temple in a country where there were many Buddhas, each one with its own particular shrine.

The nun wished to burn incense before her golden Buddha. Not liking the idea of the perfume straying to others, she devised a funnel through which the smoke would ascend only to her statue. This blackened the nose of the golden Buddha, making it especially ugly.

~101 Zen Stories

"It's All About Me"

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said “It’s All About Me”. I murmured “Amituofo.”

It’s what I say when I see an animal that was run over, when someone thanks me for some valued advice, when I greet another cultivator, and in so many circumstances.

Sometime I murmur it in regret. Like when I saw that bumper sticker.

What a sad way to view life. It’s a viewpoint that can only lead to suffering. Tragically, it’s a viewpoint that is fostered more and more by an advertising industry that will prosper only if we continue to buy into their world of illusion. I’ve read that the average American watches four hours of television a day. That average viewer sees as many ads in a year that a few decades ago, it took a lifetime to see. These people are listening to the wrongs “teachers.”

I’m working on a talk by my teacher, Ven. Master Chin Kung, on the Amitabha Sutra. In one section, he was had spoken about one of the five corruptions mentioned in the sutra: the corruption of views. He said that the corruption of views means that everyone has erroneous views and vastly different opinions. When one’s thoughts and views about others and the environment are wrong, one error will lead to other errors. Inevitably, trouble follows.

We live in troubled times. Why are our times troubled? Because people do not believe in the sages’ teachings. People do not value the writings of the sages. Because people do not believe in the sages’ teachings, even though these writings are available, people have no inclination to read them, thinking that these teachings no longer are relevant. People do not try to study and understand them. They make this mistake because they are not open-minded. They are focused on what the advertising industry and multinational companies want them to believe.

As long as people continue to think that they’re the center of the universe and that what they want supersedes the wishes of others, they will continue to search for their illusive idea of happiness. Thinking that “It’s All About Me” will lead, inevitably, to painful troubles.

And again, I say "Amituofo."