California recently prohibited all indoor religious services and so the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church set up outside in a grassy area between the Social Hall and the Temple.

Three 20 by 10 feet canopies were erected on Saturday. These canopies are normally used during the Summer Food Festival.

Rev. Igarashi stands at podium next to makeshift altar. The podium originally belonged to the San Francisco Nichiren Buddhist Church, where Rev. Igarashi worked before moving to Sacramento in 1989. The Mandala Gohonzon was presented to Rev. Igarashi after the completion of his third Aragyo session, the 100-day ascetic practice. Rev. Igarashi has completed five of the Aragyo sessions.

Rev. Igarashi at the altar.

Rev. Igarashi chats with masked, socially-distant parishioners under the canopies.

A group of masked-parishioners chat after the service.

Having the service outside was workable, but it was quite warm at times – could have used a litttle more breeze – and the traffic on the nearby street made Rev. Igarashi’s Dharma talk difficult to hear at times.

Recently I completed reading The Vimalakirti Sutra as translated by Burton Watson. I was reading this as part of Rev. Ryuei McCormick’s Buddhist Study Program. This also plays into reading I’ve been doing on T’ien-t’ai’s teaching and, in particular, how it constrasts with the Madhyamika.

As with all of my quotes here, the purpose is to file these away for future reference. I’ve never been famous for my retention of what I read, and at 68 years of age I’m not getting any better.

Today’s quote is about illness, from pages 64-66.

INQUIRING ABOUT THE ILLNESS

At that time the Buddha said to Manjushri, “You must go visit Vimalakirti and inquire about his illness.”

Manjushri replied to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, that eminent man is very difficult to confront. He is profoundly enlightened in the true nature of reality and skilled at preaching the essentials of the Law. His eloquence never falters, his wisdom is free of impediments. He understands all the rules of bodhisattva conduct, and nothing in the secret storehouse of the Buddhas is beyond his grasp. He has overcome the host of devils and disports himself with transcendental powers. In wisdom and expedient means he has mastered all there is to know. Nevertheless, in obedience to the Buddha’s august command, I will go visit him and inquire about his illness.” …

“Layman, this illness of yours – can you endure it? Is the treatment perhaps not making it worse rather than better? The World-Honored One countless times has made solicitous inquiries concerning you. Layman, what is the cause of this illness? Has it been with you long? And how can it be cured?”

Vimalakirti replied, “This illness of mine is born of ignorance and feelings of attachment. Because all living beings are sick, therefore I am sick. If all living beings are relieved of sickness, then my sickness will be mended. Why? Because the bodhisattva for the sake of living beings enters the realm of birth and death, and because he is in the realm of birth and death he suffers illness. If living beings can gain release from illness, then the bodhisattva will no longer be ill.

“It is like the case of a rich man who has only one child. If the child falls ill, then the father and mother too will be ill, but if the child’s illness is cured, the father and mother too will be cured. The bodhisattva is like this, for he loves living beings as though they were his children. If living beings are sick, the bodhisattva will be sick, but if living beings are cured, the bodhisattva too will be cured. You ask what cause this illness arises from – the illness of the bodhisattva arises from his great compassion.”

This certainly resonates with this day of COVID-19.

Members of Rev. Ryusho Jeffus’ online Sangha gathered today to hold a service and offer prayers for Ryusho, who has been in hospital since Friday. Ryusho communicated with my wife to say his news from the doctors “was not good” and that he was receiving palliative care at the Syracuse VA Medical Center for extreme pain and difficulty breathing. Nothing has been heard since. Davie Byden-Oakes, who led Sunday’s service from England, said he had received a brief note from Ryusho saying he was in hospital and receiving palliative care.

The secret to my constant flow of quotes from books I read is an app on my phone called Office Lens. This is a Microsoft product that integrates with One Drive. Using Office Lens I can take a picture of a block of text and have the app save an editable version of the text in a Word file. Best of all, the image is included so that occasional OCR failures can be fixed.

Not every book I read merits extensive quotes. My Office Lens folder is cluttered with quotes I’ve set aside but never uploaded here. Since they don’t do me any good there, I’m working my way through the odds and ends.

Today’s example is The Awakening of Faith, which is attributed to Aśvaghoṣa. The Awakening of Faith is described as a “comprehensive summary of the essentials of Mahāyāna Buddhism.” While there is a great deal of substance here, I only set aside two things I felt merited saving for use later.

First is the full title of the work, The Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna.

It should be noted that the term “Mahāyāna” here is not used in the usual sense of the word, that is, Mahāyāna versus Hinayāna. According to the definition given in the discussion immediately following, Mahāyāna designates Suchness or the Absolute. The title of the text, the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna, should therefore be understood as the “Awakening of Faith in the Absolute,” not in Mahāyāna Buddhism as distinguished from Hinayāna Buddhism.

I wonder whether this applies in more instances where the Great Vehicle is discussed.

The second concerns how one is to look at the Reality of Dependent Origination.

“Because these two aspects are mutually inclusive”: Reality is conceived as the intersection of the Absolute order and the phenomenal order; therefore, it contains in itself both the Absolute and the phenomenal order at once. The Absolute order is thought to be transcendental and yet is conceived as not being outside of the phenomenal order. Again the phenomenal order is thought to be temporal and yet is conceived as not being outside of the Absolute order. In other words, they are ontologically identical; they are two aspects of one and the same Reality. Perhaps the most famous and simplest statement of the relationship between the Absolute and the phenomenal order can be found in the sayings of Nāgārjuna (second century A.D.), e.g., “There is no difference whatsoever between nirvāṇa (Absolute) and saṃsāra (phenomena); there is no difference whatsoever between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.”

This is a recurring discussion. I recently finished T’ien-t’ai Buddhism and Early Mādhyamika, which is almost entirely devoted where Nāgārjuna and T’ien-t’ai intersect and diverge. I’ve lots of quotes that I’ll need to eventually add here.

Finally, I have this excellent summary of what it means to be a Buddhist.

On Mount Chunwang in Henan province there was a monk [Chan Master Daolin] who practiced meditation sitting in a tall pine tree day after day. His practice was so effortless and spontaneous that birds formed their nests next to his meditation Site. People gave him the nickname “Bird Nest Master” and frequented his treehouse to seek his guidance. …

One day the great Tang poet Bo Juyi (772-846), who was then a regional magistrate, visited Daolin at his treehouse. Bo Juyi asked Daolin, “Master, your residence looks so high on the tree. Isn’t it dangerous?”

The master said, “Magistrate, yours is far more dangerous than mine.”

Bo continued, “But, Master, I, your humble disciple, rule over all the rivers, mountains, and lands in this region. Why am I in a danger?

“Fire and firewood destroying each other,” replied the Master, “that’s how your mind ‘s thoughts operate, and you cannot quiet them. Is that not truly dangerous?”

Bo paused and then asked again, “Master, please instruct me in the cardinal teaching of Buddhism.”

Daolin said, “Abstain from all bad deeds, and practice all good deeds.”

“Even a three-year-old child knows that,” said Bo with dissatisfaction.

Daolin told Bo, “A three-year-old child may know it, but even an eighty-year-old man cannot put it into practice.”

Bo Juyi bowed low at the master’s feet.