Category: d29b

Now the Lotus Sutra describes Avalokiteśvara’s marvelous power to redeem:

Even if someone whose thoughts are malicious
Should push one into a great pit of fire,
By virtue of the constant mindfulness of Sound-Observer
The pit of fire would turn into a pool.

How can we understand this verse? Even if we are pushed into a pit of fire, when we know how to be mindful, how to practice the recollection of the powerful energy of Avalokiteśvara, the fire will be transformed into a cool lotus pond.

The word “fire” in this verse represents anger. Not only individuals are subject to the afflictions of anger and fear – they also occur on the levels of communities, societies, and nations. Sometimes an entire country can be plunged into a pit of fire. The September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., triggered a huge sea of anger, despair, and fear, and the whole United States was in danger of plunging into that pit of fire. Many Americans were looking at their televisions, listening to the inflammatory rhetoric of the politicians, and desiring revenge and retaliation. They were not able to stop and cultivate the mindfulness to look deeply into the situation in the weeks and months after the devastating event.

Yet not all Americans participated in this upwelling of anger, fear, and despair. I was in New York at the time, with friends, and we shared the insight that we cannot respond effectively to anger with anger. Violence should not be used to counter violence; we must practice looking deeply to see the situation clearly and act with wisdom and compassion. Many people contacted me in the days immediately after the attacks, people who were practicing in order to help the nation remain calm. An angry, violent reaction could trigger a war. I began a fast, and invited friends in Europe, America, and elsewhere to join me in the fast in order to practice calming and looking deeply. I contacted congresspeople, politicians, and others, including Ambassador Andrew Young (who sat with me during interviews), who shared the view that we should not attack out of anger. Over 2,000 people attended the talk I gave at the Riverside Church soon after the attacks, and over a thousand were turned away for lack of space.

Some politicians publicly expressed the desire to support this view, but in the political climate of retaliation, they felt unable to do so. And there were many others who shared this view but did not have enough courage to speak out. The wisdom was there, the compassion was there, but the environment was not favorable for the expression of that wisdom and compassion. Yet not all Americans shared the viewpoint of the president or supported the government’s retaliatory action. We must always remember, especially in times of great turmoil or suppression, that we have more friends with us than we may think.

The message of Buddhism is very clear – all violence is injustice. Escalation of anger and violence leads only to more anger and violence, and in the end to total destruction. Violence and hatred can only be neutralized by compassion and loving kindness. When you find yourself in a difficult situation, when you are about to fall into a pit of fire, if you know how to practice mindfulness of compassion and invoke the embodiment of compassion, Avalokiteśvara, then you will be able to stop, calm yourself, and look more deeply and clearly into your situation. Anger and the desire for retaliation and revenge will subside and you will be able to find the better way to respond. Understanding that we inter-are, and that any violence done to another is ultimately violence done to ourselves, we practice mindfulness of compassion so as not to cause more suffering to ourselves, our own people, or those on the so-called other side.

The ocean of fire, the pit of suffering, fear, and anger is a reality. The suffering and despair of the world is enormous, and the desire to punish those who harm us, to retaliate out of our fear and anger, is very strong in us. All of this causes the pit of fire to grow larger and it threatens to consume us all. We can turn the ocean of fire into a cool lake by practicing mindfulness of love and invoking the messenger of love, Avalokiteśvara. As the Lotus Sutra tells us, the bodhisattva of compassion has many aspects and can manifest in many forms and with many names. This bodhisattva is the universal gateway to the path of compassion and reconciliation, and through mindfulness of love, understanding, and compassion the ocean of fire is transformed into a cool, refreshing lotus pond.

In the opening scene of [Chapter 23], one of the bodhisattvas from another part of the cosmos, Beflowered by the King of Constellations, asks the Buddha, “World-Honored One, how does the bodhisattva Medicine King travel in the saha world?” In the Chinese Vietnamese version of the Sutra, this passage reads “What is his business in the saha world?” But it is not really a matter of doing business; a better understanding of this passage would be, “How is that bodhisattva enjoying his journey in the world?” In the chapter on Avalokiteshvara in the Vietnamese version of the Lotus Sutra we see the phrases “enjoying a trip” and “enjoying a stay.” So the great bodhisattvas are those who know how to be at ease and enjoy their travels in the saha world.

We have to learn how to enjoy ourselves as we journey through this saha world. When we understand this, we will be more at ease and not think of our life as being some kind of task that we must accomplish. We do not have to scheme or hurry. We will be able to offer our service and work because we enjoy it. We can work without attachment to outcome. We can perform all our actions – organizing a retreat, building a Sangha, working with prisoners – in a spirit of freedom, liberation, and joy, rather than being bound up by notions of achieving a certain level of success or attainment.

Practicing the path and liberating beings from suffering is the action of the bodhisattvas. The Lotus Sutra introduces us to a number of great bodhisattvas, such as Sadaparibhuta (Never Disparaging), Bhaisajyaraja (Medicine King), Gadgadasvara (Wonderful Sound), Avalokiteshvara (Hearer of the Sounds of the World), and Samantabhadra (Universally Worthy). The action taken up by these bodhisattvas is to help living beings in the historical dimension recognize that they are manifestations from the ground of the ultimate. Without this kind of revelation we cannot see our true nature. Following the bodhisattva path, we recognize the ground of our being, our essential nature, in the ultimate dimension of no birth and no death. This is the realm of nirvana – complete liberation, freedom, peace, and joy.

One of the most important and influential schools of Chinese Buddhism, the Tiantai school, divides the Lotus Sutra into two parts: the first fourteen chapters representing the historical dimension and the last fourteen chapters representing the ultimate dimension. But this method has some shortcomings. There are elements of the ultimate dimension in the first fourteen chapters and elements of the historical in the second. There is also a third very important dimension, the dimension of action.

These dimensions cannot be separated; they inter-are. Here is an example. When we look at a bell we can see that it is made of metal. The manifestation of the bell carries the substance of metal within. So within the historical dimension – the form of the bell – we can see its ultimate dimension, the ground from which it manifests. When the bell is struck, it creates a pleasant sound. The pleasant sound created by the bell is its function. The purpose of a bell is to offer sound in order for us to practice. That is its action. Function is the dimension of action, the third dimension along with, and inseparable from, the historical and ultimate dimensions.

We need to establish a third dimension of the Lotus Sutra to reveal its function, its action. How can we help people of the historical dimension get in touch with their ultimate nature so that they can live joyfully in peace and freedom? How can we help those who suffer open the door of the ultimate dimension so that the suffering brought about by fear, despair, and anxiety can be alleviated? I have gathered all the chapters on the great bodhisattvas into this third action dimension, the bodhisattva’s sphere of engaged practice.