Hi Everybody,
Back from Lemnos. Had a great great time. And the great news is that my busted ankle hasn't forgotten how to windsurf. It was just so good to be on the water again. I find windsurfing is very much like skiing, all your focus is on the next turn, so that your mind is completely cleared of all the stuff that we have to deal with every day. In that sense it's very liberating. Very much living in the now. And i came back to find a really surprising e-mail from Tiziana, the very generous lady in Colombia who has done all the Spanish translations of the books. She sent me a clip from an article written by a Jesuit priest. And to my complete and utter surprise, he had quoted a passage from one of my books. It was a passage about the importance to our lives of our attitude towards pain and suffering. Do we allow it to knock us down, or do we try to grasp it as an opportunity for creating change. But isn't it interesting, that a Jesuit priest should choose to read, and actually quote from a book on Nichiren Buddhism. I find it absolutely fascinating.
Anyway, today's passage closes off chapter 7, which is about the practice, and it's headed Seeking actual proof.
' A Buddhist practice is too extensive, too multi-layered to admit of a meaniungful summing up. As the late historian and philosopher Arnold Toynbee, who was deeply interested in Buddhist teachings has expressed it,
' The Buddhist analysis of the dynamics of life is more detailed and subtle than any western analysis I know of.'
But if I had to isolate a single thought that conveys the essence of its meaning and purpose, it would be perhaps that it enables us to understand altogether more clearly and more vividly, that life doesn't just happen to us, we make it happen. This combination of discipline and self-belief that lie at its heart, help us to summon up the determination and the effort and perseverance that can be truly life-changing, both for ourselves and for those around us.
But it's crucially important to add, that at no stage are we asked to accept the benefits of the practice that we have been talking about, as a matter of blind faith. From the outset Nichiren Buddhism asks us to regard actual, demonstrable proof of the benefits or the effects of the practice as the crucial test of its validity. Indeed the term ' actual proof ' is used to make this point clear, and if you think about it even for a moment, it is the fundamental question isn't it? Does it work? Does it genuinely help us with things like overcoming our problems and facing up to our challenges? Does it enhance our daily lives? Does it help us to live in a more positive, value-creating way despite all the difficulties we are bound to encounter as human beings? Those are the kinds of questions that this practice invites you to ask. As i've said, it requires nothing that might be described as blind faith. It does require the commitment and the determination in order to give it a reasonable chance to bring about change in your life.
And if i look back, that was certainly my own position all thos eyears ago, hanging on to that key question does it work? And in answerinng it I would say that you take note of the doubts and the misgivings that undoubtedly arise, particularly in the early days, but they can arise at any time. Why not?And you ask questions and read more widely in order to seek some resolution of them. But in the final analysis, it will not in my view be what you read, or what you are told about Buddhism that will convince you of its value, although of course they both have an important role to play, particularly at the outset.
In the end, it has to be the gradual accumulation of your own experience that prove to you that it makes sense in terms of your own life. Or not indeed. Both options are clearly valid. The practice is too demanding to be continued on the basis of what somebody else tells you about it. The deepening belief and the joy, in the life-changing power of a Buddhist practice have to come...can only come, from within. '
That's chapter 7 under our belt. Next time chapter 8. Buddhism and Daily Life.
see you then.
Best wishes,
William
Good to be back.
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