Unitarian Universalist
Meeting of
“The Second
Step on Buddha’s Eightfold Path”
Rev. Kathy Duhon
Before
I begin this sermon, I want to express sadness and compassion, again, for the
violence which has been brought to our minds and hearts lately – in
Last week, I realized I had something significant in common with the student who killed so many at Virginia Tech, and this shocked me. I have a sense of power in my life that is born of my experiences and my faith, and it is the power of not being afraid of death, at least not for the most part. I try to live my life complete, ready to go, knowing that all of this has been such a gift. I imagine that you try to live this way too, at least much of the time. At its best this is living intentionally with a freedom from fear and there is such power in this – power to go forward for the good and not to be held back. Power to live fully in the present, which is emphasized by Buddhism’s teachings. I approximate it – I hope you do too, and I keep intending to be unafraid, and I keep finding this power. It’s like magic.
And it’s the same power that the student killer found. He was not afraid of death. His very different experiences and faith led him to the same place as me, where he experienced a freedom from fear and a power to go forward and not be held back. But not for the good, not to live fully, but to kill and to die.
Power is neutral. What we intend and how we use our power is what makes it good or evil. And that is related to today’s topic.
Last month we
began a series of sermons on the Eightfold Path of Buddhism. As a small review, the Buddha taught the four
Noble Truths, which are: First, life is
difficult and filled with suffering.
Second, the reason for this is that we have desires and that our
attachment to such craving brings us pain.
The Third Noble Truth states that we can cease this suffering; we can
withdraw from craving and desire with non-attachment. The Fourth Noble Truth is that the Eightfold
Path will lead to the extinction of suffering and to enlightenment.
We began last time with the first
step on the path, “right view” or “right understanding” of the nature of
reality. And part of the right view is understanding that death is a reality not to be feared,
and that the present is where we are awake.
Now we will try the second step, which is called “right intention” or
“right thought” or sometimes, “right aspiration”.
To try to live in this world with
good intention, purity of heart and thought, free from the fetters of
unkindness, with an attitude of goodwill and compassion, is to progress on the
second step of the path. What do we
want? Not what do we desire, but what do
we want, what is wanted in this world?
We have to be intentional about what we want or else we will be buffeted
here and there by the world and by our desires.
That is the unreflective way of life which leads to suffering. The reflective, mindful way is the path of
intentional living, shown in this second step.
What we want, or at least what we
can cultivate wanting, is a world at peace, with compassion and justice, and we
can intend this, beginning with our own well-being. We can turn our thoughts in the direction of
peace and justice, and aspire to this possibility in ourselves and in the
world. And this is the first step to
being able to act with compassion. This
is not easy – we have minds that become trapped in ignorance, delusion, and
selfishness; kindness toward ourselves and others depends upon deep honesty and
understanding, and a deliberate turning away from ego and to the world in the
present.
The Dalai Lama wrote, “I feel that
the essence of all spiritual life is your emotion, your attitude toward
others. Once you have pure and sincere
motivation, all the rest follows. You
can develop this right attitude toward others on the basis of kindness, love,
and respect, and on the clear realization of the oneness of all human
beings. This is important because others
benefit by this motivation as much as anything we do. Then, with a pure heart, you can carry on any
work – farming, mechanical engineering, working as a doctor, as a lawyer, as a
teacher – and your profession becomes a real instrument to help the human
community.”
Perhaps deeper than the intention to bring compassion and peace to the world is the intention to live fully in the present, noticing the gift that life itself is, whether gentle or painful at that moment. The intention to be aware and grateful lays the basis for our ability to intend kindness.
Some Buddhists are helped to live this path of compassion by noticing that there is a Buddha within, or a Buddha nature. Compassion is not some unapproachable ideal that only the Buddha or the Dalai Lama or Pema Chodron can fully understand and are capable of doing. Buddha is beyond time, place, or any person, no matter how saintly. Buddha is the awakened nature, and as sleepy as we are most of our lives, we do touch it at times.
You may have heard about the Bodhisattva teaching in some forms of Buddhism – someone is occasionally referred to as a Bodhisattva, and it sounds a little like being a saint. The tradition says that reincarnation continues until enlightenment, but in the cycle of rebirth there are a few men and women who have become fully awakened, enlightened, but who choose to continue to be re-born. They are the Bodhisattvas, bodhi for awakening and sattva for being, and they remain on the earth because their compassion is so great. Their intention is to be kind, to help everyone reach enlightenment. They have Bodhicitta, the fully developed heart-mind.
In a form of Buddhism, people take the Bodhisattva vow, committing themselves to, at least for moments here and there, help all toward awakening and embody the enlightened way. The vow goes like this and is chanted each day:
Sentient beings are numberless: I vow to liberate them.
Delusions are inexhaustible: I vow to transcend them.
Dharma teachings are boundless: I vow to master them.
The Buddha’s enlightened way is unsurpassable: I vow to embody it.
How to make these intentions real? Inner work. Some of the inner work is just returning to the commitments and intentions – I will be kind to my child today; I will open my eyes to the needs of my neighbors and try to be of help; I will bring a cloth bag to the grocery store as a way of being good to the Earth.
Buddhists do inner work by practices of various kinds, often meditation. And there are many ways to meditate, but essentially it is finding a time to be still and quiet in solitude. The breathing, the relaxing of the body, the words that you may chant or say internally, or the silence that you cultivate, are all designed to help you return to the place of awareness.
In our “Living By Heart” group this Spring, we have been trying several different tools for meditative practice, and the experimental nature is very freeing. There is no right way to do this, and it does no good to try for perfection or for the “right” practice. Our Intention for meditation or other spiritual practice needs to be grounded in the eightfold path. As Pema Chodron says, “We don’t sit in meditation to become good meditators. We sit in meditation so that we’ll be more awake in our lives.” We UUs sometimes sit in meditation or wonder or other practice. In our Living By Heart group, we are trying out memorizing poetry as a tool for our practice. It is very gentle and yet transformative. You might want to try this yourself.
The right thought or right intention is so crucial to our well-being and to the well-being of the world. The Buddha taught, “Our own worst enemy cannot harm us as much as our unwise thoughts. No one can help us as much as our own compassionate thoughts.” And our intentions for good in the world are the only way that we can begin to act for that good. We can bring intention to our lives and the world that is good, gentle, kind, compassionate, and so may it be.
I close now with the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, which I have memorized for the Living By Heart group, and the reminder that you consider a way to enhance the step of right intention in your lives, whether by regular reading of poetry, prayer, or sacred writing, meditation, walking, memorizing the words that stir your heart, or whatever it is that brings you peace and right intention.
Our true home is in the
present moment.
To live in the present
moment is a miracle. The miracle is not to walk on water.
The miracle is to walk
on the green Earth in the present moment,
to
appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.
Peace is all around us –
in
the world and in nature –
and
within us –
in
our bodies and our spirits.
Once we learn to touch
this peace,
we
will be healed and transformed.
It is not a matter of
faith;
it
is a matter of practice.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Opening Words:
Blessed Be the Soul of the World
Peace Be to Every
Soul. K.D. 3/05
And, as Nawong Khechog chants:
May all be kind to each other.
Let us chant that together three
times.
Meditation:
Breathing in, I calm my body.
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment,
I know this is a wonderful moment. Thich
Nhat Hanh