【小欲から大欲へ ～無我の大我～】お大師様縁日法話

[I give sermons at Suma-dera Temple every month] Every month, I hold a goma fire ritual and sutra copying session on the 18th starting at 10:00 AM, a goma fire ritual and sutra copying session on the 20th and 21st starting at 11:30 AM at the inner sanctuary, and a goma fire ritual and sermon on the 21st starting at 2:00 PM. [From Small Desires to Great Desires ~The Great Self of No Self~] Daishi's Festival Sermon [The Great Self of No Self] Daishi teaches us not to suffer by being trapped by thoughts like, "This is me. This is mine." Daishi said, "The provisional self of the five aggregates." He said that "self" is made up of the five elements: mind, senses, thoughts, will, and body. Although our appearances may differ, we all share the same life bestowed upon us by Dainichi Nyorai. The more we cling to our "true selves," the more we cause ourselves pain. Yojin's Musings ~From Small Desires to Great Desires~ There's a parable that explains the teachings of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism, as taught by the Great Master. "If we think of earthly desires as weeds, the practice of exoteric Buddhism (traditional Mahayana Buddhism) is to pluck them out one by one. The practice of esoteric Buddhism is to grow a large tree in their place. As the tree grows branches and leaves grow, the weeds eventually lose sunlight and wither away." The "weeds" in this parable refer to our selfish desires. This is called "small desires." And the "large tree" is our great desires, which could also be called great compassion. This is called "great desires." "I want to save someone." "I want to be of use to someone." "I want to be a support to someone." All of these can be considered "great desires." We live our lives carrying earthly desires. Early desires are desires. Rather than denying all desires, Kobo Daishi taught the importance of "abandoning small desires and embracing greater ones." When you are working wholeheartedly for someone else, your small, self-centered desires become smaller. That said, this is not always easy to put into practice. But when you are worried or angry about something, it's important to stop and think. "Why am I so angry and suffering?" Isn't it often because we are thinking "me, me"? "My heart" has been hurt by "other people's hearts." "Other people" are benefiting more than "me." "Other people's happiness" seems greater than "my own." All worries arise from thinking in terms of "me" and "other people." Thinking, "I want only I to be happy, and not others," only makes us suffer more. Akutagawa Ryunosuke's novel "The Spider's Thread" questions our own greater and lesser desires. A man named Kandata was writhing in agony alongside many other sinners in a pool of blood at the bottom of Hell. One day, Buddha happened to look on from a lotus pond in Paradise and spotted Kandata. Kandata was an evil man who had committed many evil deeds, including theft, arson, and murder, but Buddha remembered that he had done one good deed while alive. While walking through the forest, Kandata stopped himself from trampling a small spider to death, saving its life. In recognition of having saved the spider's life, Buddha let down a spider's thread from heaven to Paradise down to Hell where Kandata was. When Kandata finds the spider's thread, he rejoices and begins to climb it, knowing that he will be able to escape from Hell. Halfway up, Kandata looks down and sees a large group of sinners following him and holding on to the thread. Terrified, the thin spider's thread breaks under their weight, and Kandata cried out, "This is mine! Get down!" At that moment, the thread breaks above Kandata, and he falls back into Hell. After reading this story, I ask myself again: Do I have the courage to climb that thin "spider's thread" with others? It's a shame, but I find myself unable to answer "Yes!" with confidence. I encourage you to ask yourself this question too. I'm sure there are many people who have had experiences similar to the "spider's thread" and are living with a pang of conscience. Recently, the phrases "America First," "Tokyo Citizens First," and "XX First" have been used frequently. A literal translation would be "〇〇 first." It sounds like "〇〇 should be prioritized above all else." If "〇〇 first" means prioritizing only one's own interests, wouldn't it be the same as Kandata's example? If everyone thinks that it's okay to step on others as long as they're happy, world peace will never come. Kenji Miyazawa "Individual happiness is impossible until the whole world is happy." I would like to reflect on these words once again. ************************************* ■You can also listen to this sermon on Spotify. https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/sh... [About Spotify] Spotify is a streaming service that lets you enjoy music and audio libraries from the internet. It's a streaming service that lets you enjoy tens of millions of free music and audio...