True Religion
2008 January 22
Here’s another quote from my weekend reading (compare Tannisho 8):
True religion has no answers for our self-seeking demands. Instead, it shows us the way beyond the suffering and affliction caused by those very demands. It is not until one understands this that religion can provide the answer to our innermost yearning.*“
(Takashi Hirose – Lectures on Shin Buddhism, Higashi Honganji 1980, p.28)
*(Sk. Purva-pranidhana; Jpn. hongan)
Rambling reaction to follow…
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Which is why it is so hard for us. We always want to fix, to solve, to reconcile, to mend, to complete… And, of course, when a Zen monk or a Shin teacher or other Buddhist guide on the path (or even someone from another tradition such as a contemplative Christian religious) tells us that, in ultimate terms, there is nothing to attain and nothing to grasp, many of us tend to become despondent, or suspicious, or frustrated (nor are those mutually exclusive reactions).
“What is wrong with this moment?” asks the Zen teacher.
“Rest in the Vow of Amida,” suggests the Shin lay minister.
“Let go and let God,” offers the Christian priest.
“Yeah, but– but–” we reply.
That would mean transcending the small-self (ego) is accepting small-self, which requires sacrificing the small-self, which is an act of surrender.
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Thanks for letting me get that reaction off my chest. :o)