|
'Vietnam War Memorial ... Winter Sunset ... Ft. Fairfield, ME'
* * *
Shunryu Suzuki -
Sometimes I feel there is something blasphemous in talking about how Buddhism is perfect as a philosophy or teaching without knowing what it actually is.
*Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.
The usual idea of teaching is teaching is given. Then, that is the end. We can say, "I heard that. I get it. I understand." Then, that is that. The teaching is over. No, the teaching is always beginning. Something happens, so we know what it is, something we did not know, could not know. Then, we can say, "I know. I really know what it is." Until then, we do not know. So, we want to hear sacred wisdom, but, more, we want to know it. The greater joy is in the knowing.
* * *
The church of my youth offered an "invitational time" before the closing prayer. When the pastor's sermon was completed, he would come down from the pulpit. He had spoken the homily elevated above us and from behind a podium. After coming down, he stood on a level with us, waiting to receive anyone who came forward. We would sing an "invitational hymn." This was time for a reply, as one felt Spirit lead. The entire spoken message, usually of at least twenty-five minutes, was a preamble to this occasion for "Yes" to the teaching, to decide if and how we would each live the teaching, continuing it by giving it life in us and, thereby, in the world.
* * *
A Desert Father, Abba Abraham, told of a monastic brother who begged an elderly scribe to copy a book. The old man, whose spirit was engaged in spiritual contemplation, wrote, omitting some phrases and did not include any punctuation.
The brother, taking the book and wishing to punctuate it, noticed words were missing. He said to the scribe, "Abba, some phrases are missing."
The wise, older brother said, "Go and practice first that which is written, then come back, and I will write the rest."
* * *
In the Jewish Scriptures, Psalm 143.10 (NRSV), the poet penned -
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me
on a level path.
* * *
In the Christian Gospels, Gospel of Luke 11.27-28, Jesus replies to a woman in the crowd -
As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, "God bless your mother - the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!"
Jesus replied, "But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice."
* * *
The fruition of sacred teaching is acting the teaching. There is no point where teaching ends and action begins. We may think the teaching is information, but it is information and practice. The teaching fulfills itself in the act - teaching and act co-inhere.
In acting the teaching, you are the teaching. You are acting yourself, too, for truth, act, and you unite. Then, your life is "Yes." So, you embody the wisdom. You become the invitation, but without any felt need to speak the invitation. You live, so the invitation lives.
* * *
*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2021
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse. The book is a collection of poems based on mystical traditions, especially Christian and Sufi, with extensive notes on the teachings and imagery in the poetry.
|
