3rd Foundational Dharma Talk: Mono No Aware - Embracing Impermanence
Excerpt:
At the heart of the teaching of impermanence is conditioned existence but what is conditioned existence?
Conditioned existence is the reality that all phenomena, all things that exist arise in dependence upon other phenomena: "if this exists, that exists; if this ceases to exist, that also ceases to exist"
This is the heart of impermanence of all - because all things all phenomena arise out of conditions and when the condition causes it to arise, cease then, that which arose, vanishes or transforms into something different. That is way the Buddha says,
“All conditioned things have the nature of vanishing,”
Let that sink in
Everything by its nature vanishes.
In Japanese the heartbreak, the melancholy of the impermanence of all things is summed up in the phrase Mono no Aware.
Mono-no-aware can’t truly be translated. Any one who speaks another language understands this but it can be literally translated to “the ahhness of things” The isness of things or “the bittersweet poignancy of things.”
I remember some years ago reading the introduction to one of my favorite poets Eugenio de Andrade. The poet writes from his love of the world and the grief and praise that come from its transience.
Something that I am learning as of late is that Grief and Praise are intertwined, as Martin Prechtel teaches us in his book, The Smell of Rain on Dust.
So too are impermanence and gratitude.
Now the concept of mono-no-aware is born from the teachings of shinto and Buddhism, and was first used to explain Japanese aesthetics to explain uch traditions as cherry-blossom viewing and haiku. But this insight is much more than simply aesthetics.
Mono No Aware is at the heart of a meaningful everyday Buddhism.
21 Apr 2023
#2 Foundational Dharma Talk: Way of the Foolish Being
In this talk we explore the idea of bonbu - of each of us being "foolish beings" and who this informs our community and practice.
Excerpt
"It is our studentship that we share, not our specialness or holiness. It is with humility being aware of our limitations. As I have said time and time again, I too will be disappointed, and that I do not nor have I ever claimed to be a guru or a master, just a foolish being.
This idea of the foolish or ordinary being is the foundation to what we do. And I want to continue our translation of the Shin Tradition. Today it is an idea that is very central in the Shin Tradition - called bonbu."
23 Jan 2023
Follow Your Authentic Path
EXCERPT
"Breathing in I am aware that I am breathing in, breathing out, I am aware that I am breathing out. To really live life we can touch this simple reality with deep awareness – underneath my stories, religion, ideas and philosophy –
I appreciate this so much,
At the time Akegarasu Sensei began teaching he was rather revolutionary, looking for a way to take the teachings of Buddha into people’s everyday lives. His language is different, more direct, less dogmatic and more personal
Rev Akegarasu goes on to write in Shout of Buddha.
"Besides my own living I don't need religion, philosophy, and morality. Religion, philosophy, morality, and art and politics, are not in the world of my living beside my living. Beside my being alive there is no God or Buddha. When I die God and Buddha will also die. Look at me.
What do you think his point is in these lines? For me it is the realization of Being Alive in the flow of now is more important the ideas of being alive – Life is more elemental, life is process, to live is a verb, it is the state of simply being.
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