Saints and Bodhisattvas

Some of you might be wondering why in the world I am in Nepal studying Tibetan Buddhism.  Once upon a time I think I would have come here out of sheer curiosity and sense of adventure.  And while I have to admit my sense of adventure is rather piqued, we all know a Jedi craves not these things J My primary reason for coming out here is to study a tradition that I find to hold some real insights and truths.  My faith is deeply rooted in Christ, but I am thoroughly convinced that Christianity can learn a lot from other traditions about Christ’s teachings, God’s Kingdom and how the Spirit moves.  So on a personal level this trip is about learning and acquiring Buddhist tools, truths and insights so that I can deepen my own knowledge and wisdom about the Trinity and the nature of reality.  On an academic level (and perhaps someday professional level), this trip is about learning how another tradition arranges its world both metaphysically and practically.  It’s about studying emptiness and playing soccer with monks.  Globalization has made us all neighbors and forced us to interact on a planetary level.  Yet most of our “worldviews” are at best, “regional views”, most likely, “national views” or most honestly, “Fox News’ or CNN’s views.”   This trip is about understanding our neighbors and what makes them tick.  It’s about discovering their treasures, acknowledging their challenges and figuring out how to work with them to make the world a better and more efficient place.  My little mantra for this trip is TINT TIOS [There Is No Them, There Is Only uS].

With all that being said I am going to attempt a little experiment.  As this is a personal blog, I plan on focusing on how the Buddhist teachings interact with my Christian beliefs.  I will be engaging each of the 37 Practices of the Bodhisattva (which are actually 37 stanzas) from the Buddhist view, and then how I find that view speaks to my own faith.  If this sounds interesting to you read on.

 A very quick piece of background.  I will be drawing my Buddhist information from the book “Uniting Wisdom and Compassion” by Chokyi Dragpa as well as my classroom experiences. My Christian comments come from my own limited storehouse of knowledge.  For the “very new to Buddhism” a bodhisattva is a being that has attained enlightenment, yet foregone liberation in order to remain behind and help all other sentient beings attain enlightenment.  So without further adieu, the first practice.

1) At this time of having obtained the rare great ship of freedoms and riches,

   Without any distraction day and night,

   In order to liberate oneself and others from the ocean of samsara

   Is the practice of the bodhisattvas 

The theme of this practice can be summed up by, “making the freedoms and riches meaningful.”  A human life is a precious thing in the Buddhist worldview.  Of the six realms of existence the human existence is the most rare, and a precious human existence is a statistical anomaly.   A precious human life is characterized by 18 conditions ranging from birth in an epoch where a Buddha has appeared to a place that has heard of the Dharma to having a mind capable of grasping the teachings.  The chances are likened to a blind sea turtle, which only surfaces once every hundred years, putting its head through a yoke that is floating on the ocean in a storm.  To experience such a birth is a highly, highly treasured thing, and so each and every human should make the most of this life as possible.  “The most” means taking up the path of the bodhisattva.  Seeking enlightenment with the infinitely pure and compassionate motivation of freeing all sentient beings from samsara (suffering).  A life full of chasing worldly riches and temporary pleasures is a monumental waste.  The bottom line is, appreciate this gift of life you have received and make the most of it.

I love the focus of this first practice.  Before we even jump into “the doing” we take pause to recognize and appreciate “the being.”  We Christians are typically activators not meditators, so this is one of those practices that we might need to reflect on a little longer.  This idea of a precious human life is not totally foreign to our tradition.  St Augustine laid out four periods of human existence: Before the Law (preceding Moses), Under the Law (from Moses to Christ), Under Grace (after Christ and before Glory) and Under Glory (communion with God).  Each of us reading this today that calls him or herself a Christian has the good fortune to be born “Under Grace.”  We live in a time when the Christ has appeared, to a place that has heard of the Gospel and with a mind capable of grasping the teachings.   And while I probably could propose another 15 conditions, my point is that we have truly been given a precious human life.  Reflecting on that miracle alone should give us pause to think about how we are spending our days.  Are we chasing worldly goods and temporary pleasures, or are we putting this life to good use?  Perhaps an even more pointed question is, “Are we using this life for our own selfish ends, even selfish spiritual ends?”  What does “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” mean to us here on earth?  There is an old saying that the only prerequisite to becoming a saint is the desire to be one.  I would say saints and bodhisattvas are not much different in this way.  Meditating on the gift of our precious human life before we act is probably a good thing.