Year of Faith

This month I have a fairly diverse set of reading material. In addition to the Diamond and Heart Sutras that Sara mentioned earlier, I will be reading 4-5 other books to give me a better understanding of the many facets of Buddhism. Here is a summary of a few that I am slowly working my way through this month:

Zen Speaks by Tsai Chih Chung, translated by Brian Bruya.

A collection of comics that expounds the message and philosophy of Zen Buddhism, thoughtfully loaned to me by a friend. Each comic, to the best of my knowledge, reflects parables and exchanges found in real Zen writings. Although many of the comics are funny and entertaining, they each contain important truths about Buddhism and the meaning of Zen that have been quite eye-opening. Some choice quotes:

People are constantly deceived by stimuli from their environment, by their polluted minds, and by past antipathies, which all keep them from being able to control themselves the way they would like to. Each of us must come to a clear understanding of who we are, do our best in playing our role, and be masters of ourselves.

Socrates said that if people know what they should do, they will do it; but he underestimated people’s ability to fail themselves. Everyone knows what they should do, but how many people actually do it?

Any time and any place are always the best time and the best place. All you have to do is experience things with an attentive mind.

Seize the moment; experience the present; don’t let anything slip by. Every evening is a spring evening, and every day is a good day.

Movement was originally easy, but we have been shackled by so many worldly rules and restrictions that it is sometimes difficult to take even a single step.

The Gospel of Buddha compiled by Paul Carus.

This book details the life and teaching of Guatama Buddha. It chronicles his birth, enlightenment, various teachings, and eventually his death and last words. I purchased this book a while ago but didn’t get very far into it because it seemed a bit too, well… Christianized. It made various references to ‘the Lord’ and had a very similar opening message of salvation, so I stopped reading in favour of some texts I thought to be more genuinely Buddhist.

However, on coming back to this reading with a stronger background in Buddhist philosophy, I can recognize my earlier follies and can say with certainty that although it seems to be written for the Christian reader (it has a sort of Biblical feel to it) it is not the Christian doctrine in Buddhist camouflage I thought it to be. It has a few very pretty illustrations, and there are a few passages that summarize the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path quite well:

Now, this, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning suffering: Birth is attended with pain, decay is painful, disease is painful, death is painful. Union with the unpleasant is painful, painful is separation from the pleasant; and any craving that is unsatisfied, that too is painful. In brief, bodily conditions which spring from attachment are painful.

Now this, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the origin of suffering: Verily, it is that craving which causes the renewal of existence, accompanied by sensual delight, seeking satisfaction now here, now there, the craving for the gratification of the passions, the craving for a future life, and the craving for happiness in this life.

Now this, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the destruction of suffering: Verily, it is the destruction, in which no passion remains, of this very thirst; it is the laying aside of, the being free from, the dwelling no longer upon this thirst.

Now this, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the destruction of sorrow. Verily! it is this noble eightfold path, that is to say: Right views; right aspirations; right speech; right behavior; right livelihood; right effort; right thoughts; and right contemplation.

Right views will be the torch to light his way. Right aspirations will be his guide. Right speech will be his dwelling-place on the road. His gait will be straight, for it is right behavior. His refreshments will be the right way of earning his livelihood. Right efforts will be his steps: right thoughts his breath; and right contemplation will give him the peace that follows in his footprints.

The Dhammapada

This is a collection of 423 verses, said to have been passed on directly from the Buddha himself. They deal with a variety of topics, but are mostly centered around ethics and how to act and think to avoid suffering and achieve enlightenment and wisdom. It is a text that is widely read and accepted in all schools of Buddhism. It is an easy read, but provides a lot of food for thought. It tends to state things, much like Zen Speaks, that are rather obviously true but hard to practice or keep in mind. I read the Dhammapada a couple of years ago, but it is much easier to understand now that it is complemented with other, less thick pieces of Buddhist literature. Some of my favourite bits so far:

Even thought a speech be a thousand words, but made up of senseless words, one word of sense is better, which if a man hears, he becomes quite.

Well-makers lead the water wherever they like; fletchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion themselves.

For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule.

The Blueprint of Happiness by Bhikkhu Anoma Mahinda