Never Forget That We Are Americans
The preamble to our American Constitution reads;
“ We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense,[1]
The people who lead us to Buddhism are not perfect people, but they lead us to a perfect teaching and if we apply the teachings we can help to make America a more perfect union. The Gosho, “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Life time” reads;
You must never think that any of the eighty thousand sacred teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha's lifetime or any of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three existences are outside yourself. Your practice of the Buddhist teachings will not relieve you of the sufferings of birth and death in the least unless you perceive the true nature of your life. If you seek enlightenment outside yourself, then your performing even ten thousand practices and ten thousand good deeds will be in vain.
In simple and plain terms it is up to us to make this wonderful and great religion benefit us and the world by our growing our Buddha nature and becoming the best Americans that we can be. The greatest lesson that we who have learned these great teachings are that we should never forget to pay our debt of gratitude to those who taught us.
In 1975 I joined a Buddhist organization called NSA or Nichiren Shoshu of America. Many Black revolutionaries, Hippies and so called society outcasts joined the NSA and many of us reformed our lives and we learned to become among America's best citizens. The writings of the “True Buddha” Nichiren Daishonin writes in the Gosho “Hell the land of Tranquil light” the Daishonin writes: “One who, on hearing the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, makes even greater efforts in faith is a true seeker of the way. T'ien-t'ai states, “From the indigo, an even deeper blue.” This passage means that, if one dyes something repeatedly indigo, it becomes even bluer than the indigo leaves. The Lotus Sutra is like the indigo, and the strength of one's practice is like the deepening
blue.” |