A Year of the Dharma (a new book in process)

One Sunday morning, as part of a Dharma talk, my sensei, the Ven. Ryusho Matsuda, told us the following story: Once there was a very wealthy man whose neighbor built a magnificent tower with a beautiful spire on the top. The wealthy man sought out the architect and hired him to build him a similar spire high up in the air. The architect drew up his plans and sent the workers out to begin laying the foundations. When the wealthy man saw this he cried out to the architect, “What do you think you are doing? I asked you to build for me a beautiful spire high up in the air. Why are you wasting your time here on the ground?” The architect replied, “Of course, but we have to build the foundation and the other stories of the tower first!” The wealthy man then said, “Never mind all that. Just build the top floor and the spire. That’s all I want.”[1] The point of the story is that our Buddhist practice depends upon a solid foundation. We can’t skip ahead to good results if we do not first make good causes. The Ven. Ryusho Matsuda explained that in Nichiren Buddhism it is faith that is the foundation, all else will follow from faith.

In Buddhism five qualities encompass the path to spiritual awakening (a.k.a. enlightenment or buddhahood). These five are faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. These five are considered both innate faculties that all of us have and powers that we can develop. As faculties they are the abilities that we must cultivate in order to attain spiritual awakening. When these faculties are developed they provide the power to remain unshaken by their opposites: cynical doubt, laziness, carelessness, distraction, and ignorance. If the tower in the parable is a five-story tower, then the foundation is faith. The middle stories are energy, mindfulness, and concentration. The top floor and crowning spire is wisdom.

This book is a collection of Dharma talks given over the course of a year. These 52+ teachings are aimed at helping us take up and develop Buddhist practice from the moment of sowing the initial seed of faith that there is such a thing as buddhahood that it is within our reach all the way to the fruition of buddhahood in our daily lives. These 52+ Dharma talks will also cover the various holidays observed over the course of a year by the Nichiren Shu lineage to celebrate and commemorate important events in the history of Buddhism. It will also cover the seasonal occasions when we remember and express our gratitude and compassion for all sentient beings, in particular our ancestors and all those who have passed on before us whose past lives and efforts are very much a continuing presence in our lives here and now.

It is my hope that these 52+ Dharma talks will help to inspire and guide people in the actual practice of Buddhism. Buddhism may involve elements of what others call religion, philosophy, or psychology, but it cannot be reduced to any of these. It would be more accurate to say that Buddhism is a way of life, a way that is not bound by dogma, creeds, rules and rote rituals; but rather a way of life characterized by spiritually awakening to the selfless compassion that is our true birthright. It is my hope that this year of Dharma can help point the way to practicing and fully realizing such a rewarding and blessed way of life.

[1] This story is the tenth parable in the One Hundred Parables Sutra