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... WHY BAD THINGS HAPPEN
... TO GOOD AND BAD PEOPLE.
With the death of tens of thousands here in Japan, the suffering of countless more ... seemingly innocent children and others among the hardest hit ... please let me offer a perspective on why 'bad things happen.' Karma? Nature? Destiny? A Deity's 'Mysterious Plan?' Simple bad luck? Those are each a possible explanation.
But in fact, the truth is that none of us in this life ... none of us ... escape this life with our lives. Long or short, we are here for a time, wondrously having been born in this world for a time ... but do not stay here forever. And, while it is shocking and tragic to see so many have had their homes or very lives lost at once ... the truth is that most human beings will have such times sometime in life ... if not by earthquake (there was quite an aftershock about 4 minutes into today's shake-a-long talk, as you'll share) or nuclear fallout or great flood ... then by a doctor's diagnosis, house fire, traffic accident or the like. The Buddha taught that such is the human condition ... times of old age, sickness, loss and death. Yes, some seem to be struck by misfortune more than others of us, yet in truth, we all face our lot. All worldly things are impermanent ... including you, me and those we love. This ordinary world of change, which we Buddhists call "samsara," is sometimes so very hard. Putting aside the cause, whether blind nature, ancient Karma, destiny, deity or something else ... when the earth shakes, the earth just shakes. All are shaken, both the good people and the bad.
We may be brought to despair by such ugliness.
It is heartbreaking, bleak! ..... it seems hopeless, cruel, unfair.
And yet, in the Buddhist teachings, it is more than just that. The shadow is also light.
Better said, it is heartbreaking, and tears roll down our faces, yet there is something at heart which can never be broken, even as the ground shakes and our bodies break.
For, no less, the Buddha offered a medicine for human suffering. Together with teachings on suffering and impermanence, he also taught us another way to experience, to see, to merge into, be at peace, one and whole as these things: ... knowing times of loss which is also no loss possible ... birth and death amid the deathless and unborn ... time flowing as the timeless, beyond count of 'long' 'short' 'young' 'old' ... the waters rushing forward yet unmoving ... the earth's shaking in stillness ... houses lost while our 'True Home' remains. "Bad" things happen hand-in-hand with a Peace, Wholeness, a Goodness tasted in Zazen, which swallows thoroughly all small views of "good" and "bad." Although "all things are change," and some changes are hard and ugly ... there is that which dances with all change, and a heart which, when knowing this Peace which envelopes all the broken pieces of this world, can fully let it all just be. Flowers are born of seeds, live for a time, then fall. Same for weeds in life, though we may despise them. The garden blossoms on.
Oh, I do not want anyone to mistake my words for a lack of compassion toward the countless people still hungry and thirsty, cold and uprooted in so many places by events, both natural and human-made. Far from it, and my heart is broken by what has happened. We should offer aid and comfort. We must feel compassion for everyone, all sentient beings everywhere who are suffering, as any of us can and will sometimes suffer.
In the story of Kisa Gotami...
When her son died just a few years into his life, Kisa Gotami went mad with grief. A wise person saw her condition and told her to find the Buddha, who had the medicine she needed. Kisa Gotami went to the Buddha, and asked him to give her the medicine that would restore her dead child to life. The Buddha told her to go out and find a mustard seed from a house where nobody had died. Kisa Gotami was heartened, and began her search, going door to door. Everyone was willing to give her a mustard seed, but every household she encountered had seen at least one death. She understood why the Buddha had sent her on this quest. She returned to the Buddha, who confirmed what she had realized: "There is no house where death does not come."NONE OF US CAN ESCAPE SOMETIMES.
YET, there is also no ultimate need of escape ...
FOR NONE OF US ARE LESS THAN FREE, SEEN WITH A BUDDHA'S EYE.
~ ~ ~
For donations to the children and people around the world also in need ...
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
http://www.savethechildren.org
Today’s Sit-A-Long video follows at this link. Remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells; a sitting time of 15 to 35 minutes is recommended.
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