Principles of Practice, Talk 1: The Purpose of Practice
March 19, 1986 Dharma Talk by Dainin Katagiri Roshi
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Transcript
This transcript is in rough draft stage.
0:00
Katagiri Roshi: I would like to talk about the key point of the practice during this sesshin, in terms of three points: bodhi-mind, faith, and direct transmission of teaching.
Before we go into these three issues, today I would like to talk about the purpose of the practice, generally. Why we have to practice; what is the purpose of the practice. What is the purpose of spiritual life?
In Gakudo Yojin-shu, “Points To Watch in Buddhist Practice,” in the book Zen Master Dogen, page 52, Number Six: “Advice for the Practice of Zen.” First of all, Dogen Zenji [says] here:
The study of the Way through the practice of zazen is of vital importance.
I think I have to say the same sentence in a different way: sanzen gakudo is the great matter of one’s whole life.
I think “the great matter of one’s whole life” is not only in Dogen’s works, you will see this teaching in various Buddhist textbooks. For instance, in Saddharma Pundarika Sutra Chapter Two, “Skillfulness,” I think [it says] that the advent of Buddha Shakyamuni is due to seeing the causes and conditions of the great matter. It is the same meaning as Dogen mentions here.
Sanzen gakudo is translated according to this book as “the study of the way through the practice of zazen.” Sanzen gakudo is the great matter of one’s whole life.
Gakudo means “to learn or to study the Way.” Gaku means to learn or to study. Do is the Way. So gakudo is a pretty technical term Dogen Zenji uses very often – gakudo, to study or to learn the Way. The Way means the universal life beyond conscious or unconscious worlds. This is the Way, where all beings exist in peace, in harmony, prior to the germination of any subtle ideas. This is the Way. All sentient beings exist in the realm of the Way. That is called universal life. This life is open not only to human beings or living beings, but also inanimate beings – pebbles, water, et cetera.
So gakudo is to study universal life beyond the conscious and unconscious worlds. This is the gakudo.
Sanzen is to surrender one’s body and mind to zen, or tranquility. Zen means sometimes samadhi, one-pointedness. Sometimes it is translated as tranquility. Sometimes it is translated as meditation. But anyway, san means “to surrender oneself to.” To surrender, or to visit, or to be present… to go toward. This is san. So sanzen means to surrender one’s life to zen or tranquility.
So zen or tranquility means dimension of being in which there is no individual consciousness, so-called consciousness or unconsciousness. So [not] any subtle signs of ideas, conscious world or unconscious world.
In Japanese, tranquility is called jakujo. Jaku means perfect stillness – perfect stillness just like no one or nothing with which you want to talk, you want to see. So, perfect tranquility. That means, if you are there, you are exactly there; nothing else except you. So that is very tranquil. Just like being present in the wilderness. There are lots of beings there – insects, birds, trees, skies – but if you are in the wilderness you feel perfectly tranquil. That is the meaning of jaku. So, completely nothing around you.
And also jo of jakujo means literally “to express in detail.” So literally […] jo of jakujo is also the same meaning of stillness or tranquility, but it is a little different from jaku of jakujo. Jo is “tranquil and still which penetrates every aspect of everydayness.”
So jaku is kind of the essence of beings, how they exist. Everything exists exactly in peace, in harmony, in tranquility. But it is not something abstract, because it penetrates every aspect of everydayness. If you see a tree, if you see winter, if you see fine days – whatever you see, all sentient beings exist just exactly tranquil. You can see perfect tranquility through the form, every form of beings – trees, birds, and weather, et cetera. So that’s why jo of jakujo is tranquility which penetrates every aspect of everydayness.
So jaku is no one or nothing with which you want to talk. That is, according to [what Buddha said] or according to the Buddha’s teaching, we say, “heaven and earth is the same and one root as my existence, your existence.” I and heaven and earth are the same root, the same and one root. So exactly that is called tranquility, exactly tranquility. Tranquility is no ideas, nothing to think. So you cannot think of it. Before you think of universe or you, whatever, the whole world, all existence, exactly exists in perfect peace and harmony. That is called “I and heaven and earth are the one and the same root.”
The jo of jakujo, according to Buddha’s teaching we say [hachiman reiro], that means the clear and immaculate jewel with its octagonal spheres. Octagonal doesn’t mean eight angles, eight dimensions of the jewel, the ball, [it means] many spheres, many angles there. So existence is just like a huge jewel ball, which is clear and immaculate. That is jaku, exactly. Perfect quiet, but on the other hand that ball has many aspects, many angles. That is called octagonal spheres. That means many myriad, myriad aspects of human life, everyday. Getting up in the morning, washing your face, having your breakfast, studying, working, many aspects appear in one sphere, in one situation, one and the same situation which is called perfect, clear and immaculate.
This is the meaning of sanzen. So it’s very difficult to translate sanzen into English. If you say “the study of the way through the practice of zazen,” it is true… but it is pretty difficult to express a real spirit of the practice. So I want to use this original term sanzen. So through this original term you can see real spirit of practice.
So let’s [look at] the meaning of sanzen gakudo, okay? Sanzen is you have to surrender your whole life to zen or tranquility, which is exactly the Way, which is exactly the way. So sanzen is the same meaning as gakudo: what do we learn? The way, it is the way.
But what is the way? That is universal life. What is the universal life? How do we learn that universal life beyond conscious and unconscious world?
So, you have to surrender your whole life to tranquility. Tranquility means perfectly tranquil, stillness. On the other hand, that perfect tranquility penetrates every aspect of everydayness. So “to surrender yourself to tranquility totally” means you have to manifest perfect tranquility within each single form of everydayness. Gassho, getting up in the morning, having breakfast, walking, et cetera.
That is the meaning of sanzen gakudo.
So, “sanzen gakudo is the great matter of one’s whole life” [is my translation].
The “great” [is] maha in Sanskrit. Maha doesn’t mean something limited by human consciousness or human ideas. Great means boundless, or immense.
And also we say “one’s whole life.” This one’s whole life is not your life in this world, but countless lives in an immensely long span of time, life after life. The whole life in this case [is] life after life.
Because, what do you have to learn if you want to live in your spiritual life? You have to learn or study something more than your consciousness can see, or your consciousness cannot see. Beyond this. Anyway you have to learn that, that means you have to learn the whole world. In the whole world, there are countless, countless beings exist. So, the whole span of your lifetime is not good enough to learn all sentient beings in the whole world. Because it’s very short! But we have to learn the whole world, all sentient beings. How? We have to spend this life and the other life and the other life, life after life. This is the meaning of the “one’s whole life,” here.
So, in this case, to learn the Buddha Way, to learn the Way, is not a small matter, which seems to be learned at the university or in a workshop, et cetera. No, you cannot do it. So the matter of learning the way or studying the way by surrendering yourself to the total tranquility is no ta small matter. It’s really boundless, a huge matter, which you have to spend your life after life, you have to spend immense long span of your time.
This is the reason why Buddha is born in this world, the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra or Lotus Sutra says. Yes it is. [It is] why you were born – the same applies to the reason why you were born. The same reason. Why were you born in this world? Because you are Buddha. We are Buddha. If so, the advent of your existence is due to seeing this great matter, in your whole life. Life after life, we have to learn.
This is the purpose of practice, the purpose of spiritual life.
So what is the purpose of spiritual life? It is not the kind of individual experience, which we believe usually that spiritual life is accompanied by mysterious or miracle experiences. That is not the main purpose of spiritual life. So you have to learn something huge.
This is [the] purpose of spiritual life. That’s why in the Prajnaparamita Sutra we say we have to attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, the complete, perfect, supreme enlightenment. [This is] in the Prajnaparamita we chant every day. And then, you can attain wisdom, prajnaparamita. So in order to attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, perfect supreme enlightenment, that means you have to learn something more than you think or you cannot think. This is something very profound. Even though you don’t understand this one, we are struggling for attaining this one. That’s why we practice. That’s why we live in this world.
You cannot die simply, you cannot commit suicide in a simple way of thinking. You cannot commit suicide by your will, by your thinking, because in a deep sense we are constantly seeking for something profound. And then we are really struggling, we are making every possible effort to live in this world with others, consciously or unconsciously.
So from this point, I think we cannot say our practice is easy way or hard way. Dogen Zenji mentions in this chapter, you shouldn’t neglect it or treat it lightly, because the purpose of practice, the purpose of spiritual life is very important, because it’s coming up from the bottom of your life. Whether you can see it or you cannot see it, this energy is coming up from the bottom of your life. This is real reality. Your life is. So you shouldn’t neglect it or treat it lightly. That’s why this is “the great matter of your whole life.”
30:14
That’s why next [Dogen] says:
In China there are the excellent examples of former Zen masters who cut off their arms or fingers. […]
So, “In China there are the excellent examples of former Zen masters who cut off their arms or fingers.” I think this is the second patriarch, Eka Daishi Zen Master, who expressed his strong aspiration for becoming a monk, but Bodhidharma didn’t accept his will or desire immediately, so Eka Zen Master kept standing outside in winter. And finally he wanted to express how strong his intention was, so he cut off his arm.
This example seems to be cruel or hard, we can say, in terms of usual common sense. But for Eka Daishi, for the second patriarch, it’s not hard. It’s not easy. It’s not cruel. It’s not [unintelligible]. [It is] beyond any ideas of understanding that situation through our common sense, because he is realizing there is [some] important matter he has to seek for. That is sanzen gakudo. So very naturally, that desire, the spirit of sanzen gakudo, is coming up from the bottom of his life. No one forces him to do this or to do that, or to stop doing that this or that. No one. But it’s coming up. When you have very strong spirit coming up naturally, you cannot stop doing.
So very naturally, beyond [any] idea of practicing hard or practicing easy, et cetera, he just devotes himself to do this. So for him it is not hard practice, or not easy practice. Only when that situation is seen from human common sense, we put the name on it: hard practice or easy practice, we can say. But for him, [it is] completely beyond hard or easy. [Instead] it is natural, pretty natural.
That’s why Dogen Zenji says here, “In China there are the excellent examples of former Zen masters who cut off their arms or fingers.”
And also he says:
Long ago the Buddha Sakyamuni renounced both his home and his kingdom – another fine trace of the practice of the Way. Men of the present day, however, say that one need only practice that which is easily practiced. Their words are very mistaken and far removed from the Way.
This is laziness. This is the nature of human beings. Unconsciously we try to justify the nature of human beings based on laziness. So, very naturally, we say that we need only practice that which is easily practiced. Or, somebody says we need hard practice. But why do you emphasize the need of hard practice, or why are you emphasizing the need of easy practice? You don’t yet realize how important [are the] things you have to seek for. So very naturally, you are always arguing. But if you really touch something important, energy is coming up naturally. Whatever people say, you just do it.
But what […] you just do doesn’t hurt anybody. But lots of criticism coming up; it is natural. […] Because a hundred people look at you, very naturally each of them gives you ideas.
So that’s why here Dogen Zenji says like this, “their words are very mistaken.” It is.
So, if you see the example of what the ancestors did, like the Second Patriarch – maybe we say it’s impossible for us to do this in the modern age. But I don’t mean you should imitate like [in] that example. But I [also] don’t mean that you should ignore that example. Because that example happened in a natural way for the people who really realized something very important: the great matter of his or her whole life. At that time, naturally you can do it, beyond hard or easy.
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And also, Dogen Zenji says:
If you devote yourself to one thing exclusively and consider it to be training, even lying down will become tedious.
That means, you can practice hard … making the most of your spare moment of lying down…
[Tape change.]
“If you devote yourself to one thing exclusively and consider it to be training, even lying down will become tedious.” So you really go on and on, making the most of your spare moments.
When I was at Eiheiji monastery, my position was one of the clerks. The task of the clerk in Eiheiji monastery is a very difficult one for the monks, because the monks couldn’t find any chance to do zazen, and to participate in other activities, because it’s pretty busy. So you have to exactly devote yourself to taking care of your task. But I wanted to participate in the ceremonies and other activities, zazen. Well, if you try to find [the opportunity], you can find it, find the opportunity to do this. So I did it. Not always, because the task always forces you to do this instead of doing something else, so very naturally, you cannot do it. But if you try to find the opportunity to do this or that, very naturally you can do it. So I did it. And many people said, “You are crazy,” “You are stupid.” But, well, I just kept doing it. Because I was very moved by the spirit of zazen mentioned by Hashimoto Roshi, so I did it. So I didn’t want to do something strange, apart from the other monks. But I was not against others doing. So I tried to find the opportunity to do zazen and other activities – while the other monks, my friends, slept in bed, took a nap, et cetera, I went to do it, I went to zazen and other activities.
So, I think that is what Dogen Zenji mentions here, “If you devote yourself to one thing exclusively and consider it to be training, even lying down will become tedious.”
If one thing becomes tedious, all things become tedious.
That’s very natural too. If you become very tedious of taking care of one thing in a day, so all days are completely tedious.
For instance, I really experienced when I was in my temple, I was tedious for a certain period of time. I didn’t want to get up in the morning. Even though my master got up in the morning, I didn’t. On purpose. [He laughs.] So all day was my all day life … my life in all day was completely tedious. My all day didn’t go smoothly. Always something cloudy. So I become very lazy.
So that is what Dogen Zenji mentions here: “if one thing becomes tedious, all things become tedious.”
You should know that those who like easy things are, as a matter ofcourse, unworthy of the practice ofthe Way.
[For] “unworthy of the practice of the way,” originally it says, “you are not appropriate container of the way.” “Container of the way” means … you are incompetent as appropriate practitioner of the way. You are a great container of the Dharma, but it doesn’t appear. So that’s why you are “incompetent as appropriate practitioners of the way.” Because if you are [jewels], you have to practice, you have to manifest it. That means practice: make it alive.
So you are a great container, your body and mind is a great Dharma container, but it doesn’t work. At that time you are a container, but your container doesn’t work. So that’s the point Dogen Zenji mentions here.
So this is [the] purpose of practice.
Tomorrow I would like to talk about the bodhi-mind. Do you have questions?
47:34
Question: Hojo-san?
Katagiri Roshi: Hai.
Question: In the stillness, you said there is no consciousness, no eye consciousness?
Katagiri Roshi: Mm-hmm.
Question: Is there a cognition?
Katagiri Roshi: Yes, it’s a cognition, but… that cognition is – what would you say – the very inception of cognition, the very beginning of the cognition which occurs. So at that time, the very beginning of cognition is not cognition, because it is the first stage of cognition, so you cannot say cognition. So the first stage of cognition is very touchy, very touchy, you don’t know what it is. If you say cognition, it’s already your conscious world. But before you say cognition, it’s not cognition. Is that clear? It’s very touchy, very touchy.
Just like when you get up in the morning. When you wake up, you don’t know the first moment of waking up. You don’t know. So you can know something after the first moment of the waking up.
So it’s a cognition, but it’s not cognition. [He laughs.] That is, I’d say, beyond the conscious or unconscious world. So you cannot say it is unconscious world, no. It is a conscious world, because you can cognize. But it is not the world of cognitions.
Questioner: Also, is that basic cognition, is that also called ignorance?
Katagiri Roshi: Yes, that’s right. Yes, that is… well, tomorrow maybe I can talk about this one, a little bit more about it. It’s connected with ignorance.
50:26
Question: […] Do you think that the Second Patriarch really cut off his arm, or that somebody had spiced up the story [to tell] it through the ages… Do we really know that, or is that just… ?
Katagiri Roshi: Yes, I think it’s possible. Yes, I believe [it]. Yes. But […] it’s not necessary for you to imitate. [He laughs.]
But in a different way, you can do it. A different form coming up. Is that clear? Do you understand what I mean?
Questioner: [Yes.]
51:30
Question: When you were lazy at your temple, your master, and talked about sleeping in on purpose. [Is that like] rationalization, or that you’re preserving you body, …
Katagiri Roshi: [Chuckles.] Yes, that’s right. Rationalization, emotional, [he laughs,] in many ways. That’s the reason there.
Questioner: … saving ourselves…
Katagiri Roshi: Yes, that’s right. Protecting ourselves. In many ways, we protect ourselves, justify ourselves. That’s constantly coming up.
So it’s very difficult to have application to … certain circumstances based on peace and harmony. It’s very difficult.
Questioner: Is the fear of going overboard, is that still protecting yourself?
Katagiri Roshi: “Overboard”?
Questioner: Yeah. The fear of going overboard, like going too far, … Is that still …
Katagiri Roshi: Yes, still you are protecting yourself, [he laughs,] that’s why you feel “overboard,” something like that. If you do this, we always think, maybe people think something, criticizing me, saying such-and-such, et cetera. So always consciousnessly or unconsciousnessly we protect ourselves. So the I comes first. It very strongly comes.
Someone: Are you saying, Hojo-san, that we don’t need to protect ourselves?
Katagiri Roshi: That is already you protecting yourself. [He laughs, and people laugh.] So whatever you say, you know, “we don’t need to protect ourselves,” it is already you come first and look at this, and always discuss. You come first, and then you say, “I need to protect” or “I don’t need to protect.” Beyond this, you are protecting anyway, constantly.
Someone: Hojo-san? Is that what you mean by [inaudible]? The same as [inaudible]?
Katagiri Roshi: Well, beyond protecting yourself or not protecting yourself.
Someone: Right…
Katagiri Roshi: Yes, beyond this one.
Someone: [Inaudible]
Katagiri Roshi: Yes, that is natural, natural way. It’s coming up.
But in terms of human consciousness, if you see that scene, the event, immediately you say it is not protecting himself, et cetera. But for him, that event happens beyond protecting or not protecting.
Someone: But despite that it goes beyond the rest of his life, in terms of working and things, he’s not going to be as useful as other people, he’s going to have to depend on other people to help him. He has only one arm, and there’s a lot of consequences to that kind of behavior, outside of the realm of this wonderful spiritual […]
Katagiri Roshi: I beg your pardon, would you say that again for me?
Someone: Well, it seems… I’m just thinking rationally about it, and it doesn’t make sense to me.
Katagiri Roshi: Yes, I think so. It doesn’t make sense. Sure.
In a rational sense, it doesn’t make sense for us. But it makes sense for him. Okay? It makes sense not only for him, but also the person who really realized something important. That case makes sense for him, or her.
But in a rational light, in the common sense, it doesn’t make sense.
Someone: Is there anything you can do to […] beyond protecting or not protecting?
Katagiri Roshi: Very naturally, it protects his life. Naturally, if the Second Patriarch did in that way, then the Second Patriarch’s life blooms in the future, you know? So even though, up to now, still his life is protected.
So from the bottom, it’s really, life comes up again.
For instance, if you experience despair. You know? Despair is really the bottom of human life, which we believe that there is nothing to protect you. And then, does that means you should die? No, you cannot die. Very naturally from that despair of your life, your life blooms in a different way.
Is that alright? Is that’s what you mean?
58:45
Question: Hojo-san, you have talked about our selfishness. We are selfish, but it’s important to admit that, to recognize that. Because when our lives get difficult, it seems to be where we find ourselves. And… I don’t quite understand how to integrate that perspective with the importance of being honest about selfishness, that we can’t get away from it. You talked about that.
Katagiri Roshi: So you cannot get away from selfishness, because you are already selfish.
Questioner: Yes.
Katagiri Roshi: You cannot get away. But you cannot say, “I cannot be free from selfishness.”
Questioner: No.
Katagiri Roshi: Or you say, “Let’s be present in the selfishness.” You cannot do it. You cannot do that either.
You cannot get out, you cannot stay with it. You cannot be out of it, you cannot be in.
So, [he laughs,] what is the selfishness? How do you take care of selfishness?
This is a Buddhistic way, how. You know, really you are driven into the corner, where you cannot move an inch. And then, Buddhism tries to do something there. That is the Buddhist teaching.
So, [the] teaching is not the idea of how to get out from that, or how to get in, or how to keep away from selfishness. The teaching is to let you know what the selfishness is, where selfishness is, how selfishness is working. And then you can understand how to deal with selfishness. That is our practice. How to have application to selfishness, which is moving constantly. How to apply, how to deal. This is our practice.
So, still you have to understand what is the essence of selfishness, how is the essence of selfishness working. You have to research this. That is the philosophy of Buddhism, psychology of Buddhism. That’s why Buddhism always analyzes the human mind in a very detailed way.
But the purpose of the Buddhist psychology is not to understand, you know, the functioning of the human consciousness. Not to try to understand, because understanding is limited. So if you come to a certain limitation of human understanding, human knowing, you have to jump [over] it, you know? You have to give it up. [He laughs.] This is just practice. “Give it up” does not mean to commit suicide, not to die. That is practice emotions. That allows you to go beyond.
So that’s why through and through, you have to understand very deeply, through the practice, through the understanding.
Questioner: So you mean then that, when I see the selfishness, or I see myself fighting for myself, trying to take care of myself, … then what? Just kind of drop it and take one step forward? Or … ?
Katagiri Roshi: Don’t fight, anyway. [He laughs.] Not fighting, and not taking care of in the easy way, or not fighting, you know. Because selfishness is already there. So you have to completely open your heart to the selfishness.
That means, if you see somebody as an enemy, simultaneously you are an enemy, not him or her. [He laughs.] Do you understand?
Questioner: Yes.
Katagiri Roshi: So all you have to do is, she or he is not an enemy. They are you. At that time, they come to you very smoothly. They get into your life very smoothly. That is called friendly, we say. Be compassionate. Something like that. Practically speaking, how do we accept that person? But intellectually, we see immediately he or she is enemy for me, or for you, et cetera. But we have to open our heart anyway. As long as you can see somebody as an enemy, not he or she is enemy, you are enemy, because she or he looks at you. [When] you look at object, immediately the object looks at you. You have to think about this other ways of letting the object look at you. Do you understand?
Questioner: Mm-hmm.
Katagiri Roshi: But people always see the object only one way: I look at the object. That’s it. That’s why [we’re] always separated. They cannot accept the object smoothly.
So Buddhism always accepts subject and object in that relation in motion. Not idea of relation between; […] relation is something moving constantly. It’s not an idea. That is the teaching of interdependent co-origination, we say. So very quickly it’s moving.
But the intellectual sense always make that relationship stop, making the relationship as an idea. And then very naturally, I and you. What is the relation between you and I? Something like that.
So practically, the relation is something in motion, constantly.
So the same applies to the selfishness. If you see the selfishness in front of you, selfishness becomes enemies for you. Kind of your partner, in front of you. Adversary; something like that.
1:07:40
Question: Roshi, I’m still bothered by this guy that cut off his arm. [He laughs.] Um, I’d like you to reiterate that, I want to get that story again. What I want to know is, if the guy that cut off his – Eka, is that his name?
Katagiri Roshi: Eka.
Question: Eka, the second patriarch. Are you saying that he was beyond consciousness and unconsciousness at the moment he cut off his arm?
Katagiri Roshi: [Laughing] Maybe so.
Question: … Or was he in the realm of [inaudible].
Katagiri Roshi: Maybe so. If you think, “I want to cut off my arm,” it makes me scared. Or, “I cannot cut off my arm” unconsciously, I cannot do it. But if I have consciousness of cutting off my arm, it makes me scared. So immediately, if I cut off my arm, there is no sense of fear, no sense of rationalized thinking.
Questioner: Well, what I’m getting at then is it almost seems like he really had no use for Bodhidharma, … he was already there, you know? Why did he bother to do that, if the point he was at, there was nothing more that he could learn? In cutting off his arm, if that is in fact the way that he cut off his arm, he was already, like, enlightened? He didn’t have any need for Bodhidharma. So I think he was interested in more than sitting, he was, [he laughs,] in the normal common sense, we’re always just [inaudible] cut my arm off to show this guy.
Katagiri Roshi: In the modern sense, I think it’s pretty hard to understand, it’s true. [He laughs.] Because in the modern world it’s pretty easy to accept somebody who wants to do something, this and that. But I think if you want to seek for the spiritual life and the spiritual world, living in peace and harmony, getting rid of selfishness, I think naturally we have to practice very hard! But that hardness is completely beyond our common sense: hardness or easy. So naturally it happens.
But Bodhidharma tried to test him, if he really wanted to become a monk and to help all sentient beings, being free from his selfishness. It’s not a demonstration, cutting off his arm is not a demonstration based on selfishness. But sometimes it’s a demonstration, just a demonstration of cutting off his arm itself based on the selfishness. But he realized, Bodhidharma exactly see no sense of selfishness there.
For instance, risking your life to do something. Do you understand? Risking your life. For instance, risking your life to be an astronaut. You can do it. But what is it? It’s still based on selfishness. Do you understand? But to save all sentient beings, or to help, or to participate in spiritual life is completely beyond this human activity, usual activities. But usual activities is always based on selfishness, in many ways. That is called, “let’s risk our life to do something.” Then you can do anything. And then the people really love that way of living. That is our lives. Is that clear?
That’s why people want to be an astronaut. […] But Buddhist practice is not something like that; the practice of spiritual life is not something like that. You have to take care of your life based on selfishness, but how do you get rid of selfishness and do something for all sentient beings? That is a really big project for us.
When we had the ceremony for the seven astronauts, someone asked me, “Why do you have a Buddhist ceremony, a memorial service, for only the seven astronauts’ death? Because there are many people who died.” That is a very good question. Because there are thousands, millions of people who are starved to death. Why do we have to perform the memorial service just for these seven astronauts?
Because, they are famous. [He laughs.] That’s why they talked at that time, It is not the point. This is a great opportunity because people pay attention to this death as a tragedy. But many tragedies are there, more than the seven astronauts. But this is a pretty particular event. People pay attention to it. That’s why we use that opportunity and seeing something profound, which is called the meaning of death, meaning of life. Open to anybody. Those who are starving to death; everyone.
But if you really want to have a Buddhist memorial service for just the seven astronauts, we say, “Why do you have this one?” Because they are famous. Because people respect them. But how about other people who died?
So always there is some… Even though you have a memorial service for a particular person, we can do it, but basically there is always selfishness there. Because they are famous. Because they did something wonderful for us, that’s why we want to do this. This is really selfishness and prejudice. But we have to see something more than that.
But actually, we cannot ignore that specific event. We have to face that specific event…