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Divine Light
From Sunday 29th June
I’ve been thinking about the meaning of the light in religion recently. We’ve just heard a selection of verses from the Flower Ornament Sutra in which the Buddha, and the Dharma and the Buddha Lands are described in terms of a great light.
The first thing that strikes me is how often this image, of a great light, is used within all religious traditions, particularly within individuals religious encounters, or experiences (and we can imagine that both this sutra, and other Mahayana texts, like Larger Pureland Sutra are accounts of the Buddha's religious encounters)
So the first point I’d like to make is about the universality of this light, across human spiritual experience. There are differences in of course, but I like to think that these differences occur on the Human, and bonbu side of the equation, and that what they are all pointing to is a universal spiritual force in the universe - however it’s equally possible to think of them as pointing at different sources, and perhaps that allows us appreciate the real differences in people experiences of the sacred, and differences in their actions in this world, but this is a tangential discussion from todays.
The image of light is a common metaphor thorough out Buddhism to describe spiritual power, we have Amida - the perfect Buddha, represented by the setting sun, a source of light and life, and of course, light and life, that’s where Amida’s name comes from. And Quan-Shi-Yin represented by the moon, another source of light. The moon of course, reflects light from the ultimate source, the sun, to us. And in the Buddhist tradition, Quan-shi-yin’s spiritual power comes from Amida.
The story of how that came about is well known, but worth re-visiting, and thinking about from a Pureland perspective. Quan-Yin is trying to help the world, using her own power, she has great compassion, and fellow feeling for those around her, facing real and spiritual dangers. But she finds there are so many suffering people in the world, she can’t possible help them all, she breaks down, in her grief, literally falls apart. It is Amida that sees her, broken and weeping, and puts her back together again. The story goes that he gives her one thousand arms, to reach out across the world, and she then goes out into the world, shining with Amida’s light. If you look at some images, or rupas of Quan-yin, you might see an Amitabah in her headdress - it is from the Buddha, that she gets her spiritual power.
Honen uses the image of the moon in one of his sayings, to represent this spiritual force, when he talks about the moon shining on all villages, but only those who take the time to look up, actually see it.
What I want to emphasise today, is the first part of this - that the moon shines on all villages without discrimination. We see this point again and again in Buddhism, all are spiritually equal, the light shines upon us all in equal measure. It is our own conditioning, our bonbu nature, that blinds us to this.
Let’s bring back the metaphor of the sun and the moon in to the picture, we have Amida shining onto the moon, which reflect that light on to the earth, We can see a similar arrangement here in the shine room, Amida shines upon Shakyamuni, and we see the reflection of that light in his actions, and teachings, and out of gratitude, perhaps, or out of a longing to experience that light for ourselves, we take refuge in the Buddha, and make offerings to him.
But the light isn’t just shining upon Shakyamuni Buddha here, although we don’t often see it, it’s shining upon each one of us here in this room, upon everyone in this house, upon all sentient beings everywhere in the world, in the Universe.
If only we open our eyes, we will see that each of us reflects the light of Amida, each of us shines with the Truth, each of us reflects the Great Love in the Universe.
We’re broken mirrors, in our bonbu state, we break up over time, and sometimes, if we take refuge, like Quan-Yin, we get put back together again, and maybe better than we started.
But even in our broken states, if we really look, we’ll see fragments of light, reflected from each one of us. Dogen said that every moment is a chance for enlightenment, why? Because in each moment, wherever we are, whatever we rest our eyes upon we have the chance to see the light, and also to see how broken our mirrors really are.
The sacred and the mundane walk hand in hand, in every moment of everyday. All we need do is open our eyes.
Nembutsu is our call from the mundane to the sacred, sometimes a call for the light to reveal itself, a call for Amida to come and put us back together again, but it is also a cry of thanks, for those moments when we see the light, and how amazing that really it is. And it’s a reminder that Amida is shining, even in the moments that seem the darkest. Especially in the moments that seem the darkest.
Thinking about the different meanings behind nembutsu reminds of the seven limbed prayer, which seems to encompass the whole of our practice. We prostrate, to all the three, (or five) jewels, to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha - to the light and everywhere it appears. We make offerings, out of a sense of gratitude and longing, out of a sense of respect for something greater - to lift what is greater above ourselves.
We recognise our own limitations and failings, this act of contrition is an essential component of our relationship with the Buddha - the bonbu and the sacred coming together completely honestly, recognising our condition - that most of the time we are stumbling in the dark.
We rejoice in the virtues of all, we are all blessed, reflecting the light in our own small ways, and naturally when we see this light in others, we rejoice. This whole process seems a description of the natural progression of the spiritual life - although we might begin by consciously making an effort with these elements of our practice, as we come closer to the Buddha, naturally we do all of these things, as our relationship with perfection grows.
And in this world of conditions, and of trouble and suffering, we request the Buddha to remain. We are assured that the Buddha is eternal, so really we shouldn’t worry, but in our most troubled states we call out to the light - this is the nature of humanity.
It’s impossible to truly understand the nature of Amida, and so we talk about light and life, and about grace that comes from beyond, some people say that faith and grace is a gift from Amida, this may be true - but don’t wait to have it pushed into your hands, Amida is reaching out, all you have to do is turn your head, and, as Honen said, look up to the moonlight.
Remember, each of us is held by the love of the Buddha, the light shines upon us all, and when we really see, we will see that reflected by and in each one of us.
Rev’d Kaspalita
29th June 2008
I’ve been thinking about the meaning of the light in religion recently. We’ve just heard a selection of verses from the Flower Ornament Sutra in which the Buddha, and the Dharma and the Buddha Lands are described in terms of a great light.
The first thing that strikes me is how often this image, of a great light, is used within all religious traditions, particularly within individuals religious encounters, or experiences (and we can imagine that both this sutra, and other Mahayana texts, like Larger Pureland Sutra are accounts of the Buddha's religious encounters)
So the first point I’d like to make is about the universality of this light, across human spiritual experience. There are differences in of course, but I like to think that these differences occur on the Human, and bonbu side of the equation, and that what they are all pointing to is a universal spiritual force in the universe - however it’s equally possible to think of them as pointing at different sources, and perhaps that allows us appreciate the real differences in people experiences of the sacred, and differences in their actions in this world, but this is a tangential discussion from todays.
The image of light is a common metaphor thorough out Buddhism to describe spiritual power, we have Amida - the perfect Buddha, represented by the setting sun, a source of light and life, and of course, light and life, that’s where Amida’s name comes from. And Quan-Shi-Yin represented by the moon, another source of light. The moon of course, reflects light from the ultimate source, the sun, to us. And in the Buddhist tradition, Quan-shi-yin’s spiritual power comes from Amida.
The story of how that came about is well known, but worth re-visiting, and thinking about from a Pureland perspective. Quan-Yin is trying to help the world, using her own power, she has great compassion, and fellow feeling for those around her, facing real and spiritual dangers. But she finds there are so many suffering people in the world, she can’t possible help them all, she breaks down, in her grief, literally falls apart. It is Amida that sees her, broken and weeping, and puts her back together again. The story goes that he gives her one thousand arms, to reach out across the world, and she then goes out into the world, shining with Amida’s light. If you look at some images, or rupas of Quan-yin, you might see an Amitabah in her headdress - it is from the Buddha, that she gets her spiritual power.
Honen uses the image of the moon in one of his sayings, to represent this spiritual force, when he talks about the moon shining on all villages, but only those who take the time to look up, actually see it.
What I want to emphasise today, is the first part of this - that the moon shines on all villages without discrimination. We see this point again and again in Buddhism, all are spiritually equal, the light shines upon us all in equal measure. It is our own conditioning, our bonbu nature, that blinds us to this.
Let’s bring back the metaphor of the sun and the moon in to the picture, we have Amida shining onto the moon, which reflect that light on to the earth, We can see a similar arrangement here in the shine room, Amida shines upon Shakyamuni, and we see the reflection of that light in his actions, and teachings, and out of gratitude, perhaps, or out of a longing to experience that light for ourselves, we take refuge in the Buddha, and make offerings to him.
But the light isn’t just shining upon Shakyamuni Buddha here, although we don’t often see it, it’s shining upon each one of us here in this room, upon everyone in this house, upon all sentient beings everywhere in the world, in the Universe.
If only we open our eyes, we will see that each of us reflects the light of Amida, each of us shines with the Truth, each of us reflects the Great Love in the Universe.
We’re broken mirrors, in our bonbu state, we break up over time, and sometimes, if we take refuge, like Quan-Yin, we get put back together again, and maybe better than we started.
But even in our broken states, if we really look, we’ll see fragments of light, reflected from each one of us. Dogen said that every moment is a chance for enlightenment, why? Because in each moment, wherever we are, whatever we rest our eyes upon we have the chance to see the light, and also to see how broken our mirrors really are.
The sacred and the mundane walk hand in hand, in every moment of everyday. All we need do is open our eyes.
Nembutsu is our call from the mundane to the sacred, sometimes a call for the light to reveal itself, a call for Amida to come and put us back together again, but it is also a cry of thanks, for those moments when we see the light, and how amazing that really it is. And it’s a reminder that Amida is shining, even in the moments that seem the darkest. Especially in the moments that seem the darkest.
Thinking about the different meanings behind nembutsu reminds of the seven limbed prayer, which seems to encompass the whole of our practice. We prostrate, to all the three, (or five) jewels, to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha - to the light and everywhere it appears. We make offerings, out of a sense of gratitude and longing, out of a sense of respect for something greater - to lift what is greater above ourselves.
We recognise our own limitations and failings, this act of contrition is an essential component of our relationship with the Buddha - the bonbu and the sacred coming together completely honestly, recognising our condition - that most of the time we are stumbling in the dark.
We rejoice in the virtues of all, we are all blessed, reflecting the light in our own small ways, and naturally when we see this light in others, we rejoice. This whole process seems a description of the natural progression of the spiritual life - although we might begin by consciously making an effort with these elements of our practice, as we come closer to the Buddha, naturally we do all of these things, as our relationship with perfection grows.
And in this world of conditions, and of trouble and suffering, we request the Buddha to remain. We are assured that the Buddha is eternal, so really we shouldn’t worry, but in our most troubled states we call out to the light - this is the nature of humanity.
It’s impossible to truly understand the nature of Amida, and so we talk about light and life, and about grace that comes from beyond, some people say that faith and grace is a gift from Amida, this may be true - but don’t wait to have it pushed into your hands, Amida is reaching out, all you have to do is turn your head, and, as Honen said, look up to the moonlight.
Remember, each of us is held by the love of the Buddha, the light shines upon us all, and when we really see, we will see that reflected by and in each one of us.
Rev’d Kaspalita
29th June 2008
Tags: amida, honen, light, quan-shi-yin
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