Everything is a Teaching

The Four Great Vows

Sentient beings are numberless, we vow to save them all.

Delusions are endless, we vow to cut through them all.

The teachings are infinite, we vow to learn them all.

The Buddha way is inconceivable, we vow to attain it.

Of course, all of these statements seem to be a bit of hyperbole.  How is it possible to save all sentient beings, or cut through endless delusions?  These vows seem enormous, but in reality these vows just refer to our every day life - moment to moment.

Have you seen the comic strip with two people walking down the beach and starfish are strewn over the beach.  One person picks up a starfish and tosses it back into the ocean.  The other person says, "What are you doing?  You can't save them!  There are too many!" And the other person replies as she picks up another starfish and tosses it in the water, "I saved this one.  And I saved this one....."  The last picture shows them both picking up starfish and throwing them in the ocean.  Saving sentient beings is like that.  Every time you offer a smile, a compliment, a loving hug, a moment of empathy you are saving that sentient being in that moment.  
The same is true for each one of the vows.  Delusions are endless, moment to moment.  We practice so we can see through the endless drama of life.  What is the fundamental point - just here, just now?  Open hearted, we cut through to the true meaning in each moment and then we can act accordingly.  How can I help this world?
The teachings are infinite.   Every moment has them and they don't stop.  I asked my mother when she was 92 years old, if she was still working on herself.  I laughed when she said she was always working toward being more loving.  These teachings don't stop only when we are aware of each moment as a teaching, each thought as a teaching, each emotion as a teaching, each interaction as a teaching.  Listening to the response of others gives us a teaching.  Over and over again.

And then the Buddha Way is inconceivable, we vow to attain it.  What is this Buddha Way that is inconceivable?  Inconceivable means to not be able to mentally grasp it.  Inconceivable means opening ourselves to what the old teachers call "don't know" mind.  What is this? "Don't Know." the answer comes back to us.  This don't know mind brings us to a radical openness to all that is in front of us.  No thought of good or bad.  No thought of judgement.  Just "What Is This?"  Oh, let me open the door for you. 

 

Saying Yes

My sister is a wise woman.  She always is working on herself and although she has a different religious tradition than my own, I always value her spiritual work and advice.  A couple of years ago she made a resolution to say "yes" to whatever invitations came her way.  She had kept to herself quite a bit after retiring and had felt she was spending too much time alone.  Invitations from friends came slowly at first, but as she said "yes", more invitations poured in and soon she was having to pick and choose carefully where she wanted to go and with whom.

Saying "YES" can be very powerful and you'd think it would be a really positive thing to do.  Everyone likes to say yes to the good in life.  I like to say "yes" when my husband invites me out to dinner and a movie.  I like to say "yes" to a nice hot bath on a cold, snowy January day.  I like to say "yes" when someone tells me how great I am.  Every moment that is filled with comfort, acceptance, love, kindness, graciousness and beauty, we always reach out and embrace.

But life isn't like that, is it?  Yes, there are moments of beauty and love, but mixed in with the good stuff is a great deal of not so good stuff.  This morning I woke with a headache and feeling out of sorts.  I received an email from a friend that had some hard to hear criticisms.  I've had recent knee surgery and I'm bored with sitting in the house day after day.  Can I say "yes" to these things as well?  Opening myself to all that life has to offer?

One of the four great vows that we recite every morning is "The teachings are infinite, we vow to learn them all." Each moment is a teaching.  Each bit of beauty and each bit of suffering, is a teaching.  No matter what life offers you at the moment, just say "yes".  This acceptance, this "yes" to what is right in this moment is not only the path, but the fulfillment of it.  May each day be filled with this radical openness - saying "yes" to it all.