Dharma Talk for July’s Newsletter

In this issue, I would like to focus on the cause of suffering, which is the second element of the Four Noble Truths. The Buddha says that, in the upshot, the causes of suffering are greed, hatred or anger and ignorance. In Buddhism, we call them the three poisons or the three defilements in Hasu no Oshie. The three poisons can be the cause of sickness, too. In Japanese, (showing a sheet of paper that ??are written) sickness is written as "??(byouki)". "?(ki)" means the spirit. "?(byou)" means sickness. If your spirit is not in good condition, you get sick. If you can get rid of greed, anger or hatred, and ignorance from your spirit, you will be healthy and happy.

First of all, let's think about greed. There are many kinds of greed in our minds, such as greed for money, greed for fame. However, earning plenty of money or achieving fame is not bad at all. But, they are not supposed to be a priority. You should know if you work very hard, money and fame will follow you for sure.

The material greed is like a flame of fire. Actually, it's easy to blow out in your daily life. The most important point is to be aware of the fact that you are getting greedy.

Let me tell you a simple example. Do you know a Japanese toy company, Nintendo? Nintendo is selling a very interesting game called "Wii". When Nintendo started to sell the game, my family except my wife was really excited. We had a family meeting after dinner one night and discussed whether we would buy the "Wii" or not. Our youngest daughter and I were eager to get one. Then, my first daughter calmly told us, "Wait. Why don't we remember when you, daddy, got Sony's Play Station 2, we enjoyed the game for two weeks. But, after the two weeks, we all forgot about it and then, nobody even touched it. So, if we get Wii, I guess the same thing is going to happen. Let's not buy the game." After I heard my daughter's explanation, I became aware that I was getting just greedy. My mind was dominated by the greed. Then, I could blow out the flame of greed in my mind. As a result, we decided not to buy the game "Wii".

Second, let’s think about the anger or hatred. When Buddha Shakyamuni was walking in a town, a man, who was jealous because Buddha Shakyamuni was getting famous, came to Buddha and said plenty of angry and bad words towards Buddha. The man had the feeling of hatred and anger to Buddha. After the man said what he wanted to say, Buddha Shakyamuni calmly said to the man, "I don't receive your words. So, these bad words are all yours". Then, of course the man got angrier and stamped his feet with frustration. Be aware that no matter how angry you are, the anger in your mind is all yours, not someone else's. Just blow out of the flame of anger in your mind. Anger doesn't give you any benefits, but frustration and stress.

Then about hatred, I would like to repeat a phrase from the ancient sutra called Udănavarga: "The hatred never comes to an end if you repay the hatred with the hatred. Therefore, the person who knows the Buddha Dharma throws away the hatred."

Lastly let's think about the ignorance. We, human beings, are surprised by unexpected happenings. If we know that something is going to happen, we will be able to be ready for it. Otherwise, we are surprised, get confused, or get suffered. However, we are ignorant and don't know things or happenings that are surely going to happen to us, such as the fundamental four sufferings.

Let me tell you a simple example. One night, there was no wind. So, many termites were flying towards the light. Many of them came to my house's door, and some were even trying to get in. My family was panicked. Some screamed. But, I knew that they were going to end their short lives around 9 o'clock in the evening. I told them about it, but they didn't believe me and kept fussing. At 9 o'clock, I told them to look outside. There were no more termites flying. They were already on the ground. Some were still moving and some weren't. My family was relieved from the fear. Then, who's going to clean up the ground? Yes. They are frogs, and big ones. I knew that there must have been big frogs around my house. The next moment, I heard another screaming from my family outside. They thought there was a big stone, but, it wasn't. It was a big frog!

If all my family members knew that on nights with no wind, termites fly and they die around 9, and frogs clean up them, there wouldn't be such suffering and fear. Having knowledge prevents us from unnecessary fear and suffering. However, even if you have so much knowledge but don't know how to use them, it's useless. You need to have wisdom to use the knowledge. The wisdom is the Buddha-Dharma.