THIS MONTH’S DHARMA TALK

In this issue, I would like to share with you the fourth element of the Four Noble Truths, which is the path that leads to nirvana. The path is called "the Eightfold Noble Path". What is the Eightfold Noble Path? Let me read a part of the HASU NO OSHIE (THE TEACHINGS OF THE LOTUS) book on page 36. I will read the first paragraph of Leader's part.

"The Eightfold Noble Path is the way of Buddha. There is no other way to attain Enlightenment. This path is the Middle Way, which the Perfect One found. Indulgence in sensual pleasure, or self-mortification does not bring happiness. We must avoid both extremes. Follow the Middle Way, and you will end suffering, and have perfect peace in this very life".

There is a big word in Buddhism in this paragraph. That is "the Middle Way". Where is the middle way? In Hawaii, there is a Middle Street, but that's not the middle way. In the article, it says, "We must avoid both extremes". On Beretania Street, you can go only East and on King Street, you can go only West because they are one way streets. So, is the middle way Young Street which is between Beretania and King because it has two way traffic? No. The middle way is in your mind. The middle way is the Eightfold Noble Path. There are eight ways to practice for nirvana, and they should be practiced on the Middle Way.

In order to understand the Middle Way, I will read a part of the HASU NO OSHIE book on page 1. There is an article of THE LIFE OF BUDDHA.

"As Siddartha grew up (Siddartha is Buddha's birth name), he was surrounded with pleasures. He was a king's son and lived in a palace. He was treated as the future king of the Sakyas and his father looked upon him as a good successor to himself".

Then, I will read a part of the article from the fourth line on page 2.

"For six years, he sought and struggled to find the answer to the truth about life and death, sorrow and happiness. At times, he lived in a cave or in the forest, begging for his food. At other times, he would deny himself food in order to concentrate on his thoughts more intensely".

When Buddha was young, he was surrounded by pleasures described on page 1. On the other hand, for six years after he left his palace, he lived in a cave or in the forest and begging for his food. So, he went through two extremes. Then, finally he attained the truth. This truth is the Middle Way.

What kind of situation can we use to find the Middle Way? Let us think about it in our daily lives.

For example, suppose you are dieting. When you are hungry, you want to eat as much food as you want. However, if you eat as much as you want, that's too much and your dieting is going to fail. So, you decide not to eat anything, and you suffer. In this case, where is the middle way? The middle way is that you eat an appropriate quantity of food. Your body certainly needs food to maintain your life. That's the truth that never changes. So, eat not too much and not too little. That's the middle way.

Eat, drink, sleep, act, do anything not too much and not too little. Then, you can stay on the middle way.

Another example. Some lotus flowers are blooming beautifully in the Nichiren Mission’s pond. The lotus flower symbolizes the middle way. Why? Because they grow in the muddy water. The muddy water symbolizes this unclean and dreadful world. Even though the lotus flowers stay in the muddy water, they are noble and keep their beauty. That's the middle way. That's why we chant the Lotus Sutra. RENGE in Japanese means lotus flowers. MYOHO in Japanese means the wonderful (Buddha) Dharma. KYO means the sutra. NAMU means I devote myself to. So, NAMU-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO means I devote myself to the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. The Lotus Sutra is the teaching of the Middle Way.