Midweek Faith Lift
March 20, 2024
Unity and Buddhism, Part 2
Rev. Deb Hill-Davis
Spiritual Passages
March 8, 2024
Rare Bird Protected in Las Vegas -
Caring for the Least Among Us
The fountains at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas were paused after a rare bird stopped by for a visit. A Yellow-Billed Loon, one of the 10 rarest birds n the U.S., was seen taking a dip in the casino’s water feature. The juvenile bird was safely captured and relocated to a more suitable, remote location with space, food, and quiet surroundings. The Fountains of Bellagio resumed their regular schedule Wednesday afternoon.
"You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." - Jane Goodall
If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito,” ~ Dali Lama
Affirmative Prayer for Today: Living, loving Presence of God within me and all around me, awaken in me the consciousness of equanimity, love, compassion and joy. Awaken in me my true Buddha nature, my Christ nature that allows and guides me to live in harmony with all of creation.
Amen.
This is a great story to begin our exploration of the practice of Buddhism as it illustrates the practice of mindfulness. Someone had to be aware and awake enough to notice this rare bird and then take meaningful action to care for it. This comes from the actual practice of “mindfulness” which is at the center of Buddhism. Like Unity, Buddhism is anchored to core beliefs and practices that come from those beliefs. Our version of “Practical Christianity” actually has much in common with Buddhism, which makes it so appealing to Unity folks.
Neither Unity nor Buddhism have dogmatic teachings or theological speculations about eternity, hell and so on. In fact, there is a Buddhist “Parable of the Arrow” in which a man is wounded by a poisoned arrow and the doctor discusses a number of issues before his is willing to remove it: in what caste was the man who shot the arrow, what village was he from, what was his height and weight? And before they could answer these questions, the man died! It is interesting that Buddhism grew from the rejection of the dogmatic and ritualized teachings of the Brahmin priests, the message of Jesus grew from the rejection of the legalisms of the Pharisees of Judaism and then Unity grew from the rejection of the dogma of traditional Christianity. All three, Buddha, Jesus and Unity were more interested in relieving suffering than being “right” about dogmatic teachings! Whew! That’s a big relief!
The essential perspective of Buddhism is that this world is impermanent and that there is a reality greater than this world. It is interesting to note that in our Scripture, both Hebrew and Christian, we read the words “And it came to pass,” which we take to mean “this is what happened.” It would be more accurate to hear these words declare the impermanence of any condition, both desired and undesired, wouldn’t it? As in “it came, and then it passed” or “this too, shall pass!” That is the essential understanding of the Buddhist teachings as well as the teachings of Jesus.
The core teachings of Buddhism are encapsulated in the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. The First Noble Truth is that of dukkha or suffering and dissatisfaction with this world; our suffering is an inescapable part of life, which leads to unhappiness and weariness. We are not stuck there for the Second Noble Truth is that suffering arises from grasping or craving and aversion, such as “when I have this, my life will be complete or when this is gone, I can be happy!” Both are a desire for some kind of permanence in an impermanent world. The Third Noble Truth is that there can be a cessation of suffering when craving/aversion is overcome. The Fourth Noble Truth is that the path to this overcoming is the Eightfold Path, or the Middle Way between the extremes as it is attachment to either extreme that sets us up for suffering.
The Eightfold Path can be divided into three sections dealing with aspects of mind, body and spirit. The first two, “right understanding” and “right thought” or right view and right intention help us to see things as they really are which is a practice that leads to equanimity and compassion. The second set includes “right speech, right action and right livelihood” which offer ways to live a virtuous life and lead us to rescue the rare bird at the most posh casino in Las Vegas. And the last three are “right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration” which focus on meditative practices leading to enlightenment or awakening. My observation is that these closely parallel our 12 Spiritual Powers in Unity and that when we activate all twelve powers, we too can be free from suffering because we integrate our suffering into our spiritual growth allowing it to become a path of transformation for our lives.
Buddhist teachings include some of the Hindu precepts from which it came including the ideas of karma, the law of action and reaction; samsara, the wheel of conditioning of time and change in which the soul is repeatedly reborn and the illusory nature of the conditioned or impermanence. The Buddha did not speculate on the nature of the soul but instead focused on the nature and evolution of consciousness. These are form or materiality, sensation, perception, mental formations and ultimately consciousness or the capacity to be aware of your higher nature.
One of the unique teachings of Buddha is that of “No self” which is not a concept but an experience. It is a direct experience of the reality that is greater than we are, greater than our suffering, our thoughts and feelings. This is a place of great freedom, which the Buddha called nirvana and he believed all humans were capable of experiencing this in their lifetime. The clearest understanding of this is when we can get beyond ego, cultivating that “observer self” that notices what is there, reality, without reactivity.
The most potent human example of this right now is Caitlin Clark whose love of basketball and total presence in the game allows her to play without ego, without attachment to outcome. Missing a 3-pointer does not stop her from trying again or helping her teammates try again and again. She seemingly invests no energy or attention in failure and has a pure love of the game, which seems like nirvana to me! She lives beyond greed, hatred and delusion when it comes to basketball, which is part of her attraction for so many.
The actual reality is that if you claim to have reached nirvana, you probably haven’t! You don’t have what we would call mystical experience by striving for it. We all have those experiences, which are mystical in nature, which put us beyond ourselves, our very human attachments that can cause us suffering, but we don’t usually stay in that state of bliss. The question is how do we live in that middle way or in the consciousness of the truth of our Christ nature as Myrtle Fillmore would say. The truth is more like what Gandhi said, “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood carry water.”
The ultimate expression of Buddhism is a release from suffering to the greatest extent we that we can realize. In Buddhism, everything is grist for the mill including all obstacles. As Rev. Roach, author of Unity and World Religions, states on p.107,
The ability to integrate apparent opposites is articulated throughout the teaching. Like the Hindu god, Ganesh, who is both the remover of obstacles and the creator of them, or the statement in Genesis where Joseph says to his brothers (who had tried to destroy him) “You meant for evil against me; but God meant it for good. (50:20 NKJV).
The opposites in our lives will always be with us. We may resolve some conflicts only to have others arise. The 11th Century Buddhist monk shared these insights about developing the skillfulness of the middle way. To paraphrase, he said our best friend is the one who brings our hidden faults to light and our best instructions are the ones that hit those faults or sour notes! Our best friends are mindfulness and vigilance to empower us to be present to all that is actually there. The best incentives are enemies, obstacles and the suffering of illness. The best method is not to fabricate anything. In the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, “When we can see the non-rose elements when looking at a rose, it is safe for us to use the word “rose.”
The middle way of the Buddha is to be at peace with all that is real in a consciousness of equanimity, love, compassion and joy. We no longer seek to cure the ills of the world or escape our own lives and experiences. We are empowered to see, to learn, to change and respond…we are empowered to really care in a non-selfish way. In the words of Thomas Moore, a Catholic mystic:
"A major difference between care and cure is that cure implies the end of trouble. If you are cured, you don't have to worry about whatever was bothering you any longer. But care has a sense of ongoing attention. There is no end. Conflicts may never be fully resolved." - Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul
And in the words of John Lewis, may we continue to get into “Good Trouble!”
Blessings on the Path,
Rev. Deb