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Taking Care of Small Details with Long-ranged Hope

Taking Care of Small Details with Long-ranged Hope

Last updated on: January 3, 2009 at 11:06 am by Dosho Port

Taking Care of Small Details with Long-ranged Hope 2009-01-03T11:06:00-06:00 Dosho Port

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Coyote scat dropped in the woods, as in the photo, needs no caring although comes alive through our attention to it.

Anyway, here’s my last post on this thread for now. I worry that this “taking care of small details” might lead to a one-sidedness in practice. And I tell myself that when we attend to one side the other side is dark. So I’ll come back to doing what I can to shine a little light on the other side soon.

Here’s Katagiri Roshi’s thoughts that prompted this thread:

To change your life is not your business.

If you try to change your life through your intellectual sense you won’t be satisfied no matter how much you change.

If you want to change your life, practice forming a habit of doing small things with the body and mind. If you do this continually your life will be changed beyond your expectation. You will really become a soft, peaceful, harmonious, gentle person.

There is example in Japan of a famous psychologist (note: maybe Morita) who cured a young girl from a so-called “nervous breakdown.” She was from a very rich family. This psychologist met this young girl regularly. Whenever he met the young girl he didn’t do anything, he didn’t say anything. He just sat with her.

One day, this young girl had to pee. So right in front of this psychologist who was a nice gentleman, wearing nice suits, the girl peed on the floor. Immediately, this gentleman took a beautiful handkerchief from his pocket and cleaned the floor, soaking up her urine. Without any hesitation.

Later she completely recovered. After her recovery, she confessed to this gentlemen. She said “I was really impressed by cleaning my urine with a clean, fresh, neat, white handkerchief.”

We don’t know why he could recover this person without doing anything; only he just cleaned her pee.

How can you cultivate this kind of great, lovely character?

Not by intellectual process. No. You have to practice living in vow, taking care of your life with a long-range view, with long-ranged hope.

Saicho, founder of Tendai school in Japan, said “illuminate one corner.”

A corner is just a corner, not a whole. Every day if you practice the little things without any satisfaction of individual desire, just doing continually, then your personality, your life, will be established. We don’t know what kind of personality will come. You don’t know intellectually. But if people see you, immediately people are impressed by this person who has been practicing like this for long time, day by day. Anyway, so it is other people’s business, not yours.

At that time it is just like to light one candle.

If you take a trip on the Ganges River, people try to go to the center, middle of the Ganges River. It’s huge. Right in the middle there is no need for your particular effort. You just be there. The Ganges River carries your boat exactly.

If you practice like this finally you can find the rhythmical, natural practice of life. Then real easy.

This is called by the name of arhat stage you will reach. That is called no retrogression, no back sliding, so-called spiritual security.

First stage of arhat is called stream winner. If you get to stage of stream winner then that is the first stage of Buddhist practice. Buddhist practice starts from there.

It is pretty easy, forming a habit of doing small things on an everyday basis, then you can get to middle of Ganges River and then just going. Before you reach the middle of Ganges River we always feel hard. Most people give up because they don’t believe life for long range. Always people see life for short range. That’s why it’s pretty hard. People become nervous, irritated, cold, nervous breakdown, stress. Lots of stuff.

I encourage you to take a view of human life for the long range, for an unlimited-ranged hope, okay?

I think you can get the middle of Ganges River where your boat, your life, is just going in peace and harmony. At that time a sense of gentleness, generosity, and majesty will come forth from each pore of your body.

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