Good morning, thank you all for joining with me today to recite portions from the Lotus Sutra and chant the Sacred Title, Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. Today is Sunday, which for many people in the world, but not all, is the traditional beginning of a new week. I hope today you are able to make good causes for a successful week. Chanting Odaimoku and reciting the sutra are excellent ways to make such good causes.
As I have done every Sunday this month today I will offer some further reflections on Chapter I of the Lotus Sutra. Every month I’ll focus every Sunday Dharma talk on one chapter. In the past two Sundays I have talked about your personal assembly of people whom you associate with and gather into your life. I have also talked about how we illuminate the world around us. Today I want to spend a little time talking about controlling our minds, concentrating, and dealing with distractions.
“I also see some Bodhisattvas
Giving up wanton pleasures,
Parting from foolish companions,
Approaching men of wisdom,
Controlling their minds from distractions,
And concentrating their minds in hills or forests
For thousands of billions of years
In order to attain enlightenment of the Buddha.”
Lotus Sutra, Chapter I
I am not sure if you are anything like me, perhaps not. I do admit to struggling with maintaining focus and concentrating my mind. I struggle with the constant pull of various communication devices as well as modes of communication. I have tried to put some limitations or even restrictions in place, though they haven’t always been met with success.
I understand from my own first hand experiences the difficulty of maintaining control over all the technology that we have allowed into our lives. In some instances it isn’t simply a matter of our own choosing, but also of others in our lives.
I am currently reading a book titled: Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind by Jocelyn K. Glei as part of the 99U Book Series. In this book, which is a collection of short essays by various people from various fields, I have come across interesting observations which I think fit nicely with our Buddhist practice and also tie in to todays talk.
Technology of all types plays an ever increasing role in our lives. Technological devices allow us to accomplish quickly and efficiently all sorts of things, which were unimaginable previously. There are few areas of our lives where technology hasn’t impacted in some way. In fact it is so pervasive we hardly even think about its presence. Television is one example, as is the radio, which we probably don’t even give a second thought or even think of it as technology. However television and radio, even for as long as they have been around are new in the history of mankind. My parents were not early adopters of the modern technology of television and so I recall when we first got a television set. For many young people today the computer has always been present in their lives as well as the cellular phone.
And so, with the pervasive presence of all sorts of technology I wonder how many of us are even aware of our use. How much thought goes into our turning on the television, or the computer and checking email, or browsing the web? How many of us consider mindless usage of the devices around us?
How many of us actually get up, make our morning beverage in complete silence or in conversation with others in our house, and do all of this with no TV, no Internet, no Radio, just the sounds of humans or those from nature outside?
A function of concentrating the mind is to be aware of the mind itself. Yet how much of our lives are lived completely unaware of what it is we are doing and the reasons for doing it. Concentrating the mind is to work against and overcome mindlessness. There is nothing inherently wrong with technology and the use of the devices that aid us in our lives. The devices are neither good nor bad, it is our use and the role we allow them to assume that determines their actual value.
To seek out wisdom and abandon foolish friends does not only mean our relationship with people. Our relationship with all the things in our lives are worthy of examining to determine if they contribute value and enhance our lives leading to enlightenment.
It might be useful if we each consider our actions throughout the day taking time to examine what it is we are doing, why we are doing it, and in what way does it contribute not only to our immediate happiness but to our long range goal of enlightenment. Even as we chant we should be mindful of how easily our mind is distracted, or even pulled towards the other things in our lives that stimulate us.
Let us all not become distracted from our own lives, turning over control and mindlessly engaging in activities that do not positively impact our connection to Buddhism and enlightenment. From today refocus your life on the important goal of attaining enlightenment and also enabling others to have joy in their lives.
