Buddha Quote
Sunday September 8, 2024
Upside DownIn Chinese Buddhism, sometimes us beings are referred to as
"Upside-down sentient beings" (dian dao zhong sheng). It might
sound funny but it is really an apt way of describing our nature.
I have some examples here...
1. We, human beings actually pay
money to scare the hell out of ourselves. We seek the thrills of
terrifying roller-coasters and horror movies and mistake them as
the highs of True Happiness.
2. We fall in love madly with
total strangers, even movie stars, and forget that those around
us who we think we knew too tiresomely well are the ones who are
willing to lay their lives for us out of love. Yes, I'm referring
to the true boundless love of parents that goes beyond most love.
We might pay to see our idols perform without hesitation while
having second thoughts about giving more allowance to our parents
for their well being.
3. We eat hot, exotic spicy food and turn
our stomachs inside out with fire, sweat like mad as we pant and
pant and feel that was "real good!" While this happens, the
yearning for the coolness of peace of mind or Nirvana has no
place in one's mind! The food is too good to be true-at that
moment "superior" to Nirvana! We often would rather go for such a
meal than meditate or be at peace!
4. The idea of a terrific
good time can be drinking till dead-drunk and vomiting all over
the place despite the inevitability of a horrible hellish
hangover the next morning.
There are countless absurd "upside
downs" in us all. The nature of the Buddha isn't very different
from us in the sense that He is simply one with "the right side
up," the way He should be. He is down to earth and grounded in
reality, and reacts with sensibility to it while teaching
righteously to help us "get on our feet!" The process of
cultivation is thus the "reversing of our reversed natures" to
its true upright nature! We are just Buddhas waiting to be
flipped over! We are ordinary sentient beings or enlightened
beings depending on how you look at it. Two sides of a coin! Are
you "turning over" yet? Over a new leaf.
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