The World-Honored One

Take a look at Chapter II of the Lotus Sutra which you will find in Reference Material.  You will meet the following characters:


The World-Honored One
Shariputra
Sravakas
Pratyekabuddhas
Tathagata

·         I greet these characters every morning when I do my Buddhist practice.  They are old friends!  We've known each other for 27 years, even though it seems like only yesterday that we met.  My first reflection will be on The World-honored One.

AT THAT TIME the World-honored One, rising quietly and clearly from contemplation,

Who are you, World-Honored One?

           I am you and you are me....

After years of practicing, that's the answer I get.  The whole world of Buddhism is my life.  That's the message of the Lotus Sutra to me.  I don't know about others, but that's what I get out of years of reflecting on its teachings.

So if I am the World-Honored One, who am I?  I know I am not world famous let alone world-honored....  Ah, I am potentially who he is actually.  My whole life is about actualizing the character of a world honored human being!  When I see how great is my potential as a human being, I am inspired to do the things that I believe world honored people do.  Like Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela.  I reach out to my community and make my most valuable contributions to ease the difficulties of everyday living.

It is not that I want to be world honored. Everything I know about world honored people tells me that their lives are not easy ones.... Ah, so  that’s it!   Life is not easy, and to act as though it were is to live in a dream world.  A spiritual practice based in a dream world is indeed a dangerous practice!

But the Lotus Sutra tells me that the World-honored one rose quietly and clearly from contemplation.  If I want to be the compassionate man for which I have the capacity, I must also be a contemplative man.  Some who know me would not say that I am not a contemplative man.  Perhaps I am not, but that does not mean I don’t get the message.  I am of no value as a human being if I do not contemplate reality and I don’t take compassionate action upon seeing all the suffering around me daily.  How can I contribute to alleviating the pain and sorrow of daily living?  I develop a strong spiritual practice and I share the fruits of that practice with others.  I “rise quietly and clearly” and address Everyman:  Shariputra, a character I will reflect upon in my next posting....