Andō Mueller, Rev. Master

 

This is an edited version of a talk given at Shasta Abbey in May 2018, kindly transcribed by Kristy Kette.

 

Today we’ve had a Meditation Sunday, so I’m going to talk about one of my favorite Buddhist teachings, the ‘Five Laws of the Universe’. I would like to relate it to our Serene Reflection Meditation practice. For me, this teaching has been very helpful to go back to when I need clarification and direction, and it’s one of our windows into the great body of the Dharma. Of course, there is a lot of overlap between this and other Buddhist teachings. I see it, though, as foundational for supporting the practice of meditation and Buddhist contemplation. Most of you have probably heard of the Five Laws of the Universe. If you haven’t, you might like to have a look at Rev. Master Jiyu’s article and commentary on this subject in our booklet entitled An Introduction to the Tradition of Serene Reflection Meditation¹ which is available on Shasta Abbey’s website at the very bottom of the publications page.

So, the First Law of the Universe is: the physical world is not answerable to my personal will.

This may be obvious, but how many times do we need to be reminded of this? Certainly a little awareness of this law is what brings most of us to do religious training, isn’t it? I know, as a young person, my life didn’t go quite the way I had imagined it would. This created quite a disturbance in my mind and heart. We don’t realize when we’re young, or perhaps at any point in our lives, that this disturbance is actually a very positive thing. Great Master Dōgen taught that: “We must always be disturbed by the truth.” So already at a young age most of us have that sense of “Hmm, there is something I’m not getting here.” So if we’re willing to trust our experience of this first law of the universe we can start to change course. This law points me to the need to practice acceptance and humility. We have no ultimate control over the processes of our bodies, our environment, natural and physical laws, our planet, the universe…ultimately, we are not in charge. Rev. Master Daizui once gave me a beautiful, helpful answer to my question at one of our monastic spiritual direction ceremonies. He said: “We are not in the driver’s seat.” This was actually very close to the time when he was dying of cancer so I think it reflected a profound realization for him. So it’s our practice to tune in and work in harmony with these universal principles. We can’t stop our bodies from growing older, getting sick sometimes, and eventually falling away no matter how hard we try. It is also, of course, our responsibility to take care of ourselves and each other, and our world, as best as we can. Right here we have this interesting paradox, and that’s why we meditate. In our meditation practice we sit still in the midst of these seeming opposites. We sit still in the midst of whatever is going on, within and without, not pushing away thoughts, feelings, sensations, perceptions and also not grasping after them – always returning our attention to just breathing, just sitting steadily, gently with a bright, alert all-acceptance. We don’t try to be something special or get somewhere else during meditation or even be in charge of the meditation. How could you really do that? If you’ve tried meditating you’ll know that these strategies don’t work. You can bring your mind back to just sitting but everything else you have to allow to let go.

Rev. Master Jiyu, in her commentary on this law of the universe, says: “We are not the Cosmic Buddha and there is nothing in us that is not of the Cosmic Buddha.” That’s a contemplation for meditation, isn’t it, or a reason to meditate. She says further: “Thus, no Zen Master ever says that they are enlightened or unenlightened… That Which Is, is not a personal God…” Since there is nothing within us that is not of the Eternal or the Cosmic Buddha, we can feel free to just sit and to be present with whatever arises, pleasant or unpleasant. There is nothing actually to push away or to grasp after – nothing really to be feared. Our responsibility is to take care of the Life of Buddha, that which we are part of. When we are suffering from frustration or unfulfilled expectations, it is very helpful to reflect on this first law of the universe. Usually the suffering means we are trying to do something that doesn’t work; we are going down a dead-end road. So it’s just reminding us. It always helps me, at such times, to take a good, deep breath: “Ah, yes, that is not the way to go….let’s correct course and go on straight ahead.” By just sitting we align ourselves with this truth, and what needs to be done next opens up.

The Second Law of the Universe is: the law of change.

Many of us are brought to religious practice through some realization of this law, which points to the fact that everything within and without is in a constant state of flux, without interruption. We’ve all heard this teaching many times and we may think of it as poetic, however, it is not just a nice, philosophical idea: it is a truth of the universe reflected in real, lived experience. Perhaps we’ve at some time lost a loved one, a family member, a friend, a pet critter that we held dearly has passed away, or a close relationship hasn’t worked out. Perhaps we’ve lost a job, our income, or our health may have taken a turn for the worse…. just to give a few examples of significant changes in our lives that get our attention. Even if we feel completely happy and have everything we want, we still sense that eventually we will separate from these things and their enjoyment. The luster and beauty of youth fades eventually despite our best efforts, even when we take good care of ourselves.

This always brings to mind one of the interesting stories from the Therigata², the record of awakening stories of the female arahant disciples of the Buddha – their enlightenment poems. The state courtesan of the ancient Indian city of Vesali, Ambapali, became a lay disciple and supporter of the Buddha. She was apparently an exceptionally beautiful woman and had acquired a great amount of wealth in her position. In time, however, she became disillusioned and renounced the world, asked to enter the monastic order, and following the Buddha’s teaching eventually became an arahant. In her awakening poem she relates the contrast between her former beauty and the condition of her body in old age:

My hair was black and curly the color of black bees.
Now that I am old it is like the hemp of trees.
This is the teaching of one who speaks truth…..

My eyebrows were crescents, painted well.
Now they droop, and are wrinkled as well.
This is the teaching of one who speaks truth…..

I had a sweet voice like a cuckoo moving in a thicket.
Now cracked and halting you can hear my age in it.
This is the teaching of one who speaks truth…..

This is how my body was.
Now it is dilapidated, the place of pain,
an old house with the plaster falling off.

To some this can seem like a dismal reflection, but to Buddhists it’s actually considered healthy and vital to allow the awareness of the law of change to penetrate our minds within the open stillness of meditation. This is so, so important, otherwise we will live in dread of loss, of sickness, old age and death, and there is no need to do that.

As we practice meditation, we see that grasping after external things to make us happy eventually becomes unsatisfactory. We all have some experience of this or we wouldn’t be here. Once we sit still with this insight and allow awareness of it to be fully present, we begin to allow a peace and a joy to arise that is beyond any transient satisfaction we might have had in the past or might have hoped for in the future. Certainly, this is my experience. We can see that we’ve been investing importance in the wrong direction by identifying so strongly with passing thoughts, feelings, things, experiences. By training ourselves in meditation to let go of clinging to or rejection of these, we connect with that which is much deeper, bigger, and embraces everything. And we become aware of the fact that we actually can do something about ourselves; we are capable of change.

So that’s the other side of the coin of the law of change. I remember when this started to really dawn on me in my training. I began to see this particular law of the universe – this teaching of Anicca in a completely different light. It was as if I had been trying to fight it and had resigned myself: “Okay, well, I’ve just got to put up with this…..” But it actually works in our favor. We are capable of change and suffering is not permanent. We can convert our harmful tendencies. We don’t have to first change everyone around us or fix the world to suit our opinions and views in order to deal with our suffering, nor do we have to settle for mediocrity – which many of us unfortunately do – for sort of second best in our training by clinging to ideals and expectations. Rev. Master Jiyu often warned us of the latter, especially her female disciples. To my mind, acceptance of the truth of change opens us to real liberation. The Buddha taught us that there is an Unborn, an Undying, an Unconditioned, Uncreated. In my experience, the flow of change is the Compassionate Uncreated, Unchanging. By just sitting in meditation we can safely give ourselves over to it. As Rev. Master often kindly pointed out: if we try to grab hold of a handful of water from a river we end up with nothing; however, if we are content to just trail our hand in the water we will know the pure fullness of the flowing water. This explains how to sit in meditation.

The Third Law of the Universe is: the law of karma is inevitable and inexorable.

I have found that some understanding of the law of karma – even a little – gives our lives a profound sense of purpose. According to Buddhist teaching, we come into this life with our work cut out for us. We’ve already got a job to do. Meditation practice eventually quiets the waves of thoughts and gives us some detachment from our feelings and sensations, from the drive of our desires, our expectations, so that we gradually come to see the negative karmic tendencies we’ve developed and what needs to be done to let go of and convert them. Without meditation it is very difficult to develop this awareness of what needs to be done.

As we can see when we listen to the news and also study history, humankind seems to go round and round on the same problems. I often feel that teaching about the law of karma to children in schools would be immensely helpful. Of course, if would have to be done with a non-judgmental attitude of mind and from some real experience of how it works on the part of the teacher. It needn’t be done as Buddhist teaching per se; just passing on our lived experience of this truth in natural ways as early as possible in the life of a child would prevent so much suffering and would help empower young people to trust and live from their own True Nature.

In serene reflection meditation practice we allow awareness of our spiritual dis-ease to come to the surface, and we begin to see how we are reaping the consequences of past and present choices and behaviors. By neither repressing nor indulging thoughts and feelings as we sit, including letting go of self-judgement, we gradually see with pure awareness what our minds have been up to and how we create suffering. By sitting still and just being with how we feel, for example, we stop adding fuel to the fire of ignorance and allow it to eventually burn itself out. This is my experience – just not shying away from feelings in meditation throughout the day, whatever they might be. Not pushing them away and also not getting all caught up in them, but just: “Ah, ok, I am really annoyed right now” or just note, “I’m feeling very fearful”, or whatever is there. Since all things within ourselves are ultimately of Buddha Nature we don’t have to be afraid of being with anything that arises. There is no ultimate evil here. In the end everything can and will teach us.

Depending on the strength of a particular negative karmic tendency, be it from having acted out of greed or anger or delusion, the conversion can take some time, so we have to be patient and it’s often not comfortable. Sometimes one can experience short periods of excruciating pain. I remember sitting in meditation at a time following some past mistakes in my training when I was turning my heart around. It felt like sitting with a burning infection, like a boil coming to the surface. You know how sensitive that feels when you have an infection and it hasn’t quite opened and been cleaned out? It’s extremely tender and you feel you can barely stand it, but I found that with patience – just keeping going with faith in the practice it eventually changed. It turned over into becoming a cleaned-out wound, and as the pain dissolved soothing, warm, water began to flow through me. It was a gradual process and I’m glad I persisted. Sadly many people give up meditation before they get to that point of conversion in their lives, so persistence is vital. Knowing about this law of the universe and, of course, the support of the Sangha helped me to trust that what I was experiencing was a natural process of cleaning up karma.

We find, in just sitting, a cutting through that which has bound us to the wheel of suffering. We can change the direction of our karma and we can live a life of merit – one that is of increasingly greater benefit to all beings including ourselves, and one that is in harmony with what really works. When we accept the truth of karma as being inevitable and inexorable, we learn that we are being offered opportunities all the time to heal and to find greater peace. Through meditation we become open to what really works, which is expressed fully within the Buddhist Precepts – to cease from evil, do only good and to do good for others. It is a great joy to discover that we truly can do something about ourselves.

The Buddha taught that in reality “No doer is there who does the deed (a particular action that creates karma), nor is there one who feels the fruit (there isn’t an absolute self here); feeling is the reaper of karma”.³ There isn’t a permanent self that we have to fix or wrestle with or judge as good or bad or hold onto in any way. It’s more a matter of being willing to look, sitting still with the karmically-generated feelings and letting go, allowing ourselves to rest in our True Nature, in what we sometimes refer to as the Great Ocean of Meditation. For me, this teaching has been critical in understanding the law of karma. There are just inclinations that ‘we’ have inherited from the past and color the way we feel and think. We can do something about this now, by ceasing to perpetuate harm; we don’t have to continue selfish tendencies and also pass them on to a poor wretch in a future life. Once we have cleansed a particular deluded karmic stream or a chain of jangles or knots, as it were, it vanishes, actually. Of course we need to keep going in our training, and there is nothing to carry on and no self to carry anything. We can gradually free ourselves and realize that the law of karma, at its source, is actually Infinite Compassion. When we see clearly and accept within the mind of meditation our harmful tendencies and open up to sange,⁴ compassion enters in. And we are able to have greater compassion for others, because each of us has been or is working on some difficult piece of past karma.

The Fourth Law of the Universe is: without fail evil is vanquished and good prevails – this too is inexorable.

Through our just sitting practice, as we learn to let go of attachment to the idea that we’re a permanent entity, a separate, abiding self, we have the privilege and comfort of becoming more aware of the inherent goodness at the heart of life, at the heart of all things. We’re creating fewer ‘clouds in a clear sky’, and we can see the Buddha Nature shining through beings and things more and more. We begin to see the potential of Buddhahood in ourselves and others. When I can look at the bigger picture in this way, it seems to me that all things are ultimately moving in the direction of Enlightenment. It’s sometimes very subtle and easy to lose sight of this at times but when we have even a little glimpse of it, it’s quite mind-blowing. All pain is naturally moving towards resolution, which is the reason for rebirth. Beings are reborn, or bits of unresolved karma are reborn. Because of the great compassion of the Unborn, Undying no one and nothing is left out in the cold, no bit of unresolved karma is abandoned; everything is eventually brought to liberation.

Rev. Master Jiyu used to talk about the fact that if you look at human history carefully, you can actually see overall progress that we’ve made in the area of following the Precepts. It may not always be apparent, of course. We tend to hear about all of the horrible things happening in our world on the news; these stories are usually at the top of the page, aren’t they? They’re sad and it may be good to know they’re happening; on the other hand, there are usually myriad numbers of people who are going to the rescue and offering generosity and kindness every day in the midst of very difficult situations, which you don’t hear nearly as much about. It’s true, if you look carefully: in the past it was not uncommon to hold executions in the streets and there were very few laws around that – or they were ignored. Certain kinds of cruelty that we would now consider as completely unacceptable these days were commonplace less than a century ago – in most countries that is, I realize not in all places and not at all times. It helps to reflect on this and to be careful of what we might over-expose ourselves to, to be careful of ‘doom-scrolling’ on the internet, for example. As Buddhists, we transfer the merit of our meditation and training to all those we hear of on the news caught in disasters and conflicts, wishing that all will become free from suffering and know true peace.

I remember as a young person when I lived in London, England, in this vast city, seeing even in the midst of street-to-street concrete, little flowers and grasses, live things, popping up in the cracks of the sidewalks. One such time there was a little “aha” moment, when I realized nature is going to keep doing its work no matter what we get up to. It was a moment of hope, an encouragement to continue in faith.

It’s important to look at our own practice and to take heart in and have confidence in progress that we have made, not being full of pride obviously but allowing the awareness of positive change in our training to enter our minds and strengthen faith, giving us courage to keep going. I find that my outlook on life always brightens as a result of our ‘just sitting’ practice, it seems in spite of myself sometimes. We have a choice to either go with this or to block it and hang on to resentments, opinions and despair. The former clearly works; the latter doesn’t. I also find that, as I go on in my training, I see kindness in others and all around me more and more. It is our work as bodhisattvas in training to not only practice kindness but also to acknowledge and support it in everyone we meet. This is an aspect of benevolence, which this universal law points to. Great Master Dōgen says in his Shushōgi: “The stupid believe that they will lose something if they give help to others, but this is completely untrue for benevolence helps everyone, including oneself, being a law of the universe.” And Rev. Master Jiyu encouraged us to “give ourselves over to It”.

In Buddhism we do not consider there to be an ultimate source of evil. There is no sort of absolute devil that operates in opposition to an absolute god. I believe this is very significant to understanding this law of the universe and to trusting our meditation practice and daily training. Yes, harmful impulses may arise, however there is not a fundamental badness that we can never get rid of. In a fraction of a second, such an impulse can vanish in just sitting and we can settle into and give ourselves over to the flow of benevolence. Ultimately the Buddha Nature will make use of everything.

Finally, The Fifth Law of the Universe is: the intuitive knowledge of Buddha Nature occurs to all.

When I was working as a tutor for a period of time in the past, paying off debts, I found contemplating this law of the universe very relevant. It was helpful in my work with students and with myself, of course, because I wasn’t always sure of how best to help. Education is an interesting subject, and I often thought, “What are we educating our young people or ourselves into?” Of course, certain skills and knowledge are needed to live in our world, but I also felt it was important to stay grounded in this understanding that the intuitive knowledge of Buddha Nature occurs to all. I noticed that one of the main things I was often dealing with wasn’t just providing information, skills and resources for students but pointing them to their own intuition – their own good instincts and sense of what was good to do – what was worth exploring and spending time with, encouraging confidence in who they were at heart and that they could safely trust and live from that place. When we are sitting still in our own practice, getting self out of the way, letting go of judgements, learning to listen more deeply, we can offer immense support in very simple, practical ways in the ordinary daily lives of those we work with.

I remember as a young person beginning to discover this intuitive knowledge. I’d been wondering what direction my life should take and how not to continue creating grief and suffering – questions about career and family. I was somewhat at sea and was experimenting with various therapeutic and eastern religious practices. When I stumbled upon just sitting meditation from the Sōtō Zen perspective, even though it occurred in a somewhat strange environment, I began to have a sense that this was the Way for me. There was no bottom and no top to it, no limit, in other words it would go all the way. I had no real idea what that meant at the time and I’m still discovering it; however, I realize now there was a breaking through to a spaciousness then; an intuitive awareness of the path opened up quite naturally. It no longer seemed so important what exactly I decided to do with my life, but became apparent that there was always the next step, what needed to be done, that the external aspects weren’t as important as how I went about the doing – with greater presence of mind and kindness. It began to matter more that I looked for the root of suffering and trusted the compass of meditation that I’d found, however wobbly I felt in my practice.

Some time ago I was asked to offer a class on Buddhism at a local community college. A young woman came up to me at the end of the class and said, “So, you mean there is a Buddha in my heart that I can listen to and learn from?” And I said, “Yes!” and I thought, to myself, “Oh, how nice, somebody actually heard me! She’s not making it complicated.” It wasn’t an academic question. It was lovely, delightful. And then she had about six other questions – very straightforward and refreshing.

I’ve also found the teaching of this universal law particularly helpful in pulling myself out of difficulties in my training at times when it was hard to see the way forward. By just tuning in, that little niggle is heard that says “just sit still a little longer” or “just take the next step…go to lunch!…have a cup of tea!” or “talk to somebody” or “well let’s go to sleep and see what happens by morning”. One of the ways I’ve experienced this is that we have a best friend in our hearts whom we can learn to trust and take refuge in and who will guide us through light and darkness. It doesn’t stand against wise guidance from good friends, and the Sangha Refuge is always vital, of course. We do have to allow ourselves to get quiet enough to hear this often unspoken guidance that naturally arises from just sitting practice. I find that more often than not by just getting on with what is in front of me, bowing and doing the next thing, what seemed to be a problem has evaporated. I find myself often recalling Rev. Master Jiyu’s advice to not create clouds, problems in a clear sky.

So in just sitting practice, not grasping after thoughts, feelings and things, and not pushing them away, this intuitive knowledge of Buddha Nature arises naturally. We don’t have to hunt for it or think of it as such, it’s just as it is and brings great comfort and relief – a great remedy for worry, although that isn’t the only reason we sit. One of the great joys arising from the practice is the deepening kinship we come to know with all sentient beings; yes, we share in their sorrows too, however from a very different perspective now. By trusting the awareness of Buddha Nature or simply That Which Is, we naturally – often unknowingly – appeal to and support this intuitive knowledge in others, those known to us and unknown. To my mind this is the most powerful cause for bringing about positive change in our world.

Rev. Master Jiyu says about the fifth law of universe:

All beings have the intuitive knowledge of the Buddha nature – hence the creation of religions and Precepts down the centuries. When man does not heed this intuitive knowledge, body and spirit separate and the cycle of birth, old age, disease and death becomes as a binding cord from which he or she cannot be free until he or she again decides to heed the still, small voice within which is the voice of that intuitive knowledge which comes directly from the non-personal Buddha Nature. As a result of modern thinking, man educates his children away from this and with the spread of materialism, man is increasingly looking for the cure of physical and mental illness outside of himself rather than within and the young become steadily more confused at an earlier and earlier age.

I should end by saying that in Buddhism we don’t have any sort of cosmic police or somebody who is enforcing these laws. Laws in this sense means Dharmas – just the way things truly are. These teachings are expressions of direct experience in meditation and daily preceptual training on the part of Buddhist practitioners and masters down the centuries. They are not presented as a creed of belief, but rather an encouragement to pay attention to and learn from our own experience and to motivate us to practice. It is my experience and great joy that this wonderful just sitting practice allows us to know these truths for ourselves, the acceptance of which brings ever-growing unshakeable peace of heart and mind.

 

Notes

1. An Introduction to the Tradition of Serene Reflection Meditation. Shasta Abbey Press. 2000. https://www.shastaabbey.org/pdf/IntroSRM13.pdf [This volume also includes The Udana Sutra and Shushōgi, also referred to in the article: – Ed.]
2. Murcott, The First Buddhist Women, A Translation and Commentary of the Therigatha. Parallax Press, 1991, p 145.
3. Narada Thera, A Manual of Buddhism. The Buddhist Missionary Society, Kuala Lumpur. 1971, p 80.
4. “Sange”, the Japanese word for contrition, confession, repentance. The sincere recognition of all that is wrong with one and the acceptance of one’s past karma. Sange is the true source of religious humility and a principal gateway to enlightenment. In Zen is Eternal Life by Rōshi P.T.N.H. Jiyu-Kennett, Shasta Abbey Press 1999, p 328.