Dharma Vision

A short essay by Dharmavidya about the all-encompassing samadhi that comes from living in relation to Noyrai - actualising the nembutsu.

Dharma means truth. It transcends all particular religious forms. We practise in a Pureland Buddhist style, but the essence of what we are practising is the spiritual vision of humankind in all times, places and cultures. It is the dream or vision of a pure realm of love, beauty, harmony and truth standing in juxtaposition to our messy world of real joys and disappointments, intimacies and rejections. When that which is pure comes into relation with that which is existential, we experience a deep sense of bitter-sweetness.

Vision here translates the Sanskrit word samadhi. To be in a samadhi means to be uplifted by spiritual truth. It is an orientation to life that is full of joy and gratitude in which one lives not by the power of one's own ego but by the inspiration of spiritual truth which is beyond self - the still small voice, the flame that never dies.

When a person receives the Dharma vision one sees a noticable shift in their behaviour and attitude. They become more altruistic in simple ways, more caring and kind. Pretentions fall away and they are able to laugh at themselves. A gentle joyfulness enters into their life. The Dharma vision is a relationship. It is the relation that we have with the Holy Spirit, which, in Buddhism, is called Nyorai %#040;Sanskrit: Tathagata). Depending upon temperament, for some practitioners this relation remains relatively abstract whereas for others it becomes personal. Pureland springs from the deeply personal relationship that his disciples had with Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism in our age, and from the eternal quality of that relationship which transcends all ages.

Dharma means the teaching that has come down to us from Shakyamuni Buddha: faith, compassion, wisdom and peace; the dignity of life, gratitude for spiritual truth, where we come from, where we are going, and the nature of this and all possible worlds. More profoundly Dharma means the mystical reality that animates all Buddhas and that they reflect into this world, the limitless life of Nyorai. Most profoundly, Dharma means ultimate truth, ineffable and beyond the reach of words. Dharma has these three levels of meaning, the concrete, the spiritual and the ultimate.

Each person's spiritual path is singular. We practise together and the sense of community or sangha is a central item of Buddhist faith, but we each come to it naked, “just as you are” ( - Inagaki), “without credentials” ( - Trungpa), as “a person of no rank” ( - Lin Ji). This is because each person's relation with Nyorai is direct. Shakyamuni called this ekagata, which means come to singleness. When one finds Nyorai one has come to a singleness that enables one to stand firm amidst all the waves of impermanence and whatever afflictions may assail. Buddhism, therefore, is a religion in which each person takes complete spiritual responsibility for his or her own life.

At the same time, Buddhism is the religion in which we take refuge in sangha. The Dharma vision is discovered by each person, but it is a vision of a Sukhavati, a community living in harmony and awareness, full of devotion and mutual care, reaching out in fellow-feeling to all those who are “drowning and adrift in samsara's great ocean”. The Dharma vision is a vision of a communion of spiritually inspired people, taking responsibility, working together, full of gratitude and inspiring light. These are the “bodhisattvas of the Earth” who assist Shakyamuni in the completion of his projec to make the Dharma vision a reality here in this world.