"the changes" are really happening now. Happy New Year!

Here is part of a message that I recently distributed to members of the Amida Order...

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New year is a time for important reflection. Looking back I remember earlier in 2011 there was a lot of talk about "the changes" but recently we have been seeing real change happening rapidly. Beside all the specific developments, which are wonderful, one thing that I am noticing is an increasing dispersion of activity and responsibility. The "new" Amida Trust looks well set to be a collective effort in a stronger sense than the old one was. I am delighted by this and I hope that the process will go further. If each member of the Order takes responsibility with others for one or two significant functions within the whole we shall have a very vibrant community.

 

At the core of all our rapidly diversifying work is the nembutsu. I consider the limited nature and the smallness of my individual life - how little I can do alone, how soon my life will be over, how many mistakes I make - and I see how even in this small dew drop which is my life, there reflects a light much greater than anything I could generate alone. I see that each of you similarly reflects this great light and that together we can illumine the world, each, perhaps, reflecting a slightly different hue from the spectrum. The light that we reflect is one that animates us to collectively do wonderful things. In many systems of Buddhism the first thing to realise is the preciousness of human rebirth. We are here with a tiny amount of time and energy and it is vitally important that we not squander it, and that we each actively live in the best light that we know. New Year is a good time to think of these things, to "begin anew" and rededicate ourselves to spreading love and understanding in the world together.

 

I am approaching the New Year with much enthusiasm. The situation that has recently unfolded was not particularly what I was expecting or looking for, but I can see in it great possibilities and one can hardly avoid feeling the energy that it has let loose. The future is always uncertain. What matters is that we approach it in good heart and I know that we are doing so. NAMO AMIDA BU.

 

Love to each of you

Dharmavidya