Rennyo Posted August 14, 2011 Posted August 14, 2011 We are seen by the eyes of Deep Sorrow. Humans live with the fear of death, not knowing when or how it may come. Our instinct for life leads us to love and attachment and also causes us to struggle angrily against anything that threatens to take our life. Hence, the suffering that comes from the karmic interrelationships between self and others will never cease. Our dependence upon human knowledge to rid ourselves of anxiety and suffering is not as effective as we would wish and our efforts often lead to unintended side effects and results that are the opposite of what we had in mind. The discovery of atomic energy has led to a sense of insecurity never experienced in human history. And disputes between right and wrong, good and evil, have become more and more confused, only increasing our distress. Human existence is indeed lamentable. Nonetheless, we are unable to see the sorrowful condition of human existence with our own eyes, which always open outwardly, always in service of the body and its movements. It is not easy to turn our eyes inward to see who we really are, how we really are. No one really wants to do such a thing. For if we somehow force ourselves to look inside, to see what we should not have seen, we may be moved to pessimism and even to disastrous despair. As a consequence, it may seem wiser to live life by ignoring or covering up such a sad state of affairs. However, although it may sound strange, if this turning to look inward is done through the eyes of Deep Sorrow, it can happen naturally and without difficulty. The seer's world, in this case, is much bigger than ours is and we can sense Great Compassionate Love in the depths of the eyes of Deep Sorrow. This is like saying, of a parent who is feeling sadness and sorrow over his child's illness, that the entire content of that parent's heart is comprised of nothing but his love and caring for his child. Tathagata's Deep Sorrow respects and compassionately loves all and everyone of us, the old, the weak, man, woman, the wise, the foolish, the good and evil. So it is said 'Buddha's heart is nothing but Great Love and Sorrow.' And it is only when we sense this Compassion and Love, sense it through the eyes of Deep Sorrow, that we come to truly see our own existence . http://www.nembutsu....neko4.htm#where Good article from a Shin Buddhist perspective about ultimate compassion.
JenellYB Posted August 14, 2011 Posted August 14, 2011 Thank you for sharing this, I enjoyed it, and found it intriguing, drawing me to look more deeply into these concepts. Jenell
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