Aspiration

228. EVERY HUMAN HEART

“There is not a heart but has its moments of longing, yearning for something better, nobler, holier than it knows now.”

HENRY WARD BEECHER (1813–1887), USA

229. THE MEETING WITH DIPAMKARA

Legend tells us that Siddhartha, in an earlier birth as a young brahmin, saw the previous Buddha, Dipamkara. Siddhartha begged flowers and offered them in full prostration, with his hair spread upon the ground for Dipamkara to walk on, and vowed to strive on until he too, in a future life, became a Buddha. Dipamkara confirmed that indeed this would happen. This legend demonstrates bodhicitta, the aspiration toward enlightenment. To pay tribute and aspire to such an ideal as Buddhahood as greater than oneself will always bear fruit, even in another life.

230. FIRST STEP

“A thousand-mile journey begins with a single step.”

LAO TZU (6TH CENTURY BCE), CHINA

231. THE SPIRIT OF AWAKENING

Normally we crave for all manner of things, objects or people to fill our emptiness and banish our loneliness. This longing for “things”, the source of materialism, is in fact part of the delusion of “I”. When we really examine it, we realize that we are in fact searching for something quite different – fulfilment. This search, this universal longing for the heart’s desire, is a spiritual principle cultivated in Buddhism. It is called bodhicitta. This may also be translated as the spirit of awakening, the enlightenment thought, the longing for God, or the search for union.

232. AMBITIOUS HEART

“Do not become conceited just because you happen to be somewhat quick and clever; the clever ones need all the more to rely on their heart’s aspiration. And if you deem yourself stupid and dull, unable to keep up with most people, rely still more upon this aspiration of the heart. Never be content with small attainment but still more rely on this aspiration in the heart.”

TOREI ENJI ZENJI (1721–1792), JAPAN

233. POSITIVE SEARCHING

“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.”

JOHN LUBBOCK (1834–1914), ENGLAND

234. THE FOUR GREAT VOWS

In Mahayana Buddhism, monks take the four vows (given below 235–238), promising that they will not realize or attain nirvana until all sentient beings are free of the cycle of rebirth. Lay Buddhists also take these vows to assist their spiritual practice.

235. THE FIRST VOW

“Sentient beings are innumerable; I vow to liberate them all.”

236. THE SECOND VOW

“My faults are innumerable; I vow to work through them all.”

237. THE THIRD VOW

“The teachings are innumerable; I vow to practise them all.”

238. THE FOURTH VOW

“The way of the Buddha is unsurpassable; I vow to tread it to the end.”

239. A MIST OF VOWS

“Reciting the Four Great Vows and holding them in your heart, chanting them and pondering them day and night, then you will without fail attain the Buddha-Dharma of the Zen way – just as when walking in fine mist our clothes nevertheless get soaking wet, or as the scent of burning incense clings to and perfumes other things as well.”

TOREI ENJI ZENJI (1721–1792), JAPAN

240. A CLEAR PATH

“To have his path made clear for him is the aspiration of every human being in our beclouded and tempestuous existence.”

JOSEPH CONRAD (1857–1924), POLAND/ENGLAND