- Although it soon will be one month since we greeted the New Year, did you already get rid of
the peaceful mood of the New Year holiday? I believe that all of you hailed in the New Year making
a fresh determination to make this year be a fruitful one. However, from what we have heard in the
news every day, the sad reality is that many lives have been lost throughout the world. Although we
are only weeks into 2009, over 10,000 people have already died.
Disputes between countries, civil war, violent demonstrations- how much blood must we spill in
the name of peace before all shameful battles come to an end? Some say that any peace we enjoy
is the result of war. However, it is no more than a period of suspended hostilities. It is as shaky a
peace as a hidden land mine which suddenly explodes when stepped on. With a sigh of grief,
Shakyamuni Buddha called our world without peace of mind, “the polluted world.”
Furthermore, to my sorrow, we are also driving Mother Earth into ruin. Although the destruction of
the environment is a global problem, pollution of the earth has continued day after day. Our cities,
rivers, sky, and ocean have all been polluted. We have found out and criticized severely the source
of this pollution. Of course, those responsible for destroying the environment must take the
consequences for it.
However, have we looked at ourselves with the same critical eye we use on others? Although we
are very critical of others, we are too lenient with ourselves. This is a grave weakness of ours.
When we truly see ourselves with the same severity as we see others, we will be able to see the
polluted world which Shakyamuni Buddha described.
Shakyamuni Buddha called our polluted world, “the evil world with the five defilements” and
detailed these five parts as follows: defilement of period, defilement of views, defilement by self-
centered passions, defilement of sentient beings, and defilement of life.
First, “defilement of period” means that as time passes, wicked [ignorant] deeds will accumulate.
Civilization has continued to develop without cease from the primitive age to today. But wicked
deeds also parallel the development of civilization in both quality and quantity. It is a sad reality that
at the forefront of science and technology in any age have been weapons of war.
Second, “defilement of views” means that we see and consider things with wicked [self-serving]
eyes. There is a saying in Buddhism: Ikken-Shisui. It means that anyone looking at water will have
different ideas of what they are looking at. Even considering the same body of water, a person
recognizes it as water, but to fish it is oxygen. The hungry ghost recognizes it as boiling water. And
to the heavenly being, it appears as a lapis lazuli, or precious stone. We cannot see nor think about
anything without the glasses of self-centered passions. We always make a value judgment that
things which are convenient for us are good, and things which are inconvenient for us are bad.
Third, “defilement by blind passions” means that we are engulfed in flames of our blind passions.
Shakyamuni Buddha says to us, “Your whole body is burning. You are wrapped in flames of greed,
anger, and ignorance. You have to extinguish these flames.” We who have the strong, greedy mind,
the violent, angry mind, the deeply ignorant mind, and who injure and abuse each other, are for
certain engulfed in the flames of blind passions.
Fourth, “defilement of sentient beings” means that everything humans do is in a sense lower than
what animals do. Animals don’t lie. They know when they are satisfied. They rarely kill their own
kind. The conceit that humans are better than other creatures makes us fall into self-centered
thoughts and we lose the warmth and emotion of human nature.
Fifth, “defilement of life” means that our spiritual life has become short. The advancements of
medical science allow us to live longer. However, someone said that a measure of one’s life is not
the number of years lived but its fullness. Fullness implies a fruitful life. I think that there have been
too few people able to truly rejoice, “I am really grateful to have been born!” Along with increased
longevity are people who have grown old saying how busy they always are, but who in the end feel
a deep regret for the shallowness of their lives, wondering why it was lacking.
If we examine how we live each day, we are unable to deny the words of Shakyamuni Buddha.
We cannot help but respect and follow the one who saw through our human nature over 2,500
years ago.
In the “Shoshin-ge,” Shinran Shonin, founder of our sect, calls to us: “People, an ocean of beings
in an evil age of five defilements, should entrust yourselves to the Tathagata’s words of truth.”
We can depend on the great compassion of Amida Buddha to make a beautiful lotus flower bloom
in the mud of the five defilements.
We shouldn’t neglect anything by saying, “Anyhow, this is the world of five defilements.” As a
positive action for our imperfect selves and our polluted world, it is most important for us not to
forget our innate modesty and to practice service to others in order to live a truly full life.
In this New Year, I would like to ask all members of the temple to join me in making a fresh
determination to do our best to practice this spirit of service in consideration of others.
In Gassho,
| Dharma Message |
- February, 2009
LIVING IN THE WORLD OF THE FIVE DEFILEMENTS
By Rev. Yushi Mukojima