A Muslim, a Buddhist and a Christian are forced to jump off a building
The Buddhist jumps first. He prays: Buddha, Buddha, Buddha, Buddha… When he reaches the ground, he lands safely.
The next one is the Muslim. He jumps, and prays: Inshallah, Inshallah, Inshallah… Upon reaching the ground, he dies instantly.
The last one is the Christian. He jumps and starts praying: O u r F a t h e r i n H e a v e n, hallowed be your name. YOUR KINGDOM COME! YOUR WILL… BUDDHA, BUDDHA, BUDDHA, BUDDHA!
A man is driving late at night when his car breaks down in front of a remote Buddhist monastery.
He knocks on the door and the monks open it. He tells the monks about his situation, and how he can’t call for a mechanic at those hours of the night, so he asks them if he can stay the night in the monastery. The monks happily agree, and give him a room with a bed to sleep on.
In the middle of the night, the man wakes up hearing a strange noise. He follows the noise and sees that its source is a strange door made of wood, but it’s locked. The following morning, the monks give the man breakfast and fix his car. He thanks the monks and asks them:
“Honorable monks, I cannot thank you enough for your generosity, but I must ask you a question. Last night I heard a strange noise coming from behind a locked wooden door, and I’m dying to know what the source of the noise is.”
The leader of the monks responds:
“We cannot tell you, because you are not a monk.”
The man thanks the monks again and leaves disappointed. A year goes by, and the man coincidentally breaks down in front of the same monastery. He knocks on the door again and they greet him as an old friend, giving him once again a bed to sleep on. In the middle of the night, the man hears the same strange noise, and follows it again to see it’s coming from the same wooden door, which is still locked. In the morning, the monks once again gave him breakfast and fixed his car, and as he was about to leave the man once again implored the monks to know what was behind the wooden door:
“Thank you once again, kind monks. It has been one whole year and I still wonder what the source of the strange noise is, as I’ve heard it again last night.”
The monks all look at each other and cackle. The leader once again steps forward and tells the man:
“We cannot tell you, because you are not a monk.”
The man leaves frustrated once again, and doesn’t stop thinking about the strange noise for months. Two years later, the man coincidentally breaks down in front of the monastery once again, and once again the monks give him shelter. The man hears the strange noise in the night again, and in the morning asks the monks:
“Please, kind monks. I must know the source of the noise, I beg you.”
The monks explain to the man once again:
.
“We cannot tell you, because you are not a monk.”
The man asks them what he has to do to become a monk. They tell him he must travel the world and count all the leaves in the world’s trees, all the blades in the world’s grass, all the grains of the world’s sand, and all the drops of water in the world’s oceans. He must return with the number, and only then will he become a monk and be able to learn the source of the sound.
The man sets out on his quest to become a monk, and 65 years later returns to the monastery as an old man.
“I have traveled the world,” he said. “I have counted every leaf in the trees, every blade of grass, every grain of sand, and every drop in the ocean. And he presents them with what he gathered, the numbers of leaves on the world’s trees, the blades of grass in the world, the grains of sand in the world, and drops of water in the world’s oceans.”
“Congratulations,” the leader of the monks said. “You are now a monk. Please, come with us.”
The monks took the man to an initiation ceremony. They gave him his robes and shaved all his hair. The man requested to be taken to the wooden door to learn the source of the strange sound, so the monks took him and gave him the key. The man opened the wooden door, just to find a door made of stone behind it. He asked for the key to the stone door, and the monks gave it to him. He opened the stone door to find a door of coal behind it.
One by one, the man kept unlocking and opening doors. After the door of coal he found a door of glass, then a door of iron, then a door of steel, then a door of bronze, then a door of silver, then a door of ruby, then a door of sapphire, then a door of emerald, then a door of gold, then a door of platinum, then a door of diamond, and finally a door of obsidian.
“This is the final door,” said the leader of the monks. “Behind it you will find the source of the strange sound.”
The monks handed the man the key to the door of obsidian and, as he opened it, the man finally found the source of the strange sound…
….
But I cannot tell you, because you are not a monk.
Confession and validation time. You know I often start sermons with a joke or two. I confess that I have a critical voice in my head that tells me: “The jokes you tell are so cheesy. Don’t you know that UU ministry is a dignified profession of high intellectual and theological stature?!”
Validation: I searched for Bodhisattva jokes and stumbled on an essay on how the Bodhisattva uses humor to alleviate suffering. Some might say that my jokes inflict suffering. Bodhisattva jokes show that there is more than one way to look at things. They free us from the prisons of our mind. I will use the essay next spring for my annual Wisdom of the Fool- April’s Fool service.
Those new to our UU tradition might wonder why we are having a service focused on the Bodhisattva Path! You might wonder why we have the symbols of multiple religious traditions in front of the sanctuary. You might wonder which holy book is the source of our teachings, our beliefs, our tradition. … I can’t tell you because you are not a member of our congregation. (I’m kidding.)
Although our tradition can be presented and explained simply, to really receive its wealth takes engagement and practice. The aim of everything we do here is faith development, and all we teach is Unitarian Universalism. The congregation is the curriculum. What we do together, our shared journey is the place that we learn, practice, share and advance UU tradition.
We approach the world’s major religious traditions and other sources with a respectful generous spirit, and we receive treasures that enrich, inspire and challenge us in our UU religious life.
DISCLAIMER: You would do well to question my representations of Buddhism. Critical Thinking is encouraged here! I look at Buddhist traditions through a UU lens, and I share what is meaningful to me. Take what you can use and leave the rest. Beyond facts and academics, we grow our faith and spirituality when we are willing to consider new perspectives and when we try to apply these in our attempts to bring our values to life.
I believe this approach to be congruent with Buddhist teachings. Siddartha Gautama, a prince who lived from the 6th to the 5 century BCE, is often referred to as “the Buddha.” Gautama taught dharma, the way to become free from suffering, and how to escape the cycle of birth, death and rebirth aka reincarnation. Budha predicted that over time the dharma would be lost, and another Budha would be needed.
One generous definition of bodhisattva is anyone on the path to enlightenment. Others teach that a bodhisattva is one who has had a Buddha predict and confirm that they will achieve enlightenment. Some use the term bodhisattva only to speak of the Buddha.
Buddha is a word and title that means awakened one, one who has awakened to the true nature of reality. Buddhist tradition teaches skills and wisdom for alleviating suffering and how to avoid creating it. It is believed to be path to achieve nirvana, a state or condition of eternal bliss, meaning no longer reincarnating into this world or plane of illusion and suffering.
The definitions of bodhisattva I find most attractive is someone who having awakened chooses to defer their entry into nirvana, eternal peace for the sake of helping humanity. She chooses to remain in the cycle of rebirth in order to lighten the burden of suffering upon sentient beings in this realm. She knowingly submits herself to more illusion, confusion and suffering that is characteristic of existence, in order to assist others, and expedite humanity’s progress toward enlightenment. She is intentional in her speech and places even greater emphasis on her example to teach the dharma and provide spiritual liberation. Her work is concerned both with the physical and the mental-emotional suffering rife in human existence.
Perhaps some see the parallels with our UU tradition. Our tradition grew from Christian societies that taught predestination of an elite minority who would get into the kingdom of heaven. The dominant forms of Christianity taught that God would reward his select minority with eternal bliss. Western cultures developed from an assumption that the majority of people were destined for an eternity of suffering. Our ancestors turned this assumption on its head. They said that following Jesus meant following his example and assignment to incarnate God’s will for justice peace and reconciliation on Earth. This was Jesus’ message “thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.” Our ancestors, the Universalists also proclaimed the good news of a coming end of time when ALL would be embraced and welcomed by God’s eternal love.
Today we still choose to forgo the offer of churches warn of the narrowness of the path to heaven. We place our focus not on an afterlife, but upon a way to live in this world that invites us to know and asks us to show a greater love, to bring forth this love right here and now. Our primary religious call and challenge is to overcome tribalism, move beyond attempts to advance our group, and broaden our sphere of concern to embrace all of humanity and all of life as our kin.
Of the many qualities and characteristics of a bodhisattva, compassion is perhaps the greatest. The word compassion comes from two Latin words meaning “with” and “suffering.” The Bodhisattva turns toward human suffering, and yet has faith in progress toward enlightenment.
It’s no wonder that bodhisattvas like Kwan Yin and Manjusri have such appeal. Is not much of the appeal of the Christ figure, the promise that divine love can meet us where we live- in the frailty, flawed and painful existence of our lives and lift us to a way of existing where peace and love passes understanding?!
By choosing love and compassion the Bodhisattva denies illusion it’s power. Rather than running from discomfort, she becomes the force of comfort that alleviates suffering. She demonstrates a shift of identification away from the temporal body. She stops seeking permanence in the impermanent.
Many practitioners of the Mahayana Buddhism, one of the two major schools of Buddhism, make a commitment to become a bodhisattva who guides all living beings to perfect enlightenment. The vow states willingness to give up one’s own well-being, even one’s own enlightenment, for the sake of others. A bodhisattva is a person who lives in the spirit of that vow
Here is the Bodhisattva vow:
Sentient beings are numberless; I vow to save them.
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them.
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to study them all.
The buddha way is unsurpassable; I vow to attain it.
What inspires or challenges you about it? How do you see it as applicable to the religious life of our community or to you personally? When has someone exemplified a bit of the bodhisattva path for you? Where have you already applied these ideas in your life? If you decided to further encourage Bodhisattva wisdom what might that look like in your life? I look forward to hearing your responses to this Bodhisattva path.
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