The 15th Dharma Session of Middle Way Buddhist Association: The Dependent Origination in Our Daily Life, Part II (The Dharma Talk)

The Dependent Origination in Our Daily Life. That's the topic of the Dharma talk delivered by Venerable Chueh Fan from Guang Ming Temple, Orlando, on April 19, 2008 on the occasion of the 15th Dharma Session organized monthly by Middle Way Buddhist Association and held at its Pinellas Park venue. It was after our meditation session in the morning. Amidst our usual mutual introduction session, Venerable Chueh Fan and her temple assistant arrived, lugging some high-tech equipment that one rarely associates with the dignified aura of solemn gathering enveloping a Dharma event: laptop, slide projector. Just to demonstrate that while Buddhism is steeped in tradition, it also embraces the advances of the time and moves in tandem with the social changes. In other words, relevant to society as befitting the outlook of Humanistic Buddhism advanced by Venerable Hsing Yun, the founder of the Buddha Light school.

The mobile screen was set up, the slide projector connected, the laptop whirred into action, and a smiling Venerable Chueh Fan scanned the attendees who were rapt in attention, with bated breath. Thus rolled the first slide into our view, and more, unloading an aspect of the profound teachings of the Buddha, highly condensed into nuggets of wisdom, into our consciousness.

All phenomena do not arise out of nothing.

They cannot exist alone by themselves.

They arise out of causes and conditions.

The simplest to the profound teachings say that all phenomena do not exist by themselves.

Phenomena are the product of a combination of causes and conditions.

Causes and conditions are the basic factors underlying all phenomena.

The recurring thesis, and in fact, truism, in the above succinct statements, is clear, is beyond doubt. To borrow an oft-seen commercial on TV, it's clarity clear. To illustrate simply, causes are the primary factors, for example, a seed, while conditions are secondary factors, such as soil, sunlight, the ambient environment that is conducive for the germination of a seed.

An affable Venerable Chueh Fan engaged the audience instantly.

And the attendees gave their undivided attention to the lucid illustration of dependent origination in our daily life.

A closeup of Venerable Chueh Fan, at ease with the paraphernalia of a high tech presentation and expounding on Humanistic Buddhism. It reminds me of the title of John Naisbitt's book, High Tech, High Touch (Broadway, 1999).

On further expounding, Venerable Chueh Fan admonished us to develop appreciation for events as they occur, for things never occur twice. The enlightenment of the Buddha is merely having been awakened to the truth, that dependent origination is a universal principle. Hence, all phenomena are interdependent, and cannot be permanently unchanging, which leads to another truism, impermanence.

The mind is the focus of Buddha's teachings as it encompasses all ideas, thoughts, speech, and feelings. It's the mind that drives our cravings, consuming wantonly, adoring speed, always chasing after the latest, the newest, the biggest. Through these mindless pursuits, a litany of social problem erupts: family/child abuse, gunfire, killings, etc.

To stem the moral decay and the deterioration of social order, Humanistic Buddhism advocates harmonization and co-existence. In other words, we are in this business of living together. This is best exemplified by a simple parable, as eloquently presented by Venerable Chueh Fan.

One day, a farm mouse discovered that the farmer had received a package, and much to its consternation, it was a mouse trap. Frightened out of its wits, the mouse frantically sought help from its farm neighbors:

The rooster: “It's your problem.”

The pig: “It's none of my business.”

The cow: “It's not for me.”

The mouse was patently upset, for the lack of empathy from its neighbors. And it seemed it had to tackle the matter by itself.

The next day, a commotion broke out. Apparently, the mousetrap had caught something, but not the intended victim, but the tail of a sidewinder, a venomous snake. While trying to clear the trap, the farmer's wife was bitten, and subsequently developed high fever. What did the farmer do?

He took an ax to look for the rooster so as to prepare a chicken soup as a cure for his ailing wife.

When that did not help and his wife's condition worsened, his neighbors and friends came to offer him comfort and medical help, and he served pork to the well-wishers.

Unfortunately, the wife passed away, and the farmer had to slaughter the cow to thank those who came to offer their condolences.

The moral of the story: We all share the same boat. So step up and help.

Two essential facets of Humanistic Buddhism are equality and compassion. Ever wonder why monks/nuns shave their heads? Because in Ancient India, hairstyle was symbolic of social status. Hence, shaving the head signals equality, which facilitates integration. Similarly, compassion fosters co-existence.

On family bliss, live appropriately and develop good affinity. It takes ten years to share a boat, but a hundred years to become a couple. And note that grumbling is not suffering. Smile, pay regard, and show a little concern, and we will change the world.

Another story, this time between the dry wood and fire, over which is essential for the rice making. More wood, the burning is faster. Larger fire, the wood is burnt at a faster rate. In the end, both vanished faster simultaneously: the wood having perished, and the fire, extinguished.

The moral: sharing, not competition.

Understanding dependent origination in our daily life, we can begin to discern how changes take place, and identify the sources of human suffering. That understanding also brings joy to the mind as dependent origination shows us how to live, by teaching us that we are not helpless victims doomed to lives of misery, and that our future lies in our hands.

One of Master Hsing Yun's teachings exhorts us to just enjoy the moment of the thing rather than to own it.

Impermanence does not imply deterioration. It can be for the better! Imagine a box of white and black balls. By putting more white balls into the box, we will cover up the black ones eventually, but that does not mean that the black balls are not there. In this analogy, the white balls are good deeds while the black, past unwholesome deeds or bad karma. We cannot erase the past, but we definitely can strive to put more white balls into our karmic box.

Realizing impermanence, we become detached and cease craving.

On that note, the Dharma talk, and the ensuing lively discussion that it generated, came to a blissful end, and we all adjourned to a feast of vegetarian lunch during which more individual exchanges took place. A group of us, Venerable Chueh Fan included, bade an early retreat at the conclusion of the lunch and made a beeline to Phillipe Park at Safety Harbor to attend the afternoon session of the Change Your Mind Day organized by the Tampa Bay Buddhist Peace Fellowship, which shall be the concluding part of my blogging trilogy on the blissful day of April 19, 2008. Stay tuned.