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       Is our spiritual experience limited only to us, or can we provide it to other people?

        We live our whole life as if we are always running around, our mind is constantly in a state of stimulation and we are never completely relaxed and open. Therefore the smallest events can excite us and we become exhausted from over-activity. When one sits down right there, at this place, and digs in deep then all the running around can fall away. For the first time we can experience how the consciousness itself digs deeper into the consciousness. Slowly we dig more and more, directly under our feet, in such a way as if were to bump into the centre of the earth ourselves and yet all too many stop right in the middle and never reach the centre.

If we continue to dig on, further and further, then we will hit the root of the consciousness. It is here that one finds the source of harmony, the spring of peace, and with this realisation we can clearly see every step of our life and make clear decisions.

If one has experienced this for themselves then they can share this deep spring of water with those others who thirstily run around without direction. Practicing Zazen is not only for our own happiness but is also for all people to directly experience this joy.

      Do our deep spiritual experiences have influence on other people?

           It is said that if one experiences the Buddha‘s Enlightenment then all others are also enlightened. If one thinks over it though this is not possible. One may say that the enlightenment experience concerned only the Buddha, and that nobody else was influenced by it. However, if our Eye is pure then everything we see and think is also pure. We cannot see it yet only because our own mind is not yet clear enough. We make our Bodhisattva vow and if we give away our life for the Bodhisattva Path, it is as if we had already experienced enlightenment. Just as if all people really wanted peace, then peace would rule: we can sit here and find peace in our mind, and make the first step for peace on earth.

      What are the standards of a Buddhist society?

On the ¥10000 bank note Fukuzawa Yukichi is shown, he was the founder of the Japanese educational system. He always said to his pupils:

“The most important thing is to have work for one‘s entire life. The worst is if one cannot experience culture. The most valuable aim in life is to help other people and act for the betterment of all. And the most beautiful thing is if one can feel connected with all through love.”

      How can we experience the life energy of the universe?

We practice Zazen and as our mind becomes quiet, we note things which we were previously not aware of. The air is so important as it supports all life. Water and the sun give us strength and life energy.

It is even more miraculous when we experience the Great Death (of the self) and realize the Truth which is imperishable. Then we can experience joy, because we know about the Mind which is free from birth and death. Although we see ourselves as people full of mistakes and wrong actions, when we open our heart to the Truth we become filled with love and deep wisdom - there is no greater joy.

    In my new workplace I was put under pressure by a older employee, due to jealously of my abilities. She made my days so difficult that I had to give up the work. How should I have dealt with this situation?

There is an old Japanese fairy tale, ‘Shira Yuki Hime’, about a young girl who stands before the mirror and says: “Mirror, mirror who is the most beautiful in the whole land?” If there is somebody who thinks that they are not as recognised as us, but that they work more than us, then this person will attack us. We experience this pressure and get depressed. To escape from the situation by leaving the job looks like being a solution, however, exactly the same situation can manifest itself at the next work.

By practicing Zazen, we can strengthen our energy and begin to look at others with the feeling of the mother of all people. We will also learn how to handle others with a natural strength.

Please, sit focussed Zazen!

        Nowadays humanity and the world appear to be continually involved in complex situations, so  that one’s own efforts for peace and understanding seem pointless. Are we always to suffer from the karma of the world, turning always to problems and wars? 

In Buddhism this is called ‘Go-jigoku no masse’; saying that in the world, hunger, illnesses, wars and environmental disasters will extend. As people further spread wrong views, principles and ideas then annoyance, jealousy and doubt will grow, as well as lust, robbery and murder. All this results from people having lost the value of the good and therefore allowing their body and mind to become ill. By themselves people create more illnesses and sufferings, and thus their lives are also shortened. Since time immemorial the development of humanity has been so and only because people do not awaken to the True Mind in themselves.

People see phenomena as reality, as if conditional phenomena had its own substance, they hold on to this unreality as if it had true existence. Because we do not see space, objects and time as transient, we continue the same old cycle and thus over and over again must fall and get up again. When we know about these circumstances we can widen our view, but we follow the rest of humanity by self-creating suffering.

Just as the universe has no end so too is the life energy of mankind endless. It is therefore important that we strengthen this greater view within ourselves and practice our Zazen not only for our one lifetime, but  for our children, for our grandchildren and the all-embracing, quiet Mind that is the base of us all. Therein lies our responsibility.

If all people practiced Zazen, we would immediately realise the solution to this seemingly endless cycle and could therefore appreciate our everlasting life energy, and would no longer travel through needless suffering.

Why is it that so many people who have lived a long life have no living wisdom in themselves which they could transmit to the younger generations?

The elders of this time have seen the Second World War and this experience has contributed to the belief that they can no more see the religious strength preserved by God. Even if one speaks of God, it is difficult for these people to nevertheless see God as the omnipotent strength. Money and material things soon became more important, because they could only have confidence in what could be seen with their eyes and felt with their own body. Besides this, self-confidence has also been lost.

Because these people, who have lived in such difficult times, had to worry about survival they had no opportunity to strengthen the depth of their mind. Thus a certain internal restlessness and melancholy has always remained.

Copyright © 2005 Sabine ShoE Huskamp