Dharma Talk Summary

June 27, 2010

Talk Given by Rev. Hye Kyong

9 Minutes

Dhammapada Reading: Chapter 2 "Diligence"

Diligence is the path to the deathless. Negligence is the path of death. The diligent do not die. Those who are negligent are as the dead.

Understanding this distinctly, those who are skilled in diligence rejoice in diligence, delighting in the pasture of the noble ones.

For the person of energy, thoughtfulness, pure conduct, considerate action, restraint, wholesome living, and diligence, glory increases.

With energy, diligence, restraint, and control, the wise person should make an island which no flood can overflow.

The other day I was at work and I had a customer who requested a MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) on a product. I was reading through it, about chemical make up, percentage of chemicals, possible hazards, and what to do with the chemicals. It's about 7 pages long and I don't usually read through the whole thing, but when I got to the end of it something caught my eye. It said,

" Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life."

And I thought, what a weird thing to have on a MSDS! But I started thinking about it and that's really true. It just struck me as really odd. If you can be kind to people, half of your problems are taken care of right there. Be nice to everyone. That's what it all boils down to.

I got a little to story to tell you but before I do I need to tell you about my wife so that you don't get the wrong picture. My wife is a wonderful person, She's very compassionate, she works in the healthcare industry, she's a way better Buddhist than I could ever aspire to be. She really puts everything into practice and she really is a great person. But she has one little thing. She's part Irish.

Last week, I was thinking about spaghetti all week. Thursday came and we decided to go out to eat. We started walking down Woodward and this has probably happened to everyone when you're walking through the crosswalk and a car comes over and blocks the walkway so you have to go behind the car.

Well sure enough, after walking a couple of blocks this happens. My wife panics and says, "That is so rude and makes me mad!"

A couple of more blocks and it happens again. "Oh man, that person could of hit us! That is so rude!" My wife asked me, "Doesn't that make you mad?" Well, yeah, I can let it make me mad and I can carry it with me or I could just let it go. After all, there isn't much I could do about it other than run over there with my cell phone, take a picture of his license plate and mail it to the police. But I said, I rather just let it go at this point. That's what we do in life, we make choices. The smallest decision can turn into a real big thing.

Many of you know how I like those Zen parables, here's another one I'd like to share:

"A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a ledge, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!"

You're going to wind up in the same place anyway, you might as well enjoy what you have. Let the little stuff go. Your life is the Dharma, the Dharma is your life. What you do with it and how you act is up to you. Sometimes impermanence is a wonderful thing. It lets us let go of our anger, and put these problems and little things behind us. Impermanence surrounds us, it's not good or bad, it's just what is.