If we understand the importance of the Oneness of Life, we can partake of other's joy, being happy with and for other's happiness, since we are one; and the maltreatment of another is none other than the maltreatment of ourselves. Oneness is therefore the highest truth and the one who realized this highest truth is called the Buddha. The Buddha is accordingly not the God who creates the universe nor a Supreme Deity with a transcendental authority and power. Neither is He a judge who punishes us nor a jealous God who labels man as good or bad. He is rather the guiding light immanent in the Universe. His immeasurable Wisdom and Compassion give us the insight to see the fragility of our human life and the urge to embrace actively all into the Oneness of Life. Thus, we are potential Buddhas; we and the Buddha are interdependent and interrelated. The significance of this Oneness of Life is achieved by realizing the Buddha in man and man in the Buddha. This is not a mystical nor a speculative experience which only qualified men may acquire, but is a spontaneous experience which is manifested in our daily life. Therefore, this way of life can be treaded by any ordinary man, regardless of race, nationality, sex, position, ideology or character.
There is a Japanese saying, "How light the heap of snow would be, if it were piled on my umbrella." When we are aboard a train and something falls on our head from the overhead rack, we sometimes exclaim "Auch!" and endure the pain because it is ours. However, the reaction would be different if it were others'. Even though theoretically we understand that everything falls down due to the law of gravitation we react in different ways; some blame others and some not. Here is a good chance to know what kind of men we are. Whosoever we may be, Capitalist or Communist, Christian or Buddhist, it does not matter. The possession of fame, power or fortune has nothing to do with the problem which we encounter at this moment. Our immediate concern is to solve our problem here and now. When we can solve it in a satisfactory way, we find nothing but pleasure and happiness, but failure to solve it often entails suffering and sorrow.
Once the Buddha was asked by a monk named Malunkyaputta, whether the world was eternal or not eternal, whether the world was finite or not, whether the soul was one thing and the body another, whether a Buddha existed after death or did not exist after death. The Buddha flatly refused to discuss such metaphysics, and instead gave him a parable. "It is as if a man had been wounded by an arrow thickly smeared with poison, and yet he were to say, 'I will not have this arrow pulled out until I know by what man I was wounded,' or 'I will not have this arrow pulled out until I know of what the bow with which I was wounded was made.'" As a practical man he should of course get himself treated by the physician at once, without demanding these unnecessary details which would not help him in the least. This was the attitude of the Buddha toward the metaphysical speculation which do not in any way help one toward genuine religious progress. For them the Buddha says, "Do not go by reasoning, nor by inferring, nor by argument." A true disciple is taught, "Where there is not the Buddha, do not linger on; where there is, pass quickly by!"
2. Buddhism as an Essential Way of Life
We are indeed unique beings in the universe and our life is really worth living on the ground that we as homo sapiens can understand what we are and what we should be. Our life cannot be substituted nor repeated by someone else, although the transplantation of our physical parts is sometimes possible. Therefore, once we are born in this world, we have to tread our life meaningfully and significantly.
In Buddhism, what is essential for our living is differentiated from the trivials. It is done not through our artificial notion of right-or-wrongness nor good-or-badness, but through our total experience which cannot be transmitted to anyone else. We generally think that words are absolute. We have never been able to break through this condition of understanding; it has been too imposing. But, what is expressed is not the absolute fact. Words are one of the means which can, orally or through written words, be attached to one's total experience. Thus, total experience is the final text for knowing the essential. Of course, it is sometimes difficult to determine what is essential, but those who tread the Oneness of Life can differentiate it from the trivial. After that, what happens to it depends upon what kind of man is working on it, upon his intelligence, his persistence, and his devotion. It depends upon how clearly and completely an individual can understand a situation and see how he is related to it, and then upon his willingness to translate his perceptions into action. The following is a story which gives us a good example of what is an Essential Way of Life.
In the Edo period of Japan, there lived a Buddhist master called Bankei, who supervised apprentices at his Tensho-ji Temple at Fukagawa, Tokyo. It was the custom in those days that the younger sons of devoted Buddhist families be sent to the temple to be trained as future monks. Bankei once had a very naughty boy among his apprentices who was sent to the temple because of his rudeness. The parents disowned him, expecting that he would be reformed if he entered the temple. However, even after that, he did not correct his behavior. From morning till night, he played around and stole things from the temple, and sold them to the nearby pawn shop. Bad reports spread rapidly, and even reached the ears of the members of the temple. Being unable to remain mere spectators, the rest of the apprentices got together and discussed that the master should dismiss him, otherwise the reputation of the temple, the master, and themselves would be harmed. They demanded the master to take action immediately, and he promised to give them his decision some other time.
A few days passed, and it appeared that no decision had been made. The naughty boy did even worse things. The apprentices were disappointed, and urged the master to make a quick decision. He nodded and asked them to wait for one more day. The next morning came; nothing happened to the boy. This time they got angry and with glaring eyes drew close to the master, requesting, "If you do not have any intention of dismissing the evil-doer, we'll leave the temple, sir." The master received them with a smiling face, and finally spoke to them thus, "If you are so determined, why don't you do that?" Hearing such an unexpected remark, they were astounded and immediately questioned him, saying, "Why do you wish to discharge us instead of dismissing the naughty boy?" The master answered with confidence, "Because you are ready to leave the temple any time, but he cannot do that. If I send him away, he has no place to go." Hearing this, they thought the matter over and felt the deep compassion of their master to the boy. The boy happened to pass by and also heard this, and feeling deeply, he finally reformed himself completely.
This story tells us that Bankei thought that the saving of the naughty boy was the most essential thing to do. He clearly perceived that the boy was able to be educated so he intentionally undertook such a risk. For those like Bankei, the most essential thing is differentiated from the trivial, and is consistently carried out in their life time. They are not surprised at anything that happens on the way; they have nothing to do with the trivialities, either by making excuses or finding fault with others. They always have good poise, because they have deep confidence in the essential thing which is eternally unconditioned and unchangeable. Nowadays, however, it seems to be an inescapable trend that people are easily influenced by environmental factors such as tradition or power of wealth, and are easily contented with the conventional way of life. Because of their lack of confidence in the essential thing, they look around restlessly, and always try to "keep up with the Joneses". These other-directed people can no longer be called unique human beings, because they have become the slaves of a materialistic civilization.
3. Buddhism as an Open Way of Life
"Who knows only his own generation remains always a child." This is the word inscribed in front of the University of Colorado Library. Mature people should always open their hearts to the wider world. However, ego centric people are mostly narrow or closed-minded, and they live only in the dim-cell of their darkened world. They do not progress because