Tucson shinshu sangha
The Dharma of Impermanence
Buddhism for non-"Buddhists"
(for ordinary, foolish people)
Through hearing the Dharma, and self-examination, we awaken now (and now, and now...) to primal, prior awakeness.
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We are temporarily meeting online only. If you’re interested in joining us, please email: johnveen@yahoo.com
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A small, informal group. We usually meet the first and third Sundays 1-3 pm at the Little Chapel of All Nations, 1401 E. 1st Street, Tucson, Arizona.
No charge, ever, but donations to the Little Chapel are encouraged.
For info: johnveen@yahoo.com
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The Recognition of Impermanence
Excerpt by Shuichi Maida, translated by Nobuo Haneda
The recognition of impermanence liberates all. Liberation means becoming impermanence and working as impermanence itself. In that sense, all existing things are already liberated, just as they are, because they are already working as impermanence itself. Such things as plants, trees, fishes, and insects are already liberated. Only human beings experience (or awaken to) this liberation by recognizing impermanence. For an impermanent being to become aware of being an impermanent being is called recognition.
Thus the crucial question in life can be solved through recognition, not through actions or practice but simply through recognition. That is why it is said that liberation is not a matter of practice, but a matter of understanding. It is not in the future; it is in the present moment. Action, or what should be done, has something to do with the future. But liberation is in the eternal now. That is why I say that it is a matter of recognition. It is recognition, nothing else, that immediately enables us to cognize eternal life and thereby know that we are living in the eternal now.
When we go through the hundred-eighty degree turn in life because of recognition, a perfectly free life becomes possible. A perfectly free life is not a practice realized through our efforts; it is something that becomes possible because of recognition.
* * *
..........
A small, informal group. We usually meet the first and third Sundays 1-3 pm at the Little Chapel of All Nations, 1401 E. 1st Street, Tucson, Arizona.
No charge, ever, but donations to the Little Chapel are encouraged.
For info: johnveen@yahoo.com
* * *
The Recognition of Impermanence
Excerpt by Shuichi Maida, translated by Nobuo Haneda
The recognition of impermanence liberates all. Liberation means becoming impermanence and working as impermanence itself. In that sense, all existing things are already liberated, just as they are, because they are already working as impermanence itself. Such things as plants, trees, fishes, and insects are already liberated. Only human beings experience (or awaken to) this liberation by recognizing impermanence. For an impermanent being to become aware of being an impermanent being is called recognition.
Thus the crucial question in life can be solved through recognition, not through actions or practice but simply through recognition. That is why it is said that liberation is not a matter of practice, but a matter of understanding. It is not in the future; it is in the present moment. Action, or what should be done, has something to do with the future. But liberation is in the eternal now. That is why I say that it is a matter of recognition. It is recognition, nothing else, that immediately enables us to cognize eternal life and thereby know that we are living in the eternal now.
When we go through the hundred-eighty degree turn in life because of recognition, a perfectly free life becomes possible. A perfectly free life is not a practice realized through our efforts; it is something that becomes possible because of recognition.
* * *
