Proclaiming the unexcelled Mahayana teaching,
He would attain the stage
of joy and be born in the l
and of happiness.
Nagarjuna clarified the hardship on the overland
path of difficult practice,
And leads us to entrust to the pleasure on the waterway of easy practice.
Shinran’s Shoshin-ge, the Collected Works of Shinran, p. 71
One of my lifelong dreams has been to swim with dolphins. As a kid, I grew up watching Flipper, the TV show. It was so cool when the boy would hold onto Flipper’s dorsal fin and swim so fast around the lagoon. For a time, this also led me to want to be a trainer at Sea World for the dolphins and killer whale shows. To this day, when they ask for volunteers at the dolphin and whale shows, I raise my hand, but they always pick some cute kid instead.
As we were flying to Hawaii for our summer vacation and looking at the airline magazine, Linda pointed to an ad “To swim with the dolphins” at a High End Resort. She says, “You should do this, this time. It’s your lifelong dream.” However, it was several hundred dollars per person and I didn’t want to be the only one to do it. I want it to be an experience for all of us. So I have always refrained.
A few days after we had arrived, we decided to go snorkeling. As we got out of our car, a very friendly and humorous fellow approached and asked if we wanted to rent kayaks. We had never kayaked before. But this fellow was very persistent. He said he would give us a good deal even help us into and out of our kayaks. He would give us 2 kayaks for $25 a piece for the whole day.
Linda said, “Why don’t we try it?” But being “Mr. El Cheapo.” I kept thinking, “We can go snorkeling for free.” Reluctantly, I agreed. What the heck, we only live once. Let’s go for it. We made the deal.
Life vests on, we were ready to kayak. Among Justin, Tommy, Linda and me, who was going to ride with whom?” Justin quickly volunteered, “I’ll ride with Tommy.” To which Tommy immediately responded, “I’ll ride with Justin.” So that left me with … Linda.
Justin and Tommy took off effortlessly. Linda and I had problems. I rocked the kayak so much that there was already water in the seating area for Linda. He handed us our paddles and we were finally off.
Justin and Tommy were already quite far ahead, but Linda and I finally lumbered to the middle of the bay. Just as we caught up to them, Tommy and Justin told us they think they saw dolphins headed to the other side of the bay.
“Really??!!” I said. I was so excited. Here is my chance, to see dolphins up close in the wild. Not in some tank or man-made hotel lagoon. And best of all, it was free.
“Let’s go take a look,” I said. So Justin and Tommy take off again, cruising away with nice easy strokes. With every stroke, they were able to glided effortlessly across the bay. Linda and I started after them, but our paddles were not synchronized at all. We would curve off away from where we wanted to go, and our paddles banged against each other.
My chance to see the dolphins was slipping away. “The dolphins are getting away,” I yelled at Linda. “Come on, paddle right.”
Here it comes … I’m losing my patience. My dream of swimming with the dolphins was escaping.
Here it comes … in desperation, I blurt out …
“Never mind, I’ll do it myself.” Linda said “Fine” and stopped paddling.
I kept going by myself for a minute or so. Then I started to get tired. I had to rest. And so there we were floating in the middle of the bay all alone. My head was hanging down.
“Swimming with dolphins will just have to stay on my bucket list,” I thought. “Maybe I will have to bite the bullet and pay to swim with the hotel dolphins.”
And just then, I looked up, and in the distance, pair of dorsal fins were fast approaching. Then more dorsal fins appeared. I got my snorkel fins on, jumped in the water, and a pod of about 20 to 25 dolphins appeared. Some came to within 5 feet of our kayak.
It was an experience to remember. I can now take this lifelong dream off my bucket list.
Nagarjuna, the first of the 7 Masters of our Jodo Shinshu tradition gives us the metaphor that Buddhist practice like meditation, keeping precepts, giving, patience, concentration and others can be likened to traveling overland through steep mountains and canyons.
But the easy practice of just saying the Nembutsu, Namo Amida Butsu is like crossing over the water in a boat. Even though I was on the water in a kayak, by using my self-effort and self-centered power, it was difficult to cross the bay in order to pursue the dolphins. However, realizing my impatience, awakening to my self-centered effort and motivations, I came to a point where I could go no longer.
This giving-up or letting-go does not mean that everything becomes hopeless. On the contrary, it is at this point where the truly hopeless becomes transformed into ultimate potential.
This is the point of Namo Amida Butsu. Instead of me chasing the dolphins, the dolphins came toward me. Instead trying to practice wisdom and compassion, wisdom and compassion already embrace me.
So although we say that the Fall and Spring equinoxes are the most ideal time to practice giving, discipline or right behavior, patience, endeavor, meditation, and wisdom it is limited when we practice them for our own self-centered motivation.
However, when we realize how truly limited we are and are awakened to the reality of wisdom and compassion constantly embracing us just-as-we-are, we in turn can begin to practice giving, discipline, patience, endeavor, meditation, and wisdom not with the thought that it will get us somewhere, but with the thoughts of appreciation and gratitude of being there already.
Now that I’ve experienced sharing a kayak with Linda, I have to wonder if I should keep on my bucket list the wish to go touring the countryside on a tandem bicycle.
Gassho,
Rev. Dean
Copyright 2010 - Mountain View Buddhist Temple