When I travel overseas, there are three things I miss most: my students, our philosophy classes, and the dojo statues of various Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Which one do you think has the most value?
Giant Dog: The philosophy classes, because it’s the foundation to it all. Without the classes, we’d never change our consciousness.
It’s correct, but there’s one thing you didn’t mention. If you weren’t here, then surely there would be other people who wanted to learn. It’s not as if the philosophy only exists so that you can learn; philosophy exists for everyone.
Learning philosophy is spiritual karma for you, but teaching philosophy is also spiritual karma for me. Even if I am sick, I always make sure I can teach the class. That’s why, if you don’t value the classes or don’t have the discipline to come to every one without a good reason, you will be kicked out. For me, philosophy is number one.
Why did Buddha teach his philosophy? Because the philosophy is the “bright lights”, it is the bridge. Without it, no-one would develop Spirits. Even for Buddha, teaching philosophy has the most incredible value.
The philosophy was not created only for you students. If you didn’t exist, I would continue to travel, searching for people who wanted to learn. If I only found one person who was sincere, they would be worth more than all the other people who didn’t want to learn. It is not about quantity, it’s about quality.
So philosophy classes are the most important, but which has the next highest value: the students or the statues?
Andrew: The statues, because they are symbols of the philosophy.
Remember that we aren’t talking about every statue, only these ones of Buddhas and bodhisattvas because they have spiritual qualities. Does anyone else have an answer?
Simon: The group, because the statues are just symbols to help us develop Spirits, but if there’s no-one to learn, then they serve no purpose.
Giant Dog: The group because it allows the philosophy to last longer in this Dharma Ending Time, if we practise it correctly and share it with others.
The answer is: the statues. They have the same value as the philosophy books, they are just teaching in a different way. Everything which helps people learn Spirits is a Spiritual Teacher. If you don’t show respect to your Spiritual Teacher, you already have the Five Unreleasable Karmas. As students, you are only learning; you are not a spiritual symbol, so your value doesn’t come close at all.
If you respect the philosophy, then you will respect the statues. However, when you aren’t using a statue as your Spiritual Teacher, it’s just a piece of wood. You have to understand the difference; if you think that this statue is Buddha, then you’re crazy.
A statue is not like a person: everyone has the potential to become spiritual, but only this type of statue can represent a spiritual quality.
If you don’t respect the philosophy or something with a spiritual quality – like the statues, books, and the dojo – then you create Hell Karma, which is unreleasable. Unreleasable karma is when you don’t regret it or aren’t aware of it; if you keep following your stupid, blind Ego, eventually you will create a devilish consciousness.
That’s why teaching philosophy is the main value of my life. Nothing and no-one is as important. It doesn’t matter what is happening in my life, nothing will stop me from teaching the class.
The statues are tools to help you learn Spirits, so they’re as close to the philosophy as anything, although the wisdom of a philosophy book exists in every moment, but the statues are only spiritual when you use them in a spiritual way.
After the spiritual wisdom and spiritual symbols, people who want to learn have the most value. That’s why I spent time travelling to different countries trying to find people who wanted to understand Spirits as the main subject of their life. I already have spiritual wisdom. I already have karma to find these spiritual symbols. But before I found them, I wasn’t looking for them; I was actually learning philosophy. At that time, I wasn’t looking for students: I was searching to understand the eternal truth of life. Without first understanding life, what would I have to offer you? How could I help you? So clearly, that is the most important.
And now, because of that philosophy, I am going to help you awaken your spiritual wisdom, so that should be the most important for you, too.
If you try to follow blind feelings, you will only create bad karma and ever-deeper suffering. Letting your blind feelings control you is not a good thing: you will become insecure, lose trust in yourself, and develop worry and fear. First, because it’s blind; second, because those feelings have no wisdom and no clear view of life. How can you rely on your feelings when they are always changing? You have to trust whatever wisdom helps you see the entire view of life. That’s why we are here. That’s why this class has priceless value. That’s why all the Buddhas say that learning Spirits – learning wisdom – is the most amazing karma.
This post is taken from a talk by Forever Wisdom Forest on 3 September 2011 at the Sydney dojo.
