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| Shushogi | ||||
Introduction to the Shushogi 1. Chapter: General Introduction
The Text The Shushogi is composed of five chapters. The object of this article is not to give a lit-eral translation, but rather to attempt to extract the content of each chapter and clarify the framework in which the work unfolds.
The title of the first chapter is “General Introduction.” This chapter reviews the basic principles of Buddha’s teaching that we should always have clear in our minds: – Clarifying the question of life and death is the fundamental point for every disciple of Buddha. In so doing, one realises that the world of samsara (birth-death) is itself nirvana, and that there is no space between the two. Thus in this life, there is no world of suffering to hate or escape from, nor a calm and peaceful paradise to seek out. This point is a jewel of a teaching for our lives. This is why we must quickly realise the great opportunity we have to have been reborn as human beings and, what’s more, the unique chance to be in contact with the Buddha-Dharma, and do everything possible not to waste them. Thus, awakening to the impermanence of this life is of capital importance. It is the starting point of the mind of awakening and all Zen teaching constantly brings us back to this reality: time passes quickly, the moment goes by and never returns, life and death follow one another in a flash, let us not be negligent. Not being negligent or heedless means becoming aware of the reality of karma and causality. Thus, associating with people who are not awakened to the consequences of their actions, or thinking that we are free to do whatever we want without caring about the consequences of our actions, words or thoughts, means plunging into the worst difficulty and suffering. We are unaware that these karmic consequences will occur in three different time periods: there are those which directly follow the action, those which appear later and those which occur when the karmic origins of the actions are completely forgotten. This leads to a great incomprehension of our lives and sometimes a feeling of injustice: though we are practising good, the results are not always visible and immediate, and all around us we see people who are obviously practising evil and harmful acts and who apparently profit immediately from them. And so, if we do not awaken to the reality of karmic retribution in the three time periods, we will inevitably fall into false viewpoints and commit error upon error. In the same way, thinking that not knowing about the reality of karma will protect us from its consequences is the source of great confusion and all incomprehension. And so in a very concrete way, this first chapter brings us back to our lives and our responsibilities as human beings and, beyond all social or religious moralism based on good and evil, to a profound reflection on ourselves and our direct implication in the conditions of our existence.
<- Practice and Realisation are Not-Two || 2. Chapter: Freeing Ourselves Through Repentance -> | ||||
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