Messy, human, faith.
A pool of ease, a bubble of greed and on and on it goes
Hi everyone,
We are in a season of sharing about the four values of the Bright Earth Buddhist Order: faith, authenticity, compassionate action and inclusivity.
In previous newsletters we have heard from Paramita and Satya on faith, and I share a reflection on this topic below, inspired by some TV I saw recently. Soon we’ll turn to reflecting on the meaning of authenticity.
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The nuns had such a simple beautiful faith. I was envious. They simply put their trust in the Lord and knew that one way or another everything would work out for the best. They seemed to glow with their devotion.
I longed to live my life with such ease. To be unaffected as they were by the travails of life. I longed for a faith that would carry me through the world with lightness and joy.
These were not real nuns.
They were characters in episode five of House, which has just come onto Netflix here in the UK. I watched the first few episodes with a strong feeling of nostalgia. That first season came out in 2004!
The longing for the ease those nuns displayed is a normal and meaningful part of the spiritual life. That longing can be seen as one form of nembutsu. It is a longing for the gifts of the Pure Land. In the Longer Pure Land Sutra tells us that this kind of ease is one of the blessings that come to those illuminated by Amida.
I have not met many Christian nuns in my lifetime. I have met a few. I’ve met a lots of Christian ministers and priests as part of the inter-faith and chaplaincy work I did a while back. I’ve met lots of Buddhist monks and nuns.
Occasionally I met someone that shone with simple faith, but the ones that I knew well had more complicated spiritual lives.
Sometimes they were full of joy and ease. Sometimes they railed against injustice. Sometimes they were sad. Sometimes they were depressed. Sometimes their faith was straightforward and clear. Sometimes it was full of doubt.
My own spiritual life is like this. Messy. Human. I am easily affected by life.
And yet.
I do know what that simple faith tastes like. I do know what it is like to trust that all will be well. I do not live in that space all of the time. But I know that it’s there.
That confidence is a kind of faith as well.
When I am confused or feeling despondent I remember those past experiences of clarity.
That is a kind of nembutsu as well: trusting that something profound is true even when I am not feeling it in the present moment.
This is at the heart of Pure Land Buddhism. To trust that Amida - which is to say wise compassion - is real and reaching towards us in every moment. To know that we are always blessed in that way whether our human minds are able to let it in or not. The sun is always shining above the clouds.
That kind of faith is deeply anchored in me and rarely wavers.
And the ease that I long for? That those fictional nuns exemplified? It comes and goes.
But as I look back across my life, the more anchored I have become in trusting that Amida is there regardless of how I feel the more likely that ease is to spontaneously arrive.
Here is a pool of ease. Here is a bubble of greed, ill-will or ignorance rising and taking over. Here comes the ease again. It goes something like that.
Messy, human, faith. This is what the spiritual life is like, and through it all the light of Amida is always shining.
Namo Amida Bu
Here’s our menu of Bright Earth offerings. Ready to dip a toe in? How much time would you like to put aside every day? Are any of these practices calling to you?
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