..續本文上一頁n returned to his life as a beggar without knowing he had that precious jewel. After some time, they met again, and the rich man was surprised and asked him, "I gave you that jewel. Why did you not use it to make your life comfortable. And the poor man said, "No, you never gave me anything!" So the rich friend reached into the garment where he put the jewel, took it out, and showed it to him.
Q: Roshi, how can we strengthen our faith in order to practice better
A: This is a very fundamental thing. Faith is a very fundamental, very important matter in life. To strengthen our faith is almost always a synonym for bettering our practice.
When we have faith, it is necessary to examine in what we put our faith. We have a proverb, "To believe in the head of a dried, dead sardine has power to chase away evil spirits." As a matter of fact, we believe in all sorts of different things: such as money, fame, ideas, thoughts, ideologies, emotions and feelings. In order to practice better, we must have our faith in the right way
What is the right way
It is to put our faith in whatever the Buddha and the Patriarchs say, to put ourselves wholeheartedly into it and practice diligently. So, regarding the right direction, have strong faith in yourself, in the fact that your life is itself nothing but Buddha nature. To have strong faith in this fact and to practice in accordance with what the Buddha and the Patriarchs say, leads us to better practice and strengthens our faith.
It is also important to renew our vows from time to time and to encourage ourselves to accomplish further. By doing so, we can strengthen our faith, and this faith, again, strengthens our practice.
It is like a circle. First, ”Hosshin”, raise the Bodhi-mind or seek for realization; second, ”Shugyo”, practice; third, ”Bodhi”, attainment of realization; fourth, ”Nehan”, Nirvana. In the state of Nirvana lies the Bodhi-mind, then again practice, then attainment, then Nirvana, spiraling ever upward. Dogen Zenji said that our practice is like a spiral comprising these four strands.
So let us practice well together and strengthen our faith.
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