Home“The Vernal Equinox, which is on March 20 this year, is an important day in the Buddhist calendar because it is a day of harmony. Midway between the solstices, light and dark balance one another. It is therefore a day to reflect upon balance in life.”
Good Morning!
This coming Saturday, March 20, is the Vernal equinox, the beginning of spring.
The equinox is important in many of the world’s religions. It is the time when light and dark are in balance with one another, and so it is seen as a time when our lives are in balance—or can be. It is an important time in Buddhism for that reason, but it may be particularly important for Buddhism since that religion is ABOUT balance.
As an aside, Rev. Shoshin Kawabe, a Japanese Buddhist reports a Buddhist claim that: “The time between darkness and light is the time when all Buddhas attain Buddhahood.”. Reportedly, this often occurs on the equinox.
Buddha himself sought for enlightenment. He had been raised in a life of luxury, even decadence. When he realized the pains that existed in life, he sought enlightenment through bodily mortifications and neglect. Ultimately, however, he came to believe that neither the extreme of sensual indulgence nor the extreme of sensual denial were the proper path to escape from the wheel of life, and he chose instead what he called the Middle Path.
Buddha sought for balance not only in body, but in mind.
I quote a few lines from Reverend Kawabe in a lecture he delivered in 1995.
“On the days of the spring and autumnal equinox, day and night are equal. Accordingly, there is no predominance either way. This is described as, "The Buddha delights in the Middle Way," and means the Middle Way and completeness. Accordingly, this ceremony [celebrating the equinox-DB] contains the profound meaning of Buddhism's oneness of the spiritual and the physical, oneness of good and evil, union of Yin and Yang and phenomena equals principles.”
Rev. Kawabe then quotes a passage from "A Reply to the Widow of Lord Ueno", which reads, "There is no Pure Land or Hell outside of ourselves. They only exist within our own breasts. One enlightened to this is called a Buddha. One deluded about this is called a common mortal.
Another Buddhist worthy affirms these ideas and goes on to say, “This is what Buddhists mean when they say that Heaven and Hell are the same thing”.
Heaven and Hell are the same thing.
One of the meanings of that statement is that Heaven, Hell, Life and Nirvana cannot be separated. They are all one and the same. Nirvana is not something achieved after death, it is achieved here and now; it is not separable from life. It is not another place; it is a way of being in this time and place. Heaven and Hell are the same thing. The difference is you. You are in Heaven or you are in Hell depending upon how you see the world and by the manner in which you are in the world.
I need to mention one slightly different view on that, which is that
Heaven and Hell are the same thing, that is, pleasure and pain are the same thing, and through enlightenment one rises above both, but does so here and now in this present life.
I will return to that thought shortly.
But first I want to think a little bit about Balance in life. Many of us say that is what we seek: balance.
For most of us that means finding some amount of family time or personal time or fun time to act as a counterweight to the part of our life that counts as obligation.
For some it means finding time for social service as a counterweight to self service. And so many people who spend most of the week working hard to make a living then want to spend at least part of their time giving back in some way, whether that is coaching a Little League or soccer team, serving as a scout leader or a mentor, joining an organization like Kiwanis or the Lions, or engaging in some other service activity, like working for this congregation.
That balance feels good. That counterweight lends something special to the lives of those who take such action.
But while that brings balance into life, I want to suggest that it
does not necessarily bring harmony into life, and it is really harmony that is the better ideal.
Lets take a few moments to think about the word “balance”.
Balance can merely mean that everything stays in motion. Picture in your mind the Ed Sullivan show. Every once in a while, there would be an act on that show where some guy puts poles in the floor—perhaps six or seven--and then starts spinning a dish on top of each pole. He keeps each dish balanced and spinning by running from pole to pole in time to give each dish the additional energy it needs to keep going, to keep spinning. If he is too late, the dish slows down, loses balance and falls to the ground.
Now watching him one might be astonished at his ability, and one might describe him as agile and adept. But usually one would not apply the term “harmony” to him as he races from dish to dish. He is keeping the dishes in balance, each dish on its respective pole. And, he balances out his time on any portion of the stage and for each dish. But his time on stage is not likely to be harmonious time.
Whether it is spinning dishes, or juggling balls, or scheduling our work, pleasure and service hours, racing from thing to thing is not necessarily an act of harmony.
Another example: Someone who suffers from unregulated bi-polar disorder, often called manic-depression, may have periods of hectic activity followed by periods of lethargic melancholy. In old parlance, they swing from mania to depression.
Those periods may “balance out” or “equal out” in terms of time, but one would not call that a life of harmony.
And so merely ensuring that we balance out the time we give to each area of our life does not necessarily bring us harmony.
Let me return to the Buddhist thought that Heaven and Hell are the same thing, that the difference is in us, and that Nirvana is inseparable from the here and now.
I want to say that I believe that balance in life is a wonderful, even necessary prerequisite for harmony in life. At least, that is true for most of us. But the Buddhist message is that harmony is not necessarily tied to balance, because true harmony--genuine, real harmony—is not about time and is not about externals. It is about what takes place within us no matter how balanced or unbalanced either our lives are or the world around us is.
The equinox is merely a reminder of where we want to be internally. It is a reminder that the Buddhist view of the world is that everything is one.
An enlightened Buddhist can, in fact, balance those plates and keep them spinning without ever losing connection with that internal place that gives a sense of harmony to life.
From a Buddhist perspective, it is not what we do; it is how we do it. Not the external how; the internal how.
Balance is important, but only because it serves as a symbol of the inner harmony that is the true goal.
But how does one do that, especially if one is not a Buddhist.
What is your faith? What is it that gives your life meaning and purpose, that lends courage and fortitude, that brings serenity and ease of spirit?
If there is a need for balance in our lives, it is that we set aside some amount of time to connect with whatever THAT is, that something which gives us those things.
For me that inner serenity arises from seeking to live a life that is one with the pulse and flow of the universe.
For me, that sense of harmony is greatest when I act to serve social justice or to ease human suffering—or the suffering of any living being.
But more, it is when I do so while acting out of love, not self-righteousness; when my act of love encompasses those who disagree with or oppose me as much as it encompasses those whom I seek to serve.
From where does your sense of harmony arise? What divine source or human source or cosmic source brings you to that place of serenity?
May we spin plates, juggle balls, schedule our lives; and may we do so while maintaining that inner sense of calm and peace that comes from whatever our own source of strength and hope may be.
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