Returning to Silence

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This Is An Excerpt From Dainin Katagiri's Book "Returning To Silence".

 

"When we think about what real silence is, we have to look at it from two angles; the first is to see silence through human eyes and the second is to see silence through Buddha's eyes or the universal eye. The opportunity to experience real silence occurs when we have been driven into a corner and simply cannot move an inch. This seems like a situation of complete despair, but this silence is quite different from despair, because in the area of despair the conscious flame of human desire is still burning. But real silence is the state of human existence that passes through this despair. How can we experience this silence? Without everyday life, it is impossible to experience silence. In terms of the human perspective, silence has at least three flavors: pessimistic optimistic, and mystical. They work together and cannot be separated. That is why it is very difficult to know what is going on when silence has been seen from the human perspective. There is an interesting poem by a World War II war criminal that shows these mixed feeling of pessimism, optimism, and mysticism. His story was very sad. He was accused of killing an American pilot, but the accusation was not true. After his death the true story, which he had recorded in his diary, was found. An American pilot had parachuted from his airplane and was injured in the fall. The writer of the poem, Senri Ueno, started operating on him, but during the operation he was ordered by a senior officer to kill him. He did not obey the order and continued to operate. But in the middle of the operation the place was bombed and he was forced to leave. When he returned, the American pilot had been stabbed to death by somebody else. Nobody knew who did it, so the person who wrote this poem took all the blame for the crime and was executed. He wrote this poem a week before he died."

 

 

Thanks to lamenting over the pain in the world, I am able to become laughter when my life is happy. Due to my being struck and trampled upon and biting my lips to control my temper, I fully realize how precious it is to be born. Even if I am intentionally tired of an ugly world, look! What a blue sky! Even if one laughs scornfully at my penniless life, there is something much more beautiful, true and worth that everyone knows. I don't care so much about anything else, except love and sincerity, the sun, and a little amount of rain from time to time. If I have a healthy body and a little piece of bread, I want to walk with a smile in great spirits. I will do my best to work without complaining about anything at all. I always consider things by putting myself in another's place without flinching, no matter how hard and heartrending it is to live. If there is someone unfortunate, I will help him out with anything. If I can forget myself to help out, that will surely delight me. In the morning the sun rises. I greet it. I will do my best to live today. In the evening, the sun sets. Staring at the evening glow, I want to sit still. With a little dream in my heart, I sleep as quietly as a little bird. If I have my own time, I want to spend it reading an old collection of poems, meditating on them alone, quietly. Let's find happiness by ourselves. Within silver tears like pearls and laughter like the sun, let's keep walking ahead each day. Certainly some day, as I look back over my past, I will quietly see my life with a smile.