The Thirty-first of 108 Gates Of Dharma Illumination

[Shokai]

The Thirty-first Gate: to work for living beings.

To work for living beings is a gate of Dharma illumination; for we do not blame others..(Nishijima/Cross)
Helping sentient beings is a gate of realizing Dharma; it does not allow you to slander others. (Tanahashi)

Gate Gatha:
May we, together with all buddhas;
Immerse ourselves in helping others
That we may not see blame.

Reflection Prompts:
1. How do you work for living beings?
2. Do you feel that takes away from slandering or blaming others?
3. Is it possible to not see blame?

Capping Verse:
Blame feeds on the self
Drop the self
And blame becomes love

gassho, Shokai
stlah

[Choujou]

Reflection Prompts:
1. How do you work for living beings?
2. Do you feel that takes away from slandering or blaming others?
3. Is it possible to not see blame?

1. By doing what you can, when you can in service to others for the benefit of all sentient beings.

2. It definitely beats just flapping your trap, blaming others for all the wrong in the world! It is easy to pass judgement from an outside and shallow view… things look different under the surface sometimes. Sometimes they don’t… In any case, better to do something to make things better for everyone! Judgement, slander, and blame don’t get up and fix things for us.

3. I believe so… what does blame solve anyway? When one just works towards making things better for all, the need for blame diminishes and I think can completely disappear. When one accepts things as they are , neither good or bad, but just as they are, then the blame disappears… while at the same time, horrible and terrible things are happening and need fixing! So we get off the Zafu and fix!

Gassho,
Choujou

sat/lah today

[Furyu]

I think it points to service to others as practice. When we help others, big or small, it pushes us to see beyond our own needs and self-interest. If we can approach a person with the mindset of being sincerely helpful, I don't think that it leaves room for blame.
The interaction may help us understand others better, make us less likely to blame them for whatever shortcoming we may perceive. Or maybe, we can realize that the one(s) we would like to blame is(are) also caught in the web of interconnectedness and in that sense, their actions are inter-created. It becomes more difficult to focus our blame on an individual and we can look at this in a broader perspective.
Not sure about the last item. In many cases, I could say yes, and see things as co-arising interdependent dharma, with compassionate eyes. Looking at current world events over the last year or two, I sure would like to pin blame on some individuals for their choices and actions - it's much harder not to get hooked. Like metta practice - sending metta is much easier for the people we like.
Although, I am more likely to feel deep sadness and a lack of agency than try to assign blame, which really accomplishes nothing.
Sorry it's a bit of a ramble today.


Fūryū
sat/lah