The Ninetieth of 108 Gates Of Dharma Illumination

[Shokai]

The Ninetieth Gate; The diligence pāramitā

The diligence pāramitā is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [withit] we completely attain all good dharmas, and we teach and guide lazy living beings. (Nishijima/Cross)
The realization of making effort is a gate of realizing dharma; it attains all wholesome things and guides lazy sentient beings. (Tanahashi)

Gate Gatha:

May we, together with all buddhas;
Actualize the Diligence Paramita
That we may be a light unto all beings

Reflection Prompts:
1. How does the diligence pāramitā help us to completely attain all good dharmas
2. Comment on it also including the teaching of lazy living beings.
3. How would you rate the Capping Verse?

Capping Verse:

The gentlest of streams
Patiently
Shapes the hardest rocks

合掌,生開
gassho, Shokai
stlah
仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai

[Tairin]

1. How does the diligence pāramitā help us to completely attain all good dharmas

Do our best to follow the Precepts and do good. If we fail, we atone and try again. Over and over and over and over again…..

2. Comment on it also including the teaching of lazy living beings.

It is so easy to be lazy. It is so easy to let ethics and principles slide. Little lapses here and there add up. Like the last Gate I aim to be a positive example. I am not perfect though so I also rely on other good examples around me.


Tairin
sat today and lah

[Choujou]

Reflection Prompts:
1. How does the diligence pāramitā help us to completely attain all good dharmas
2. Comment on it also including the teaching of lazy living beings.
3. How would you rate the Capping Verse?

1 and 2- one must be ever diligent when walking the Buddha’s path, diligent in practice, to following the precepts, in doing good for others… When we practice with diligence, we are not allowed to fall into laziness and misdeeds. It is easy to be lazy and to fall into bad habits… when we are diligent, we guard against this, and become an example for others. When “lazy beings” see our diligence, our awareness, our grace, and our happiness, they will be moved to follow suit and begin the journey on the Buddha’s path. It takes real effort! Diligence! Through diligence we strain all Dharmas, because there is no other way if you stick to it!

3. I think that it nicely sums up what is being said with this gate. The water is the Dharma flowing forth and shaping all us rocks… the only thing that I would add is that we are just another rock in the stream. We may be more polished and smooth while others were just thrown in recently… but the Dharma will shape and smooth them too, wether they through themselves in by following our example, or were thrown in by someone/something else…

Gassho,
Choujou

sat/lah today