Showing posts with label HERE AND NOW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HERE AND NOW. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

On the "here and now" spiritual trap

Some people say that the Nembutsu of faith is too much related with death and afterlife and that they prefer something (a practice or teaching) for the "here and now”. The world of spiritual seekers is filled with such ideas of "here and now" being a supreme goal, that we must learn to live in the "here and now", and not think about death or after death. But this separation is only a delusion. In truth, death is not separated from the "here and now” as breath which comes out might not be followed by the breath which comes in. In the "here and now” we can lose everything; in the "here and now” we and our loved ones can stop breathing, in the "here and now” we may suddenly find ourselves in the afterlife, losing this humanform, the chance of listening the Amida Dharma and receive faith.

Like in the good movie, "Groundhog day” , the minds of unenlightened people dwell constantly in an ever repeating "here and now”. Unfortunately, they like this "here and now" so much that they even create spiritual ideologies to keep them focused on it. Being extremely attached to the "here and now”, they refuse to speak about death and rebirth, or the aspiration to be born in Amida’s Pure Land, calling it a reminiscent of folk religion or a distraction from the "here and now". Unfortunately, they will also die one day, in the exact moment they dream about ‚"here and now" and will be born again, in another "here and now" - the same here and now, but painted differently. How sad this is…

Dharma talks on my youtube channel