On the Other Side

One day a young monk on his journey home came to the banks of a wide river. Staring hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him, he pondered for hours on just how to cross such a wide barrier. Just as he was about to give up his pursuit to continue his journey he saw a great teacher on the other side of the river. The young monk yells over to the teacher, "Master, can you tell me how to get to the other side of this river"?

The Master ponders for a moment looks up and down the river and yells back, "My son, you are on the other side!".

Often in our life journey we long to get over to the "other side", whatever that may mean to us individually. "The other side" may mean that other city where life could be better or those "if onlys": If only I could have enough money for this or that; If only I could meet that magical person in my life. The problem is that the "here" will always be "there" and the "there" "here".

Where we are at this moment is the only place and time of our journey. In Pureland Buddhism we focus on our mind and the Buddha Mind becoming one through the practice of "nianfo" or Buddha Name Remembrance - the constant repeating of the name of Amitabha Buddha. The Chinese character for "nian" 念 means placing the mind (heart) in the present moment. The Buddha moment is now.

At a recent workshop in Mindfulness a participant presented his problem as trying to live the spiritual life while having to live in a worldly world. He went on to describe his struggles. While this is a very common struggle with those truly seeking to live the spiritual life the very struggle is where we need to be. It provides the necessary food for the journey. The small seed struggles against the very thing in which it is rooted - the soil - as it pushes against the clay to reach the light of day as a small green shoot. The butterfly pushes its wings against its cocoon in its attempt to free itself from its confines and in the process its wings are primed and strengthened. I am sure the seed and the butterfly yearn for the "other side"!

When we focus our mind in the now moment breathing in and out the name of Amitabha Buddha the name becomes like a vessel rescuing us as we bob about in the worldly ocean.

Searching for "the other side" is an necessary struggle. Our journey is most often on the side where we are at now.