Editor's Note - This is an excerpt from the June 2005 issue of the Buddhist Wheel

How joyous I am, my heart and mind being rooted in the Buddha-ground of the universal Vow, and my thoughts and feelings flowing within the dharma-ocean, which is beyond comprehension! I am deeply aware of the Tathāgāta’s immense compassion…. My joy grows ever fuller, my gratitude and indebtedness ever more compelling. (CWS, p. 291)

To most of us, religion is serious business. I mean, the Buddha-dharma is deep, the teachings of Shinran-shōnin are dense. After all, we’re talking about major issues such as birth, life, sickness, old age, and death. But many places in Buddhist teachings refer to joy, to playing, within the context of our lifelong search to end the suffering of human life. Nāgārjuna, the first of the Seven Masters, wrote about progress along the bodhisattva path, calling the final stage of the bodhisattva’s activity "playing in the garden"; the work of bodhisattvas, decreasing the suffering of all beings, is likened to…play! Indeed, Shinran-shōnin writes that when we have that one thought-moment of pure entrusting in the power of Amida Buddha’s primal vow to liberate us, we have attained the stage of bodhisattva-hood known as "great joy". Not only in the passage above, but also in many other places in his writings he talks about being happy and joyous. In the Preface to the Kyōgyōshinshō, he begins the last paragraph, "How joyous I am, Gutoku Shinran, disciple of Śakyamuni!" The last sentence to this Preface reads, "Here I rejoice in what I have heard and extol what I have attained." Joy is one of the themes of all of Shinran-shōnin’s work and of the entire Buddha-dharma.

In April, I had the privilege of attending the State Dharma School Teachers’ Conference in Kona, "Drama in the Dharma". From Friday evening to Sunday afternoon a whole group of usually serious-minded adults played. We had fun. We made up plays, made videos, wrote songs, acted with puppets, and participated in play activities for a whole weekend. At the end of the conference, all the ministers present had to stand together at one end of the hall while some of the teachers dressed us in outfits that would have done well in any five-year-old’s dress-up game. And then—they made us DANCE in those costumes! And sing too! It was truly memorable for the ministers, as conservatively as we usually dress, to be dressed up in gaudy scarves and costume jewelry, dancing and singing in front of the entire group. It was memorable, it was embarassing, but it was fun. I could certainly relate to "joy in the Dharma" right then!

Although Śakyamuni told us that life is dukkha, or suffering, he also provided a prescription to alleviate that suffering. It is found in that immense compassion that is the foundation of the universal vow that Shinran-shōnin wrote about. The suffering is alleviated by that compassion, allowing the joy to flow in. If we are to truly value this precious life that we have been given, we must have great joy to make it worthwhile. Life is not only somber and serious, suffering and delusion—it is also illuminated with great joy through Amida Buddha’s compassion and wisdom.

Since the Dharma School Teachers’ Conference, I have been trying not to take myself quite so seriously. I want to allow the joy to flow into my being and, like Shinran-shōnin, to allow my thoughts and feelings to flow within the dharma-ocean. I am excited about the Buddha-dharma, and I want to share that excitement with others! I am joyous in the Dharma!

How do you experience the Buddha-dharma? You have encountered Amida’s universal Vow, "hard to encounter", "the decisive cause of birth"! You are fortunate beyond belief, because once you have been grasped by this Vow, you will never be abandoned! Got joy?

In joyous Gassho, Namo Amida Butsu.

Visit our downloads section to get the complete issue.