The Choices We Begin to See

Kyohei Mikawa

Many of us, myself included, carry more questions about life than answers. We wonder: "Why did this happen to me?", "Why this year rather than ten years from now?", "Why me and not someone else?" There is nothing wrong with that. That is simply the nature of being alive.

How would the Buddha's wisdom respond to these big "Whys"? The Buddhist teaching of dependent origination clarifies the distinction between where our thoughts and energies would not come to fruition and where they can produce meaningful results. I find just knowing this distinction itself is refreshingly liberating.

We may never find the perfect answer to our big whys, because some things are beyond our control and understanding. Buddhism, as articulated in the Lotus Sutra, teaches that the nature of our experience is ultimately inconceivable.

So what can we do instead of asking why and being unable to move forward? This teaching shows that there are things in our life we can't control, and our big whys are among them. But there are also things we can control. We can still influence.

The right question is not "Why did this happen to me?" but "Given the situation, what choices do I still have? What other choices can I imagine if I clarify what I truly want?"

Learning and practicing Buddhism in this community, our Rissho Kosei-kai Dharma family, you have been helping me with this. For the last three years, I chose to learn and practice with you (one of the best choices I made in my present lifetime!), and you have helped me see other choices in my life that I could not see before.

Here is one example. When I'm calm, I can listen. But when somebody criticized me, I couldn't listen. When I was accused, the only choice I had was to escape. Now I have a different choice: to accept it and start from there.

That's what I have learned, and that's how we practice together.

p.s. Our November 8 Fall Festival & Yard Sale is one of the greatest moments to deepen your Buddhist practice and feel the joy of belonging to the dharma family that lingers in your everyday life. Can you help us that day?