When We Love, We Find Peace

Anyone who loves, becomes a Buddha. If the flame goes out all you need to do to relight it is to love again. The only thing that can put out the flame of a Buddha is his own hatred or indifference, so just love. When you listen along to someone suffering you become a Buddha. When you smile at a child, you Become a Buddha. Even when you post something funny on social media, you are a Buddha, because you want to share your joy. When you love your enemies, you become a great Buddha. It may be the only love they get. Start by loving yourself and all your inconsistencies so you have practice, there is nothing else that can be done. The living universe is abundant with love, so don’t live out of the scarcity mindset. If you find that you are unable to love a person, love them in secret and stay away from them.

The idea of vegetarianism is very much connected to the idea of love. If we kill an animal, then we do not love. And the essence of the living universe is love. It’s difficult for someone who grew up in America or the west, that has so much Meat available and is so much part of the culture, but you must work on this. I read a book many years ago. It was called The Dharma all Buddhists Must Follow, it said that we must prefer a vegetarian diet. It is the essence of love to preserve the natural world in all of its diversity. 

Another thing that is not love is the senseless intake of entertainment. We must be careful what “food” that we ingest. Violence, hatred, deception, ignorance, greed. All of these things will poison the mind and put out the flame of the Buddha. This is something you learn eventually. Some of these things are intriguing, but they are all misleading. Please don’t doubt, this is right out of the Zen playbook.

When we begin to love, we start with ourselves. When there is something positive in our psyche, and in our hearts, we are appreciative. Likewise, when there is something negative that is bothering us, either frustration, or shame, or dissatisfaction, we acknowledge it is in us. We accept it, embrace it, remind it that there is love and peace in us too. We invite it to balance in us. All aspects of ourselves want to be known and want to be acknowledged. It is part of being human. When we learn to accept the inconsistencies and unhappiness within ourselves, we begin to be able to accept those feelings in others, thereby spreading loving kindness to the world through our knowledge of ourselves. This is Zen. I’ll paraphrase Carl Jung by saying, “the best way to accept the shadow in others is to first accept the shadow in ourselves.” 

It’s interesting to me how “realization“ can arrive in an instant, but if you want to try and explain that realization, it can take several pages. That’s an indication to me, that language is far too ill equipped for the philosophical life. The chief way to encounter realization is to practice mindful meditation, Zen meditation, silent prayer, what have you. When we encounter ourselves, that is Zen. When we accept others with kindness, that is Zen. You may get this realization. You may fully understand it, but it won’t be any easier until you begin to practice. Practicing on yourself is the only feasible place to start. So be it.

Peace.