Qui est un bouddha?

Nombreux sont ceux pour qui le mot
« bouddha » évoque un être éthéré et détaché
des affaires de ce monde. Par la méditation, le
bouddha a atteint l’état de « nirvana », que l’on
associe souvent à une existence transcendante à
laquelle on parvient en éliminant tous ses désirs
(ceux-ci étant la cause des souffrances). C’est
du moins l’image que propose la littérature
qui prend ses sources dans les enseignements
antérieurs au Sûtra du Lotus.
Toutefois, cette image ne correspond pas à la
vie de Shakyamuni. Profondément bienveillant,
ce dernier a rejeté les deux extrêmes que sont
l’ascétisme et l’attachement. Poussé par son
désir de partager largement la vérité qu’il avait
découverte, il a consacré sa vie à interagir avec
les autres.
Le sens le plus communément accepté du
mot bouddha est « l’illuminé ». L’illumination
est un état d’éveil qui permet l’apparition
d’une sagesse infinie grâce à laquelle on
peut comprendre totalement la réalité et en
apprécier toute la complexité. Un bouddha est
un être humain entièrement éveillé à la vérité
fondamentale de la vie.

As the Daishonin's disciples when we have problems, worries, or sufferings, we see them as opportunities to challenge karma arising from the four universal sufferings of birth, aging , sickness ,and death.

Earthly Desires Are Enlightenment - WND-1, 317

Though the teaching that I am now propagating seems limited, it is extremely profound. That is because it goes deeper than the teaching expounded by T'ien-t'ai, Dengyo, and others. It is the three important matters* in the "Life Span" chapter of the essential teaching. Practising only the seven characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo seems limited, but since they are the master of all the Buddhas of the three existences, the teacher of all the bodhisattvas in the ten directions, and the guide that enables all living beings to attain the Buddha way, it is profound.

In Praise of Idleness --Bertrand Russell

EXCERPT---( To read the full article click here )Modern technique has made it possible to diminish enormously the amount of labor required to secure the necessaries of life for everyone. This was made obvious during the war. At that time all the men in the armed forces, and all the men and women engaged in the production of munitions, all the men and women engaged in spying, war propaganda, or Government offices connected with the war, were withdrawn from productive occupations. In spite of this, the general level of well-being among unskilled wage-earners on the side of the Allies was higher than before or since. The significance of this fact was concealed by finance: borrowing made it appear as if the future was nourishing the present. But that, of course, would have been impossible; a man cannot eat a loaf of bread that does not yet exist. The war showed conclusively that, by the scientific organization of production, it is possible to keep modern populations in fair comfort on a small part of the working capacity of the modern world. If, at the end of the war, the scientific organization, which had been created in order to liberate men for fighting and munition work, had been preserved, and the hours of the week had been cut down to four, all would have been well. Instead of that the old chaos was restored, those whose work was demanded were made to work long hours, and the rest were left to starve as unemployed. Why? Because work is a duty, and a man should not receive wages in proportion to what he has produced, but in proportion to his virtue as exemplified by his industry.
This is the morality of the Slave State, applied in circumstances totally unlike those in which it arose. No wonder the result has been disastrous. Let us take an illustration. Suppose that, at a given moment, a certain number of people are engaged in the manufacture of pins. They make as many pins as the world needs, working (say) eight hours a day. Someone makes an invention by which the same number of men can make twice as many pins: pins are already so cheap that hardly any more will be bought at a lower price. In a sensible world, everybody concerned in the manufacturing of pins would take to working four hours instead of eight, and everything else would go on as before. But in the actual world this would be thought demoralizing. The men still work eight hours, there are too many pins, some employers go bankrupt, and half the men previously concerned in making pins are thrown out of work. There is, in the end, just as much leisure as on the other plan, but half the men are totally idle while half are still overworked. In this way, it is insured that the unavoidable leisure shall cause misery all round instead of being a universal source of happiness. Can anything more insane be imagined?

The doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life is found in only one place, hidden in the depths of the "Life Span" chapter of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra. Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu were aware of it but did not bring it forth into the light. T'ien-t'ai Chih-che alone embraced it and kept it ever in mind.

The Opening of the Eyes - WND-1, 224

The relationship between a Buddha and his disciples and followers is that of a teacher and student.

One cannot expect to become happy without hardship or effort. Because we challenge ourselves we become strong. To become strong is to become happy.

Piano - a poem by D. H. Lawrence

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.


In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.


So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

What is success in life? Who are the truly successful? There are famous and powerful people who become pitiful figures in their old age. There are people who die alone, feeling empty and desolate inside. Just what is success? The English thinker Walter Pater (1839-94) wrote: "To burn always with this hard, gemlike flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life." The person who lives life fully, glowing with life's energy, is the person who lives a successful life.