One of the early books I read on Buddhism is by Gyomay M. Kubose called The Center Within. I would say it is one of my favourite books on buddhism.
It is a small book only 126 pages, and is very easy to read and understand. Each chapter is based on a dharma talk he has given over a period of time. The dharma talks help readers find their own ‘center and gives examples of how to live a fulfilling and meaningful life.’
At a recent yoga teacher training, with Paul Grilley, I learned more about Functional Yoga. Paul taught us that each person has different bone structures or anatomies, therefore, when a person does yoga it is not about achieving perfect alignment (i.e. placement of hands and feet) to get into a pose, it is more about understanding how to do a pose based on your unique anatomy. When you understand this you can safely get into a pose that works for you while still realizing its full benefits. You can find out more about Functional Yoga in my journal pages under yoga. I am referencing it here because Gyomay Kubose, in his book, The Center Within speaks about buddhism in the same way. He believes everyone is different or unique, and we should embrace our uniqueness and develop it to its full potential. In order to do this one must ‘look within and find oneself and be oneself.’
One of my favourite dharma talks is titled Laughter and I would like to quote it here.
Laughter by Gyomay Kubose.
Buddhism teaches us how to laugh about life. Laughter is the basis of a healthy life. This laughter is hearty, total, and from the abdomen. To smile is easy. It is only the surface of life – above the neck. But to laugh! I remember the editor of one of the religious newspapers in Japan. This man really could laugh. If you had a problem, you didn’t need counseling or advice. Just being with him and hearing him laugh dissolved the whole problem. Where did this healthy laugh come from? It came from a true understanding of life.
This laughter is not laughter for fun. The laughter that Buddhism points to is larger in scope and deeper in dimension. People who become tense, melancholy, and have nervous breakdowns – they cannot laugh. They are so involved in ‘serious’ things. But the reality of life is impermanence. The Buddha taught that life is continuous change. Everything does change, good things, bad things, pleasant things and unpleasant things – all are constantly flowing. All things are in the great current of life, and here is a little person trying to keep something and attach himself to something, thus creating misery. When one sees how small he is, what a fool he is, a little person trying to stem the whole tide of the universe – he then is able to laugh.
Let’s learn to laugh. We are too serious about little things. We forget the larger perspective. We become attached to things – a particular business, a particular person. We worry so much about it. We are quite foolish beings. Attached to non-attachable things. Even when we understand non-attachment, we become attached to the idea of non-attachment. By depending upon the undependable things we create our own problems. They seem big and we become frustrated. If we can laugh at our little mistakes and then extend that and laugh at our own basic ignorance – a big laugh, then this makes for a healthy life.
By Gyomay Kubose
I like this story because it is a reminder about impermanence. We all understand what impermanence means, but often we get caught up in our daily activities, and when things go wrong we don’t often say ’don’t worry this will pass, nothing stays the same.’ Unfortunately, it’s not that easy, or is it?
I remember not long ago being asked to move our meditation venue to a different location in the Temple. Before we were meditating in the Hondo which is a beautiful room where our Sunday service is held each week. At first, I was very disappointed and felt the alternative location was not as nice, it was smaller and cramped and for a few days I ‘stewed’ about it. I know this is a small, insignificant example compared to other things in life, but it still caused me a bit of anxiety, and I was a little angry about the whole situation. A week later someone reminded me that we should not get too attached to things and to remember about impermanence. Once I thought about this I was instantly able to let it go, I was actually surprised at how quickly I just let it melt away. Instead of thinking negative thoughts I began to feel grateful for being able to meditate in that room for four years and appreciated the experience. All of a sudden our new location didn’t seem so bad, one positive aspect was that it was carpeted, so when we did our walking mediation it was better to walk on then the wood floors.
When we think about impermanence and embrace the fact that nothing stays the same, we suddenly feel less attached to things, and our attitude to the new change becomes more positive. When we have this understanding our suffering subsides, and the stress we placed upon ourself begins to melt away. This insight enables us to take the time to laugh and enjoy life.
Namaste