I have been thinking a great deal about Other Power recently. Other Power is how we describe the Buddha working on us, liberation through taking refuge in the Buddha, rather than liberation by our own means.
What I've been thinking about is something I've begun to call Radical Other Power. This is an idea that is a step beyond how I usually frame my experience of the world.
I have usually thought of Other Power as something which calls to me, a guide if you like, rather than an active agent in this world. Other Power tells me I am okay, just as I am, that I am loved. Other Power tells me to love, but leaves me to figure out the best way to do that.
But recently I’ve been thinking that there is more to it than that. More mystery. Today my therapist picked on up how many of the things I have been talking about somehow fit into ‘happening at the right time.’
Suddenly, when I have the emotional space to start taking on therapy clients, two appear at once. The timing seems more than coincidence.
There have been other similar examples.
I am reminded of the Buddhist idea that when one lives by one’s vow all the Bodhisattvas comes to one’s aid.
I suppose that comes to mind because I am fighting to resist “Everything happens for a (good) reason”. There must be something one can do, the self-power part of me says. I wonder if that’s true anymore?
Perhaps everything is in the hands of Amida. Namo Amida Bu. Namo Amida Bu.
Part of me is trying to find a middle way between these two extremes. When I practice in the morning, chanting, prostrations and so on, I do feel differently during the day than if I don’t. And yet – surely it’s Amida that brings me to practice...
Someone has posted a quote from Ty Unno on the front page of Friends of Amida. I think it’s from a recent interview he did for Tricycle magazine. It encapsulates what I am trying to get to. Another coincidence?
What I've been thinking about is something I've begun to call Radical Other Power. This is an idea that is a step beyond how I usually frame my experience of the world.
I have usually thought of Other Power as something which calls to me, a guide if you like, rather than an active agent in this world. Other Power tells me I am okay, just as I am, that I am loved. Other Power tells me to love, but leaves me to figure out the best way to do that.
But recently I’ve been thinking that there is more to it than that. More mystery. Today my therapist picked on up how many of the things I have been talking about somehow fit into ‘happening at the right time.’
Suddenly, when I have the emotional space to start taking on therapy clients, two appear at once. The timing seems more than coincidence.
There have been other similar examples.
I am reminded of the Buddhist idea that when one lives by one’s vow all the Bodhisattvas comes to one’s aid.
I suppose that comes to mind because I am fighting to resist “Everything happens for a (good) reason”. There must be something one can do, the self-power part of me says. I wonder if that’s true anymore?
Perhaps everything is in the hands of Amida. Namo Amida Bu. Namo Amida Bu.
Part of me is trying to find a middle way between these two extremes. When I practice in the morning, chanting, prostrations and so on, I do feel differently during the day than if I don’t. And yet – surely it’s Amida that brings me to practice...
Someone has posted a quote from Ty Unno on the front page of Friends of Amida. I think it’s from a recent interview he did for Tricycle magazine. It encapsulates what I am trying to get to. Another coincidence?
...we can never surrender ourselves. Resistance comes from the deepest center of our karmic selves... [nonetheless] the surrender takes place by virtue of true compassion. This is “other-power” working through “self-power.” But this requires a tremendous struggle. As long as I think I can do it myself, it’s not going to work
~ Ty Unno
Here is a quote about Other Power that I have found helpful.
ReplyDelete"People misunderstand when they think tariki or Other Power, is a power that somehow comes in from the outside. The Shin point of view is that the Other Power/self power dichotomy is a delusion. Actually, all of existence is Other Power.
Whatever we do is possible through Other Power. If I run a race, I am only able to do it, to put my effort into it, because the world is constructed in such a way that it supports me and makes my running possible. If, for example, there was no gravity, I wouldn’t be able to run. If there was no Other Power, in the sense of there being an interdependent reality within which I undertake my efforts, I wouldn’t be able to do anything.
Other Power is really interdependence, and interdependence is really the totality of the relationships we have with everything that we deal with. Other Power isn’t an external power. Its not an isolated power located some place that zaps us from the outside. It’s power through others. We can’t deal with our life unless we have other people involved with us. Other Power involves power with others, which lead us to act out of a sense of reciprocal relationship with them. I am benefitted by Other Power and I benefit others, and so on. It is from the web of relationships that is our reality".
Rev Al Bloom in Tricycle Autumn 2009 p 118
Hi Ray, thanks for posting that. It's been a while since I wrote that blog post and some of the issues have faded into the background. But I do like that quote from Al Bloom, and have refereed to it a couple of times in conversations now (and even a talk!)
ReplyDeleteThanks