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N E N E S SAutumn1999AWARENESSby Ven. Gyomay Kuboseawareness. One of the finest ex-a magazine from Japan calledand in this month’s issue he hasso inspired by it that I should like toshare it with you.the intercontinental ballistic missileand took a picture of the other sideof the moon, Mr. Oyama’s aware-back side. Things we call front orback are man-made ideas. Themoon has no back or front. At anytinues, “I wish Khrushchev himselfof his own mind when he speaks tothe leaders of the world. Well, it’shouse.” So he started to clean theMan in general has a front and aa beautiful front and keep all otherthings in the back. Mr. Oyamanese poem) by the great Buddhistpoet and monk, Ryokan: “Ura womise, omote wo misette, chiruShowing front,Showing back,is front and back is back, but thereare true. But we petty human be-hide the back. If we were able toas the maple leaves, showing theof us, consciously and uncon-This is what Ryokan was con-like a maple leaf by showing frontand back as they are—with noshamefulness, just straightforwardas we think, “This side is better toden,” then we have problems. AMr. Oyama, when he read thenews about taking a picture of theother side of the moon, becamelife. He was living a life of aware-ness. There are hundreds of suchhow many of us, when we read thisnews, would have thought of thisour own life? Mr. Oyama, with hisAs I read this article, it struck meback, but that we are the ones whoand west. It is our mind which cre-ates this front and back, just as weThere is no front or back; both aregood. This kind of awareness is, IThe true attitude in Buddhism isO(continued on page 4)

Universal Teachings For Everyday Living Page 1

Quarterly Newsletter of the Rev. Gyomay M. Kubose Dharma Legacy Vol. 3 No. 3

It is said a Buddhist’s life is a life of

amples of this life of awareness is in

“Taiko” (or “Great Cultivation” in En-

glish). The Editor is Sumita Oyama,

written of a very beautiful life. I was

When the Russian Scientists shot

ness of this incident was: “Well, the

Russians took a picture of the other

side of the moon. Really, the moon

is round and there is no front side or

rate, the Russians took a picture of

the back of the moon.” Then he con-

would take a picture of the other side

his business, but how about myself?

I think I should clean the back of my

back of his house, his backyard.

back. Of course, we want to present

quotes a haiku (a 17-syllable Japa-

momiji.” Translated, this is;

Maple leaves fall.

We try to put up a nice front; that

is why we have problems. There is

really no front and back in true life.

We should live as the maple leaves,

showing both front and back. Front

is no superiority to either side. Both

ings try to show the “better” front and

take pictures of our own minds, front

and back, if we were able to live life

front as front and back as back, there

would be no falseness, no pretense,

no secrets to hide—show ourselves

to the world, live our life. We, most

sciously, live a life of front and back

duplicity. And that is the trouble to-

day, the very foundation of perplex-

cerned about. He wanted to live life

honesty and sincerity in life. As soon

show the public; this should be hid-

Buddhist life is a life of this honesty.

There is no front and no back. A true

life is totality. This side of the hand

or that side of the hand—is one bet-

ter or worse? This side is this side;

that side is that side. Both are equal.

Nothing to be hidden.

aware of the many sides of our own

teachings around us every day. But

front and back of our own mind and

idea of front and back, gives a won-

derful teaching and wonderful way of

awareness in his article.

how true it is that there is no front and

make front and back, left and right, east

create our own problems. So live a

life like a maple leaf, showing the back

as well as the front, and do not be both-

ered by showing only a front or back.

think, a Buddhist’s life.

I was visiting a friend in a hospital.

We talked about acceptance. Accep-

tance is very important in life. In the

English language, however, accep-

tance has the connotation of a defeated

attitude: “Well, it’s something I can’t

help, so I have to accept it.” “Well,

there is something better than this, but

since it came to me, I can’t help it. I

just have to accept it.”