The Search For Enlightenment

Bright and early this morning I joined the Global Daimoku Wave For Japan. Over 800 people attended the Facebook event and chanted for respite for the earthquake and tsunami disaster victims in Japan.

The event involved nothing more complicated than sitting facing the Gohonzon and chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo from 8:00 till 9:00 am. Apart from being concerned that I might disturb the neighbours if I gave it too much welly, it was a very invigorating and satisfying hour. Naturally, we all pray that the fortunes of Japan and the Japanese people improve very quickly and dramatically.

There were two things that were noteworthy however, and the first was that my Dark Passenger was in full attendance too.

Some people know their inner voice as My Evil Friend, I call mine my Dark Passenger, but we all have one. It’s that part of our subconscious that comes into our consciousness whether we want it to, or not, and derails our train of thought.

Today, mine was quiet until about ten minutes after I started chanting. Then he suggested that because there were hundreds of us taking part, that my involvement wouldn’t be missed. After all, I had chanted for ten minutes. I pressed on. The he decided that we needed a cup of coffee, that it wouldn’t matter that I stopped for the few minutes it would take to make one. I pressed on. He kept coming up with all sorts of thoughts, about all manner of topics, I pressed on.

It’s the first time that my Dark Passenger has been around while I chant, but that’s not really surprising. It is generally accepted that the more we want something, or the more important a task is, the greater the resistance we experience. So although my DP was mildly annoying, his presence simply reinforced just how important the event was.

The other thing that happened, was that between about forty and fifty five minutes, I went into some sort of trance. I know that I wasn’t sleeping, but the time just disappeared, not flew by or sped up, it simply disappeared. I don’t think that has ever happened to me before, ever. So if you have any idea about this, or if it happens to you all the time, please share it with us, in a comment.

So, as always with Buddhist Practice, you get out of it, what you put in. The only thing is, that it’s not always quite what you were expecting.