7 times down, 8 times up

Posted: March 12, 2008 | Author: Doug | Filed under: Buddhism, Religion | Leave a comment »

At our Jodo Shinshu Buddhist temple, we have Dharma School, which is like a Sunday School. We take Baby to Dharma School since she enjoys playing with the toys. In any case, at our temple, one of the older classes of kids made signs for the Japanese slogan nana korobi ya oki (七転八起) which means: 7 times fallen down, 8 times getting up. My wife explained to me what it meant, and I thought that was a really cool proverb.

In Buddhist practice, it’s common for us to setup ourselves for failure. We set the goals too high, we get flustered when we fail, and so on. I tend to be my own worst critic, so when I think or do something unwholesome, or just get lazy, I tend to really punish myself for the rest of the day. However, sometimes I realize how unproductive that is. Punishing yourself is kind of silly when you step back and look at the situation; you are in effect creating a mountain out of a mole-hill. What a Buddhist should do instead is just pick themselves back up, and try again. If you lost your temper, don’t punish yourself for it. Apologize and just move on.

In a Buddhist article I recently read, the author talked about how Buddhist practice is like driving stakes in the ground. At first the stakes are wobbly, weak and fall over easily. Even if they do, you just pick up the stake and drive it in the ground again. If you drive the stake down far enough, it becomes more stable and firm. In an old post, I wrote the following:

If I fall flat on my face a hundred times, the fact that I keep getting up must account for something. If I fail to observe the Precepts, then I will try again and again until I get it right. The point is to keep trying. I think that is what the Buddha would have wanted.

Needless to say, even if you fall 7 times or a hundred, if you get up again, you are a noble disciple of the Buddha.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

P.S. Re-post from old blog.

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