On Saturday Oct 15 Ven. Myong-Ahn had a casual meeting with one of the pioneers of Buddhism in the West, Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi. Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American ordained in 1973 in the Theravadin Tradition of Buddhism. In 2000 he gave a keynote address before the United Nations at the first official United Nation's celebration of Vesak. President of Buddhist Publication Society, Bhikkhu Bodhi has translated many of the Sutras of the Theravda Tradition into English. The brief conversation between Bhikkhu Bodhi and Ven. Myong-Ahn revolved around the world hunger relief efforts of the Buddhist Global Relief of which Bhikkhu Bodhi is the founder. Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi's relentless efforts to make Buddhism available to the Westerners deserve recognition and hope to inspire the many generations of American Buddhist still to come.
Do you think that the sages, the spiritual masters are ordinary, or do you think there are extraordinary? Do you think they are special, unique, or do you think they are just normal? If you think the masters are just normal, you will never reach enlightenment. If you think the masters are extraordinary, you will never reach enlightenment. If you think that the masters are normal, you will not pursue the goal of spiritual practice correctly. In Zen tradition, this is illustrated in almost graphic ways. “The one who set their mind on the goal of enlightenment is to practice as if their hair was on fire and they’re looking for a lake into which to dive into”. It is with this urgent energy that one is to pursuit Enlightenment. So, if you think masters are just ordinary, you won't have the necessary energy to pursue it. If you think masters are extraordinary. You won't even start the journey. “Ah, these lofty goals are for a select group of people, some special fantastic spiritual V...