Our sangha is small. Very small. Because we are so small, we enjoy a lot of ordinary moments with our teacher, Ajari Jomyo Tanaka.
A few of us might make and have breakfast with him. Eight or ten of us may go out to dinner with him. Our retreats never exceed fifteen or twenty people. Often times we find ourselves alone with him. Not surprisingly, some of the most memorable things happen in these ordinary moments.
During Ajari Tanaka's visit in September 2014 I enjoyed one of these moments while driving him somewhere. I don't even remember where.
We were leaving the home of a couple of long time sangha members who were hosting Ajari Tanaka in Burlington. We were driving up Cliff Street, which is an incredibly steep hill surrounded by a wonderful Burlington neighborhood just west of the University of Vermont's Redstone campus. As we approached the intersection that borders the campus, I noticed a woman walking her dog. The dog was tiny and it struck me funny as I have always had bigger dogs - huskies, yellow lab muts, even a wolf hybrid. I giggled and without thinking I said, "people love their little dogs."
To my random comment Ajari responded, "little dogs are easy to control." True and interesting enough. Then Ajari added, "big dogs always control people."
Ajari continued, turning the discussion in a new direction. "In Japan people like a robot dog. A robot dog is easy to control. And robot dogs never complain."
Then he casually said, "but all sentient beings complain."
Wow. Now he suddenly had my attention...
Ajari continued, "We get a new car, and we complain. We get a new house and we complain, we get the marriage and we complain."
At this point I was kind of stunned. In that completely ordinary, car ride Ajari Tanaka articulated a kind of self-centeredness that is so typical as to almost unnoticed.
Next he brought it all home...
"But we don't want to hear it."
With that comment, he let the whole conversation dangle. Dangle in wide open space with no further elaboration offered or needed. We drove for a good while in silence.
Though Shingon is a singularly Vajrayana tradition, Ajari Tanaka's presentation of it has a very Mahayana character. The altruistic concern for others, the intrinsic obligation to share the happiness, strength, peace and the personal progress we experience from our practice has always been one of his core teachings. This single comment, "we don't want to hear it", exposed a moment to moment unwillingness to embrace the bodhisattva path. In that uncontrived moment, Ajari made it clear that if we are really aspiring bodhisattvas need to embrace that reality, for benefit of both ourselves and others.
