Chanting the Lotus Sutra

 

chanting the Lotus Sutra

only his lips

are busy

This is a poem written by Master Sheng Yen (1930 – 2009), a Chinese Zen Buddhist monk. His criticism is of mindless, repetitive chanting with the mind being somewhere else. This was his final poem. He seems to be saying that real Zen enlightenment cannot be achieved by merely repeating a string of words, by performing a certain prescribed action. Distracting busy work.

The Apostle Matthew spoke on this subject twenty centuries earlier. "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words". Matthew 6:7 in the NASB. Meaningless repetition is just what it seems to be to unbelievers, just a string of words. Busy work with no actual effect on the world.

Christians can easily become mindlessly trapped in the busy work tar baby (look it up) of doing churchy things, attending worship services, singing in the choir, volunteering, providing funds for worthy social activities, working in a child care program, watching Christian movies and reading Christian books, Christian political involvement, running a food and clothing bank for the poor, social justice activities, organizing and attending meetings and events, maintaining a church library, participating in disaster relief programs, yada yada yada.

None of these things are wrong or inappropriate for a Christian, but they must never be allowed to replace or crowd out the truth. The truth is this: Jesus died on the cross and overcame death for me, for you, and for every single individual on the Earth. This was his gift to us, it is the one spiritual gift which every Christian possesses, and it is the one gift which we are commanded to repeatedly give to others. The paradox is that, when we give it away to others, we still possess it.