The Bodhisattva’s Four Methods of Guidance, Part 2: Beneficial Action and Identity Action
Continue exploring Dogen's four methods of guidance by diving deep into the final two practices—beneficial action (skillfully benefiting all beings in their immediate and long-term wellbeing, helping friend and enemy equally, recognizing that helping others inherently helps yourself in this act of oneness) and identity action (entering fully into others' situations with no gap or difference, becoming that person without filtering through your own perspective, like the Buddha becoming human to deal with human troubles or a daughter falling down in grass to help her fallen father)—discovering how these universal bodhisattva practices of action in the world create harmonious life with others.
Introduction: Methods for Harmonious Living
Meet Norman Fischer again for the second workshop on Dogen's "Bodhisattva's Four Methods of Guidance," reviewing that the first workshop covered giving and kind speech, now turning to beneficial action and identity action—the ways bodhisattvas behave to be with other people in ways that put them at ease and bring everyone into mutual harmony, as enlightening beings who want to awaken in their own lives by awakening others, reading from Kaz Tanahashi's translation in "Moon In a Dewdrop."
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Introduction: Methods for Harmonious Living
Meet Norman Fischer again for the second workshop on Dogen's "Bodhisattva's Four Methods of Guidance," reviewing that the first workshop covered giving and kind speech, now turning to beneficial action and identity action—the ways bodhisattvas behave to be with other people in ways that put them at ease and bring everyone into mutual harmony, as enlightening beings who want to awaken in their own lives by awakening others, reading from Kaz Tanahashi's translation in "Moon In a Dewdrop."
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Teaching: Oneness in Helping, Identity in Suffering
Explore Dogen's teachings that beneficial action means skillfully benefiting all kinds of sentient beings (caring about distant and near future, not expecting reward, spontaneously helping caged tortoises and injured sparrows), understanding that life is not zero-sum—benefiting others inherently benefits you in this act of oneness, growing and feeling less burdened when you help, with the challenging instruction to benefit friend and enemy equally, benefit self and others alike (taking care of yourself not selfishly but so you can help others), committing to do good for anyone at any time whether you know, like, or approve of them. Discover identity action as non-difference from self and others—like the Buddha becoming human to deal with human troubles, like Lingzhao falling down in grass next to her father who called for help—entering fully into others' situations without filtering through your own perspective, treating helping as natural as scratching your own back, exemplified powerfully in healthcare when sitting at the bedside of a dying person by breathing with them, holding their hand, being completely there because truly "I am that person and that person is me," fully open without fear, sharing each other's suffering and joy with no gap between.
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Practices: Yes, Smiles, Driving, Space, and Deep Listening
Receive five concrete practices: For beneficial action—(1) Like improv theater's one rule, always say yes to whatever people are doing, helping them advance their cause rather than resisting; (2) Get up each day asking "what can I do to learn more and be more interactive?", keeping your eye open for every instance to be of service (smiling at people in crowds, letting someone ahead in line, helping lift heavy items), on the lookout for little ways to help; (3) Transform driving by being on the lookout to benefit every other driver (letting them in, going slow when better, getting out of their way when they're hurrying), discovering there's no longer such a thing as traffic when you practice beneficial action, just comfortable sitting in a line of cars. For identity action—(4) Notice the space between you and others rather than focusing on the other person's body, discovering you're doing a kind of aesthetic dance where movements relate and rhyme, creating different feeling for how others fit into your life; (5) Practice listening—stop thinking about whether you like what they're saying or your muffled background thoughts, rising up your attention to really listen to the other person (their voice, words, facial expression, body language), discovering they'll notice and feel it, speak differently, and you'll feel profound liberation from yourself, no longer having to be you but being inside their words and heart.
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Closing: Try It and See What Happens
Receive final encouragement that cultivating these four methods absolutely changes your life (speaking from experience with many practitioners over years), emphasizing again that meditation practice helps—not for calm, concentration, health, or wellbeing, but simply sitting in silence paying attention to your physical body, breathing in and out, listening to mind and heart and outside sounds, being present with no other tasks, which almost physiologically softens your heart so you can practice these methods far more than you ever thought possible. Receive the practical suggestion to try these practices for a while without big resolutions, see what happens, and if it works notice the difference when you stop—discovering that if meditation and these practices make your life feel different on a daily basis with different quality, you'll be encouraged to continue because it actually works, with gratitude to Lion's Roar for offering these mini workshops.
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