On Sunday, March 3, I got up early, did my regular morning service and then drove to the Sacramento Amtrak station downtown to catch the 9 am Capitol Corridor train to Oakland.

Normally, I attend services at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church on the second Sunday of the month, but with no service scheduled this month I decided to attend the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the San Francisco Bay Area service at the home of Mark Ryugan Herrick in Piedmont.

It is a little more than 3 miles from the Oakland Jack London Square Amtrak station to Greenbank Avenue in Piedmont. From the Second Street station, I walk to Jackson Street and then to Lake Merritt. I walk around Lake Merritt to Grand Avenue and then continue up the hill to Greenbank Avenue. The only physical difficulty is my bladder. At 68 I’m prone to extra trips to the potty, especially after drinking tea on the two-hour train trip. Anyway, thank you, Safeway, for providing public toilets.

The train trip and the walk get me to Herrick’s house some time after noon. Services are scheduled to begin at 12:30 pm, with a lecture by Michael Ryuei McCormick Shonin following. In addition to Ryuei and Ryugan and me, there were two other men who attended. I was told fear of the Corona Virus was keeping a couple of regulars away. The quarters are tight and vigorous chanting could fill the air with pathogens. This will be the last service at Herrick’s house until the virus scare has passed.

Ryuei Shonin’s lectures are part of his Buddhist Study Program. You can read more about that here. Today’s topic was Chapter 5 of The Vimalakirti Sutra.

The Burton Watson translation opens Chapter 5:

INQUIRING ABOUT THE ILLNESS

At that time the Buddha said to Manjushri, “You must go visit Vimalakirti and inquire about his illness.”

Manjushri replied to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, that eminent man is very difficult to confront. He is profoundly enlightened in the true nature of reality and skilled at preaching the essentials of the Law. His eloquence never falters, his wisdom is free of impediments. He understands all the rules of bodhisattva conduct, and nothing in the secret storehouse of the Buddhas is beyond his grasp. He has overcome the host of devils and disports himself with transcendental powers. In wisdom and expedient means he has mastered all there is to know. Nevertheless, in obedience to the Buddha’s august command, I will go visit him and inquire about his illness.” (Page 34)

Of particular interest for me was Vimalakirti’s explanation of his own illness in response to Manjushri:

“Layman, this illness of yours—can you endure it? Is the treatment perhaps not making it worse rather than better? The World-Honored One countless times has made solicitous inquiries concerning you. Layman, what is the cause of this illness? Has it been with you long? And how can it be cured?”

Vimalakirti replied, “This illness of mine is born of ignorance and feelings of attachment. Because all living beings are sick, therefore I am sick. If all living beings are relieved of sickness, then my sickness will be mended. Why? Because the bodhisattva for the sake of living beings enters the realm of birth and death, and because he is in the realm of birth and death he suffers illness. If living beings can gain release from illness, then the bodhisattva will no longer be ill.

“It is like the case of a rich man who has only one child. If the child falls ill, then the father and mother too will be ill, but if the child’s illness is cured, the father and mother too will be cured. The bodhisattva is like this, for he loves living beings as though they were his children. If living beings are sick, the bodhisattva will be sick, but if living beings are cured, the bodhisattva too will be cured. You ask what cause this illness arises from – the illness of the bodhisattva arises from his great compassion.” (Page 35-36)

Which brings us to the topic of this blog post: This photo.

The service concluded at 2:30 pm and I caught a Lyft ride back to the Jack London Square station in time to get a seat on the 3 pm Capitol Corridor train for Sacramento. The ride was relaxing and uneventful until congestion in the Sacramento station caused our train to come to a halt across the Sacramento River in West Sacramento.

Looking out the window I saw a man climb our of his tarp shelter and proceed to inject something into his left arm. I took a photo and posted it on Instagram on my @jomariworks account.

When I eventually arrived home I did my regular evening service and my daily 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra posts. I then did a quick post of the photo and the first Bodhisattva Vow.

And so here I am today attempting to put that photo into the context of the Bodhisattva compassion shown in Vimalakirti’s illness.

If nothing else, this offers graphic illustration of the difficulty of the Bodhisattva path.