Every year during this time, we celebrate the “season of hope”—the holiday season. Most of us hope for a better, more loving, different kind of world. For Buddhists, it is hope for a world that is already “basically good”, not one that “could be”, but one that “already is”. Moreihei Ueshiba, the Father of the Japanese Martial Art of Aikido, wrote, “We exist for one purpose, to realize our inner divinity and manifest our inherent enlightenment.” This thought flows from a fundamental Buddhist conviction that the World, the Universe, is “basically good” and that the real work of Spirituality is to “realize” or “make real” by “manifesting” or “to make evident, visible” our own “basic goodness”. We hope that the basic goodness of all life, all human beings, may surface and manifest itself to create a truly “enlightened society”. The world we see each day on the news and perhaps directly is not the “real world”, it is the world mankind has created from ignorance of our basic goodness.

The word “holiday” finds it roots in the words “holy day”. “Holy” is rooted in the word “divine”, the power, being or realm understood by religious persons to be at the core of existence and to have a transformative effect on their lives and destinies.” The “core” of your and my existence as well as all Dharma is “divine” and whenever we are aware of this core we are transformed from ignorant states of consciousness (sense of separation and individualism) to enlightened states of awareness of “other” or, what is at the core of our basic goodness, “a sense of belonging”. No one would argue that the holidays create a heightened sense of belonging to others and to something larger than ourselves.

When the holiday season comes around, no matter what the rest of the year is like, it is almost as if we cannot help ourselves—we have to give and we are open to receive. This “giving” is what I call “creating a conducive environment.” When we create a “conducive” environment something is born, when we “give” ourselves or of ourselves the results often prove to be that what is born or manifested is our “basic goodness” among which is “love, kindness, compassion, charity, and benevolence”, which is rooted in our sense of “belonging”. If we can learn to create a conducive environment everyday and not just part of the year, we can realize an enlightened society, awake, loving, compassionate, kind and benevolent.

If we can do it part of the year, we can do it all year.

I Love You, and wish for a full year of holidays for you and your loved ones!

Seijaku Roshi is the abbot of Jizoan Monastery at the Pine Wind Zen Community, located at 863 McKendimen Rd., in Shamong. For more information, call 609-268-9151 or visit Jizo-an.org.