by Levi Shinyo Sensei,

I’m an avid reader, both fiction or nonfiction. And ever since I was young I’ve had an enormous imagination, one which I’ve been lucky enough to retain in part as I’ve aged. Ever since I was able to read by myself I’ve been able to create vivid movies and scenes in my imagination from those simple words. Of course some books aren’t as easy to do this, mainly non-fiction. But even when it is non-fiction I always assign a voice to the author based on the subject or on the authors voice itself if I’ve heard it. The voice of Socrates is deep, ancient and authoritarian. The voice of any book by H.P. Lovecraft has the post-Victorian narrator, proper yet haunting, and the voice of Jesus was soft and kind. But while reflecting on this I realized, Buddha has no voice. I thought about it for a while, and thought perhaps I had just forgotten what it was, so I tried one of a prince, a wise man, a young man, a hermit, etc, etc. But none of them fit. But then I realized, The Buddha has no voice because all voices are the voice of Buddha. My voice is the voice of Buddha, your voice is the voice of Buddha. At every moment, in every person we have the chance to hear the Buddhas voice and hear the Dharma. If I understand the nature of the nembutsu, where the Buddha and I are one. If I do understand this correctly, this is my dharma glimpse of the nembutsu.

Levi Shinyo is a Lay Minister with Bright Dawn Way of Oneness Sangha.  For information about Bright Dawn and the Lay Ministry program please visit our website.