In “Benevolence Helps Everyone” Rev. Clairissa speaks further on the Four Wisdoms from “Awakening to the Mind of the Bodhisattva” in the Shushōgi, this week on benevolence. She reflects on many of the ways we may come to live from the fundamental goodness at the heart of all being – which is not separate from benevolent intention within our own good heart.

Third in a series of four talks by Rev. Clairissa on the Four Wisdoms: charity, tenderness, benevolence, and sympathy.

From the Shushōgi: “If one creates wise ways of helping beings, whether they be in high places or lowly stations, one exhibits benevolence: no reward was sought by those who rescued the helpless tortoise and the sick sparrow, these acts being utterly benevolent. The stupid believe that they will lose something if they give help to others, but this is completely untrue for benevolence helps everyone, including oneself, being a law of the universe.”

The Shushōgi (What is Truly Meant by Training and Enlightenment) is the distillation of the essential teachings of Dōgen and the Sōtō Zen tradition, compiled in the late 1800s in Japan. The text in English can be found in the book Zen is Eternal Life by Rōshi P.T.N.H. Jiyu-Kennett (Shasta Abbey Press, 1999).