In the month of October, many will be celebrating or observing Halloween. It is surprising how many people have embraced this “holiday.” As Buddhists living here in America, we have assimilated into the culture and traditions and many will observe Halloween with parties, giving out treats and even decorating their homes.
I understand that the tradition of wearing masks comes from the belief that ghosts would return to earth on Halloween. In order to hide from the ghosts’ people would wear masks when they went out at night. People would do this in the hopes that they would fool the ghosts into thinking they were fellow spirits. In our modern-day, it has become “fun” to don the mask of a superhero or a villain and play the part for one day.
In reality, we all don different masks throughout our lives. As an example, at one time we might wear the mask of a student, or a teacher, in another instance we may be wearing the mask of a parent or a child. We wear the mask of an employee or a supervisor, we are at one moment a brother and at the same time a friend. We are husbands and wives, helpers and consumers. We all have different persona that we wear from time to time.
These are the many masks that we wear, day to day, moment to moment. The Buddha teaches us to take time to removes those masks and see the true and real self. Beneath all the roles lies what the Buddha called Buddha-nature, the potential to be truly wise and compassionate. This is what we call Enlightenment. The true and real self is the unselfish being that lies beneath all the roles we play.
The many different practices that Buddhism offers are intended to delve deep behind all the roles we play and find the true and real self. As we practice and peel away the many layers of self we find that the true and real self is the result of wisdom and compassion that we have received from all our encounters and experiences. The encounter with this truth of life is realizing our own blindness and foolishness. The result is our heart becomes one with the heart of the Buddha, the heart of true wisdom and compassion that embraces all beings.
Living with the Buddha Dharma softens our rigid hearts and minds and we become freed from selfishness and greed. Living with the Buddha Dharma opens up a deep gratitude for the gift of life that we have received. Then we can celebrate not just the holidays, but we can celebrate life itself.
Gassho.
Rev. Hosei Shinseki leads the Watsonville Buddhist Temple. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent those of the Pajaronian.
