One Bow to the Living Buddha, Merit a Million Times Greater

In the middle of a dharma talk, the whole assembly was listening in silence. Outside, the afternoon sun filtered through the leaves, casting shimmering streaks of light across the temple courtyard. In the lecture hall, before the majestic statue of the Buddha, the teacher paused for a moment and then spoke:

"Have you ever asked yourselves why we must revere the Buddha? What is this feeling of reverence, really?"

The assembly fell completely silent. Many bowed their heads, their hearts stirred. The teacher explained slowly: this feeling cannot be defined by words. Just like love, reverence can only be recognized through its expressions. When we meet someone we respect, we are moved, our hearts swell. We want to bow our heads, to kneel down, to listen, to obey. Those are the four signs of reverence.

The teacher told of a person injured in an accident on the road. One passerby stopped, called a car to take the victim to the hospital, and then considered the matter finished. But there was another person who, after bringing the victim to the hospital, went on to contact the family, asking whether they were rich or poor, whether they faced any hardship, and then found ways to help them right where they were. "That person is far more virtuous than I am," the teacher said, "and so I respect them."

The teacher emphasized: we respect those who surpass us in talent or in virtue. But deep down, it is virtue that inspires our respect the most. The teacher quoted the German poet: "Before a great mind, I bow my head; but before a great heart, I kneel down."

Then the teacher told of someone who loved music. When introduced to a person who held a doctorate in music, that person felt bewildered, understood nothing, and so felt no admiration. But the teacher, knowing how vast the world of music is, understood that he stood only outside its gate. So whenever he heard of a doctorate in music, he felt admiration at once. "Reverence comes from understanding the distance between ourselves and the other person," the teacher said. "The foolish respect no one, because they cannot see the goodness in others."

The teacher paused, looked around, and asked: "If two people are equally talented, do they respect each other?" The assembly shook their heads. "They are usually jealous of each other. But what about two venerable monks of equally lofty virtue—do they respect each other?" Everyone nodded. The teacher explained: a virtuous person always believes others are better than themselves, and so they respect one another. The wicked, on the other hand, respect no one in this world. "By looking at the reverence in our own hearts, we can know whether we are virtuous or not."

The teacher went on to speak of the cause and effect (karmic law) of reverence. "When we revere someone, we gradually attain what they have. Respect a good teacher, and we become good teachers. Admire a great scientist, and we more easily become scientists ourselves. Revere someone with a heart of compassion, and we gradually become compassionate." The teacher told of a temple secretary in a past life who had a very ugly face. His master taught him to practice repentance by bowing to the Medicine Buddha and contemplating the eighty beautiful marks of the Buddha's appearance. He bowed again and again, always turning his heart toward the Buddha's countenance. In a later life, he became the Zen master Ngoc Lam, with a remarkably beautiful face. "That is how it works—revere a noble one, and we will attain the qualities of a noble one."

The teacher's voice suddenly grew soft: "But we are unfortunate people. We were born more than two thousand years after the Buddha, without the conditions to meet him and bow at his feet. If we could meet a living Buddha and bow just once, that merit would be a million times greater than bowing to a statue. For a Buddha statue is only an image, and our hearts feel only a small fraction of that emotion. But do not be sad. Let us make up for it by remembering that the Buddha is still there, his heart embracing all sentient beings. When we look at a Buddha statue, let us imagine that he is alive, smiling upon us. Let us offer him our boundless reverence, as we would offer it to a loving father, a great teacher."

The teacher concluded: "One who has attained the first fruit of stream-entry must have a steadfast reverence for the Buddha that nothing can shake. But if someone abandons the path upon merely hearing that the Buddha's conditions have ended, that person has no noble qualities. Let us nurture reverence all our lives—toward our parents, our teachers, and all good examples. That is the root of morality, the foundation of all spiritual practice."

The Meaning of the Story

Boundless reverence for the Buddha is not merely a ritual; it is the foundation of morality and the cause and effect (karmic law) that leads us to attain noble qualities. A virtuous person always knows how to respect those better than themselves; through reverence for the noble ones, our hearts are gradually transformed, and we are freed from the suffering of samsara (cycle of rebirth).

Compiled from a dharma talk by Venerable Thich Chan Quang