Every Sunday when we observe Dharma service, we practice meditation and become one with the moment. When we practice meditation, we adjust our body, by stretching our back and relaxing our shoulder. We adjust our mind, by trying to purify our mind, and to concentrate on our breath.

Life begins with a single breath. The moment we are born and leave the wombs of our mother, we begin the lifelong process of inhaling and exhaling that continue until the moment we die. One day, we will stop to breathe, as historical Buddha Shakyamuni had said.

There is a story. A Buddhist teacher once asked a question to his disciples. “What is the most important thing in your life?” One of disciples replied to the teacher, “It is food. Without eating food, we cannot live.” The next disciple replied, “It is my job. Without working, I cannot make money for food to eat.” The last disciple replied, “It is a mind of seeking the truth.”

How about you? What is the most important thing in your life? Some of you may say that it is money, love, family, fame, pride, health, children, and so forth. In our daily lives, we are attached and dependent on so many of those things. We believe that as long as we have those, we can enjoy our life forever. However, no matter how much we rely upon those things, when we die, we cannot take anything at all and they do not help at all.

Going back to the story, when the teacher heard his disciples’ replies, he gave a signal to one of disciples to step forward. There was a big pot full of water next to the teacher. Then, the teacher grabbed the disciple’s neck and put into the water. At that moment, all of the disciples were enlightened what was the most important thing in their lives. Were you enlightened? What is the most important thing in your life? It is a breath to inhale and to exhale.

When I was in Hawaii, I enjoyed surfing. One day, I went to the north shore, Hanalei, on Kauai in the evening. Unfortunately, it was raining heavily. So I was watching the waves in the ocean from my car. Despite the horrible conditions some of people were surfing. After watching them for a while, I came back home. The night, I got a call from a doctor at Wilcox Hospital-Emergency. He asked me to conduct a bed side service for his friend. So I went to the hospital. Before the service, I asked the doctor about the cause of his friend’s death. The doctor told me that he was surfing in the north shore and drowned. It was the place where I was watching that evening. Because of the big waves and heavy rain lifeguards could not see him. I thought to myself, if I was surfing that evening, I might have drowned like this person. I recalled couple experiences of nearby drowning by the big waves. I was reminded of the importance of breathing.  

We can live days without food, years without job, or a lifetime without truth. However, we cannot live minutes without a breath. We take it for granted. However, it is really a wonderful thing to breathe in and out. For that, we are truly grateful. To breathe, we need air. Without nature such as water, sunshine, raining, etc., the air does not exist. Our lives are sustained by many things and beings.

We are alive, but actually we are not living by ourselves. We are enabled to live because of many beings and things. We are living in the interdependence and interconnected world. Most importantly, we are made to live in Amida Buddha’s Timeless Wisdom and Limitless Compassion, Infinite Light and Life. This is why we are truly grateful. From this gratefulness and thankfulness, we recite Amida Buddha’s Name “Namo-Amidabutsu” with a single breath as the basis of true and real life.

Year 2011 will end with your single breath and a new year 2012 will start with your single breath. Each year, day, and moment begins and ends with your single breath. Let us all realize what the most important thing in our lives is and fill our lives with joy of the Buddha-Dharma by listening to and practicing the Buddha-Dharma in our daily lives.