I’ve posted once or twice about driving. I have a much different commute to work now than I used to; when I moved from Enumclaw to downtown Seattle two years ago, I went from having a 14 mile commute along a two-lane state highway (SR 164) to a ~30 mile commute, mostly along I-5 (four lanes in each direction) and SR18 (two lanes each direction, divided highway.)

The old drive took about 20 minutes; the new one takes anywhere from 35 to 45, with occasional days when it’ll take 50-60 minutes (depending on the traffic).

Trying to stay true to buddhist ideals and beliefs can be challenging in the car. Nichiren and Shakyamuni tell us that all people have a Buddha nature within, and that we should recognize and honor that.

Stories of Bodhisattava Never Disparaging are occasionally discussed in the SGI’s meetings. BND (for short) is said to be an earlier incarnation of Shakyamuni who had accrued some really bad karma. To help change his karma, he spent his life going around expressing profound respect for people, bowing to them and telling them how great they were and how they would inevitably attain Buddhahood.

Here’s a story about this bodhisattava from the Lotus Sutra…

At this time there was a bodhisattva monk named Never Disparaging. Now, Gainer of Great Authority, for what reason was he named Never Disparaging? This monk, whatever persons he happened to meet, whether monks, nuns, Laymen or laywomen, would bow in obeisance to all of them and speak words of praise, saying, ‘I have profound reverence for you, I would never dare treat you with disparaging and arrogance. Why? Because you are all practicing the bodhisattva way and are certain to attain Buddhahood.’

“This monk did not devote his time to reading or reciting the scriptures, but simply went about bowing to people. And if he happened to see any of the four kinds of believers far off in the distance, he would purposely go to where they were, bow to them and speak words of praise, saying, ‘I would never dare disparage you, because you are all certain to attain Buddhahood!’

Now, what does this have to do with driving to/from work? Well, on the big highways I drive now, I see a lot of idiots doing crazy stuff! I can’t believe people drive that way sometimes.

I’m no angel when it comes to driving. I got pulled over once and got a speeding ticket for doing about 95, and just a few minutes before that I had actually been doing over 100. But that was on I-90 outside of Ellensburg, late at night, in the summer- dry roads, no traffic whatsoever. Only person at risk from driving that fast was me.

It’s really hard to follow BND’s example and have deep respect for the inner Buddha in some people when they’re driving like morons. I see people speeding on I-5, doing WAY over the speed limit (heck, I speed too, but not doing 85 to 95 mph). I see people weaving in and out of traffic and cutting others off.

This is something we all see and deal with. I’ve gotten to a point where my “road rage” flareups are only for a minute and not too bad, but it’s always a struggle.

I can say this much- having a practice, a little mantra to say and chant a bit, helps. It’s surprising, in fact. So even though I might mutter “what a f***ing moron” when some guy zooms by, at least I have something to fall back on now! Even if you’re not a Buddhist, if traffic drives you nuts (haha, little pun there) I’d suggest finding something to chant or meditate on a bit to help.

People at work ask me all the time how the drive is now that I’ve been doing it for a couple of years, if I’m tired of it yet, and I say “nah, not too bad at all. I wish it wasn’t so long, but it’s easy enough to do.” What I should add is “That’s because I have a little meditative exercise that I can do to help with the stress!”