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Our Parents of Great Compassion
Mother’s Day is celebrated in the month of May. Some people feel the closest maternal connection to the woman who gave birth to them. Others have a special connection with mother figures who are not their birth mother, but those who have given them great care and kindness over the years. I recall one temple member whose mother lived far away, but they would often say “I am fortunate to have so many mothers here at the temple in the Buddhist Women’s Association.” When one of the BWA ladies would correct them on a mistake, they would graciously reply. “Yes, Mom. I’ll do it that way from now on.” If one of the BWA ladies helped them with a task, they would gratefully say, “Thanks, Mom!” Those “Moms” were not their birth mothers, but they were a consistent presence of care and support.
Continue reading “Our Parents of Great Compassion”Flowers that Bloom in the Springtime
Growing up in Minnesota, I spent many hours in the autumn helping my mother in our family flower gardens. We would clear out the dead plants and prepare the soil for the flowers my mother had planned for the following spring. I remember one afternoon in early November when I was planting flower bulbs and thinking to myself, why are we putting these plants in the ground now, when the soil will be frozen for the next four months?
The following year in April when the snow finally melted, a bed of beautiful tulips and crocuses bloomed in the spot where the bulbs had been planted. I marveled at how life had carried on through a long period where it seemed that everything in that place had died and then resurfaced with such striking beauty. Life had not ceased in the garden. It simply took on another form. Today, recalling the understanding of the cycle of nature that I learned seeing those flowers bloom as a child, I can appreciate how conditions from the past bear fruit in the present.
Continue reading “Flowers that Bloom in the Springtime”Introduction to Buddhist Funerals and Memorial Services
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Heading to the Western Shore
Prior to coming to the San Mateo Buddhist Temple, I served for three and half years at the Oxnard Buddhist Temple and the Buddhist Church of Santa Barbara. One day, a Dharma friend in Santa Barbara called me to say that a church member by the name of Mr. Baba was in the hospital and would be cheered by a visit from me. Mr. Baba was 95 years old, and while born in the United States, had spent much of his childhood in Japan. He would attend every service I led at the Buddhist Church of Santa Barbara smartly dressed in a suit and tie. He was a man of few words who listened to the Dharma with deep attention.
At that time, our eldest son had just turned one year old, so I was still getting used to life as a parent and feeling a little frazzled. When I stepped into Mr. Baba’s hospital room, there were various medical devices beeping and clicking at his bedside. He immediately greeted me, saying, “Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit me.” I asked him how he was feeling, and he responded warmly, “So-so, but I’m still here. How is your wife and your baby boy?”
Continue reading “Heading to the Western Shore”The Great Sage, the World-honored One
From The Letters of Rennyo Shonin (Gobunsho) Fascicle 3, Letter 4
When we carefully consider the transiency of human life, we realize that the living will certainly end in death and that the prosperous will eventually decline. This is how life is in the human world. Even so, we vainly live days and nights, spending months and years to no purpose. Indeed, we may lament about it, but I feel that we could never really comprehend the true extent of this pitifully sad situation.
How true it is that impermanence is difficult to escape for all, from the Great Sage, the World-honored One, at the highest level, to Devadatta, who committed evil acts and grave offenses, at the lowest.
Moreover, to receive life as a human being is indeed rare and difficult, and even more so is it the opportunity to encounter the Buddha Dharma, the way of emancipation from birth-and-death through practices of self-power is difficult to follow at the present time in the latter days. Therefore, our lives would be spent in vain unless we encountered the Primal Vow of Amida Tathagata.
Continue reading “The Great Sage, the World-honored One”On the Designation of Our Tradition
The Letters of Rennyo Shonin (Gobunsho) Fascicle 1, Letter 15
Question: How has it come about that there is such a widespread practice of referring to our tradition as the “Ikkōshū”? I am puzzled about this.
Answer: Our tradition’s designation as the “Ikkōshū” was certainly not determined by our founder. Generally speaking, the reason everyone says [this] is because we “steadfastly” (ikkō ni) rely on Amida Buddha. However, since a passage in the [Larger] Sutra teaches “steadfast and exclusive mindfulness of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life” (Daimuryōjukyō, T.12:272b), referring to us as the “Ikkōshū” presents no problem when the implication is “be steadfastly mindful of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life.” Our founder, however, did indeed designate this sect as the “Jōdo Shinshū.” Hence we now that the term “Ikkōshū” did not come from within our sect. Further, others within the Jōdoshū allow the sundry practices. Our Master rejected the sundry practices, and it is on this basis that we attain birth in the true and real (shinjitsu) fulfilled land. For this reason, he specifically inserted the character shin (true).
A further question: I understand clearly that, long ago, [the founder] designated our tradition as the “Jōdo Shinshū.” However, I would like to hear in detail how it is that in the teaching of our sect, although we are laypeople of deep evil karma, burdened with evil acts and grave offenses, we are to be born readily in the Land of Utmost Bliss through reliance on the working of Amida’s Vow.
Answer: The import of our tradition is that when faith is decisively settled,
we will unfailingly attain birth in the true and real fulfilled land. And so if you
ask what this faith is, [the answer is that] it is just [a matter of] relying single-
heartedly and without any worry on Amida Tathāgata, giving no thought to
other buddhas and bodhisattvas and entrusting ourselves steadfastly and withoutany double-mindedness to Amida. This we call “settlement of faith.” The twocharacters shin-jin are [literally] read “true mind.” We say “true mind” because the practitioner is not saved by his mistaken mind of self-power (jiriki no kokoro) but by the right mind of other-power given by the Tathāgata.
Further, we are not saved simply by repeating the Name without any understanding of it. Hence the [Larger] Sutra teaches that we “hear the Name
and realize faith and joy” (Daimuryōjukyō, T.12:272b; Kyōgyōshinshō,
T.83:601a, 605a). “Hearing the Name” is not hearing the six-character Name
na-mu-a-mi-da-butsu unreflectively; it means that when we meet a good
teacher, receive his teaching, and entrust ourselves (namu) to the Name
(namu-amida-butsu), Amida Buddha unfailingly saves us. This is explained
in the [Larger] Sutra as “realizing faith and joy.” Consequently, we should
understand that namu-amida-butsu shows how he saves us.
After we have come to this realization, we must bear in mind that the
Name we say walking, standing, sitting, and lying down is simply an expres-
sion of gratitude for Amida Tathāgata’s benevolence in saving us. With this,
we are to be declared other-power nenbutsu practitioners who have attained
faith and will be born in the Land of Utmost Bliss.
Respectfully.
The compilation and writing of this letter were completed between 9:00 and 11:00 A.M. on the second day of the latter part of the ninth month, Bunmei
5 (1473), at the hot springs at Yamanaka, Kaga province.
Shōnyo, disciple of Śākyamuni
(written seal)
The Peace of Mind We Receive from Sakyamuni Buddha
In February, we observe our Nirvana Day Service commemorating Sakyamuni Buddha’s passing from this world into the lasting peace of parinirvana. In departing from this world, Sakyamuni embodied the essential truth that all who are born into human life will eventually pass through the gate of death. Given that our bodily form will not last forever, where shall we find meaning and purpose in this life? Observing the world in which we live, it seems that many lives are devoted to the pursuit of fame and profit. Shinran Shonin himself concludes his Hymns of the Dharma-Ages with the following verse:
I am such that I do not know right and wrong
And cannot distinguish false and true;
I lack even small love and small compassion,
And yet, for fame and profit, enjoy teaching others.
Year of the Dragon
Best wishes for the New Year! In the traditional zodiac calendar of East Asia 2024 is the Year of the Dragon. In Buddhism, dragons are revered as protectors of the Buddha’s teaching, or the Dharma. Many temples feature dragon images on incense burners, painted doors, and altar adornments. In his Hymns in Praise of Prince Shotoku¸Shinran Shonin describes how a dragon protects the Dharma at the Shitennoji Kyoden-in temple built in the sixth century by Prince Shotoku in the area of present-day Osaka:
On this site, there is a body of pure water;
It is called Koryo pond.
An auspicious dragon constantly dwells therein;
It protects the Buddhist teaching.
(Collected Works of Shinran, p. 436)
Living in modern society, we tend to think of protection as something for our property and our bodies. We lock the doors to our house to protect ourselves and our belongings from intruders. We install alarms in our cars to protect them from thieves. People who play rugged sports like skateboarding, football, and ice hockey wear pads to protect their bodies from injury. Whenever I go for a bike ride, I wear a helmet to protect my head and sunglasses and sunscreen to protect my skin from harmful ultraviolet rays. Protection generally implies keeping something harmful out, like keeping burglars out of our homes, keeping thieves out of our cars, and keeping harmful ultraviolet rays from penetrating the delicate tissues of our skin and eyes.
Continue reading “Year of the Dragon”On the Point of Departure
From The Letters of Rennyo Shonin (Gobunsho) Fascicle 2, Letter 2
In the school founded by the Master, faith is placed before all else. If we ask the purpose of that faith, [the answer is that] it is the point of departure enabling wretched ordinary beings like ourselves, who lack good and do evil, to go readily to Amida’s Pure Land. Without attaining faith, we will not be born in the Land of Utmost Bliss but will fall into the hell of incessant pain (avīci). If we then ask how to attain that faith, [the answer is that], relying deeply on the single buddha, Amida Tathāgata, we give no thought to any of the various good deeds and myriad practices, and, dismissing the inclination to make petitions to the various buddhas and bodhisattvas just for this life, and discarding false, erroneous thoughts such as those of self-power, we entrust ourselves singleheartedly and steadfastly, without double-mindedness, to Amida; without fail, Amida embraces such people with his all-pervading light and will not abandon them.
Continue reading “On the Point of Departure”