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Rimban George Matsubayashi | Reverend Briones BY RIMBAN GEORGE MATSUBAYASHI "Gotan-E and Installation Services of Refurbished Obutsudan" As part of our Centennial Celebration last year, the "object of reverence" (Buddha statue) and Obutsudan enshrined in the hondo main worship area of our old temple were sent back to Japan to be refurbished. These objects were created back in 1925 when our old temple was constructed. They are being refurbished to install in our newly constructed Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life, and in our Wisteria chapel. Recently, the shop in Kyoto, Japan that is doing the work informed us that refurbishing is advancing as planned. The objects will be shipped from Japan about the middle of April in order to reach Los Angeles by May 15th or 16th. The artisans who will install them will arrive in Los Angeles on May 15th. These are the wonderful "objects of reverence" that our members have had such an intimate 81 year relationship with, starting at our old temple, and continuing for 36 more years at our present temple. Eighty-one years … All I can say is, "How ‘marvelously mysterious’ (fukashigi)!" And now these objects that played such an important part in the spiritual lives of our members are about to be installed in our Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life, and in our Wisteria Chapel. I cannot think of a better way to start the next hundred years of our temple’s existence. My heart is filled with joy and gratitude at all the sacrifices and hard works you members made that allowed this to happen As already announced, the ceremony to celebrate installation of the refurbished objects in our two new structures will take place on May 21 (Sunday). That is when we will also celebrate the day the founder of our Jodo-Shinshu teaching, the Venerable Master Shinran, was born. I believe this service, called Gotan-e, is an extremely suitable time to celebrate the installation because it commemorates new beginnings – the beginning of the Venerable Master’s life, and the spiritual beginning of our two new structures. We followers of the Jodo-Shinshu teaching gratefully receive Amida Buddha’s vow to cause us, not only as individuals, but all sentient beings, to also become Buddha. Hearing this Compassionate Vow and relying on his Immeasurable Wisdom and Immeasurable Compassion, we receive "Namo Amida Butsu" in gratitude, knowing that we are "taken in, never to be forsaken" (sesshu fusha). The sole reason for the "objects of reverence" is to make it easy for us "ignorant beings, who are filled with base passions" (bonbu) to accept the profundity of Amida Buddha’s Vow to cause our birth in the Pure Land where we are allowed to become Buddhas. That’s the reason for the six-character Myogo Name and Title scroll of "Namo Amida Butsu" (na-mo-a-mi-da-butsu), for the portrait of the Buddha referred to as "fulfilled body of compassionate means" (hoben hojin), and also for the wooden image of Amida Buddha. They are all means to make us aware of Amida Buddha’s Compassionate Vow that is directed solely towards us. The founder of our Jodo-Shinshu teaching was born 833 years ago in the village of Hino, located near the capital of Kyoto. This was during the year 1173 CE, and said to be on the 1st day of the 4th lunar month, which was converted to our modern calendar date of May 21. He was separated from his parents by death while still a child, and became a Buddhist monk at the youthful age of nine. He studied and performed the most strenuous of religious practices on Mt. Hiei for twenty years. Unable to attain the enlightenment that he so fervently sought, the Venerable Master finally left Mt. Hiei at the age of 29. He then studied under the Master Honen, where he came in contact with the teaching of "the Nembutsu based on the Selected Primal Vow" (senjaku-hongan-no-nembutsu). From that time one, he abandoned all "self-centered effort" (jiriki) to perform "mixed acts and mixed practices" (zogyo zasshu) to become enlightened. He became instead, a "doer" (gyoja) of " ‘true mind’ (shinjin) based on ‘Buddha-created power’ "(tariki shinjin). The Venerable Master Shinran spent the rest of his life teaching about the "merit transference" (eko) of Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow that is directed solely towards us. He taught that the single activity of the Primal Vow is all that is necessary for us to become Buddhas. Absolutely everyone is included in the provisions of the Primal Vow. All who accept Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow – whether young or old, male or female, good or evil, monk/nun or layperson, wise or ignorant, rich or poor – will, without exception, become Buddhas. That’s what the Venerable Master taught. The wisdom and compassion of the "merit transference" of the power of the Primal Vow is such that those who sense it realize they are blessed with the same light as Amida Buddha’s that is immeasurable (wisdom) and the life that is immeasurable (compassion). That’s how thoroughly and deeply Amida Buddha’s" ‘merit transference’ of the Primal Vow’" reverberates within us. The Venerable Master taught us that this "‘merit transference’ of the Primal Vow’" actually has two aspects: *The aspect of "going to the Pure Land" (oso,
and The aspect of "going to the Pure Land" refers to the fact that all who fulfill the cause of "shinjin is the correct cause (for our birth in the Pure Land)," are born there and become Buddhas just as we wish. The aspect of "returning from the Pure Land" refers to the fact that, because we are now Buddhas, we have the capacity – the wisdom and the compassion – to help all sentient beings to also become Buddhas. But whether it is "my going to the Pure Land and becoming a Buddha" or whether it is "my returning to this world of delusion to help others," all is solely due to the " ‘merit transference’ of the Primal Vow." That’s what it means to gratefully accept the " ‘Buddha-centered power’ of the Primal Vow" (hongan tariki). When each of us, individually, within our limited world of flesh and blood, is "taken-in" (sesshu) by the single thought of "shinjin based on the ‘Buddha-centered power’ of the Primal Vow," we are allowed to live in an unlimited world that is blessed with the same life as the Buddha with his immeasurable light and life. And blessed with this "immeasurable light" and "immeasurable life," we return to this limited world to assist the Buddha in bringing all sentient beings to the unlimited world. The Venerable Master expressed this
feeling in words that are referred to as "Honorable Last Words" (Gorinmatsu
no Gosho): Having lost both his parents at a very early age, the Venerable Master must have grieved a great deal. And yet he was able to write: "When you rejoice alone within the Primal Vow/Know that there are two. /And when there are two who rejoice, /Know that there are three, /And that third is Shinran…" Although outwardly he was separated form his parents by death, because of "shinjin based on the Primal Vow of ‘Buddha-centered power’," the Venerable Master was able to take the greatest of joy in the fact he was, in fact, able to join them in the light and the life that is immeasurable. The Venerable Master further expressed this feeling in the following wasan: Shakamuni is our father Being allowed to live within the " ‘merit transference’ of the ‘Buddha-centered power’ of the Primal Vow" is living in a wondrous realm that "cannot be expressed in words" (fakasho), "cannot be explained" (fukasetsu), and "cannot even be thought of" (fukashige, beyond conceptual thought). That "marvelously mysterious" world, that impossibly perfect place, that reality which I am absolutely unable to reach, takes me in and turns me completely around. That’s the world of "shinjin based on the Primal Vow of ‘Buddha-centered power’" that the Venerable Master Shinran appeared in this world to teach. That was what he spent his entire life doing. The "Statement of Understanding" (Ryogemon, often called "The Creed") attributed to Master Rennyo, the Eighth Spiritual Leader of the Hongwanji, states that those who accept Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow to cause their birth in the Pure Land where they become Buddhas, take great joy in it, and: … Gratefully acknowledge the benign benevolence of our founder and the succeeding Masters who have lead us to accept this profound teaching… This basic document of our Jodo-Shinshu teaching express gratitude to the Venerable Master Shinran for appearing in this world, and to the "good and virtuous teachers" who have maintained his teaching until today. We must never forget that. The sole purpose of our Los Angeles Betsuin Buddhist Temple is to teach about the Great Way that is the "Nembutsu based on the ‘merit transference’ of the power of ‘Buddha-centered power’" (hongan-riki eko no nembutsu) and together, practice the teaching. This sense of being "fellow follower along the way" (ondobo ondogyo) is what has allowed our temple to continue until today, when we look forward to the 101st year of our existence. That’s why, on May 21st (Sunday), we will celebrate the 833rd year since the Venerable Master Shinran’s birth with a Gotan-e Service. As part of our 10:00 AM English service, we will also conduct a "first service for the newly-born" (Hatsumairi). A Japanese Gotan-e Service will also be conducted at 1:30 PM. An Installation Ceremony for our refurbished "objects of worship" and Obutsudan will be conducted at both our English and Japanese services. For this special Gotan-e Service, the Sixth Rimban of our Betsuin Buddhist Temple, Reverend Shoki Mohri, will give a Dharma Talk in Japanese. Reverend Harold Shinyu Oda, a former minister at our temple, will give the dharma talk in English. The Seventh Rimban of our temple, Reverend Seikan Fukuma will also be in attendance. The motto of our Centennial Celebration
is "Embraced by Amida, Rejoicing in Gratitude." I would like to express
my sincerest gratitude to all of you members who have made our temple
what it is. I know that like me, you look forward with the greatest of
joy to living within the Primal Vow and sharing that experience with all
you come in contact. Please plan to attend our Gotan-e Service. I
look forward to greeting you all. |
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Back to: Top | Rimban George Matsubayashi | Reverend Briones BY REV. WILLIAM BRIONES "I, Shinran, have never even once uttered the Nembutsu for the sake of my father and mother. The reason is that all beings have been fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, in the timeless process of birth-and death. When I attain Buddhahood in the next birth, each and everyone will be saved." Tannisho – Chapter 5 Within the coming months all over America, children young and old will be observing Mother's Day on May 14th and Father’s Day on June 18th. Mother’s Day was first suggested in the United States by Julia Ward Howe, the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. She suggested that this day be dedicated to peace. But it wasn’t until the late 1800’s through the efforts of Anna Jarvis that Mother’s Day became a national holiday in the US. And Sonora Dodd after hearing a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909, got the idea that she wanted a special day to honor her father. So a year later Sonora picked her father’s birthday to commemorate the first Father’s Day celebration. Almost hundred years have past and perhaps as recent as 40 years ago, our family lifestyles were much different than they are now. Family was a big part of life back then. Families ate all three meals together, each day. Father worked at a company were he'd probably work for the rest of his life and mother stayed home and took care of the house and fed the family. Life was remarkable uniform, predictable, safe. Today, that picture of American life has given way to a vastly different one. Both parents are working, single parents, married couples opting not to have children, same sex marriages, or even new roles that mother and father have taken on, are some of the new lifestyles in our society that have been characterized by global issues, endless diversity, technological advances, and constant social upheaval. But there is one common thread that continues to tie all of humanity. We were all brought into this world by our mother and father. As we reflect on how we came into this world, we should truly reflect on the countless causes and conditions that enabled us to be who we are. One day of the year, we honor our mothers and fathers with gifts, cards, candy, flowers, pancake breakfast or maybe even dinner out. And while I think this is a wonderful tribute to our parents … I feel Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are really opportunities for me to realize how I’ve neglected and taken my parents for granted the remaining 364 days of the year. Not only this year but for the past 56 years of my life. Growing up, I barely remember my mom or dad taking time for themselves. Through out all these years they’ve given unselfishly. I’m sure many of your parents are just as giving and caring. Their love seems so unconditional. Our mothers and fathers undergo many sacrifices for their children without asking for special favors from their children. I’m sure you’ve heard the analogy of Amida Buddha’s love as compared to that of the love of our parents. However Amida's compassion is extended to everyone, no matter who they are, with no conditions attached. It is given freely. Our human love is so limited, it’s based on our self centered ego. The passage I quoted at the beginning of this article comes from Chapter 5 of the Tannisho, truly illustrates this point. The point to this quote is two fold. "I, Shinran, have never even once uttered the Nembutsu for the sake of my father and mother": Shinran wanted to express his view towards ancestral worship towards his parents. Prior to and during Shinran’s time it was customary to hold services, build temples and statues, chant sutras and recite the Nembutsu for the sake of those who had passed on, in the hope of increasing their merits and guaranteeing them a higher and happier state of existence. Shinran felt that these practices were superficial and unimportant. He discouraged the idea of saying Nembutsu to collect merit for other beings, even for the sake of filial piety. In the second part of this passage, "The reason is that all beings have been fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, in the timeless process of birth-and death. When I attain Buddhahood in the next birth, each and everyone will be saved": I think is very relevant to the Buddhist ideal of the universality of Buddha in all beings. Shinran’s understanding is that all sentient beings had been his mother, father, brothers and sisters during his innumerable past lives. Not in the literal sense, not the physical reincarnation sense, but in the Buddhist universalism that transcends all social, racial, ethnic, political obstacles. We are all one. The gratitude that we owe our mothers, fathers, our family, should be extended equally to all beings. In the coming months, Japanese Buddhist temples through out the world will be celebrating Obon. The story of Obon can be seen as quite relevant to Mothers Day. How you ask? If you recall the story of Obon, Maudgalyayana one of Buddha’s disciples , saw with his superhuman powers his beloved mother as she suffered in the "hell of Hungry Ghost". Of course he was so upset to see his mother emaciated and unable to eat. So he pleaded Shakyamuni Buddha to help save his mother. You know the rest of the story. But do you know why Maudgalyanya’s mother was in hell in the first place? She was in hell due to her love and concern for Maudgalyana. Like any mother, she thought her son was perfect, he could do no wrong. Her love for Maudgalyana was greater than for her neighbor’s children and because of this she always favored her son over all others. In this respect she was selfish and this was the cause of her suffering. As a parent and grandparent I know exactly how Maudgalyana’s mother felt. My grandson is the cutest and smartest one in his first grade class. I’m sure many of you parents and grandparents feel the same way about your kids or grandkids. But it could also go to the other extreme, as we have witnessed in recent years. Be it on the little league baseball diamond, soccer field or hockey rink. Parents are dukeing it out on the field, … Bad calls can lead to attacks and near riots … parents become dangerous by using misguided logic to try to help their kids. Who knows why? Maybe parents feel like they’re protecting their child or maybe they’re living viciously through their children. As you can see as children
and as with parents we are totally limited in our compassion. Blinded by
our self-centeredness and our egotisic delusions. How-ever, as we become
more aware of the inconceivable causes and conditions of our cause of
birth, we are able inwardly realize the wisdom and compassion of Amida
Buddha and outwardly live with gratitude for the life made possible for
us not only by our mothers but also by everyone and not just on Mothers
Day and Father’s Day but everyday, every moment. |
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Back to: Top | Rimban George Matsubayashi | Reverend Briones Copyright © 2006 by Nishi Hongwanji L.A.
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