Dharma Message Archive

	Dharma Message Archive
	Rimban George Matsubayashi \| Reverend Briones BY RIMBAN GEORGE MATSUBAYASHI JIHO SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2006 "Our Coming Ohigan Service" On August 28th of last year we were privileged to celebrate the Centennial of the founding of our Los Angeles Betsuin Buddhist Temple and completion of both the Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life, and the Wisteria Chapel. A year has passed since then. The 1001st year of our temple’s existence is now history and we are beginning our 102nd year of providing spiritual guidance to the people of Southern California. How time flies! As in the traditional saying, “A trip of a thousand miles begins with one step,” our life is lived one step at a time, a day at a time, a year at a time. I am once again brought to realize that our history is the cumulative experiences of all those tiny bits of time. And – perhaps because I have accumulated so many of them – those individual days and years seem to reverberate even stronger and deeply in my mind and heart. How grateful I am for those reverberations! How grateful I am for the wonderful memories that rise in my mind. Perhaps these thought rise in my mind because we are approaching the Fall Ohigan season. A traditional Japanese poem is: Today is Ohigan… A time to plant the seeds of Enlightenment. The root word of Ohigan is higan, which means “other shore”(the shore of Enlightenment) as opposed to “this shore (shigan)” (the shore of delusion). The “O” of Ohigan is an honorific. The time for Ohigan is the spring and fall equinoxes when the days are of equal length. For that reason, a traditional Japanese saying is: “The cold of winter and the heat of summer last only till Ohigan.” That’s why another popular term is, “(moving) towards higan (Enlightenment)” (to-higan). Because we can’t complain about it being too hot or too cold, Ohigan is the perfect time for us to concentrate on following the Buddhist Way – to concentrate on moving toward the other shore of Nirvana. Regarding the practice to follow in attaining Nirvana, unlike other denominations of Buddha-Dharma we followers of the Venerable Master Shinran’s teaching of Jodo-Shinshu consider shinjin to be the proper cause for reaching that state. The “Primal Vow of ‘Buddha-centered power’” (hongan tariki), on which shinjin is based, always moves towards and acts on us, whomever and wherever we are. That’s why those with the “joy of the ‘single thought’ of shinjin ”(shinjin kangi no ichinen) are “taken in, never to be abandoned” until we reach the “other shore” of Enlightenment (the Pure Land). Regarding “Primal Vow of ‘Buddha-centered power’,” the complete term is “’Merit transference’ of the Primal Vow of ‘Buddha-centered power’”(hongan tariki eko). The founder of the Jodo-Shinshu teaching wrote: Reverently contemplating the true essence of the Pure Land Way, I see that Amida’s Directing of virtue to sentient beings has two aspects: the aspect for our going forth To the Pure Land and the aspect for our return to this world. In the aspect for going forth There is the true teaching, practice, shinjin, and realization. (1) As the Venerable Master made clear, the aspect of “going to the Pure Land,” and the “teaching, practice, shinjin, and realization” are all given to us by Amida Buddha through “merit transference”(“directing of virtue” in the above translation). We are allowed to be born in the Pure Land and become Buddhas because that “power of the Primal Vow” (hongan-riki). In one of his Jodo Wasan, the Venerable Master expressed this thought in the following way: The ocean of birth-and-death, Of painful existence, has no bound; Only by the ship of Amida’s universal Vow Can we, who have long been drowning, Unfailingly be brought across it. (2) In other words, we can reach the “other shore” of Enlightenment only through the power of Amida Buddha's Primal Vow. Regarding the “aspect for our return to this world,” the Venerable Master wrote: Second is Amida’s directing of virtue for our return to this world. This is the benefit We receive, the state of benefiting and guiding others. (3) In other words, once we are born in the Pure Land and gain the same Enlightenment as a Buddha, we return to this world of birth-and-death – world of delusion – and with the Great Compassion only available to Buddhas, bring about the cessation of suffering of all sentient beings by leading them to also follow the Buddhist path. The two “merit transferences” of “going to the Pure Land” and of “returning to this world of birth-and-death” which results in all sentient beings leaving this world of delusion for “other shore” of Enlightenment, is solely due to the activity of the power of Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow. * * * * * On July 8th of this year, the first Combined Nokotsu Service was held in our newly constructed Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life. The remains of 83 persons were interred during that service, which was attended by over two hundred persons related to the remains. This most impressive inaugural service is a highlight in the history of our Los Angeles Betsuin Buddhist Temple. Not a few of the remains interred in our Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life during that service were the remains of persons that had initially buried in graveyards 33 and even 40 years previously, been dug out, and transferred to our Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life. After the service, I heard many words of gratitude and deep emotions expressed by the relatives of those whose remains were interred. Among them were the words of a young man that particularly impressed me. He said he has lost his father at an early age and was raised by his mother. He attended Dharma School from the time he was a child and successively joined all our temple groups – Jr. YBA, YBA, ABA, etc. – and finally became a member of our temple board of directors. Because his mother died last year, he was able to inter the remains of both his parents together in one niche. This young man said he had always felt lonely because of his late father whom he could not see with his eyes, and could not hear with his ears, was somewhere far…far away (in the Pure Land). Now, however, both his father and his mother were together in one niche of our Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life. Strangely, this young man said, when he placed his hands together in gassho before the remains of his father and mother, he seemed to hear them speaking to him. The image of his mother’s face appeared vividly, as did the image of his father, though dimmed with age. He was, of course, fully aware that what was before him were just remains of his father and mother, but can’t we say that what he was feeling was: “What enters our hearts when we close our eyes and call his Name, Is the Buddha.”? Through the remains interred in our Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life, the young man continued, “I heard, ‘Here we are! This is where we are!’ They were the warm words of my parents calling out and reassuring me that I was not alone. How vividly those words reverberated in my mind and heart…” Another story that moved me was of a couple who had the remains of their parents that they had buried over 35 years ago dug up and transferred to our Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life. They then purchased a niche next to their parents’ for the time when they also left this world. This is what they told me: “We are always told during Buddhist services that our parents were born in the Pure Land where they became Buddhas. Through their remains interred here, they teach us that human life is limited. Fortunately, that limited life lives eternally when taken into the Buddha’s life. As expressed in the gatha, Mihotoke ni idakarete that we sing during our services, “…sacrificing your lives, you have shown us the way (to the Buddhahood).” That song expresses the joy of birth in the world of ultimate peace where we will be able to ‘meet together in one place’ (kue issho).” In the end, the remains interred in our Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life place their lives on the line in order that, thorough them, our eyes may be opened to the transiency of life. After being born in the Pure Land and becoming Buddha, they receive the activity of returning to this world of delusion in order to inform us that they are in that world of “oneness” where we join them. The Venerable Master expressed this feeling in the following Koso wasan: Shakyamuni and Amida are our father and mother, Full of love and compassion for us; Guiding us through various skillful means, They bring us to awaken the supreme shinjin.” (4) With the “single thought” of receiving the supreme shinjin, we receive the activity of Great Compassion in the form of being able to engage in the aspect of returning to this world. The Venerable Master referred to the “marvelously mysterious” (fukashigi) world of the “other shore” (higan) – the World of the Pure Land – in the following way: Upon hearing of the Vow that transcends this world, We “ignorant beings filled with base passions” (bombu) Are allowed to frolic in the Pure Land Without giving up our polluted bodies. The worlds of the “other shore” and “this shore” become one, and takes in our polluted bodies that dwell in this polluted world. Transformed by Namo Amida Butsu, we are able to dwell in the world of “oneness.” That’s what we are able to take the greatest of joy in. The spirit of “Today is Ohigan …/ A time to plant the seeds of /Enlightenment,” will be expressed at our Los Angeles Betsuin Buddhist Temple this coming September 16 (Saturday), when our Fall Ohigan Seminar will be held. The lecturer for our English Seminar will be Reverend Ronald Kobata, Secretary to the Socho of our BCA. Our Japanese lecturer will be one of our ministers, Reverend Ryushin Koizumi. The next day, Sunday, at 10:00 am, we will conduct our Fall Ohigan Service jointly with Speakers, Rev. Kobata (English) and Rimban Matsubayashi (Japanese). In the afternoon, from 2:00 pm, we will conduct our Second Combined Nokotsu Service in association with our Fall Ohigan activities. I hope to see all of you at these Ohigan activities. Gassho. _________________________________ (1) Complete Works of Shinran: Volume 1, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1992 (hereafter CWS: 1, page 7. (2) CWS: 1, pg. 363 (3) CWS: 1 pg. 158 (4) CWS: 1 pg. 1 380.
	Back to: Top \| Rimban George Matsubayashi \| Reverend Briones BY REV. WILLIAM BRIONES JIHO SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2006 "Thoughts On My Desires and Attachments" People grasp after things for their own imagined convenience and comfort; they grasp after wealth and treasure and honors; they cling desperately to life. They make arbitrary distinctions between good and bad, right and wrong, and then vehemently affirm and deny them. For people life is a succession of grasping and attachments, and then, because of this, they must assume the illusion of pain and suffering. Recently Nobuko and I moved into a larger residence. Now we have two bedrooms, a yard and garage and … a washer and dryer! What a luxury! Prior to our move, we lived in a small one bedroom apartment. Nobuko and I were perfectly happy and content living a very simple life style. As you know before I became a minister I was Research Biologist at a well-known Pharmaceutical Company, my lifestyle was a quite different back then. However, when I moved into my next phase of life, I realized I didn’t need too much “stuff” to live comfortably. However, with a larger residence, I’ve suddenly had the urge to once again accumulate “stuff” and once again I feel the frustration of not getting what I want. The opening reading is from the Teaching of The Buddha, “….For people life is a succession of grasping and attachments, and then, because of this, they must assume the illusion of pain and suffering”. Although my frustration seems rather petty and trite compared to the suffering and pain seen through out the world, never the less it does cause me to reflect on my insatiable desire for “wealth and treasure and honors”. The pillars of Buddha’s teachings are found in the four noble truths. 1) The first is that in this life there is suffering. 2) There is a cause of this suffering. 3) The elimination of the cause ends the suffering. 4) There is a way to eliminate the suffering. The causes of the suffering in life can be categorized by the three poisons: Greed, anger and ignorance. In general, these three poisons can be summarized as attachments. It is our attachments or clinging to things, ideas, and actions that are the root of our suffering. There’s an old Buddhist saying that pain is inevitable in life … but suffering is optional. How much I suffer depends on me. Our pain and suffering point out to where we are most affected. And what we’re holding onto the most. By recognizing this, we can learn to use loss and suffering in ways that help us grow wiser and become peace with ourselves. It should also be said that attachment isn’t about being bad or wrong. We shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves for having attachments and desires but rather understand that certain kinds of attachments and desires are at the root of our suffering. However, in our Jodo Shinshu tradition, it is impossible to abandon our attachments, especially letting go of our own ego. How then do we attain the goal of all Buddhist, that of Enlightenment. It is through the absolute realization that we cannot abandon our self or our attachments. Hardly a moment passes that we don’t live without attaching to “I, me, mine”. This what Shinran Shonen wrote about in the KKSS … I know truly how grievous it is that, I, Gutoku Shinran, am sinking in an immense ocean of desires and attachments and am lost in vast mountains of fame and advantage, so that I rejoice not at all at entering the stage of the truly settled, and feel no happiness at coming nearer the realization of true enlightenment. How ugly it is! How wretched! The absolute recognition and acceptance of this reality opens up a world of infinite wisdom and compassion. My attachment to my computer, wireless internet, cable TV, Cell Phone and my desire to accumulate more “stuff’ causes me to suffer, yet it also reveals the working of the infinite wisdom and compassion that continues to embrace my life, just as I am. As a selfish being, I am able to experience and be touched by compassion of Nobuko, my grandson, my daughters, my mom and the members of our wonderful Betsuin, past and present. This is the Nembutsu path. This path is for those who are unable to practice and abandon their attachments on their own. This is the path that allows us to be foolish beings because we are foolish beings. But this is the path that reveals the working of Infinite wisdom and Compassion that we call Amida Buddha. In Jodo Shinshu, to abandon the “attachment to self” means to entrust in the working of this Infinite Wisdom and Compassion. The minute you awaken to the cause of suffering, which is your preoccupation to your “self”, then you’ll began to feel joy in your life. And the more you awaken to your interconnection with others, the freer you will be from suffering and by doing this we are able to appreciate and enjoy every day, every moment. Namo Amida Butsu
	Back to: Top \| Rimban George Matsubayashi \| Reverend Briones Copyright © 2006 by Nishi Hongwanji L.A.

	Dharma Message Archive
	Rimban George Matsubayashi \| Reverend Briones BY RIMBAN GEORGE MATSUBAYASHI JIHO SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2006 "Our Coming Ohigan Service" On August 28th of last year we were privileged to celebrate the Centennial of the founding of our Los Angeles Betsuin Buddhist Temple and completion of both the Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life, and the Wisteria Chapel. A year has passed since then. The 1001st year of our temple’s existence is now history and we are beginning our 102nd year of providing spiritual guidance to the people of Southern California. How time flies! As in the traditional saying, “A trip of a thousand miles begins with one step,” our life is lived one step at a time, a day at a time, a year at a time. I am once again brought to realize that our history is the cumulative experiences of all those tiny bits of time. And – perhaps because I have accumulated so many of them – those individual days and years seem to reverberate even stronger and deeply in my mind and heart. How grateful I am for those reverberations! How grateful I am for the wonderful memories that rise in my mind. Perhaps these thought rise in my mind because we are approaching the Fall Ohigan season. A traditional Japanese poem is: Today is Ohigan… A time to plant the seeds of Enlightenment. The root word of Ohigan is higan, which means “other shore”(the shore of Enlightenment) as opposed to “this shore (shigan)” (the shore of delusion). The “O” of Ohigan is an honorific. The time for Ohigan is the spring and fall equinoxes when the days are of equal length. For that reason, a traditional Japanese saying is: “The cold of winter and the heat of summer last only till Ohigan.” That’s why another popular term is, “(moving) towards higan (Enlightenment)” (to-higan). Because we can’t complain about it being too hot or too cold, Ohigan is the perfect time for us to concentrate on following the Buddhist Way – to concentrate on moving toward the other shore of Nirvana. Regarding the practice to follow in attaining Nirvana, unlike other denominations of Buddha-Dharma we followers of the Venerable Master Shinran’s teaching of Jodo-Shinshu consider shinjin to be the proper cause for reaching that state. The “Primal Vow of ‘Buddha-centered power’” (hongan tariki), on which shinjin is based, always moves towards and acts on us, whomever and wherever we are. That’s why those with the “joy of the ‘single thought’ of shinjin ”(shinjin kangi no ichinen) are “taken in, never to be abandoned” until we reach the “other shore” of Enlightenment (the Pure Land). Regarding “Primal Vow of ‘Buddha-centered power’,” the complete term is “’Merit transference’ of the Primal Vow of ‘Buddha-centered power’”(hongan tariki eko). The founder of the Jodo-Shinshu teaching wrote: Reverently contemplating the true essence of the Pure Land Way, I see that Amida’s Directing of virtue to sentient beings has two aspects: the aspect for our going forth To the Pure Land and the aspect for our return to this world. In the aspect for going forth There is the true teaching, practice, shinjin, and realization. (1) As the Venerable Master made clear, the aspect of “going to the Pure Land,” and the “teaching, practice, shinjin, and realization” are all given to us by Amida Buddha through “merit transference”(“directing of virtue” in the above translation). We are allowed to be born in the Pure Land and become Buddhas because that “power of the Primal Vow” (hongan-riki). In one of his Jodo Wasan, the Venerable Master expressed this thought in the following way: The ocean of birth-and-death, Of painful existence, has no bound; Only by the ship of Amida’s universal Vow Can we, who have long been drowning, Unfailingly be brought across it. (2) In other words, we can reach the “other shore” of Enlightenment only through the power of Amida Buddha's Primal Vow. Regarding the “aspect for our return to this world,” the Venerable Master wrote: Second is Amida’s directing of virtue for our return to this world. This is the benefit We receive, the state of benefiting and guiding others. (3) In other words, once we are born in the Pure Land and gain the same Enlightenment as a Buddha, we return to this world of birth-and-death – world of delusion – and with the Great Compassion only available to Buddhas, bring about the cessation of suffering of all sentient beings by leading them to also follow the Buddhist path. The two “merit transferences” of “going to the Pure Land” and of “returning to this world of birth-and-death” which results in all sentient beings leaving this world of delusion for “other shore” of Enlightenment, is solely due to the activity of the power of Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow. * * * * * On July 8th of this year, the first Combined Nokotsu Service was held in our newly constructed Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life. The remains of 83 persons were interred during that service, which was attended by over two hundred persons related to the remains. This most impressive inaugural service is a highlight in the history of our Los Angeles Betsuin Buddhist Temple. Not a few of the remains interred in our Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life during that service were the remains of persons that had initially buried in graveyards 33 and even 40 years previously, been dug out, and transferred to our Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life. After the service, I heard many words of gratitude and deep emotions expressed by the relatives of those whose remains were interred. Among them were the words of a young man that particularly impressed me. He said he has lost his father at an early age and was raised by his mother. He attended Dharma School from the time he was a child and successively joined all our temple groups – Jr. YBA, YBA, ABA, etc. – and finally became a member of our temple board of directors. Because his mother died last year, he was able to inter the remains of both his parents together in one niche. This young man said he had always felt lonely because of his late father whom he could not see with his eyes, and could not hear with his ears, was somewhere far…far away (in the Pure Land). Now, however, both his father and his mother were together in one niche of our Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life. Strangely, this young man said, when he placed his hands together in gassho before the remains of his father and mother, he seemed to hear them speaking to him. The image of his mother’s face appeared vividly, as did the image of his father, though dimmed with age. He was, of course, fully aware that what was before him were just remains of his father and mother, but can’t we say that what he was feeling was: “What enters our hearts when we close our eyes and call his Name, Is the Buddha.”? Through the remains interred in our Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life, the young man continued, “I heard, ‘Here we are! This is where we are!’ They were the warm words of my parents calling out and reassuring me that I was not alone. How vividly those words reverberated in my mind and heart…” Another story that moved me was of a couple who had the remains of their parents that they had buried over 35 years ago dug up and transferred to our Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life. They then purchased a niche next to their parents’ for the time when they also left this world. This is what they told me: “We are always told during Buddhist services that our parents were born in the Pure Land where they became Buddhas. Through their remains interred here, they teach us that human life is limited. Fortunately, that limited life lives eternally when taken into the Buddha’s life. As expressed in the gatha, Mihotoke ni idakarete that we sing during our services, “…sacrificing your lives, you have shown us the way (to the Buddhahood).” That song expresses the joy of birth in the world of ultimate peace where we will be able to ‘meet together in one place’ (kue issho).” In the end, the remains interred in our Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life place their lives on the line in order that, thorough them, our eyes may be opened to the transiency of life. After being born in the Pure Land and becoming Buddha, they receive the activity of returning to this world of delusion in order to inform us that they are in that world of “oneness” where we join them. The Venerable Master expressed this feeling in the following Koso wasan: Shakyamuni and Amida are our father and mother, Full of love and compassion for us; Guiding us through various skillful means, They bring us to awaken the supreme shinjin.” (4) With the “single thought” of receiving the supreme shinjin, we receive the activity of Great Compassion in the form of being able to engage in the aspect of returning to this world. The Venerable Master referred to the “marvelously mysterious” (fukashigi) world of the “other shore” (higan) – the World of the Pure Land – in the following way: Upon hearing of the Vow that transcends this world, We “ignorant beings filled with base passions” (bombu) Are allowed to frolic in the Pure Land Without giving up our polluted bodies. The worlds of the “other shore” and “this shore” become one, and takes in our polluted bodies that dwell in this polluted world. Transformed by Namo Amida Butsu, we are able to dwell in the world of “oneness.” That’s what we are able to take the greatest of joy in. The spirit of “Today is Ohigan …/ A time to plant the seeds of /Enlightenment,” will be expressed at our Los Angeles Betsuin Buddhist Temple this coming September 16 (Saturday), when our Fall Ohigan Seminar will be held. The lecturer for our English Seminar will be Reverend Ronald Kobata, Secretary to the Socho of our BCA. Our Japanese lecturer will be one of our ministers, Reverend Ryushin Koizumi. The next day, Sunday, at 10:00 am, we will conduct our Fall Ohigan Service jointly with Speakers, Rev. Kobata (English) and Rimban Matsubayashi (Japanese). In the afternoon, from 2:00 pm, we will conduct our Second Combined Nokotsu Service in association with our Fall Ohigan activities. I hope to see all of you at these Ohigan activities. Gassho. _________________________________ (1) Complete Works of Shinran: Volume 1, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1992 (hereafter CWS: 1, page 7. (2) CWS: 1, pg. 363 (3) CWS: 1 pg. 158 (4) CWS: 1 pg. 1 380.
	Back to: Top \| Rimban George Matsubayashi \| Reverend Briones BY REV. WILLIAM BRIONES JIHO SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2006 "Thoughts On My Desires and Attachments" People grasp after things for their own imagined convenience and comfort; they grasp after wealth and treasure and honors; they cling desperately to life. They make arbitrary distinctions between good and bad, right and wrong, and then vehemently affirm and deny them. For people life is a succession of grasping and attachments, and then, because of this, they must assume the illusion of pain and suffering. Recently Nobuko and I moved into a larger residence. Now we have two bedrooms, a yard and garage and … a washer and dryer! What a luxury! Prior to our move, we lived in a small one bedroom apartment. Nobuko and I were perfectly happy and content living a very simple life style. As you know before I became a minister I was Research Biologist at a well-known Pharmaceutical Company, my lifestyle was a quite different back then. However, when I moved into my next phase of life, I realized I didn’t need too much “stuff” to live comfortably. However, with a larger residence, I’ve suddenly had the urge to once again accumulate “stuff” and once again I feel the frustration of not getting what I want. The opening reading is from the Teaching of The Buddha, “….For people life is a succession of grasping and attachments, and then, because of this, they must assume the illusion of pain and suffering”. Although my frustration seems rather petty and trite compared to the suffering and pain seen through out the world, never the less it does cause me to reflect on my insatiable desire for “wealth and treasure and honors”. The pillars of Buddha’s teachings are found in the four noble truths. 1) The first is that in this life there is suffering. 2) There is a cause of this suffering. 3) The elimination of the cause ends the suffering. 4) There is a way to eliminate the suffering. The causes of the suffering in life can be categorized by the three poisons: Greed, anger and ignorance. In general, these three poisons can be summarized as attachments. It is our attachments or clinging to things, ideas, and actions that are the root of our suffering. There’s an old Buddhist saying that pain is inevitable in life … but suffering is optional. How much I suffer depends on me. Our pain and suffering point out to where we are most affected. And what we’re holding onto the most. By recognizing this, we can learn to use loss and suffering in ways that help us grow wiser and become peace with ourselves. It should also be said that attachment isn’t about being bad or wrong. We shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves for having attachments and desires but rather understand that certain kinds of attachments and desires are at the root of our suffering. However, in our Jodo Shinshu tradition, it is impossible to abandon our attachments, especially letting go of our own ego. How then do we attain the goal of all Buddhist, that of Enlightenment. It is through the absolute realization that we cannot abandon our self or our attachments. Hardly a moment passes that we don’t live without attaching to “I, me, mine”. This what Shinran Shonen wrote about in the KKSS … I know truly how grievous it is that, I, Gutoku Shinran, am sinking in an immense ocean of desires and attachments and am lost in vast mountains of fame and advantage, so that I rejoice not at all at entering the stage of the truly settled, and feel no happiness at coming nearer the realization of true enlightenment. How ugly it is! How wretched! The absolute recognition and acceptance of this reality opens up a world of infinite wisdom and compassion. My attachment to my computer, wireless internet, cable TV, Cell Phone and my desire to accumulate more “stuff’ causes me to suffer, yet it also reveals the working of the infinite wisdom and compassion that continues to embrace my life, just as I am. As a selfish being, I am able to experience and be touched by compassion of Nobuko, my grandson, my daughters, my mom and the members of our wonderful Betsuin, past and present. This is the Nembutsu path. This path is for those who are unable to practice and abandon their attachments on their own. This is the path that allows us to be foolish beings because we are foolish beings. But this is the path that reveals the working of Infinite wisdom and Compassion that we call Amida Buddha. In Jodo Shinshu, to abandon the “attachment to self” means to entrust in the working of this Infinite Wisdom and Compassion. The minute you awaken to the cause of suffering, which is your preoccupation to your “self”, then you’ll began to feel joy in your life. And the more you awaken to your interconnection with others, the freer you will be from suffering and by doing this we are able to appreciate and enjoy every day, every moment. Namo Amida Butsu
	Back to: Top \| Rimban George Matsubayashi \| Reverend Briones Copyright © 2006 by Nishi Hongwanji L.A.