Article 69; Being hung up so long the principal object of worship has got worn out.
“Being hung up so long the principal object of worship has got worn out. Being read over and over again Buddhist scriptures have got ragged.” I appreciated this teaching of Rennyo Shonin as words which remind me of the daily morning and evening services and also the Dharma meetings held at Shogyoji today. On the seventh anniversary of the death of my late husband last year, I was given this opportunity to read out my appreciation of this saying of Rennyo Shonin at today’s faith inheriting meeting for him.
My grandson W was led to make up his mind to become a priest a few months ago. This event is owed entirely to the great effort made by the previous as well as the present masters of the temple, who “have endured every hardship with tireless vigor” and have been helping my indecisive family for the 90 years since the days of my grandfather. W came to his resolution after he visited the United States and made encounters with warmhearted people, most importantly with a highly meritorious Tibetan priest called Reverend T. While staying at his temple, W determined to become a priest being supported and protected by a good friend. The absolute tranquility of the place, where even the sound of falling leaves could be faintly heard, also greatly contributed to his decision..
At the Summer Training Assembly, my grandson and his parents had the honour of being able to express their gratitude directly toward the Supreme Primate of the Higashi Honganji Temple, who was gracious in his acceptance of it and gave them his blessing. It was an unforgettable experience that reminded me of the saying that each experience is a precious one never to be repeated during our lifetime.
By virtue of the great compassion of Amida Buddha I am going to be given my “last place to live” in the Seiwa Taya next spring. It is more than I deserve to be given such a place where I can live peacefully for the rest of my life. I would like to express my gratitude through pronouncing the nembutsu and bowing down in thankfulness for the life I have been given for the last 80 years and for being given the opportunity to experience the special event I described earlier.
With palms together.
Article 68: Dharma Poem by Kakunyo Shonin
“Don’t forget to concentrate solely on today, otherwise one may become too ambitious.”
My father passed away on 25th of August last year at the age of ninety-four having lived out his natural life. Very closely to that date, the 7th of September was an anniversary of my mother’s death. The Dharma name bestowed on my father was “Shaku Johsho”, and “Shaku-ni Chiin” was the one given to my mother.
After losing my father I became extremely aware that every single item around him - plants and trees, paper and tools - proved that he had fully lived his own life, supporting his family without saying anything. “How invaluable it is to live a life bestowed on me. The sunshine overflows nameless grasses.” He seemed to convey his feelings in this poem, which he had left written down on a piece of paper among his personal belongings. Now I feel that he is telling me to concentrate solely on today. There is nothing whatsoever I can do but be penitent for my selfish vanity, not having made any effort at all to understand my father while he was alive.
The Dharma name of my mother, “Shaku-ni Chiin” means “to know the cause [of birth yielded in the past]”. I have learned that Amida is the name of the Buddha who forsook even his name in order to save us. This being so, the nembutsu is to be pronounced in gratitude for the great compassion of this Buddha. Now I realize that this great compassion manifests in the Dharma name of each of my parents that contains the whole of their lives and everything about themselves. I feel the compassionate will of Amida Buddha and my parents so strongly that I cannot help appreciating them deeply. I will go forward holding this knowledge foremost in my mind as long as I live and I hope above all to pass this onto my children and grandchildren.
With palms together.
My appreciation of the utterance of Rennyo Shonin compiled in The Record of Rennyo Shonin’s Sayings and Doings (Rennyo-Shonin-Goichidai-ki- kikigaki) K.U.
Article 64 : “To make all sentient beings mindful of [the Buddha’s Compassion]”
Without making the slightest effort to understand my parents’ feelings and blaming them for everything deep down in my mind, I did nothing but run around trying to escape from the reality of my situation.
On one occasion, while I was in this deplorable state, the head priest told me that the highly virtuous priests of old were grateful to their parents just for the simple reason that they had given birth to them. Hearing those words I became embraced into a world of gratitude, leaving behind my thievish nature which was always shifting responsibility on to others and my lack of a self-sustaining mind. I can now go out each day into the outside world, receiving spiritual support from the daily morning service. Everything I solely attribute to my father who, because of his diamond-like solid faith, devoted himself single-heartedly to discipleship and to my mother who did everything for me.
With palms together.
My appreciation of the utterance of Rennyo Shonin compiled in The Record of Rennyo Shonin’s Sayings and Doings (Rennyo-Shonin-Goichidai-ki- kikigaki) T.U.
Article 63 : “Make it your habit to listen to the Buddha-Dharma while young ”
Whilst appreciating this article again and again, I began to understand that the words “Make it your habit to listen to the Buddha-Dharma while young” were the continual advice my father used to address to me. My father, for me, was a person whom I could unconditionally revere as my parent, as a man and as a predecessor to my life. At this time I meditate on his Dharma name “Kasui-in Shaku Shoju”(an honourable person who was ultimately enabled to attain birth in the Pure Land as a member of Sakya clan with a Buddhist name ‘Pure Tree’). Whenever I chant the line of the hymn by Shinran Shonin reading “Only when we attribute everything to the Prayer of Ultimate Attainment [of Birth]*…”, I feel happy to have been able to make such an encounter with my father. My mother-in-law and her family members are all now leading worthy lives, feeling inner peace in a taya house at the temple. I wonder how pleased my father would be by it all.
With palms together.
* Prayer of Ultimate Attainment : In The
Larger Sutra of Eternal Life 48 prayers of Amida Buddha are described.
The Prayer of Ultimate Attainment is the twentieth and its content is
as follows:
“If, upon my attaining Buddhahood, all beings in the ten quarters hearing
my name should cherish the thought of my Country, plant the root of all
merit and turn it in sincerity over to being born in my Country, and if
they should not ultimately attain it, may I not attain the Supreme Enlightenment.”
Article 60 : “When you speak, make it brief and clear.”
My father died when I was three years old. My mother told me that his last words, addressed to my grandmother whilst holding her hands, were, “Mother, I am sorry I’m going before you”. This was followed by these words to my mother: “Keep listening to the teachings of your good master.”
My grandmother used to talk
to me about the words of her master, Dharma-mother Ekai: “Are you not
wrong? Are you not wrong?” This compassionate question touched me deeply,
with its profound insight into my true nature that had no choice but to
make mistakes. Ekai-sama protected me from doing wrong by asking these
questions in advance. She taught me, ignorant person that I am, with untiring
concern for my behaviour.
With palms together