People of this world have only thoughts that are not real, and those who wish to be born in the Pure Land have only thoughts of deceiving and flattering. Even those who renounce this world have nothing but thoughts of fame and profit. Hence, know that we are not good persons, nor persons of wisdom; that we have no diligence, but only indolence, and within, the heart is ever empty, deceptive, vainglorious, and flattering. We do not have a heart that is true and real.
Notes on 'Essentials of Faith Alone'
In our new world, we hear the ridiculous sound bite “Fake News” over and over. We usually hear this being spouted by our “President” on some news programs. We know that his entire presence on the world stage is not for our country but for whatever publicity fuels his fevered little mind. I try hard not to listen. I try hard not to get discouraged by witnessing our country being dragged down like some dead decaying whale corpse sinking to the bottom of the sea. I know that we live in a country that is filled with racism and rampant with social ills. It makes me think of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, although, to be honest, I have never been able to get through the book. I only know it through Cliff Notes. That said, some of the lines in it are extremely relatable to our current society:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
I know that there are many who do not like it, but I enjoy Facebook. This is a perfect example of Dickens’ saying, “it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness” and the potential for “Fake News”. With Facebook, I love being able to see, read and sometimes hear what my friends are doing all over the world. It’s an amazing technology. Until I started using it, I had no contact with people I knew in High School. Now I hear from old friends and classmates living all over Utah, the United States, even South America. I have met and become friends with people from all over the World, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia and we stay in touch through Facebook. I know that in the past there have been people who kept up handwritten or email correspondences with friends all over. However, my personality doesn’t really allow that type of congeniality or effort. For someone like me, it’s often hard to even say “good morning” to Carmela when I wake up. There is something about the partial anonymity of social media that allows me to enjoy all of this, from the convenience of wherever I set up my laptop.
For example, I am currently writing this in the early morning, in Caldwell, Idaho, waiting to begin this morning’s Obon cemetery visitations. Over the past two days, Carmela and I have covered about 1500 miles in our R.V., which we have dubbed “Karuna” (Compassion). This is a continuation of our tradition of naming all our vehicles with Ks. My car is “Klesha,” the Sanskrit word for Bonno (greed, anger, stupidity), my ego. I know that a car is a car, but I want a nice, fast, comfortable car. I know it is my egocentric nature that is really driving me as I drive the car. I often think, “I have a wonderful car.” Then one look at the license plate reminds me that I am a foolish ego-centered old man. Carmela’s car is “Kokoro” which came from the name of her medical practice “SHIN” (Sanctuary for Healing and Integration). The logo she uses is the Japanese character which can be read as either shin or kokoro, meaning heart/mind. Our truck is named “Kantaka,” after Shakyamuni Buddha’s horse Kanthaka. (The DMV only allows seven letters for custom license plates.) In our RV, Carmela and I journeyed around from cemetery to cemetery in Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho and Oregon, cared for and carried in “Compassion.” We stopped at the monument at Topaz Concentration Camp site on the way to Idaho, and we stopped at the Minidoka Concentration camp site on the way home. Visiting the cemeteries and these sites are not for the people who had died or died there; it is to teach me all the lives that have been sacrificed, just so I could live. It also shows me where I will eventually end. This is a tradition that I believe is the essence of Obon.
There are many things on Facebook that are true and real, but just as many that could be called fake news. It is so difficult to differentiate the two. For example, I used to buy things from Facebook ads. A few examples are a beautiful red watch, radio-controlled toys like a car, a tank and helicopter. The ads for these things are so deceiving. The watch was $49.00. I know that the exact same watch at a retail store was close to $400. I was really looking forward to wear that watch. I imagined wearing my beautiful red watch on University of Utah game days, with my Utah tie or hoodie. People would say, “Sensei, what a beautiful watch!” When the watch came in the mail, I knew I had been suckered in. It didn’t even come in a box but a small padded plastic envelope from China. It kind of looked like the watch. However, when I opened the bag and took the watch out, there was no heft to it and it felt hollow. The dials, which were supposed to control the chronometer, etc. weren’t even real; they were painted on! And, one of the dials had broken off. The radio-controlled toys which I bought as Christmas gifts for some ministers’ children were indeed radio-controlled, but were a fraction of the size shown in the ads. One said it was made of steel. Again, I imagined the kids opening them on Christmas and saying, “Wow, what a great Christmas gift! Thank you so much, Sensei!” In reality, they were all plastic and diminutive. Maybe the people shown in the ads were actually munchkins from the Wizard of Oz.
This idea of real or fake is something that Jodo Shinshu addresses concerning our life’s circumstances. In this life, we see everything from our ego centered perspective. Much of our lives are like these Facebook ads. On the surface, they look and seem wonderful, but wait till we peel back the layers. As an example, I love my car, but there are a few scratches on it and it has 130,000 miles. It is a 2013. How long until I think of it as old or broken and I will want something new. Isn’t this even true of myself, my mind? I try to look nice and respectable on the surface, but what lies underneath is a very scary thing. What is true and real?!
In the quote I began with, Shinran is saying we human beings do not have a heart that is true and real. This is because we are bound by our ego centered bonno (Klesha). Our egos truly blind us to the reality that life is short, that what was once beautiful will fade. Life and death are one circle. That is why the Japanese have the term “Shoji,” which means both life and death. It is something that is true, that we have life, but as we live we die. Ultimately, even shoji is not true and real, if we understand the principle of interdependence. My life cannot be separated from those before me, and those after me, and ultimately there is no separate “me.” Ultimately, the only real truth is Amida, the Buddha that embraces all of good and evil, young and old, wise and foolish. We are cared for and carried in the arms of this compassion that we express in “Namo Amida Butsu.”
This world of samsara is often described as a burning house. The voice of Amida Buddha is calling us to listen to true and real life, a life of seeing the causes and conditions in our lives and to be grateful for what we have. It is not about the shiny things we see in pictures. It is about the friendships, the love we share with family. Although these are fleeting, as all things are impermanent, to express gratitude is to understand what is true and real.
I am closing this article from these words from Rennyo Shonin’s “Letter on White Ashes.” I read this at all funeral services, because it is encouraging us to live a true and real life: the life of Nembutsu. I hope that you are all safe and will continue to live a life of gratitude. I miss going to the temple and seeing all of you. But there will come a time when we can meet again. Our BCA Jodo Shinshu Center will not be opening until probably January at the soonest. I don’t think our temples can rush to open; it is not worth the cost. So please try to be patient and stay safe.
Though in the morning we may be radiant with health, in the evening we may be white ashes. When the winds of impermanence blow, our eyes are closed forever. As we breathe our last breath, our face loses its color. Our loved ones gather and lament to no avail. The body is then carried to the funeral pyre and disappears in smoke, leaving only white ashes. Is there any expression for such a sad plight? The fragile nature of human life underlies both the young and old. We should therefore, all the sooner, turn our heart to the singularly important matter of true life. We should recite the Nembutsu upon having completely entrusted all that we are to Amida Buddha. Listen to these words, please listen to these words…
Letter on White Ashes
~J.K. Hirano