“O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in’t.”
This quote is from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” It is the inspiration for Aldous Huxley’s title for the novel “Brave New World”. For those who may not have read the book, I recommend it. It’s not that big of a book, but it has so many awakening ideas. A quick summary: it is about a society that has been engineered into five basic castes: Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. Because of the technology wielded by the World State's (a unified government that administers the entire planet, with a few exceptions) leaders, caste is pre-determined and humans are grown in a manner appropriate to their status; the lower the caste, the dumber and uglier the individual is created to be. As adults, the upper two castes interact socially with each other but never with the lesser groups—that would be a total social suicide.
Class is used as a mechanism for stability and control on the part of the government. It's also a big part of the reason that personal identity is eliminated—Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons are simply faceless drones in color-coded outfits who exist to serve the more intelligent Alphas and Betas.
In some ways, I worry that our society’s current religious spirt is moving towards a spiritual society similar to the “World State” Aldous Huxley describes in his book. It is a group that is trying to just be happy and control is paramount. It is like the idea that Religion equals just being happy. As Karl Marx stated, “Religion is the opium of the masses.
I have been thinking of much of this after receiving my DNA test results from Ancestry.com. I have to admit, although not surprisingly, but a little disappointingly, that it stated I am very Japanese; 93 percent Northern Japanese, 3 percent Southern Japanese islands and 4 percent Korean. I was happy with the 4 percent Korean. Maybe that’s why I love Korean dramas, but I don’t understand any Korean and have only been to Korea once. Maybe I’m genetically inclined not only to like Korean dramas but also Korean food for that matter, but I think if genetics controlled my food choices, I should have some Vietnamese and Mexican in there somewhere too.
Looking at my DNA results says that I’m pretty Japanese. But what does that mean for who I am? I may genetically be Japanese, but I know that my thinking and personality are very American and not very Japanese. One of the things my Japanese friends in Japan would call me is “Hen na Gaijin” meaning “strange foreigner”. They said this was because I looked Japanese, but I definitely did not think or act like a Japanese, in much the same way that my DNA does not define my personality. DNA can't really show your spiritual identity. That said, there are some religious markers in genetics. For example, there are markers for Ashkenazy Jews. Although in the current state of Israel, founded by predominantly Ashkenazy Jews, their DNA is basically the same as their so- called enemies, the Palestinians. There are even DNA markers for Mormons in the intermountain area. However, what I have learned from one of my favorite PBS shows, “Finding your roots” DNA is only a small part of who you are. This is what made me think about my spiritual DNA.
I have found that Jodo Shinshu Buddhism is an expression of my spiritual DNA. I was fortunate to have a father that told me I was not Buddhist until I could say I was Buddhist with a certain degree of understanding. As a result, he let me go to any church I wanted to. Having been born in Salt Lake City, Utah, I did go to the Mormon Church for a variety of activities. And just being an American and the cultural influence of living in the United States, much of my personal moral understanding is based upon Christian ethics. Growing up in America, I could say that I have had more Christian influence than Buddhist. As a basic example of time spent, I went to the Buddhist temple once, maybe twice a week. On Sundays I went from about 10-12 for service. For about a year, until my Dad let me quit, I supposedly went to Japanese School at the temple on Saturdays for about an hour, maybe less. I skipped classes as much as possible. However I lived across the street from Whittier Ward. Growing up I went to Mutual (Junior High School weekday program), Primary (Elementary school weekday program), scouts, basketball, softball. My exposure to the LDS church may have been far greater than to that of our Buddhist Temple. However, even though my spiritual DNA may have these various religious markers, I cannot be Christian or LDS. I can’t even be Zen or Tibetan Buddhist. I can only be Jodo Shinshu because within Jodo Shinshu I have found so many things that resonate with who I am.
My current worry is that there are many people in our Buddhist Churches of America who want our Jodo Shinshu community to be the same as other churches or religions. They also have the attitude that Jodo Shinshu should fit into the way they feel or what they believe, rather than serve as a spiritual or moral guide to make me a better human being. An example of this is reading the comments to our CBE seminar on Zoom on “Socially Engaged Buddhism” and what the Bishops of the BCA, Canada and Hawaii kyodans see for the future of Jodo Shinshu. As the CBE director, I get to read all the comments people send in and I can tell that people want Jodo Shinshu to fit in with their personal beliefs, such as social justice or the idea that everyone needs to just get along and the feeling “Isn’t all religion the same?” Comments to our seminar on “Socially Engaged Buddhism” with Rev. Mitsuya Dake of Ryukoku University and Rev. Kiyonobu Kuwahara of Jodo Shinshu International, who are experts in this area, showed how people didn’t like the idea that Jodo Shinshu has a different view on “Social Justice” and social engagement as commonly expressed in America.
When I read these comments, or hear some of our Jodo Shinshu ministers saying things like, “There is no repentance in Jodo Shinshu,” or the emphasis on “just being happy!” I feel like I am one of those characters in Aldous Huxley’s novel by the name of John the Savage in the ‘Brave New World’ of genetic sameness without emotions, feelings, or religious aspirations. In this society, authentic emotions and individual identity are conditioned out of children at a young age so there are no lasting relationships because everyone belongs to everyone else. John the Savage says, “I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness, I want sin.” What John wants is true and real life, one that has colors and differences, happiness and sadness. True and real life doesn’t go the way we want it to. It goes the way it is. Our spiritual practice is to see, understand and accept this with gratitude.
My spiritual DNA may be mixed, Jodo Shinshu, various other types of Buddhism and most certainly a little of Christianity and Mormonism thrown in. But the only thing I know that works for me is saying, “Namo Amida Butsu” To simplify, my spiritual DNA is made up of blind passions and deep karmic evil. Thus the only thing I can do is say, “Namo Amida Butsu.” I would like to close with Shinran’s words from Chapter 1 of the Tannisho:
“Know that the Primal Vow of Amida makes no distinction between people young and old, good and evil; only shinjin is essential. For it is the vow to save the person whose karmic evil is deep and grave and whose blind passions abound.”
What is your Spiritual DNA?
~J.K. Hirano