Orange County Buddhist Church
Orange County Buddhist Church
A Way Of Seeing (Nirvana Day, 2003)
Already February. It seems I was wishing people a happy New Year just yesterday, and here it is already the second month of the New Year. Since many of us are Asian in ancestry if nothing else, I could continue to wish people a happy new year, because, of course, according to the lunar calendar, the New Year begins this month this year. As you might know, it sometimes begins as late as March, or what we call March.
I bring this up simply because Nirvana Day, the day on which the historical Buddha, Sakyamuni, is said to have died, is commemorated by us on February 15th. This is actually a somewhat arbitrary date, since no one truly knows on what day he died. They simply did not keep very good historical records 2500 years ago, if at all. February 15th is an educated guess.
It may not matter much anyway, since we barely make mention of it in our services, a fact of which I am as guilty as anyone else. We just commemorated the death of the founder of our Way, Jodo Shinshu, Shinran Shonin, with a special service, and that is understandable, yet we sometimes forget even to mention the death of Sakyamuni, the Buddha, without whom there would possibly not even be a Jodo Shinshu. I say “possibly,” only because, the nature of the Buddha Dharma being what it is, sooner or later someone would have realized enlightenment. On the other hand, of course, there are simply so many other variables that the possibility might be next to nil.
I sometimes use the phrase, Ichigo ichie, “One encounter in a lifetime.” I need to make a confession regarding this phrase. I had thought it was a Buddhist phrase, but, although the Japanese words for “lifetime” are of Buddhist origin, the idea of the single encounter comes from Sado, the Way of Tea. There, it means “every occasion of extending hospitality to another person is a particular occasion never to recur in one’s lifetime, (so one should try to make the occasion perfect.)” Because I had thought this phrase was of Buddhist origin, I used it, and will continue to use it, in a broader sense to mean that every encounter is unique and, therefore, each encounter must be savored and nurtured. Of course, there is no reason not to use the Way of Tea meaning, so by all means use the phrase in both ways.
All that was to show that if the Buddha Sakyamuni had not appeared in the world when he did, things might have been very different. If the Seven Patriarchs had not appeared in their respective times and places, there might not have been Jodo Shinshu. If each person down the line had not made the single encounter with the Buddha Dharma, there might not have been Jodo Shinshu. Most especially, if Shinran had not shown up when he did and put everything together and shown us what was intended by Amida’s Vow and the Nembutsu, Namo Amida Butsu, there would not be Jodo Shinshu today. Go one step further. If there were no Jodo Shinshu, we would not be here.
On Saturday, February 15th, I hope you will light some incense in front of your home Obutsudan in honor of Sakyamuni and give some thought to your life. That’s what Buddhism is all about, is it not? Your life.
Gassho,
Donkon Jaan, Rev. John Doami
