Orange County Buddhist Church
Orange County Buddhist Church
A Way of Seeing (Genza – 05/06)
There are a couple stories about the Myōkōnin Genza that we should know about, because they give us a hint as to what is meant by Amida’s boundless compassion.
One goes like this: Someone once said to Genza, “Ossan (Old man), I am joyful in the Nembutsu when I’m with fellow adherents, but when I’m alone, I forget.” Genza answered, “Just because you forget, that’s good. It is always there, so you forget. It’s much better that you forget.”
The other story goes like this: “Someone once said to Genza, “Ossan, I’m a counterfeit follower. When I go to the temple and face Amida, I’m enabled to be joyful in the Nembutsu. But when I go home, I forget. I guess I’m a completely counterfeit follower.” Genza answered, “If you are counterfeit, that’s all you need. It’s really hard to become counterfeit.”
What Genza is trying to tell the two followers is that if they truly come to understand the true reality of what they are saying, one who forgets to say Namo Amida Butsu when he’s not with other Jodo Shinshu people, the other that he is counterfeit, they will come to realize that Amida’s compassion targets just such people. Shinjin, or true mind, has two aspects: one, the absolute inability to realize enlightenment on one’s own; two, Amida’s absolute saving power, which is aimed at bringing us to enlightenment and, ultimately, to full and complete realization of oneness.
One does not work without the other. If we are able to remember to say Namo Amida Butsu whenever it is appropriate, it is in a sense an attempt to realize enlightenment through our own inherent power. That is why Genza says, “It’s much better that you forget.” I would add, as long as we remember that that is the reason Amida’s compassion is, and needs to be, boundless and without conditions. The only exception to there being no conditions is that we must realize we cannot be enlightened without Amida’s compassion.
The same is true for the counterfeit follower. It is very difficult to see ourselves as counterfeit and even more so to admit that fact to someone else, let alone someone like Genza, who was and is held in the highest esteem.
How many of us forget to say the Nembutsu, or, perhaps worse, are reluctant to say it, whether in a group of fellow Jodo Shinshu followers or in a group of non-Jodo Shinshu followers? How many of us forget or are reluctant to say “Itadakimasu,” or its equivalent, such as Gary Snyder’s Grace, before meals, even when we’re at home with only family? I hope only a very small minority. When you say it, please put your hands together in Gassho.
As you say Itadakimasu or its equivalent, contemplate why it is so hard to say it. Is it even harder to say Namo Amida Butsu? Perhaps we should think of ourselves as forgetful or counterfeit, and, then, think of Genza’s answers.
It does not seem like a big thing to worry about, but if Jodo Shinshu and Amida’s compassion are to mean something to us, we need to begin thinking about it from even the slightest thing.
Gasshō,
Donkon Jaan
Rev. John Doami
