Orange County Buddhist Church
Orange County Buddhist Church
A Way of Seeing (Saichi’s Dharma)
Ima o shiran watakushi ni
Ima o
shirasete kudasaru
Ojihi
- Asahara Saichi
To me, ignorant of the now,
Now is made
known.
Amida’s Compassion
Your
experience of life is not based on your life, but on what you pay attention to.
- Gregg Krech
Saichi, a Myokonin, a man who deeply realized his true, real self through Namo Amida Butsu, is saying that much of our lives is spent thinking about the past or the future, brooding over mistakes we made or people who have made us angry and so on and so on, or things we hope for, or wish we could do or plan to do. Saichi, of course, is concerned that we do these things with little or no thought given to the immediate present, especially with regard to the resolution of our life through the Name given to us by Amida’s Compassion; that is, Namo Amida Butsu.
The statement by Gregg Krech was made at the August ministerial seminar held in Seattle. At first glance, it might not seem quite right, but as we think about it more, we will surely see that he is right. Consider again what Saichi is saying. If all we think about are the mistakes we have made, things that really peeve us, or people who have made us angry, then that is our experience of life. Indeed, that is our life. The things we ignore, like our need, if not our desire, for awakening to true reality, are not. If we were truly awakened to, or were truly aware of, for instance, dependent co-origination or, better yet maybe, emptiness, or maybe best, Amida’s entrusting, we would be free from having to brood or becoming angry, because we would realize it does not do any good. Not only does it not do any good, in some senses, all that does is destroy our chances for living a meaningful life in the immediate now.
On the other hand, because we must work out our karma, we will probably still brood, complain, become angry, and so on. The big difference is that we will know these actions and thoughts are self-defeating and not cling to them as we might have in the past. In Saichi’s way of seeing, the only way in which we can truly come to see ourselves in the absolute now is by being awakened to it through Amida’s Namo Amida Butsu. Otherwise, it is just an intellectual subterfuge, or game; there is no real, existential, depth. Think about it.
Gassho,
Rev. Donkon Shaku Jaan
Rev. John Doami
