Orange County Buddhist Church
Orange County Buddhist Church
By Rev. Marvin Harada
As we brought the year 2003 to a close, we can’t help but look back over the past year. Depending on your perspective, there are many ways that you could evaluate the past year.
If you were a USC football fan, after their victory in the Rose Bowl, you would have to say that it was a very good year. If you were a UCLA football fan, you would probably say that it wasn’t a very good year.
Those who invest in stocks would probably judge the year based on how they did on their stocks. If their stocks went up in value, they would say it was a very good year. If their stocks went down, then they would have to say it was a bad year.
Farmers have good years and bad years. Some years the yield of their crop is good, but the prices are bad. Other years the prices are good but the yield is bad. Very rarely is the yield and price both good, but when it is, then a farmer has a really good year.
We have a kaki tree in our back yard, and since they don’t have kaki in Oregon where we are from, we usually send some of the kaki from our tree to our families in Oregon. For some reason, perhaps the weather, but there weren’t very many kaki on my tree this year. It was less than half of what it usually yields. It was not a good year for the kaki crop.
Depending on your health, you might judge the year based on whether you had any health problems or not. If you were healthy during the year then it had to have been a good year. If you were ill, or had surgery, then you would probably think that it wasn’t a very good year.
If you had a birth in the family, then it had to have been a good year. If you lost a loved one, then it was a bad year.
Rev. Kosho Yukawa, in a small book titled “Thus Have I Heard”, writes about how he was watching a Japanese TV program on New Year’s Day. In that program, a reporter was interviewing people who were visiting a Shinto Shrine on New Year’s Day. In Japan, people go to the Shinto Shrines on New Year’s Day to offer their prayers for the coming year. The reporter asked some of the people what their purpose was for worshipping at the Shrine. One person said they prayed for a prosperous business year. Another person prayed to get into a top college. Others prayed for health, money, or a trip abroad. Rev. Yukawa was struck, however, by the response of one elderly woman. She said that she was just grateful to be able to come to offer her gratitude. This woman’s response was strikingly different from the others.
Rev. Yukawa in his article goes on to mention a follower of the Nembutsu who stated that they were grateful for three things. Those three things were:
“I am grateful to be born as a human being. I am grateful to be living this very moment. I am grateful that I have met the Dharma, the Nembutsu.” P. 33, Thus Have I Heard.
What a beautiful thing to be able to make such a statement. I would imagine that this person of the Nembutsu, in looking back over the past year, would not judge the year as good or bad based on things like how one did on the stock market, or the winning or losing record of a football team. This individual wouldn’t even judge the year as good or bad depending on one’s health, or if there was a birth or death in the family. This person lives their life beyond the secular, or material concerns that most of us place the greatest value on. This person places the greatest value in life on the Buddha-Dharma, the Nembutsu, Namuamidabutsu. The Dharma allows this person to awaken to profound gratitude, for life itself, for having been born as a human being. The Dharma allows this person to realize that the greatest truth in life lies not in the material things that come and go, but in the timeless truth of Namuamidabutsu, that transcends life and death, that transcends even good and bad.
For this person of the Nembutsu the measure of a good year is not based on the successes or failures in the stock market. It is not based on the yield or price of one’s crop. It is not based on whether one was healthy or ill, whether even there was birth or death in the family. The measure of a good year is based on whether one has touched the truth of the Dharma, the Nembutsu.
This does not mean that the person of the Nembutsu feels no joy in the birth of a child, or in a windfall in the stock market. It does not mean that they feel no sorrow in their own illness or in the loss of a loved one. On the contrary, the person of the Nembutsu feels the joys and sorrows of life even deeper than the normal person. But along with the joy and sorrow is the deeper understanding of life, of the Dharma. This understanding does not allow the person of the Nembutsu to stagnate and wallow in ones’ sorrow, or to live with no meaning in their life. It does not allow them to stop listening to the Dharma, which gives them their greatest sustenance in life, just as vital as food and water is to most of us.
The Dharma, the Nembutsu, Namuamidabutsu, has such power to transform our lives. It is the ultimate measure of a good year.
The following poem was written by Rev. Kenryu Tsuji, from his book, “The Heart of the Buddha-Dharma.” I would like to conclude my article this month by quoting this most beautiful poem.
The Nembutsu is
the sound of the universe.
It is the sound of the wind
as it rustles the leaves;
It is the roar of the waves
as they rush toward the shore;
It is the song of the robin, the whippoorwill
and the chorus of cicadas on a summer evening.
The Nembutsu is naturalness…
The first cry of the baby
as it emerges into the world
from the darkness of the mother’s womb;
It is the powerful cry of independence
of individuality, of selfhood;
But it is also the great cry of awakening
to its dependence on something greater than self…
for its sustenance.
The Nembutsu is the proclamation of the Buddha…
“Above heaven and below heaven, I alone am the
World Honored One.”
It is the ultimate declaration of life;
I alone hold my destiny in my hand
leading to perfect Buddhahood.
When I touch the heart of reality,
It is Namo Amida Butsu…
What else can I say?
When I truly share someone’s happiness,
it is Namo Amida Butsu;
And in that moment of deep grief
over a loved one’s death,
it is just Namo Amida Butsu.
Namo Amida Butsu…
it is the song of gratitude
not of my finding the Buddha,
but Buddha finding me.
P. 75-76, The Heart of the Buddha-Dharma.
