Orange County Buddhist Church

            The Shin Buddhist tradition is rich with living examples of the Nembutsu.  Those who have lived the most exemplary life of the Nembutsu are referred to as Myokonin.  Myokonin literally means “wonderful, exquisite person.”  It is a special term that has been used to refer to those most devout and faithful followers of Jodo Shinshu. 

            What is most amazing about many of the Myokonin is that they were quite frequently uneducated, even illiterate lay people.  Despite this fact, they listened intently, and earnestly to the teachings, such that their religious understanding was deep and profound.  Some of the Myokonin wrote poems in simple Japanese, while others could not even write, but whose sayings and words were written down by others. 

            Saichi is perhaps one of the most famous of the Shin Buddhist Myokonin.  The renowned scholar and thinker of Buddhism, D.T. Suzuki, was perhaps one of the first to introduce the Myokonin to the western world.  The following poems by Saichi were taken from D.T. Suzuki’s book, Mysticism:  Christian and Buddhist.

            Allow me to introduce Saichi’s life and a few of his poems in this month’s article.

            Saichi was born and lived in Shimane Prefecture of Japan, from 1850 to 1933.  As is the case of many of the Myokonin, Saichi’s own personal life experiences greatly influenced his religious seeking and understanding.

            At the age of 11, Saichi’s parents were divorced.  This must’ve been a deeply painful experience, as Saichi expresses in his poems both his remorse and his deep hatred he felt towards his parents.

            “I thought it would be better if my parents                                   would die.
            Why don’t my parents die?  I thought. 
            This totally sinful man [filled with] evil karma –
            How was I able to live until today,
            Without the earth splitting open
                        [and swallowing me?].” 

            In his young adult life, Saichi also was involved in gambling, and was even once arrested for it.  This was not that unusual in the time that he lived, but Saichi perhaps felt that his life was worthless, and he began to listen to the Dharma earnestly.

            Fortunately for Saichi, the minister of his home temple was a high-ranking priest in the Hongwanji and also a professor at Ryukoku University, Rev. Kenkyo Umeda.  Rev. Umeda brought to his temple, many outstanding teachers and scholars of Jodo Shinshu to speak.  Saichi listened to the teachings intently, especially from the ages of 46 to 60.

            Saichi worked as a carpenter’s apprentice, then as a ship builder.  Later in life, he became a geta maker, which are the wooden clogs that are worn in Japan.  Saichi was a working class type of man, with a limited education.  However, he wrote many poems expressing his thoughts on the Nembutsu, Amida Buddha, the Pure Land, and his own ego centered heart and mind.  Here are a few samples of his poems. 

                        “O Saichi, who is Nyorai-san?
                        He is no other than myself.
                          Who is the founder [of the Shin teaching]?
                        He is no other than myself.
                        What is the canonical text?
                        It is no other than myself.
                        The ordinary man’s heart has no fixed root,
                        Yet this rootless one takes delight
                                    In the Ho [i.e., Dharma];
                        This is because he is given Oya’s heart –
                        The heart of Namu-amida-butsu.”
                            p. 175, Mysticism:Christian and Buddhist.

            When we read and reflect on this poem by Saichi, we can see that he makes an amazing statement, that if misunderstood, could seem like arrogance. 

            Saichi is saying, “Who is the Buddha?  It is me.  Who is the founder of Jodo Shinshu?  Not Shinran Shonin, it is me.  What are the sacred texts of Jodo Shinshu?  Not the sutras, it is me.”

            At first glance, these poems seem to state that kind of arrogance.  How could Saichi say he is the Buddha or the founder of Jodo Shinshu, or much worse, the sutras themselves?

            Saichi’s poem reflects his heart and mind that is one with the truth of the Dharma, Namuamidabutsu.

For Saichi, the Buddha is not a dualistic being “out there”, but the heart of the Buddha is one with his heart.  He has “received” this heart from the side of the Buddha, from the side of truth itself.  Therefore he is able to say, the Nyorai-san (another term for Buddha) is myself.

For Saichi, Shinran Shonin is not some historical teacher who lived hundreds of years ago.  For Saichi, Shinran’s heart is totally one with his heart.  Therefore, he is able to say, the founder is no other than myself. 

            For Saichi, all of the sutras and scripture of Buddhism express one thing, Namuamidabutsu.  Saichi’s heart and life are totally one with Namuamidabutsu.  He is immersed in Namuamidabutsu.  Therefore, the sutras are no other than Saichi, himself. 

            The term Oya, or Oyasama, is the warm, intimate term that Saichi uses to refer to the Buddha.  Oya literally means “parent or parents.”  Saichi refers or calls the Buddha his true parent, or Oya. 

            For Saichi, Hell and the Pure Land are not realms of an afterlife, but they the contents of his own heart and mind, as reflected in the following poems:

                        “I cannot fall into hell
                        Hell is right here.
                        This place is hell,
                        And hell is where we dwell.

                        Where is Saichi’s Pure Land?
                        Saichi’s Pure Land is right here.
                        Where is the borderline of the Pure
                                    Land in this world?
                        The eyes are the borderline of the Pure
                                    Land in this world.

                         Where is Saichi’s Pure Land?
                        Saichi’s Pure Land is in my heart.
                        It is, it is,
                        Namu Amida Butsu.”
                                p. 69-70, The Buddhist Concept of Hel
                                by Daigan and Alicia Matsunaga.

             This final poem by Saichi shows how the Nembutsu is a truth that transcends life and death.  Saichi, in receiving that truth in his heart and mind, also transcends life and death.

                        “How grateful!
                        While others die,
                        I do not die:
                        Not dying, I go
                        To Amida’s Pure Land.”
                            p. 195, Mysticism:  Christian and Buddhist.

            In this poem, Saichi is not arrogantly saying, “I have outlived all my friends.  I do not die.”  Instead, he is saying, “While others die, not knowing this profound truth of the Nembutsu, I, Saichi do not die that way.  The Nembutsu allows me to touch all of eternity, right now. Therefore, even though I physically die, in a deeper sense, in the world of truth, I do not die.”  This is the spiritual world of Saichi, the Myokonin.

                             Namuamidabutsu,
                             Rev. Marvin Harada