“A life centred on Amida Buddha”
It has already been half a year since I came to Toronto. In the past six months, I have officiated nearly twenty funerals in Toronto. Last month, I officiated the first funeral for a person whom I knew.
She had always attended our Momiji services. She prepared tea and sweets for us at the service and was a very cheerful person, so I honestly still can’t believe it. At the Momiji service, she would always say, “Sensei, thank you for your effort.” She was one of the few people I could talk to in Japanese without hesitation, as I was struggling to speak English.
I naturally became emotional at the funeral of someone I knew. As I chanted the sutra, listened to the family’s eulogy, and shared the Dharma talk, memories of that person came back to my mind, and I struggled to hold back the tears.
For every encounter, there is a parting. I know that, but I am still sad. But it is not only sad. In Jodo Shinshu, the teachings of Amida Buddha, we are taught that the pain of parting can be turned into joy and that there is a world where we can meet again
On the weekend of the funeral, I was invited to the family’s home and treated to dinner. On the altar of the house（Butsudan） was a piece of paper with a text written by the deceased. With the family’s permission, I would like to write a few excerpts.
Warm times do not last forever. There will always be cold times in life, sometimes severe and painful. Amida Buddha teaches us how to turn “suffering” around and live a life of acceptance. How you turn out is your own. A flower that grows in a harsh natural environment is stronger. We should have the strength to accept adversity as an opportunity to win, even if our lives are also harsh. (omission) We cannot help but feel the joy of having encountered the teachings of Amida Buddha, who continues to work without giving up. We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to encounter this teaching and to be in an environment where we can continue to listen to it.
This text reminds us that this person was indeed a person who lived a life based on the Nembutsu and the teachings of Amida Buddha.
In this way, the teachings of Jodo Shinshu have been passed down to the present day by people who recite the Nembutsu with the Buddha as the centre of their lives. Because our lives are helped by the workings of the same Amida Buddha, there is a world where we can meet again, and through this Nembutsu, we can continue to connect with our loved ones who have gone to the Pure Land before us.
Later that day, I had a conversation with a close friend of hers about food. It was a discussion like, do you eat Japanese food or Western food?
She said, “I eat various foods at lunch and dinner, not only Japanese food, but I always eat Japanese food in the morning. Sensei, because we offer rice to the Buddhist altar every morning, right?”
She does not offer rice to the Buddhist altar because she eats rice in the morning, but she eats rice in the morning because she offers rice to the Buddha. It may sound like it could be either way, but these words showed that the person was always living a life centred on the Buddha, a life of respect for the Buddha.
The Toronto temple has been supported today by people whose lives are centred on Amida Buddha in this way. They do not use Amida Buddha’s teachings to better their own lives. They are supported by the teachings for the roots of their lives. Their way of life has strongly reminded me of this.
When they give me a donation envelope, they always say, “Please offer it to Amida Buddha,” not to the temple. Do you understand what this means?
Starting with the September Shotsuki Memorial Service, we have decided to hold a Presentation Offertory at each Shotsuki Memorial Service. This was done at the temple when I was in Kamloops, and I adopted it intending to change awareness, but other members told me that it had been done in the past in Toronto as well.
The temple is operated by people’s generous donations. Not only the various temple activities, but also my own life is supported by these donations. However, these donations are offerings to Amida Buddha. I regret that I had little awareness of the fact that I was using these offerings as a hand-me-down from the Buddha.
The centereof the temple is not the Buddhist ministers or the members, but Buddha, or in the case of a Jodo Shinshu temple, Amida Buddha. This is the major difference between the operation of a cultural or community centre and that of a temple.
We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to encounter this teaching and to be in an environment where we can continue to listen to it.
Let us be grateful for and praise Amida Buddha’s work, as the deceased said, and let us continue to live our lives centereng on Amida Buddha.
I will be away from Toronto to attend a program in Berkeley, California to officially become Kaikyoshi Minister (Official Overseas Minister) for about two months from October 7 to December 11. I apologize for any inconvenience caused by my absence, but if you would like to hold a Private memorial service, please consider shifting the timing to mid-December or later.
Namo Amida Butsu
Rev. Kensho Hashimoto
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