October, 2007
DOES HELL EXIST?
By Rev. Yushi Mukojima
In Japan, there is a famous saying: Earthquake, Thunder, Fire, Father–all are to be feared in this
world. Have you ever heard of it?
My father used to be very strict when I was little, and I remember being scolded harshly by him
and crying afterward in remorse whenever I was bad. However, he is now so gentle that it is hard
for me to imagine that in those days he was stern and unapproachable.
Although I who liked to do mischief by nature was scolded by my father many times in my youth, it
was my father’s words that made a strong impression on my mind. It was what he always said to me
whenever I told a lie: “Your tongue will be pulled out by Yama!” Although this is a very famous
phrase that anyone raised in Japan knows, these words strike unspeakable terror in a child’s mind,
making him realize that telling a lie is a very serious misdeed.
In Japan, Yama is well-known as a lord of death depicted in a famous painting on a folding screen
which describes the world of hell. It fills all who see it with a bottomless fear. I cannot describe the
terrible look of anger on an ogre’s face as he punishes most cruelly the people who have fallen into
this hell. Though it is only showing us the suffering of hell, it is so cruel that I turn my eyes away in
spite of myself. I still remember that whenever I saw it as a child, I was not able to sleep.
Buddhism also teaches about hell’s existence. Ancient people tried to take the precaution of doing
good deeds because of their fear of hell. But it seems today people have a problem with the
concept, and a tendency to deny that hell even exists. Then is the hell which Buddhism teaches us
about only a temporary expediency for people to prevent them from doing bad deeds?
I would like to ask you to think about how, as followers of the Pure Land teaching, we should
regard the concept of hell.
Our founder Shinran Shonin left a famous phrase in the Tannisho: “Hell is my only home.” His
sincere reflection, illumined with the light of Amida Buddha, led him to truly realize that hell existed in
the ugly blind passions which lurked in his mind. If we think about hell without the context of
“myself,” it is just a picture. Shinran Shonin always was aware that hell was in his mind.
Unfortunately, although we listen to Shinran’s teaching, it seems that where we are concerned, we
tend to deny the possibility of hell in ourselves and believe that we don’t have any ogres in our
mind. Don’t you think so?
Needless to say, we have to take the lives of other beings in order to live. Just think about the
actions around us. We may explain them by saying, “Everyone’s doing this. In order to survive, it can’
t be helped.” But if we put ourselves in the other’s place, we will never be able to justify it. Infinite
grudge and hatred of the creatures weigh heavily on all of us. If we say that everyone is doing the
same thing, even murder during war can be justified. In battle, a person who has killed another will
be decorated and honored by the nation. However that reasoning will never be accepted by those
whose lives were taken.
Last month, we held a September 11 memorial service in Balboa Park. We recalled that terrible
scene although it has been six years since it happened. Over 3,000 blameless people were lost in
that terrorist act. The terrifying sight of their deaths and the burning and collapsing buildings was
quite like hell itself. I sincerely hope that such a tragedy will never occur again.
However, when I think deeply about it, although we still react in sorrow to the photos of September
11 victims on the front page of the newspaper, the obituary notice about a man hit by the car will
only get three lines in the paper. When we read about a tragic event which is given a great deal of
space, we will feel sympathy. But when we see mention of a man who dies in a car accident, we pay
no attention to it, thinking, “Again…”
But the reality of death has the same weight whether the person in question died in the twin
towers on September 11 or in a car accident. The weight of life is the same for all people—and even
for a worm.
So how should we treat a life? What do we do in order to be respectful of it? What can we do for
all the lives which we have taken? When we think about life like this, we must not assume a
defensive attitude by saying, “Everyone does it!” A Buddhist shouldn’t become a person who can
never feel sympathy.
It is not only about taking other lives. In our daily living, when we realize that we cannot live
without hurting others’ feelings, there is nowhere else we can land up but in hell. Hell exists in our
actions. We create our own hell. When we come to realize this truth, Shinran’s words, “Hell is my
only home,” echo in our minds again.
We who follow the Pure Land teaching should accept the existence of hell. Shinran Shonin
teaches us that we should become Buddhas in order to save all the lives that we continue to take.
Then he clarified that the Pure Land teaching is the only way to save all other lives. He firmly leads
us to the way of the Nembutsu. How grateful we should be.
In Gassho,
| Dharma Message |
