September, 2007
ONE IN TASTE WITH OCEAN
By Rev. Yushi Mukojima
My wife and I went to the beach a couple weeks ago. Every year about this time many people go
to the beach to surf, read while sprawled on the white sands, or ride bicycles along the coast.
Everyone finds a way to have a good time.
Mika and I spread our mat on the sand and enjoyed reading and suntanning. When I looked
around, I was amazed by the variety of races and ethnicities enjoying the same communal space
within a 20-feet radius of us. Such a scene is highly unlikely in Japan. I realized again that America
is a great melting pot.
People of different skin and eye color, ethnicity, culture, and religious belief each enjoy the breeze
and scorching sun in this small area. Regardless of our differences, the sunlight illumines all people
equally. This is why the sunlight can be compared to Amida Buddha’s light of compassion. How
grateful we are.
Certainly there are many kinds of people around us not only distinguishable by race or ethnicity.
There is the bright person, the kind-hearted person, the beautiful person, the rich person, the
healthy person, or the foolish person, the heartless person, the ugly person, the poor person, and
the sickly person. And they live sympathizing, despising, envying, hating, or interacting agreeably
with each other. In Shin Buddhism, those who live in such a world are called “ordinary people.”
A sage is someone we imagine as a bright and kind-hearted person. However, Shan-tao (Zendo
Daishi), one of the Seven Pure Land Masters said that even a sage is just an ordinary person. Why
is that?
There are many people in this world who are very wise and merciful. But when I regard our
society, I know war and dispute have broken out repeatedly all over the world. Who on earth started
these wars? Have foolish people caused them? Or people who lacked humanitarianism?
When I try to think deeply about it, not only America but also the leaders of many countries try to
do their best in the cause of “the Happiness of All Humankind.” But I cannot help thinking, if
anything, wars are started by such self-styled compassionate men or self-styled sages. Therefore,
when all leaders abandon their belief that they are sages–in other words, if they only realize that
they are ordinary men–I believe that the war will disappear from the world forever.
There is a saying in the Shoshin-Ge written by Shinran Shonin, the founder of our Shin Buddhism:
When the ignorant and wise, even grave offenders and slanderers of the Dharma, all alike turn and
enter Shinjin, they are like waters that, on entering the ocean, become one in taste with it. To put it
simply, no matter what kind of person you may be, if you depend entirely upon Amida Buddha’s
compassion, you will surely receive the same enlightenment as Buddha.
A sage as described in the Shoshin-Ge by Shinran is much different from ordinary people like us,
involved in battle and sometimes having lost sight of ourselves. A true sage is one who can lead all
people to the way of the truth.
We always want to act like a wise person though we are quite ordinary. When we see our
everyday mind in the light of Amida Buddha’s wisdom, we realize that, far from being extraordinary,
we are the worst among ordinary men.
A wicked person who commits the “five gravest offenses” may very well be one of us. Although it is
so hard for us to admit it, in our fantasies we are capable of killing our mother, father, or a Dharma
teacher! In our imaginations, we may commit crimes comparable to offenses which disrupted the
Buddhist order or caused Shakyamuni Buddha’s body to bleed. Slandering the Dharma is also the
same type of offense. Don’t we do so without knowing it?
Those who commit the “five gravest offenses” and who slander the Buddha Dharma are the worst
among ordinary men. It is so hard to save such people. These may be harsh words but I cannot help
thinking that we are among these grave offenders.
There is a famous saying in the Dharma-phrase Sutra: If an ignorant person knows that he is
ignorant, he is wise. If an ignorant person misunderstands that he is a wise person, he is truly
ignorant.
Shakyamuni Buddha teaches us that if we wish to become wise, we should realize our own
stupidity first. It is very important for us to seriously reflect upon ourselves and become aware that
we are ordinary and ignorant beings. Even Shinran Shonin called himself Gutoku (“foolish/stubble-
haired”).
And regardless whether we are wise or foolish, when we feel Amida Buddha’s compassion, each
of us is released from all discrimination and receive the enlightenment same as Buddha.
Amida Buddha’s great compassion accepts all sorts of minds, like rivers running into the great
ocean. The great ocean of Amida Buddha accepts unconditionally the pure stream (sage), the small
river (ordinary man), and the muddy river (ignorant man) like us. No matter how pure or muddy a
stream may be, when it flows into the ocean, it becomes one with the ocean in taste. It doesn’t
become one flavor because of the pure stream, but because of the power of the ocean.
Similarly, it is absolutely not our sullied stream of ordinary man/ignorant person flowing into the
Buddha’s ocean that alone creates the taste of Amida’s enlightenment. We should never forget that
it is due entirely to the power of Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow.
When we are able to humbly accept that we are ordinary beings, each one of us will realize the
wonderful world in which Amida Buddha made a compassionate vow solely for each of us. Let us
recite the Nembutsu for Buddha’s great guidance!
In Gassho,
| Dharma Message |
