- May, 2008
WHAT 'S YOUR VIEWPOINT?
By Rev. Yushi Mukojima
The other day, I was watching a TV program with my wife. It was about a mother cheetah in the
African savanna raising her five cubs and trying to protect them from natural enemies so that one
day they would be able to fend for themselves.
As you all know, the cheetah is the fastest land animal, but it seems to be endangered now.
Because of poor conditions such as the destruction of its habitat, low fecundity, poaching, and so
on, the cheetah—once considered unrivaled—is in danger of disappearing from this world.
Although this program showed this cheetah family desperately trying to live in this severe
environment, their hardships were much worse than I had imagined. Although the cheetah made the
most of her fast run with a successful hunt, her kill was stolen by her natural enemy, the hyena. And
at the same time, the baby cubs waiting for the return of their mother were attacked by other hyenas
and some became their prey. The probability of cubs surviving to adulthood is only around 5
percent.
Realizing the cheetahs’ desperate situation, when I saw the scene in which one chases an
impala, I raised my voice, “Go! Go! Go! Catch him!” in spite of myself. After that, the hunt was a
success, the food was given to the babies, and then some of them were able to survive. I’m sure
that the cheetah family trying desperately to survive and the brave mother instinctively trying to
protect her babies made an impression on all who watched the documentary.
After the program, however, my wife said something to me I was not expecting. She remembered
that we had watched a TV program about some impala a couple of months ago and when we
watched a scene where the impala family flees a fierce cheetah, it seems I’d shouted, “Run! Run!
Run! Don’t be caught!” What’s more, she said that when the cheetah caught the impala, I had
muttered, “What a dreadful animal he is!” So her question to me was understandable: “Whose side
are you on?”
I didn’t know how to answer her question. Because when we watch the program from a certain
animal’s standpoint, our attachment to its family and sympathy for its plight become deeper. When
we put ourselves in its place, we have a tendency to see the world as it does. So if we put ourselves
in the impala’s place, he is “the good guy” and his natural enemy, the cheetah, is “the bad guy.”
Although there are many examples of this in nature—penguin and seal, seal and killer whale, and
so on—how on earth can we judge good or evil? Each creature has the right to live and the right to
hunt. When we consider it, it is far from easy for us ordinary people to judge whether something is
good or bad.
We can say the same about our daily life. We each have a tendency to judge those around us,
saying, “He is a good person,” or “He is a bad person.” However, as I mentioned, I wonder if we can
really know the true right and wrong?
When I was in the university, my teacher told us a meaningful story which I would like to share
with you.
There used to be a famous novelist in Japan named Ogai Mori who wrote a short story called,
“Takase Bune” which means, “A Boat on Takase River.”
During the Edo period, Takase River in Kyoto was the route used to send criminals to Osaka in
order to banish them to an island. The story is about a prisoner on the Takase Bune who confides
in an officer while going down the Takase River.
This 30-year-old prisoner named Kisuke had lived with his younger brother who had a serious
illness. One day when he got home, he found his brother covered with blood. His poor brother had
stuck a razor in his own throat to escape from the pain of sickness. However, he hadn’t succeeded
in killing himself and was suffering terribly. He asked Kisuke to pull the razor out so that he would be
able to die.
Although Kisuke felt horror at his brother’s terrible demand, he resolved to do as he was asked.
And thus, his brother died. This was what Kisuke told the officer on the boat which was moving
along the dark surface of the water, on the night with a hazy moon.
My teacher asked us a question: “Can we call Kisuke an evil person?” It is an extremely difficult
question. Kisuke couldn’t bear to see his brother suffering. He granted his wish to save him from
further pain. However, in doing so, he committed the crime of killing his brother.
There are many situations like this in which from one vantage an act is accepted as admirable
and from another the same act is seen as wrong. It is possible that one’s joy is the cause of the pain
in another person. The thing that is bad for me may be good for my neighbor. Therefore, we have to
truly realize that we are ordinary mortals who can never know what is truly good, right, or evil.
Then what kind of person does the phrase, “an evil person,” refer to in our Shin Buddhism?
Shinran Shonin used the phrase to describe conceited people who make judgments as if they
know everything; a person who always exposes and criticizes others and brushes aside his own
shortcomings, unconsciously putting himself up as a standard of justice. Who on earth, then, is this
evil person? I feel a shiver because it seems he is referring to me.
Shinran Shonin admonishes such people by saying, “It is extremely difficult for people with wrong
views and arrogance to realize Buddha’s compassion.” At the same time, he also assures that those
people with wrong views and arrogance who are past saving are the very first people whom Buddha
must save.
There is a saying in the Shoshin-Ge: “The Buddha’s great compassion is untiring and illumines
me always.” The Buddha’s strong will and great power, which cannot help but embrace those who
are self-centered, always illumine us.
It is very important for us to see ourselves through the true light of Buddha’s compassion. Those
who realize Buddha’s Primal Vow and truly acknowledge ourselves as evil (in the Shin Buddhist
sense) will be able to experience the ultimate world where we can see our faults and shortcomings
and apologize to and respect one other and make each other’s lives shine. Our awareness is the
very power of Amida Buddha which leads to the world where we reflect deeply on our own self-
centeredness and rejoice in Buddha’s compassion which never abandons us.
Once again, I reflect upon myself. At the same time, I rejoice from the bottom of my heart in the
great light which always illumines me.
In Gassho,
| Dharma Message |
