- Since I moved to San Diego, I have Mondays and Tuesdays off, which I enjoy with my family at
home. Sometimes our leisure time together is interrupted by someone at the door who is wants to
sell or offer me something. Especially there are many proselytizers who want to talk about their
religion.
Last year, when some of these enthusiasts found out that I am a Buddhist minister, they would
stop by my house weekly on my days off and preach to me about their beliefs, telling me about their
benefits for me in great detail. Sometimes they talked over an hour at the front door. They seemed
to have a special obligation to convert me, a Buddhist minister, because they boldly discussed the
merits and demerits of Buddhism as compared with their religion. Perhaps they felt if they could
convert a Buddhist minister, their church would be encouraged and, more than anything else, it
would be good “bragging rights.”
Shinran Shonin flatly rejected any belief system which only preaches present benefits and not
that which we truly seek. Of course I clearly refused their invitations. Still, I was grateful to have the
good opportunity to look deeply into my own beliefs once again. And apart from this, I learned many
important things by witnessing those who try to spread their faith with spirit and enthusiasm.
Now I ask you to take a moment to think about what the true benefit in the present is for you. The
attraction of new religions and folk religions is that our serious but selfish desires—to get over one’s
illness, get rich, or avoid misfortune—will be answered through prayer or incantation.
However, even if achieved, these benefits will surely eventually disappear. A Japanese proverb
says that riches will not continue to the third generation. Even if miraculously recovering from an
illness, there is no sincere religion which claims it can cure a fatal disease. Even though we might
escape a fire or flood, there is no escaping the reality of the old age. Furthermore, there is no way
for any of us to avoid death.
As long as our lives will end someday, these kinds of temporary benefits which new religions
preach are a fraud. They are a deception to tempt people into their religion. It is like flattering an
ordinary person, getting him drunk and claiming, “You’re great! I can make you the President.” But
even if in his drunken state the man imagines that this is possible, once he sobers up, he will realize
he can never be President.
If we only seek these kinds of results, we will lose sight of the direction of our lives. Losing
oneself in prayer to God or Buddha for wished-for benefits is just escaping from the reality of one’s
daily life. Such people live under the illusion that when they place their hands together and pray to
God or Buddha for something, that they can live a peaceful life without any missteps. But as you all
know, there isn’t anyone in this world who hasn’t faced some hardship, or who has lived a trouble-
free existence. However, there seems to be many people who live expecting God or Buddha to
grant their wishes.
When I lived in Brazil, we had a service at the Sao Paulo Betsuin at 7 a.m. every morning. Since
the sutra chanting was Shoshinge, it took about an hour including the Dharma talk. There was a
devout member who attended the service every morning. One night, I was invited to his house to
have dinner with him and his wife. There were many Buddhist books in the book shelf. While we
waited for dinner, he showed me his family pictures and beautiful antiques which he collects.
I noticed many ceramic frogs which decorated another shelf. When I said, “Well, you really love
frogs,” he showed me his wallet and took a tiny ceramic frog out of it by saying, “Sensei, this is so
nice, isn’t it? If you keep it in your wallet, money will come back to you!” He said this in all
seriousness. (“Frog” in Japanese is kaeru. “Return” in Japanese is also kaeru. Although it just a
play on words, he truly believed that if he kept the frog in his wallet, money would return.) Although I
didn’t know which Japanese Shinto shrine he had bought it at, I was very surprised that even such a
devout member who rejoiced in the Nembutsu teaching, could harbor such a belief.
I have noticed some members have a charm for road safety hanging from their car’s rear view
mirror even in America. Humans are very weak. We tend to seek some sort of present benefit
without even realizing it.
It is claimed that Jodo Shinshu, unlike other religions, does not preach present benefits. But this
is not true. There is also a wonderful benefit in Jodo Shinshu.
Shinran Shonin says this great advantage is called Gensho Shojoju which means “the benefit of
entering the stage of the truly settled,” indicating a person who sincerely believes in Amida Buddha.
Nembutsu followers receive “the true benefit” and thereby gain the “supreme great benefit.” True
benefit means that no matter what the conditions may be, the benefit will never change. It is reliable
even when we get drunk, are common and ordinary, are alive, or die. This is the true benefit.
The results that new religions claim might be available to you but not by religious power. When
we are sick and want to regain health, we should see a good doctor. If we want to get rich, we
should understand the world of exchange and work very hard based on economics and business
sense. And if our life doesn’t turn out as we wish, we can only do our very best and leave the rest to
the future. I think that it is selfish to pray for our individual desires to God or Buddha.
Sadly, a person who seldom visits the temple to listen to the Nembutsu teaching while in good
health tends to become a person who turns to God or Buddha only in desperation.
Shinran Shonin taught that the benefit which we receive through the Nembutsu is to attain
Buddhahood—namely, to achieve true enlightenment. Although we are living in this temporal world,
our becoming a Buddha is assured. Shinran also teaches that this true benefit will remain even
when we die.
There is a famous saying in the Tannisho: “In this foolish being filled with blind passion, living in
this impermanent world of burning house, all things are empty and vain; therefore, untrue. Only the
Nembutsu is true, real, and sincere.” The Nembutsu gives us the true benefit, Amida Buddha’s great
compassion. That is the way we can live forever.
I sincerely hope that none of us will be tempted by the benefit of immediate gain. Instead let us
embrace and treasure the Nembutsu teaching forever.
In Gassho,
May, 2009
WHAT IS THE BENEFIT HERE AND NOW
By Rev. Yushi Mukojima
WHAT IS THE BENEFIT HERE AND NOW
By Rev. Yushi Mukojima
| Dharma Message |
