6/28/09

Today I visited the Higashi Hongaji Temple. It is a very beautiful and clean temple in Costa Mesa. The atmosphere is peaceful. The inside of the temple is adorned with amazing sculptures, statues, scrolls and iconography.

Each member of the temple that I encountered was very friendly and helpful. The sermon was given in English accompanied by a printed version of what was said. The Sensei was humble and insightful. This sect of Buddhism is very philosophical as opposed to being a ridged religious institution. I believe it is one of the most popular sects of Buddhism in Japan. The service began with a very long song lead by the Sensei who had a beautiful voice. The small congregation followed his chants and some offered incense at an altar. This seemed to be the only traditional activity taking place at the temple. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the song and had a hard time focusing on the translated text at the bottom of the book. I went from reading the Japanese words along with the group, to occasionally reading the English translation. Here are few quotes from the translation:

“Immeasurable is the light of wisdom, of all beings with limited attributes none is there unblessed by the light.”
“All those illuminated by the light are freed of being and non-being”-Buddha
“Enter the storehouse of dharma, and attain true wisdom as deep as the ocean.”

The Sensei's lesson was not very long. He had a very calming voice. He was not preaching; it was very different from christian sermons I've attended. There was no damnation or judgement in his voice, only a lesson on his point of view of Buddhism. The sermon was titled "Universal Truth." I have paraphrased what he said, adding some background information, comments and quotes...

“Judo Shinshu is a teaching for us commoners to seek the Buddhist way of living.
Buddha (awakened)-dharma (religion, philosophy or teaching) provides us the opportunity to reflect upon the falseness of our lives from the viewpoint of the truth, (Buddha’s view of truth).
“In India when Sakyamuni (Also known as Siddhartha Gautama was born 2,500 years ago in India achieved Buddha hood. However, he was not the first Buddha or the last. He taught that during this eon there would be 1,000 fully enlightened Buddha’s who would introduce Buddhism (after it has been totally forgotten). He then sat down in a place now called Bodhgaya (North India) under a Bodhi-tree and decided not to get up anymore until he discovered the truth. Just a short time later, he became a fully enlightened Buddha. This means that he actualized all positive potentials of a sentient being and rid himself of all negative qualities. With this, he realized the true nature of existence and suffering (emptiness), and how suffering can be ended. "Our teacher, Sakyamuni Buddha, is one among the thousand Buddha’s of this eon. These Buddha’s were not Buddha’s from the beginning, but were once sentient beings like ourselves”-Dalai Lama,1)

was alive, the most popular belief was that every living being reincarnated over and over again…present incarnation was the result of the past incarnations…(the next incarnation was) determined by how they lived the present incarnation. This concept encourages people to behave in a good way, but at the same time it was used as an excuse for discrimination like the caste structure…moreover, popular religions were used to justify the discrimination. Distressed by this situation, Sakyamuni embarked on a journey to seek the truth because he realized the impermanence of life…seeing…aging, illness and death (of the poor class) 6 years later he awakened to become the Buddha…he found out that everything is interdependent, every moment…arising and the next moment another interdependent arising occurs. Our lives are also interdependent. I am who I am in relation to the conditions surrounding me in this moment…another “I” arises in relation to something else. Sakyamuni Buddha found the equality of every life in the concept of interrelatedness…He also found our sense of self is just an illusion…our sense of self is also called ego…ego creates many kinds of attachments like the concept of reincarnation. The falseness of ego is the source of all suffering we experience. ("One might compare the relation of the ego to the id with that between a rider and his horse. The horse provides the loco-motor energy, and the rider has the prerogative of determining the goal and of guiding the movements of his powerful mount towards it. But all too often in the relations between the ego and the id we find a picture of the less ideal situation in which the rider is obliged to guide his horse in the direction in which it itself wants to go."From New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, 1932.)

Historically speaking, we are living this moment because of countless lives of ancestors and countless species of animals and countless number of causes and conditions that created the lives on this planet. (Causes and conditions, society, agriculture and Evolution - "Natural selection acts only by taking advantage of slight successive variations; she can never take a great and sudden leap, but must advance by short and sure, though slow steps."-Charles Darwin,On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection") The lives we are living are not our possessions...Life is living us…and we are sharing this moment with countless lives of people…we experience many kinds of sufferings…some are tragic and devastating. But from the Buddhist point of view, if we cannot appreciate the life we are living right now, it is the most tragic event. Our minds are easily distracted by…views, misconceptions and superstitions…Buddha tells us that they are just the projections of our own egos. (Apparent reality) Shinran Shonin expressed the essence of the…Buddha…in Bodhisattva Vasubandhu Wasan he states “Of those who encounter the power of the primal vow (Which states If, when I attain Buddha hood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and call my Name, even ten times, (This text could have created the ritual and importance of chanting Amida Buddha’s name. Many interpreted and taught that salvation could be attained by faithfully reciting the name of Amida Buddha. This form of Buddhism becomes appealing to the common people of Japan and other areas because it is simple. Even if you are a prostitute, beggar or suffer from other misfortunes of existence simply chanting Amida Buddha’s name brings peace and salvation, possibly meaning the escape from reincarnation. Some describe its purpose being “good for the health, and also leads us eventually to peace of mind”2. Even today, the key practice for Amida devotees is simply to chant Amida’s Nembutsu .3) should not be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment. Excluded, however, are those who commit the five gravest offences and abuse the right Dharma.)
Not one passes by in Vain;
They are filled with the treasure ocean of virtues.
The defiled waters of their blind passions not separated from it”
“Only through our awakening to our falseness we can seek for the truth.”
(The Sensei told me his view of this was a...wish of the Buddha, (as a symbol) before he obtains enlightenment that all should turn towards enlightenment, turn their minds towards Buddha. Not by separating ourselves from “the defiled waters of their blind passions," like in many other Buddhist sects say to do, but by recognizing and utilizing these passions and our virtues we become enlightened. Once we see the falseness that surrounds.)

After the sermon the whole group gathered in a kitchen area for Green tea, cookies and cakes. It was a very humbling and unifying experience. I really enjoyed this temple and took to heart the profound message I received in my visit.

254 Victoria Street, Costa Mesa, California 92627

1.http://www.viewonbuddhism.org/buddha.html
2.http://www.manitobabuddhistchurch.org/