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Memorial Service Observances
Death is a topic we prefer to avoid. It is, according to Shin Buddhism “the single most important matter” that we need to result in our lives. To better understand the relationship death has with our lives, and through this understanding help us to transcend death and better live our lives, Shin Buddhism observes various Memorial services following the funeral service.
Through these Memorial services we are asked and then given the answer to the question, “How is a life celebrated?” How is this question answered in our daily lives? Must we wait until the person is no longer with us?
Put another way, when do we feel most like celebrating? What do we feel when we celebrate? In answering these questions, we discover that we tend to celebrate accomplishments such as anniversaries and graduations. These are the times when we feel like saying, “I did it!” But when do we actually celebrate life? Every day is special and unique. Every day, every moment is worthy of its own celebration. Unfortunately, we tend not to do this because we have learned to take these moments for granted. Will we stop taking life and all its moments for granted, that is what we feel appreciation and gratitude; it is when we feel joy. When we fear or ignore death, we do not allow ourselves to fully accept and receive the totality of life. It is something that we refuse to look at and because of that we never allow ourselves to see the whole picture.
Through the memorial service we are helped to understand the impermanent nature of our physical existence, to examine how it is the single most important matter in our lives. Through this we understand how precious and rare like really is. We take the time to see how many lives – those of the past, present and future – support this existence of ours: the past blaze the foundation, the present is what is shared, and the future continues to give meaning to the past and present. The memorial service helps us to celebrate life by helping us to appreciate and honor life. It helps us to say, “Thank you.” It helps us to say “Namo Amida Butsu.”
… Through the memorial service we discover that those we are remembering, those whose lives we continue to celebrate, through helping us to approach, hear and receive the Dharma as expressed by the Nembutsu – Namo Amida Butsu – help us to appreciate the depth and rarity of life is not something to take for granted when we do not take our lives for granted, that is when we become mindful of how much we receive each and every moment of our lives. The lives of those we are remembering are also the same lives that have helped to enrich our lives. The memorial service becomes a celebration of not just the lives of the past, but the lives of the present as well. It also becomes another opportunity to hear the Dharma and in particular the calling voice of Namo Amida Butsu. It is the voice that those we are remembering help us to hear.
Excerpted, with gratitude from: Memorial Service Observances by Rev. John Iwohara, Gardena Buddhist Church, Buddhist Churches of America, by, Southern District Ministers’ Association
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