In our Jodo Shinshu tradition we traditionally hold a service twice a year during the spring and fall equinox called Ohigan. It is typically a time where things are in balance and harmony, not too hot or cold, days and nights are equal. In many ancient cultures, it was a time of celebration to remind us of our deep connection to the rhythms and cycles of the earth and to the whole universe.
During the fall equinox, the days are getting shorter and the temperature is getting cooler. It can be a feeling of decline. Even the term fall evokes that sense. We tend to think of the changing colors of leaves as the end of their life. This is one way to look at the season but really this is the projection of our human existence on nature.
There is a Japanese poem that gives us a different perspective:
“They are falling here and there, they are fresh falling leaves just born from a tree.”
This poem expresses a different perspective that instead of thinking of falling leaves as the end of their lives, they are considered being born as new life.
Buddhism teaches us that our views are not absolute and clear. We project ourselves on nature – what is natural in life. We human beings find it difficult to align ourselves with how things truly are. We each have our own lens of understanding influenced by our past karma. Amida Buddha, as a symbol of infinite wisdom unfolding as compassion, tries to awaken us and broaden our view with a clearer and more flexible mind.
When I come through the back door of the Midwest Buddhist Temple there is a sign that says: “Come as you are.” I have come through that door many times but recently paused to truly read it and reflect on its meaning. With the passage of laws continuing to promote oppression and exclusion in our society like the recent anti-LGBTQ+ laws and the restriction of reproductive rights initiated by the Supreme Court, this sign resonated more deeply.
At first thought the sign seems to say that the temple accepts anyone who enters. There is no judgement about who or where you are from, your beliefs, age, class, race, sexual identity, gender or any other basis. There is no exclusivity in Jodo Shinshu. This is an extremely important message to welcome all those who want to hear the Buddha-Dharma and experience the teaching of non-discrimination of Shinran Shonin. It is a teaching available to all.
To me, “come as you are” means more than that. Buddhism speaks about emptiness which is usually interpreted to mean without intrinsic existence. But emptiness can mean things just as they are or the Japanese word - sonomama.
Sonomama can also be understood as pertaining to the naturalness of karma. This naturalness is the call of Amida Buddha. Sonomama is Amida’s voice: “Entrust yourself just as you are.” It is a message of unconditional acceptance addressed to us from Amida Buddha.
Sonomama
is my embrace of the reality of my life, whatever my conditions; it is the deep inner peace and gratitude which arises from realizing my own oneness with all beings; it is to take refuge, to entrust in what is True and Real. It comes naturally and spontaneously as we open ourselves to the working of great compassion, letting it shape and inform our lives the way it is meant to be.
What “come as you are” is saying is that we can each come with differences that are naturally occurring for each of us. It is a message not only of how we can think of others, but how we think of ourselves.
What does “Come as you are” not mean? It does not mean accepting inequities in life that systems allow because “that’s the way it is”. It is not accepting inhumane mistreatment of others. “That’s the way it is” is really not recognized in Buddhism, because everything is constantly changing. Nothing has an everlasting existence. It is about the truth of reality, not the truth that humans instill based on their discriminative thinking.
The phrase “come as you are” is a message coming from a source speaking specifically to each of us. Amida Buddha, ultimate reality, is speaking to each of us personally. Jodo Shinshu is about finding who you truly are. So this calling from Amida is for us to break through our discriminating mind, towards nature, towards others but especially towards ourselves, to find who we truly are. So as we reflect during Ohigan, with the balance of nature, it reminds us to come as you are – that naturalness that is often blinded by our egos, our discriminating minds.
In Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, the observance of Ohigan is simply the expression of our gratitude to Amida Buddha for awakening us to Boundless Wisdom unfolding as Compassion. Our part in this observance would be to put into action the Compassion which comes to us from Amida Buddha and to apply it in our relationships with our fellow living beings and ourselves. This appreciation in our daily life is the Shinshu way of expressing our gratitude for the wondrous virtues extended to us unconditionally and equally.
Namo Amida Butsu
|