Shotsuki, The Monthly
Memorial Service

 

The following words by Doshu of Akao, well-known as the
Myokonin who was guided by Rennyo Shonin, are handed
down as follows:

 

“As a matter of daily concern, you should never neglect the morning service at the family altar; you should make monthly visits to the nearest temple to worship the Sect founder, Shinran; and each year you should make a pilgrimage to the Mother Temple….”

 

The marvelous Myokonin lay follower, Akawo-no-Dōshū, was a person who met Rennyo Shonin in the15th century.  He knew Shinran Shonin's teachings and lived, embodying the spirit of gratitude, and came closer to Buddhahood.

 

By the way, I am worried that some of you may think that all people become Buddhas when they die. This is not true. If that were true, Christians and Muslims would also become Buddhas. Buddhism is not a religion that teaches such self-righteousness.

 

Needless to say, the goal of Buddhists is to become a Buddha, and it is only Buddhists who can become Buddhas. Shinran taught that a person who says, "Namu-amitābha," wholeheartedly, is a true disciple of Buddha. This is because such a person has come to know the true heart of the Śākyamuni Buddha.

 

We recite the Nenbutsu and chant the sutra on any occasion. In Jodo Shinshu, everything we do, whether it is financial offerings or Dharma offerings, is nothing more than the service of repaying the Buddha's kindness.  However, the precious Dharma that is proclaimed through such Dharma causation is not in vain. Because of its precious virtues of the Buddha, those who come into contact with such Dharma causation, whether they are themselves or others, ancestors, or descendants, are bound in some way by a deep connection and certainly receive their precious benefits.

 

Now that we are holding the Shotsuki Monthly Memorial Service with our personal memories, the only thing we can do is to say the Nenbutsu. First of all, let us recite the Nenbutsu earnestly. If we do this, we will feel that we are firmly connected to the life of the deceased.  For what purpose is the Memorial Service held?　Is it so the deceased can enjoy the Pure Land or so they can attain Buddhahood?

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I can say that all Buddhist services, fundamentally, are a chance for us to send these words: "Thank you for raising me" to the beloved deceased.  I really feel that I was raised by the daily casual words and actions of many people. Therefore, the service to remember the deceased is conducted with the reminder: "Thank you for raising me" to the deceased.

 

All people who attend the Shotsuki Memorial Service today are those who had some kind of relationship with the deceased on the Shotsuki list. It is not that they may or may not be directly related to you in any specific way but that they may have made you aware of something important. All Buddhist memorial services are occasions to say, "Thank you" and "Please continue to work with me," at the same time. It is not a place to confirm the farewell in this life.

 

Shinran Shonin once said:

　

“Those who reach the state of pure happiness,

Return to this mundane world of the five defilements,

Where, like the Śākyamuni Buddha,

They benefit sentient beings without limit.”

 

If you could emerge your individual Buddha-nature through Nenbutsu living, you will surely become the Buddha in the next stage, and you will return to the mundane life of this world, and as if you were Shakyamuni Buddha, you will work to liberate people from their suffering and troubles.

 

Those who have passed on to the state of perfect peace and utmost joy will return to the heart and mind of those who are closely related, after becoming a Buddha without interval. In our heart, through the memories of our parents and other people with whom we are closely related, we are going to examine our own egoistic and self-satisfied thoughts gradually. Then our Nenbutsu turns sounding as, "Oh, yes, that's right."  Death is not the end of a person. The true and real life of the deceased will always be with those who are closely connected, forever. They are always alive in our hearts.

 

For 2,700 years, Jodo Shinshu has been a continuous tradition of the essence of Buddha-dharma, and since the moment of Śākyamuni Buddha's intone of the Nenbutsu, "na mō mi ta ba", the unique dharma experience through Nenbutsu Practice has continued regardless of historical and cultural background among Nenbutsu practicers.  Countless people have attained Buddhahood and have already returned to some world.

 

I suppose that the sounds "na mō mi ta ba" may suggest the origin of the universe and the motive for the life process.  It is worth it to try it, isn't it?

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