The Buddha’s Measure — Hearing the Voice of the                                 Buddha of Immeasurable Life

As we go about our daily lives, we are constantly making choices—often without even realizing it. As children, we gradually learn wisdom and grow into adulthood. The knowledge we gain in school and the judgment we acquire through life are all meant to help us live better. Yet when we look closely at the wisdom we use in daily life, we begin to notice something important: much of it is wisdom based on gain and loss. We try not to lose, and if possible, we want to gain a little more. This way of thinking is not unusual or wrong—it is simply human.

​

This wisdom of gain and loss always requires a measuring stick. When we face two options, we compare them, measure them, and choose the one that seems more favorable to us. For that, we need a ruler with clear markings—plus and minus, better and worse. This kind of measuring stick is certainly necessary for living in this world. If we ignored the difference between ten thousand dollars and twenty thousand dollars, business would not function, and everyday life would quickly fall into confusion. Buddhism does not teach us to throw away this human measuring stick.

​

At the same time, Buddhism points out something else. Human desire has no end. No matter how much we gain or how much we achieve, another desire soon arises. The more we try to satisfy our desires, the more dissatisfaction grows. This is where human suffering lies. So what are we to do? Buddhism does not deny the human measuring stick. Instead, it shows us that there is another measuring stick—one more.

​

This is what we call the Buddha’s measure. The human measuring stick has clear markings: plus and minus, good and bad, success and failure, health and illness, wealth and poverty. Everything is compared and evaluated. The Buddha’s measure, however, has no markings at all. There are no scales, no numbers, no plus or minus. In fact, it is a ruler that cannot really be used to measure anything.

​

In English, this is expressed by the word Immeasurable. Immeasurable does not mean “very large.” It does not mean infinite, and it does not mean eternal. Immeasurable means that the very framework of measurement itself no longer applies. Amida Buddha is called Immeasurable Life. This does not mean a life that continues forever in time. It is not a matter of how long life lasts. Rather, it points to a life that lies beyond our attempts to measure life and death as success or failure, gain or loss.

​

Let us consider illness as an example. From the perspective of the human measuring stick, health is positive and illness is negative. Naturally, we would rather be healthy and avoid illness if possible. But once illness arises, the situation does not immediately change. At that point, we often continue to measure our condition as negative, and we begin to see ourselves as sufferers.

​

The Buddha’s measure sees illness simply as illness—without positive or negative, without good or bad. So how can we come to encounter the Buddha’s measure? There is only one way: to hear the call of the Buddha.

​

This month we observe Nirvana Day. It marks the moment when all human measures—success and failure, gain and loss, life and death—quietly come to rest.

​

Nirvana Day is a day to offer our gratitude to the Buddha. It is a day to listen—to listen to the Dharma taught by Shakyamuni Buddha, and to hear the calling voice of Amida Buddha.

​

Namo Amida Butsu