Namo Amida Butsu
Our lives are changing rapidly every day. As science advances, new things are created one after another and quickly become part of our daily lives. Without things such as telephones, televisions, radios, computers, and DVDs, life would feel somewhat inconvenient. At the same time, it sometimes seems that we rely on these things too much. This leads us to ask a simple but important question: What do we truly want in life?
A long time ago, I heard a story that made me think deeply about this question. One day, a man went out into the street and asked several people the same question: “What do you want most right now?” First, he asked elementary school students. One student answered, “I want a baseball glove and a bat.” Next, he asked high school students. A student replied, “What I want most is an education. If I have a good education, I can join a proper company and get a good job.”
Then he asked a young office worker, who answered, “Money. If I had money, I could buy a house and live on my own.”
Next, he asked a young woman. She replied, “What I want most is to be beautiful.”
He then asked a sick person, who answered, “What I want most is a healthy body.”
When he asked a deaf person, the answer was, “I want ears that can hear.”
Finally, he asked elderly people. They answered, “What we want most right now is to live longer.”
Each answer was simple and ordinary, yet we can see that everyone’s response was different. What we want most in life depends on our circumstances and on the conditions we are facing at that moment.
The other day, I was reminded of this while taking an early-morning walk with my wife at War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku. Many people were already there, each walking at their own pace. Among them, a friendly elderly couple caught my attention. They were probably over 80 years old and were walking slowly together along the innermost lane of the track. As I watched them, I could feel the warmth of their long life together.
What I saw between them was a bond of trust and a peaceful feeling of tranquility. They were not extraordinary people, but to me they were very precious. I sincerely felt that their relationship and deep trust were truly admirable. I said to my wife, “They look so nice. I hope we can be like that someday.”
My wife smiled and replied, “I hope so, as long as you are nice and kind to me!” Then we both laughed. In the same way, Amida Buddha has given each of us an absolute bond through the Nembutsu, “Namo Amida Butsu.” This bond is Amida’s promise that we will be born in the Land of the Buddha and that we will become Buddhas ourselves. When we say the Nembutsu and praise “Namo Amida Butsu,” we walk the path of truth given by Amida Buddha without worry. Although it is not something we can see or hold, it is no exaggeration to say that it is the most important thing in our lives.
However, we are often unaware that the light of the Nembutsu is reaching us. Even though the voice of Amida Buddha calls to us at every moment, we sometimes fail to listen. The most important thing for us is to listen to the Dharma as our true guide and to awaken to the awareness that Amida’s infinite wisdom and compassion are working within our hearts, guiding us along the great path of truth in our everyday lives.
This spiritual voice of “Namo Amida Butsu” is truly the most important thing in our lives. When we become aware of it, we realize that we are all embraced by Amida Buddha’s great compassion and salvation. Shinran Shonin expressed this truth in his Hymns of the Pure Land Masters:
“The ocean of birth-and-death, of painful existence, has no bound; Only by the ship of Amida’s universal Vow Can we, who have long been drowning, Unfailingly be brought across it.”
— The Collected Works of Shinran, p. 363
