Words of Rennyo

Recently I finished reading the new book Buddha’s Wish for the World, which I graciously received a free copy for. The book was written by the head of Jodo Shinshu’s Nishi Honganji sect, the Monshu, Kōshin Otani. Jodo Shinshu Buddhism has multiple sects, and the two largest: the Nishi (West) Honganji and Higashi (East) Honganji both have “Monshu” leaders. Anyway, the author, quoted a something attributed to the famous “restorer” of Shinshu, Rennyo (蓮如) in the goichidai kikigaku (御一代記聞書, “a record of things heard”):

In the way of Buddha, there is no talk of tomorrow.

I enjoyed this line quite a bit and reminds me of a sutra from the Theravada Pali Canon, the Bhaddekaratta Sutra (MN 131):

You shouldn’t chase after the past
or place expectations on the future.
What is past
is left behind.
The future
is as yet unreached.
Whatever quality is present
you clearly see right there,
right there.
Not taken in,
unshaken,
that’s how you develop the heart.
Ardently doing
what should be done today,
for — who knows? — tomorrow
death.
There is no bargaining
with Mortality & his mighty horde.

Whoever lives thus ardently,
relentlessly
both day & night,
has truly had an auspicious day:
so says the Peaceful Sage.

Also compare this to Rennyo’s famous letter “On White Ashes“:

Thus our bodies may be radiant with health in the morning, but by evening they may be white ashes. If the right causes and conditions prevail, our two eyes are closed forever, our breathing ceases and our bodies lose the glow of life.

Good to have the right perspective I think.

Namo Amida Butsu