Finding New Meaning in the Nembutsu, part two
Posted: January 20, 2011 | Author: Doug 陀愚 | Filed under: Buddhism, Japan, Jodo Shu, Religion, Travel | 5 Comments »[12] How delightful it would be to converse intimately with someone of the same mind, sharing with him the pleasures of uninhibited conversation on the amusing and foolish things of this world, but such friends are hard to find.
–Essays on Idleness (trans. Donald Keene)
In our last episode, I talked about my renewed appreciation of Pure Land Buddhism. The decision came amid my continued disagreements with the Pure Land teachings I had followed for years. So what’s changed?
Recently, I had some inspiring moments while in Japan I wanted to share.
While in Japan, I had a chance to go around Tokyo with a long-time blog reader and “expert” of temples in the Tokyo area. We had a lot of fun together, and even more fun because I brought my little girl with me:
My little girl is now four years old and enjoys putting coins in the donation boxes, and then making a big dramatic bow. She’s imitating her Daddy. 
This was taken at a Tendai Buddhist temple called Tako Yakushi (?), which has an image of the Medicine Buddha as the main figure. This was to the side of the temple, but I can’t recall who the figures were.
Anyway, we toured all around the Meguro Ward of Tokyo, which has quite a few treasures there that are unknown to most tourists. If you are in Tokyo, you can take the Yamanote train line to Meguro station and jump off there. Walk down the hill from the station and keep an eye out. Of the many great temples we saw that day (worthy of its own blog post) was a tiny little temple we found by accident, named Banryūji (蟠龍寺) which means “Temple of the Coiled Dragon”. You can find some good photos online here and here.
The temple was a Jodo Shu temple, but different than what I expected. I saw the big promotional poster of Honen’s 800th memorial coming up, and the central image was of course of Amida Buddha:
Photographs of the main image are prohibited of course, so I refrained from doing so. But what surprised me was that around the temple grounds were other altars to Benzaiten, one of the “Seven Luck Gods”, Jizo Bodhisattva and others. Instead of Pure Land temples I had encountered where everything centered around Amida Buddha to the complete exclusion of all else, here was something eclectic and somehow less intimidating. Somehow, the feel was more in the Pure Land spirit of “come as you are” than more well-known temples. It really struck me that it was OK to pay homage to other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and it was OK to recite other sutras than the Pure Land ones and OK to delve into other things. The nembutsu was still the nembutsu with or without them.
It’s not that I had a particular interest in Benzaiten or Jizo, or that I had to recite the Heart Sutra or else, it’s just that regular old Jodo Shu temples had a less oppressive feel to me, and more open. It reminded me of the zeal and enthusiasm I had when I first encountered Jodo Shu teachings and Pure Land Buddhism as a whole about 6 years ago through this website. I knew now that I could explore Buddhism any way I wanted because it was all part of the Pure Land “Buffet” that I talked about in the past. Pure Land Buddhism to me seems best when it is broad, flexible and accepting, and not weighed down by efforts toward “doctrinal purity”. This experience sort of validated my belief in the subject, but not in the Western revisionist way. This was something born out of centuries of practical experience.
In the same way, when I visited the Great Buddha of Kamakura (later post coming up), I was surprised to see them openly providing copies of the Heart Sutra in prayer books there. In one prayer book I bought, the Heart Sutra was printed along side the Amitabha Sutra, a more traditional Pure Land text. This surprised me, but gave me a sense of relief and validation that I could recite the Heart Sutra and not feel guilty.
Later, after this experience I helpful conversations with two different people (the fellow who gave me the tour and another long-time Japanese resident) who both provided good advice. The fellow who gave me the tour reminded me that every follower of the Buddha is going to be different, and have different inclinations. Instead of trying to fit a particular mold, it’s better to make the most of who I am, and what I have now. I was happy to have this conversation, and it reminded me of this quotation above, which is from the famous 13th century Japanese text, Essays on Idleness (the 徒然草, or tsurézurégusa).
So, the point of this entire post is that it really reaffirmed my faith in the Pure Land Buddhist path in a way I haven’t felt in many months, if not years.
Jodo Shu was the first Buddhism I encountered 6 years ago, and in a way I have come back full-circle, but a little wiser and with renewed appreciation. The other person I spoke to reminded me that the followers of Honen were a pretty eclectic bunch, each bringing their own experiences and baggage, but they were united in the practice of the nembutsu, and each incorporated it into their lives as best they could. I too, strive to do the same 800 years later.
Namu Amida Butsu
P.S. The struggle though in the West is something different. Buddhism is still young and still trying to define itself doctrinally, which is why I think there are so many books, debates, and intellectual approaches, while practical applications are still lagging behind. Instead of Westerners trying to rediscover “true Buddhism”, they should learn from the cultures that have centuries more experience and learn how they can apply that experience in their home cultures.
P.P.S. I rarely get to meet blog readers and friends and when I do I always learn so much, so talking with two different people was really a great joy. The quotation above reflects that joy. Thank you to all those whom I’ve met over the years.
Hello, this blog is about my life as a father, Buddhist and Japanophile. Any useful information I can pass along will hopefully make the 
Glad to hear that the nembutsu is opening itself out to you more. My main Shin mentor in Japan and I travel constantly to Shinto shrines and non-Shin temples as part of our research (and for fun). He always bows before the gohonzon of whatever site we are at with real reverence, and treats all priests with deep respect. Thus he has developed friendships with priests of the Shingon Shu, Rinzai Shu, Tendai Shu, Shugendo, and so on. At the same time he is the umpteenth-generation head priest of a Hiroshima-area Honganji-ha temple. Simply from traveling with him and observing his personal Shin devotion AND his sincerely respectful and generous attitude got me over any hang-ups I had about whether other practices or figures might somehow conflict with my own Pure Land practice.
You put a question mark after Tako Yakushi, which implies that you were confused about it. I haven’t visited the Tokyo Tako Yakushi (offical name: Jyojyuin), but it is probably a branch of the Tako Yakushidou (official name: Eifukuji) in Kyoto’s Teramachi. Both temples are Tendai Shu. The story is that once a upon a time a monk went to market in the Teramachi to buy an octopus (believed to have medicinal qualities) for his ailing mother. When he told people that he intended to cook the octopus and feed it to his mother, people berated him for taking life. But the octopus turned into Yakushi Nyorai (Medicine Buddha) and said that it was OK, and that he would heal the mother. So the octopus was cooked and the mother got better. Out of gratitude, the monk founded Tako Yakushidou. The temple does a brisk business in octopus-themed ema and similar implements, and has a wooden octopus you can rub for health. Eifukuji does not have a website, and my pictures aren’t online, but here is a Japanese site that includes a few snapshots: http://tabitano.main.jp/7tako.html
Hi Jeff, and great to hear from you again. Yeah, I think the take away from all this is that Buddhism on the ground doesn’t always reflect what’s in books, and up until now, I’ve been probably reading too many books.
Until I saw how temples on the ground look (not the touristy ones necessarily, the regular neighborhood ones), I overlooked such things. The trouble is is that there’s no Buddhist culture to speak of in the West, so a lot of people may simply not be aware of these things unless they go over there and absorb things for a bit.
Thanks for the background on Tako Yakushi temple. You’re right in that I was greatly confused by the sign there.
what do you both thing of this text: “Practically Religious: worldly benefits and the common religion of Japan” Ian Reader .
I read it for a seminar and loved it a lot. But both of you are on the ground and know better.
Glad to help with that bit of temple trivia, Doug. I have an ema I picked up at the Kyoto Tako Yakushidou that I show my students in class each year, it shows a woman praying to an octopus. Japanese religious material culture is so rich, it really helps me give my students a window into a foreign culture.
Rory, that’s one of my favorite books on Japanese religion. My PhD co-adviser insisted that I read it for my comprehensive exams and it deeply informed my understanding of Japanese religious behavior. The book I’m writing right now is actually about how the same paradigm can be applied to American Buddhism.
Hi Rory and Jeff:
Ian Reader is the same fellow who wrote the excellent book on Shinto I’ve been reading, and he certainly is a good author in my view. I will definitely (in fact just did) pick up that book. Thank you!
I would be curious to see how this kind of paradigm would work in American Buddhism. Something to definitely look out for, when your book is published.