Where Has It Come From?
By Rev. Don Castro
Last year, I gave everyone an assignment. Before you throw something away, ask yourself, “Where has it come from and where is it going?” It only takes a fraction of a second to ask ourselves this question. Lately, I’ve been fishing a lot of cans and bottles out of the temple waste baskets. Often, the waste basket is right next to a blue recycling basket. This is “mottai nai.” I think every Dharma school student should research and write an essay on Japanese expressions and their Buddhist connection; expressions such as “okagesama de,” “arigatai,” “Gokuroosama,” etc. * I think the expression “mottai nai” conveys a very Jodo Shinshu sentiment.
There is a story of Rennyo Shonin that expresses what I am talking about. The story is contained in “The Words of Shonin Rennyo Heard and Recorded During His Lifetime” (A translation of “Rennyo Shonin Goichidai Kikigaki” by the Seattle Betsuin Religious Dept., 1986. Story #308):
Shonin Rennyo was, once, walking down a hallway when he spotted a scrap of paper lying on the floor. He picked it up and placing it between his palms in gassho bowed and said, “Who treats this piece of paper that comes from the Buddha so shamefully.”Generally, since he thought that even things like a scrap of paper came from the Buddha and treated it as such. Shonin Rennyo was never careless in what he did or say. This was taken from Shonin Jitsunyo’s records.
When I was at the Jodo Shinshu Center in Berkeley a few weeks ago, I met Rev. Kiyonobu Kuwahara as we were both in the kitchen for breakfast. During our casual conversation, I found out that he really enjoys the stories and sayings of Rennyo in the above text and asked me to send him our translation from 1986. I asked Kuwahara sensei what he thought of the above story, especially Rennyo’s comment, “this piece of paper that comes from the Buddha.” For someone unfamiliar with Jodo Shinshu, wouldn’t this sound like the Buddha created the paper? Kuwahara sensei compared Rennyo’s statement with the expression, “Mottai-nai.”
We are all enabled to live through profound causes and conditions. We are also brought to death by profound causes and conditions. A deep appreciation of the significance of this birth-and-death process and our brief life span is constantly addressed by Rennyo (remember, he is the author of the epistle “On the White Ashes”). The often-used Buddhist expression “profound causes and conditions” is another way of expressing the basic truths of impermanence and interdependence. To live is to live interdependently and to live interdependently is to live at the expense of other forms of life. It is not that we deserve what we receive. Consequently, we should humbly treat with reverence even a scrap of paper and not waste it. To waste it is to disregard its life for our own selfish reasons (maybe laziness or carelessness). This is “Mottai-nai.”
The most important Buddhist practice or expression of Mindfulness of the Buddha is the nembutsu. All things are manifesting boundless wisdom and compassion, even a scrap of paper, even a soda can, even a plastic bag. Let us honor them by recycling and conserving. Yes, to live is to live at the expense of other forms of life (“Mottai-nai”) but we don’t have to promote and relish the fact. This is why we say, “Itadakimasu.”
*Excellent essays on all the Japanese words used in this article can be found in the late Rev. Chijun Yakumo’s excellent book “Thank You: Namo Amida Butsu” available in our Betsuin library.
Where Has It Come From…?
By Rev. Don Castro
Last year, I gave everyone an assignment. Before you throw something away, ask yourself, “Where has it come from and where is it going?” It only takes a fraction of a second to ask ourselves this question. Lately, I’ve been fishing a lot of cans and bottles out of the temple waste baskets. Often, the waste basket is right next to a blue recycling basket. This is “mottai nai.” I think every Dharma school student should research and write an essay on Japanese expressions and their Buddhist connection; expressions such as “okagesama de,” “arigatai,” “Gokuroosama,” etc. * I think the expression “mottai nai” conveys a very Jodo Shinshu sentiment.
There is a story of Rennyo Shonin that expresses what I am talking about. The story is contained in “The Words of Shonin Rennyo Heard and Recorded During His Lifetime” (A translation of “Rennyo Shonin Goichidai Kikigaki” by the Seattle Betsuin Religious Dept., 1986. Story #308):
Shonin Rennyo was, once, walking down a hallway when he spotted a scrap of paper
lying on the floor. He picked it up and placing it between his palms in gassho bowed
and said, “Who treats this piece of paper that comes from the Buddha so shamefully.”
Generally, since he thought that even things like a scrap of paper came from the Buddha
and treated it as such. Shonin Rennyo was never careless in what he did or say. This was
taken from Shonin Jitsunyo’s records.
When I was at the Jodo Shinshu Center in Berkeley a few weeks ago, I met Rev. Kiyonobu Kuwahara as we were both in the kitchen for breakfast. During our casual conversation, I found out that he really enjoys the stories and sayings of Rennyo in the above text and asked me to send him our translation from 1986. I asked Kuwahara sensei what he thought of the above story, especially Rennyo’s comment, “this piece of paper that comes from the Buddha.” For someone unfamiliar with Jodo Shinshu, wouldn’t this sound like the Buddha created the paper? Kuwahara sensei compared Rennyo’s statement with the expression, “Mottai-nai.”
We are all enabled to live through profound causes and conditions. We are also brought to death by profound causes and conditions. A deep appreciation of the significance of this birth-and-death process and our brief life span is constantly addressed by Rennyo (remember, he is the author of the epistle “On the White Ashes”). The often-used Buddhist expression “profound causes and conditions” is another way of expressing the basic truths of impermanence and interdependence. To live is to live interdependently and to live interdependently is to live at the expense of other forms of life. It is not that we deserve what we receive. Consequently, we should humbly treat with reverence even a scrap of paper and not waste it. To waste it is to disregard its life for our own selfish reasons (maybe laziness or carelessness). This is “Mottai-nai.”
The most important Buddhist practice or expression of Mindfulness of the Buddha is the nembutsu. All things are manifesting boundless wisdom and compassion, even a scrap of paper, even a soda can, even a plastic bag. Let us honor them by recycling and conserving. Yes, to live is to live at the expense of other forms of life (“Mottai-nai”) but we don’t have to promote and relish the fact. This is why we say, “Itadakimasu.”
*Excellent essays on all the Japanese words used in this article can be found in the late Rev. Chijun Yakumo’s excellent book “Thank You: Namo Amida Butsu” available in our Betsuin library.