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Rev. William Masuda
I wish all of you a very happy and meaningful year. Each new year is often met with a kind of anticipation and excitement for the possibilities that lie ahead in the new year. After the previous six months, we may anticipate a better economic condition slowly emerging after the financial shock reverberating throughout our country and abroad. We may hope our personal financial condition improves over the coming year and in the following year. We may be consciously planning carefully and frugally during this time of economic instability. The present situation may also be affecting our health condition, leisure times, and family situations. But no matter how our economic, health, and social situations may become, my prayer continues to be for your well-being - spiritually, emotionally, socially.
Lately, I often find myself reading the words of Rennyo Shonin, the eight monshu of the Hongwanji. His words impacted me years ago when I was a fledgling student of the dharma. I also recall his words and thoughts were collected and translated in the earlier BCA service books. The following words of Rennyo recently caught my attention,
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The flourishment of a temple is not based on the greatness of its temporal authority nor on the largeness of its temple membership, the flourishment of the temple rests on even one person who awakens to faith bestowed by Amida Buddha.
Over the course of my ministry, I have been conflicted at times by giving more attention to the busyness of our institutional needs by letting it them take precedence over the nurturing the individual's process of faith. Weekly services and their preparation, the family memorial services, group meetings, social commitments and gatherings are necessary and important. They can also crowd the daily calendar and add to the busy life of the minister; at times to the detriment of the individual member. While the collective needs are being fulfilled, the necessary time in nurturing our process towards spiritual maturity and faith can be overlooked to the point of being secondary. In fact, it becomes easier to be busy, than to be with another's journey of spiritual discovery with time, patience, and attentive listening. I am reminded here that a model for spiritual engagement and fulfillment is revealed in the spirit of dharmakara bodhisattva. The vows he vowed to create a Pure Land for all spiritual seekers took a span of 10 kalpas (eons) to be fulfilled and thus becoming the realized Amida Buddha. Emulating dharmakara's process raises the awareness of the measureless time and patience one undergoes to grow and mature spiritually. Such a quality as dharmakara's become even more meaningful in bringing depth and focus to our spiritual journey.
Thus the spiritual journey within our Nembutsu life rests on our capacity to be fully available and present to the faith-process of each person. The encounter with Amida Buddha's vow of wisdom and compassion awakens us to his selfless and timeless dedication and devotion he gave to our spiritual fulfillment. In our awakening of faith, we are now given an opportunity to extend Amida's vow with time and patience, listening and insights, and boundless vitality for the life of faith in self and others.
In moving forward in the new year with all its trials and tribulations, my prayer is that each of us becomes even more attuned to the spiritual power to infuse our life with boundless wisdom and compassion to embrace each moment with fearlessness and humility, gratitude and joyful affirmation of the many causes and conditions sustaining our life. Namu-amida-butsu.