I recently visited Japan for a brief stay with my wife, son, daughter-in-law, and our two grandchildren - a 7 year boy and a four year-old girl. The visit was basically a desire of my son and his wife to introduce our grandchildren to our many relatives in Hiroshima. Our visit was warmly received and the three days passed quickly as we exchanged many stories and enjoyed being and sharing together.

Our visit to my grandparents' gravesite on the hill behind the neighborhood temple was memorable. We washed and cleaned their gravestone, placed flowers, and burned incense. We joined our hands in gassho, chanted the Juseige, and ended the service with our grandson leading us in the recitation of the Golden Chain. I had taken a part of my mother's ashes in 2002 to be placed with her parents. I imagined my mother's happy countenance in "seeing" all of us there together expressing our appreciation for her love and caring that she shared over her lifetime. Each visit to the gravesite is a reminder and opportunity to reflect and thank her for the many sacrifices she made for all of us in our family.

In this Obon season, I am again reminded of the sacred Obon story of Mogallana, a direct disciple of Gautama Buddha, who was known for his keen powers of insight. When he "saw" his deceased mother suffering in the hell of the hungry ghosts, he was deeply troubled and sought to save her. Though skilled with extraordinary powers he was unable to so so. He saw her suffering and agitation grow as her ability to consume and swallow the food given her significantly decreased. Mogallana, in desperation, reached out to Gautama Buddha for instructions on how to save her. The Buddha instructed him to give a selfless feast to the many other disciples who were concluding their summer meditation retreat. As the disciples ate the generous feast prepared by Mogallana, he suddenly "saw" his mother being saved and released from her prepared by Mogallana, he suddenly "saw" his mother being saved and released from her hell Mogallana's joy in his mother's salvation was shared simultaneously by all the disciples who enjoyed the feast. This spontaneous joy, gratitude, and appreciation were expressions of his salvation and awakening. His heart and mind were transformed. He was empowered to see even more clearly the meaning of his life as one whose purpose is to perpetuate a caring life for others even before satisfying his own self interest and desires. The Buddha's wise and compassionate counsel awakened in him a deep gratitude to the immensity of his mother's sacrifices for him, even if it meant she would fall into hell.

This season of Obon and the sacred story of Mogallana's awakening remind me again of the timeless, universal yet personal significance of his story. As a reflection of my inner spiritual journey, it is the story of my parents and me. It tells me of the untold sacrifices my mother and father made, acquiring limitless karmic sufferings for the sake of their children, so that we would have the opportunity to a successful, happy life in terms of wealth, social status, psychological well-being, and spiritual fulfillment. When I realized their sacrifices were the gift of their life, sustaining us as we made our way in this world, I was humbled with gratitude knowing that their life is still interwoven with mine, that their karma is still sustaining my life.

Just as Mogallana's mother's suffering in the hell of the hungry ghosts became the very catalyst for his awakening, so too do I, in this very moment, sincerely appreciate my parents' sacrifices that brought me to the Buddha-dharma. The meaning of my life - to live and be empowered by the Buddha-dharma of Namu-amida-butsu - is indelibly connected to the sacrifices of my mother and father.

The Tannisho states in Chapter 5, "I have never once recited the Nembutsu - Namu-amida-butsu - FOR THE SAKE AND REPOSE of my mother and father. For all sentient beings, without exception, have been mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters in the course of countless lives in many states of existence." My thoughts are expressed as "BECAUSE of my mother and father's untold sacrifices, I am empowered to say Namu-amida-butsu to and with all beings in the past, present, and future who are my mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters in the course of countless lives in many states of existence!" Mogallana's sacred story thus becomes, for me, MY inner spiritual story in the timeless flow of Namu-amida-butsu.

In the words of the late Mrs. Mitsuyo Makinodan of Hawaii,

I say goodbye to the old home
of karmic suffering;
now I live in the
Namu-amida-butsu.