Eshinni-ko, Kakushinni-ko and BWA Memorial service 11-10-13 “PASSING THE FLAME TO LIGHT OUR WAY” Hello, friends and welcome to our Eshinni, Kakushinni and Buddhist Womens Association Memorial services. For those of you who are new to our tradition, Eshinni was the wife of our founder Shinran, and Kakushinni was his daughter, one of the six children that were Shinran and Eshinni’s family. They along with Shinran were joined together in their devotion to the Nembutsu teaching and I believe, equally responsible for the survival of the Jodo Shinshu school to this very day. It may surprise some people to hear that although Nishi Honganji, our mother temple, was founded upon the death of Shinran in 1277, that until 1921, (yes, 1921!), there were many people in Japan who did not believe in Shinran’s marriage, doubted the existence of Eshinni his wife, and even questioned the very existence of Shinran himself. It was Eshinni’s letters to Kakushinni, discovered in Honganji’s archives by Professor Washio Kyodo, that turned these doubts into verifiable facts which were validated by scholars and historians. Thanks to these ten letters, which Eshinni wrote to her daughter in the last years of her life, we are able to know the real history of Shinran’s life and the founding of Nishi Honganji. While her letters are important for authenticating and teaching us about the reality of Shinran’s life, they are also important for what they reveal about the personal and spiritual lives of Eshinni and Kakushinni. We are able to see Eshinni not only as the wife of our revered spiritual teacher, but as a real woman contending with life in difficult times and circumstances, who also sought her own spiritual enlightenment. Likewise, it is wonderful that we finally give official recognition to Kakushinni, not because she was Shinran’s daughter, but because his spiritual guidance would not be available to us today were it not for her foresight and diligence in preserving his profound insights for the future. Eshinni’s letters reveal important insights into Shinran’s personal life as well as tell of his spiritual journey through life. Eshinni wrote to Kakushinni about Shinran’s life as an earnest young Buddhist monk, his ultimate break from the Tendai school; about when he became a disciple of Honen and embraced the Nembutsu teaching. After four wonderful years spent as Honen’s student, in the year 1207 the court banned the teaching of Nembutsu and ordered the exile of Honen and Shinran, and also the beheading of two of Honen’s other students. Although Honen’s and Shinran’s lives were spared, they were no longer allowed to be monks, were given new names as laypeople and Shinran (now called Fujii Zenshin) was exiled to Echigo, a bleak place in Niigata prefecture. But there he met and married Eshinni. Since that time, Shinran referred to himself as neither a monk nor a layman. However, Shinran’s spiritual striving was in no way diminished by exile and he shared the Nembutsu teaching he had awakened to with the illiterate peasants and fishermen of Echigo…and of course, with his wife Eshinni who also received the Nembutsu teaching from Shinran. In return, Eshinni supported Shinran financially, as she owned an estate and lived with several servants. She provided the circumstances by which Shinran could continue to propagate the teachings while still raising a family. Eshinni’s letters revealed that she was also a devoted follower of the Nembutsu teaching who respected Shinran and believed him to be an embodiment of Kannon Bosatsu...the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Shinran and Eshinni had six children, Kakushinni being their youngest daughter. While Shinran propagated the teachings of his master Honen throughout the Kanto region, Eshinni raised their six children virtually alone. As time passed, Shinran became increasingly concerned with preserving the teachings, as Nembutsu followers were being ruthlessly persecuted and Honen’s grave was desecrated. This ultimately resulted in Shinran leaving Kanto, moving to Kyoto with Kakushinni and devoting the last 60 years of his life writing his magnum opus, the Kyo Gyo Shin Sho, which is a series of selections and commentaries from Buddhist scriptures supporting a new Pure Land school, and establishing a doctrinal lineage. Were it not for Eshinni’s and Kakushinni’s complete support and shared devotion, it certainly would have been a much more difficult if not impossible endeavor to complete within his lifetime. When Shinran died in 1263, he was still virtually unknown among Buddhists in Kyoto, as most of his propagation efforts had been in the Kanto area. As we must thank Eshinni for her support of Shinrans life and work, we must also look to and thank Kakushinni for creating a firm foundation for the teachings to endure to this day, even so that we can gather together at New York Buddhist Church today. Why do I say this? Well, without Kakushinni, there would be no Nishi Honganji, no Monshu, no transmission of Shinrans teachings and thus…no NYBC. Kakushinni was her father’s caregiver in his final years. She was about 30 years old when Shinran died at the advanced old age of 90. A devout follower herself, Kakushinni wanted to keep Shinran’s teaching alive and perpetuated for his followers. She had a memorial hall (Ohtani Mausoleum or byodo) built for his remains on land she had inherited from her second husband. She enshrined an image of Shinran in the Ohtani Mausoleum; aware of the devotion and veneration of the followers of Shinran, she recognized the need to create a spiritual and physical home for his remains so that devoted followers could visit his tomb. After approximately 50 years, this mausoleum became an official temple under her grandson the Monshu Kakunyo, and was named Hongwanji (Temple of the Primal Vow) developing into one of the largest and most powerful Buddhist schools in Japan. Kakushinni also established the rules to ensure that the gravesite and the property it was built on would belong to the Jodo Shinshu Sangha for all future generations. In 1277 she donated the gravesite to all Shinshu followers so that no one family member could claim dominance over it. She established a system of caretakers which were to be named from her descendants. It is interesting to note that the blood lineage that continues to the Monshu, or the Abbot of Hongwanji, can be traced back to her son by her first marriage, Kakue, and not through one of Shinran’s sons as we might have expected. So we can now understand that it is because of Eshinni and Kakushinni’s vision, efforts and devotion in supporting Shinran and his teachings that the Hongwanji has grown to what it is today. Rennyo Shonin, the Eighth Monshu, wrote Women who remain in lay life should realize and never entertain the slightest doubt that those who, without any calculation, deeply rely on Amida Buddha single-mindedly and unwaveringly, entrusting themselves to the Buddha for their emancipation in the afterlife, will all be saved. [Letters of Rennyo, 5-3] Rennyo Shonin certainly considered women to be as important among the monto followers as men. Indeed, Shinran Shonin himself was always careful to emphasize that Amida’s Vow of Salvation embraces everyone, be they clergy or lay, man or woman, peasant or lord, all may be saved by Amida without any discrimination. Both Eshinni and Kakushinni were devoted followers who worked as hard for others as for their immediate family. This is the environment which we find today preserved by our own BWA or Fujinkai members at NYBC. They quietly contribute to the strength of our temple and contribute largely behind the scenes so that we may continue to propagate the teachings of Shinran Shonin. Most of today’s service attendees are women, and you see all women today on the onaijin, as a gesture of respect for all the great women who have gone before us paving the way for our own awakening. Many of the female temple members I have met since coming to NYBC truly embody the teaching in their everyday lives, touching everyone around them with their devoted service to our temple, their warmth and compassion, and their present-moment-awareness that translates into true appreciation of our time together as one Sangha. One might say that Eshinni and her daughter Kakushinni are the Mothers of Jodo Shinshu. Without Eshinni-ko and Kakushinni-ko, there would be no Honganji today. Kakushinnis devotion to her father and the desire to see the continuance of Amida’s compassionate teaching was central to the creation and continued existence of Jodo Shinshu as an institution. Like Shinran, who lived a life aware of his indebtedness to others; they too lived in gratitude to Other-power, sharing with others the awakened mind of Namu Amida Butsu. Much like our Fujinkai ladies, who sit quietly after service working on many projects for our benefit, we are here today because of each of these women’s unique contribution. The BWA (Buddhist Womens Association) or Fujinkai was founded in Japan in the early 20th century by Takeko Kujō (1887–1928), daughter of Koson Ohtani, the 21st Monshu. A devout Buddhist, she was in her early twenties at the time, and also founded Asoka Hospital, one of Japans first modern medical centers. Soon BWA chapters were established in every Jodo Shinshu temple in Japan, and later in overseas districts including the U.S. After World War II, Lady Yoshiko Ohtani, the wife of the 23rd Monshu, Kosho Ohtani and mother to our current Monshu Koshin Ohtani, visited many temples in Japan and around the world and worked to revitalize the BWA. BWA members work for us all, preparing refreshments and meals (called otoki) after major services and funerals, and participating in cleaning and upkeep (omigaki) of temples as you will see shortly when we do our New Year’s clean-up. They also sponsor many enjoyable social activities for temple members, as well as visiting members who are unable to attend temple services due to illness. So we can see that the BWA truly plays an important role in the practice and transmission of traditional Buddhist values such as compassion, community, and gratitude for others. Amida Buddha, though formless, is regarded as both our “father” and our “mother,” for True Reality is beyond the dualistic thinking of our human minds. Eshinni and Kakushinni were two people who showed through their life’s work that they entrusted themselves to Amida Buddha without any doubt. Thanks to them, and to countless other Buddhist women including our own Fujinkai membership past and present, we are enabled to see that the teaching applies to everyone without exception. As three small burning flames will, when joined together, become a bright torch that can enable many to see through the darkness and so find their way through it to their True Home, so the lives of Shinran, Eshinni and Kakushinni joined in bringing the Nembutsu dharma to this present day…and beyond. Let us join palms together to thank them, and also to thank the members of the BWA/Fujinkai who are no longer with us, each of whom in their own way supported us through their friendship, devotion to our Jodo Shinshu tradition as well as to the New York Buddhist Church. Namu Amida Butsu Namu Amida Butsu Namu Amida Butsu MA Isabelle Shinjo Bernard
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 17:06:02 +0000
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