Come to
think of it, change of season is a Buddhist teaching too!
The word higan means “the other shore” of
enlightenment. We put that “o” in front
of some words as a mark of respect, the way calling someone Mr. or Mrs. in
front of their last name confers respect or politeness, keeping the
relationship on a more formal basis. You
will see that here, with o-higan (Mr.
or Mrs. Other Shore), or in highly respected objects like our temple altar (o-neijian) or at home (o-butsudan). The Japanese culture that Shin Buddhism comes
to us from has many other such “honorifics” as they are called, but this is the
one you see more frequently—
—particularly
since O-higan comes around twice a year!
We celebrate this special service both at the spring and fall equinox. O-higan
is a Japanese Buddhist tradition, rather than a general Buddhist
celebration. There are no historical
mentions of such an observance in either China or India. But Buddhism shapes and adapts its teachings
around the environment in which it is taught—whether that environment is
one-on-one transmission, as in the Buddha’s time or from one culture to
another, as when Buddhism moves from India into China, and China to Japan. Even our own Shin Buddhist tradition, which
arrived at this shore (in a more literal manner of speaking) with the Japanese
farm workers who had migrated to Hawaii and California from Japan, is beginning
to take on its own uniquely American adaptations as it settles into this
country.
But there
is no need to adapt O-higan out of the rotation of special services. It comes at a time when the winter rain has
rendered the landscape from brown to green.
The plum blossoms that surround our temple are in full flower, and
cherry blossom festivals are a short drive away in our Japanese gardens. The length of days and nights are evenly
balanced, and the weather is mild. (At
least, that’s the expectation. Last
year’s spring O-Higan was celebrated in 90 degree weather, and the cherry
blossoms had no idea what season it really was!) There is balance and harmony around us,
creating the ideal conditions to meditate and reflect on the countless causes
and conditions that have brought us to this moment.
As we make time for this reflection, even if
it is only within the timeframe of our special service this month, we come to
the realization that all of these conditions are gifts to us. We express our gratitude in the words that
both acknowledge and create the entire face of gratitude: namo
amida butsu.
During the
service, we will read together the six paramitas, resolving in our hearts to
follow them on our journey to the Other Shore, enlightenment:
dana, or generosity, usually understood
as the entry into the dharma or
teachings;
sila, or morality, the development of
compassion;
ksanti, or patience, in the face of
personal hardship, patience with others, acceptance of the truth;
virya, or zeal, making a courageous, heroic
effort to realize the truth;
dhyana, or meditation, to cultivate the
mind and achieve clarity and insight; and finally,
prajna, or wisdom, the ultimate paramita
that contains all the others. We cannot
achieve wisdom through intellectual effort, but rather through the practices of
generosity, morality, patience, energy and meditation.
That’s the
underlying teaching we will explore and reflect on at our O-higan service this
month. We will listen to an outstanding
teacher who will try to bring us closer to the wisdom of the Sixth
Paramita. We will recognize and enjoy
the beginning of Spring and see our sangha—all of us, together—in balance in
the even light and dark of the equinox—
—and then
we will share potluck, badger our beloved teacher over the points he made in
his talk. We will move off the balance
beam as the days’ light rapidly lengths and consumes more of the dark,
—until
autumn’s O-higan restores us to balance again along our path to that Other
Shore.
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