2005 Federation of Dharma School
Teacher's League Conference

Evening Workshop

•  Kathi Takakuwa, Commission on Buddhist Education (Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii)

•  Warren Tamamoto (Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii)

Kathi Takakuwa, Commission on Buddhist Education (Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii)

Friday Evening Workshop:  Myths

with Rev. Mas Kodani

“Myth is the language of religion and our inner reality” said Rev. Mas.  He challenged Dharma educators to rethink the way we conceive of and teach Jodo Shinshu myths, “It’s all myth and it’s all real.”  Although he explained the symbolism and significance of many specific Jodo Shinshu representations, i.e. the Pure Land is in “the West,” the carved peacocks and peonies that hang over the Makishoji, everything in the Naijin, the six hells--his main message was that all Jodo Shinshu myths and symbols are meant, through testing-experiences such as Obon and chanting, to guide us toward the realization that our egos prevent us from experiencing shinjin, our “true, real mind.”

As he sees it, shinjin isn’t something we “get” and keep, but instead, is a series of brief moments when “the everyday world suddenly glows.”  The expressions “going” to the Pure Land and “returning” shouldn’t be taken or taught literally, but as a description of the process of momentarily seeing “what is there” and then returning to the realm of suffering because we “want to believe in what is not real.”  The tocho or “house screen” that used to hang in front of the statue of Amida Buddha in the naijin is another example of an instructional representation which was meant to remind us that “we cannot see.” 

“You’re already connected,” said Rev. Mas.  “You just don’t want to acknowledge it.”  We want to make our connections elsewhere—to material possessions or status, because we don’t realize that the connections to the Namo-world are the only connections that matter.  By receiving our myths as real, Rev. Mas maintains that our awareness that we’re “never learning” becomes more constant and the “shinjin moments get brighter.”

Warren Tamamoto (Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii)

Rev. Mas Kodani led a workshop on Friday night on "Myths". Myths are prevalent in world religion, Buddhism included. The myth of Jesus Christ's resurrection after death, and Genesis (the creation of the world in 7 days) are examples of myth in Christianity. The birth of Siddartha Gautama in Lumbini Garden (sweet rain fell from the sky and the Buddha took 7 steps in each direction) is an example of myth in the Buddhist religion. The question is often asked, is it myth or is it real? The answer is yes, and yes. It can be a myth and it can be true. If you accept myth as the language of religion, the question is not whether it is real or not . . . the question is . . . what does it mean?

Shinjin was another topic of discussion on Friday evening. Shinjin is often described as "faith", but is not quite the same thing, A better translation might be "true mind". It is a moment of "connective euphoria". We can see the truth, but never completely clearly. Watch out for someone who says, "I got it", according to Rev. Kodani. The moment you say "I got it", it is lost. In Buddhism, delusion = reality and reality = delusion. Buddhism is not a religion of belief, it is one of experience.
Jodo Shinshu is a profoundly realistic religion. You learn to see what a hopeless, self-centered person you are. You are in constant astonishment at how you never learn. It depends on how honest you are about seeing yourself. Shinran was brutally honest about what he saw inside himself. In Jodo Shinshu, we recognize that we can never get rid of our own bias and ego . . . "only through Amida's Compassion."

Chanting: Teachers have to be willing to learn in order to teach. Some of the things we do are because of ego. Bon, mochi-tsuki etc. are to satisfy our ego. When we chant, our ego gets in the way. Part of chanting is to see that you are embarrassed. It doesn't matter that you don't understand the literal translation of what you are chanting. Chanting is pure sound-taking refuge in the pure sound. Rev. Kodani suggests that chanting in English sounds "dumb"-nothing wrong with chanting in Japanese.

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