“Cherry Blossoms that are felt to last till the morrow, may well blow away”.  Legend tells us that these are the words that the young Shinran Shonin told the monk Jien as he entered Mount Hiei at the age of nine.  Jien apparently told Shinran that the sun had gone down and they would perform the ordination ceremony in the morning.  Shinran then composed the poem and Jien was so impressed with the insight and urgency in Shinran they performed the ordination on the spot.

 

Shinran lived during a period of time when the daimyos and samurai controlled Japan.  The emperor and his court were corrupt and ineffective.  The wealthy were very wealthy and the poor very poor.  Warring factions fought over control with little concern for the people.  The poor were starving and unable to make ends meet.  The city of Kyoto was at times littered with corpses of the starving and sick.  Shinran’s own mother had died, and as his uncle took him from Hino to Mount Hiei he must have seen the suffering along the way. 

 

For anyone of any age it would have had a profound effect upon them.  For Shinran he quickly understood and learned of the frailty of human existence and the pain of suffering.  His tenure at Mount Hiei was a search for the end of human suffering and an answer to the pain of separation.   Shinran found the answer in his teacher Honen who advocated the verbal recitation of Amida’s name.  Here Shinran found that his only recourse was to rely on Amida and his vow to save all sentient beings.  Shinran continued to express his gratitude for his teacher and others who opened his eyes to the universal compassion of Amida for his entire life. 

 

It is our time now to express this gratitude to those from whom we hear the Dharma and the compassion of Amida.  Each year in November we perform the Eitaikyo or perpetual memorial service. We chant the sutras for those names that are entered into the Eitaikyo book in perpetuity.  It is our expression of gratitude to temple members who have died and whose sacrifices have allowed us to have a place and time to hear the Dharma.  This memorial service is in their memory, but you and I are the benefactors.  It is truly for our benefit that this service is held. 

 

Human suffering has not ceased with time.  For the citizens of Kyoto the suffering was clearly in front of their eyes.  For us the suffering exists but is sometimes harder to see.  We are distracted by so many other things.  But if we look and listen carefully there exists the same things that Shinran saw in Kyoto 750 years ago.  As Shinran discovered back then the answer to the end of suffering, pain and misery can be found in the Buddha Dharma.

During a recent visit to Denver I was honored to speak to the members of the Longmont Buddhist Temple during their annual seminar.  I love Denver and the beautiful Rockie Mountains.  On Saturday we took a drive to an area called Blackhawk.  The 40 minute drive took us up through a beautiful canyon.  We saw rock climbers, hikers and fly fishermen in the river.  i began to notice that many of the Aspen trees and other foliage was beginning to turn yellow, orange and red.

I had immediate flash backs to Kyoto Japan and the vibrant colors of fall.  I lived in an area called Arashiyama and not far from me in the western hills of Kyoto were similar canyons with fall colors that were beyond description.  The fall colors are a stark reminder that a new season is upon us and nature is moving and changing.  

We celebrate this change and are in awe of the colors as the leaves change and fall to the ground.  For a brief moment the dying leaf brings us great pleasure and joy.  As with all things this is fleeting and soon the branches of the trees are bare and the ground below is littered with brown and decaying leaves.

Nature has a wonderful way of teaching us the fraility of existence and the truth of change.  Changes in the form of sickness and death are not easily accepted and often difficult to overcome, but in embracing change we can learn to fully appreciate and enjoy the moments we have together. 

As Autumn quickly approaches and nature reveals to us this wonderful change.  Let us all be reminded of the other changes going on around us all the time.  Let us also take a moment to enjoy, embrace and express gratitude to those nearest and closest to us.