What Do We Really Know?
Long ago, when I was a young student living in France, one of the locals proudly proclaimed that his country was home to 365 delicious varieties of cheese—one for every day of the year. When asked how many kinds we had, I quipped, “Three: mild, medium, and sharp.” Naturally, I meant cheddar, which seems to be by far the most popular type of cheese on our continent. Shortly after, I happened upon a tasty cheddar cheese in England, but it was white rather than orange. At the time this seemed rather strange and my senses were confused.
I saw a minor news item on this topic recently, when a well-known American company decided to eliminate some dyes in its cheese products. Apparently the Brits were right—the garish orange colour of cheddar cheese that most of us take for granted is artificial. It is said that back in the 17th century people in England were used to cheddar cheese with a yellowish-orange tint, since grass-fed cattle produced cream with a beta-carotene pigment. Then dairies realized they could make a profit by skimming off the cream, but the cheese made from the remaining milk was white. To continue the deception that the product was still of creamy high quality, colouring was added. They must have ended the practice later, but not in North America. Do you ever wonder about other items we eat or drink?
How often do we accept things or insist on doing them just because it’s traditional, or it’s what others do, or because we believe it is correct? In recent decades, scholars and clergy in Japan have been studying the demise of Buddhism—that is, the actual practice of and interest in the Buddha-dharma, and not just family affiliation with a particular temple. In a survey taken a few years ago, it was found that most Japanese had no particular religious inclination and knew little or nothing about the dharma, but fully 94% felt it necessary to hold funerals at a Buddhist temple even if they did not understand the reason for the rituals or necessarily agree with them, and most did not care about the religious aspect anyway.
At a seminar I gave recently, it was heartening to hear that participants understood that our Shinshu funerals and memorial services were not for the repose of the deceased, but for the living to remember, to reflect on the lessons of life received, and to express gratitude for having been associated with that person. We had a good discussion about the dharma on matters of life and death that raised a lot of questions. Questions are good. We should not do things just because that’s the way they have always been done. We need to verify the truth of their effectiveness through our present experience.
This is certainly true of the dharma. Shakyamuni Buddha reminded the Kalama people that “traditions were not to be followed simply because they were traditions. Reports (such as historical accounts or news) were not to be followed simply because the source seemed reliable. One’s own preferences were not to be followed simply because they seemed logical or resonated with one’s feelings. Instead, any view or belief had to be tested by the results it yielded when put into practice; and—to guard against the possibility of any bias or limitations in one’s understanding of those results—they had to further be checked against the experience of people who were wise.”
Perhaps it would be impractical to question everything in our lives, just as it would be unwise to accept everything on blind faith. But our practice, as followers of the Nembutsu, is to hear the teaching and to test it in our everyday lives so that we know without any doubt that it is true. We cannot simply believe someone else, or presume upon immeasurable compassion. Once we know for ourselves that the teaching is true, we can proceed through life
with joy and peace in our hearts and minds. Therefore, the most important thing we can do at the temple is to hear the dharma and to be mindful of it in our interactions—our interbeing—with everyone else.
With deep gratitude, I thank you all for another wonderful year of walking this path together at SFVHBT. May you find peace, joy, and harmony; may you and yours and all beings be happy and well.
Gassho,
Rev. Patricia Usuki