VOLUME 6 • ISSUE 3 • September 2026

MINISTER’S MESSAGE
Grateful to Have Encountered Jodo Shinshu

Recently, an experience made me feel once again how precious it is to have encountered Jodo Shinshu.

In May of this year, my wife’s grandmother in Japan passed away at the age of 95.

Funerals in Japan are usually held soon after death, so my wife, our son and I quickly made arrangements and traveled to Hiroshima for her funeral at a Jodo Shinshu temple near her home.

She was our four-year-old son’s only living great-grandparent. He never had the chance to meet her in life. He met her for the first time at her funeral, and it was also his first encounter with death.

Arriving at the temple, we first placed our hands together before the altar, then went to see his great-grandmother. She lay peacefully in the casket. Our son stood beside her and quietly looked at her face.

I do not know what was going through his mind, but he seemed to be wondering about something.

After the funeral service, everyone was invited to place flowers in the casket. Together we offered flowers, saying, “Thank you, Great- Grandma. See you again in the Pure Land.”

On the bus from the temple to the crematory, my son asked me, “Where are we going now? What are we going to do next?”

I could not answer right away.

To an adult, I would say, “We are going to the crematory,” but how could I explain cremation to a child meeting death for the first time?

I answered as honestly as I could: “Great-Grandma was born in the Pure Land and has become a Buddha, but her life in this world has ended, so now her body will be cremated.”

He listened quietly and only said, “Hmm … I see.” It seemed he was trying to understand it in his own way.

Sometime after we returned to Hilo, our son suddenly said, “Dad, Mom, please stay healthy. Please live until I grow up.” He had never said anything like that before.

Perhaps through his great-grandmother’s death, he had begun to realize that life comes to an end for all of us. Those words came from his heart.

My son’s words made me want to live a long life. Yet, my own life has its limits. Even so, Amida Buddha is always with us throughout our lives and beyond. Reflecting on this, I was reminded of how deeply the Jodo Shinshu teaching supports our lives.

Since then, we have come to talk more often about the Nembutsu teaching. When we say Namo Amida Butsu, we often find ourselves saying, “Amida Buddha is here with us. Great-Grandma is here with us, too.” Parting from someone dear is hard to accept, yet this parting reminded us of the teachings once again.

Shinran Shonin teaches us that the Name, Namo Amida Butsu, contains everything: Amida Buddha’s Vow to save us, the working that fulfills that Vow, compassion and wisdom.

Amida Buddha keeps calling to us, “Entrust yourself to me. I will surely save you.” When Amida Buddha’s call reaches us, it fills our hearts and, overflowing from our mouths, becomes the Nembutsu, “Namo Amida Butsu.”

In our lives, we all experience times of joy and happiness, as well as times of sadness and hardship. Again and again, our hearts are shaken.

Yet, Amida Buddha’s heart never changes. Gently and warmly, Amida Buddha continues to embrace us. Shinran Shonin said:

The light of compassion illumines us from afar;
Those beings it reaches, it is taught, attain the joy of dharma, so take refuge in Amida, the great consolation.

Hymns of the Pure Land, Collected Works of Shinran, p. 327

Amida Buddha’s light continues to shine upon us.

Amida Buddha leads us not to an existence that simply ends in death, but to birth in the Pure Land, where we become Buddhas.

Amida Buddha then enables us to return as bodhisattvas to guide others. Through my recent experience, I was reminded how precious it is to have encountered Jodo Shinshu.

Let us continue listening to the Nembutsu teaching together.

Namo Amida Butsu