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232021 Winter“When you can feel the pain of yourown existence, it opens your heart
to the pain of others.”
Miyagi Shizuka, Shin Buddhist Priest (1931–2008)

INTERVIEW 07

Peter Lait

Shinshū Ōtani-ha priest

Rev. Peter Lait is a Shinshū Ōtani-hapriest, ordained over 30 years ago inKyoto. He started out in his youth,
trying to discover the “truth” about
himself and the world around him
after becoming handicapped at a very
early age, which drove him to India 50years ago to discover what Buddhism
was all about. However, after 7 years
there, studying Tibetan Buddhism, herealised that he could not find the simplicity of the Buddha’s teachings, centred around the Dharma as it was too
wrapped up in that culture and hence,part of his expectations evaporated,leaving him empty. However, henever regretted returning to England,
the country of his birth, as this insight
had given him an opportunity to really
understand what he was searchingfor.
Peter ended up in Japan 40 years
ago, despairing of and even despising
the Dharma. However one day, hejust happened to come across Jōdo
Shinshū in a book in Tokyo. He said,“it was like love at first sight.” It gave
him a Buddhist perspective in simple
terms. According to the teachings ofShin Buddhism, the power of Amida
Buddha’s Original Vow is said to be away of “letting things sort themselves

out for themselves.” That power goes
far beyond our own calculating waysof problem-solving. This was a very
important hint for him when it came totruly understand what the Buddhist
teachings really meant. He realisedthat deep down inside, at the root ofeach of our lives, there is a great activity at work, allowing us to live, justas we are. He came to realise that hehad, in fact, been living in the Dharma
all his life, which is the natural flow oflife (jinen hōni 自然法爾), constantly
moving each one of us whether weknow it or not, like waves on anocean. It is our life’s spring. This iswhat Jōdo Shinshū has shown him.
Hence, one phrase which is constantly present in his life now is “meant tobe” (shukugō 宿業). It does not mean
fate but rather that everything exists
as it should be. Nothing is out ofplace. One does not necessarily haveto strive to do good in order to be accepted by the Buddha. His words do
not deal directly with whether one isgood or bad but rather they take us
beyond this dichotomy, asking us
what exactly life is and what we aredoing in it right now.
“Life is complicated if we try to takecharge of it as I attempted to do in

India through self-practice but
through this vanity, I came to realisethat this was also ‘meant to be,’” Peter
said. He had to go through this inorder to come to this conclusion. Itcould not be avoided. Just letting
things take its natural course, allows
the heart to feel at peace with itself(anjin 安心) like the stillness and silence in the depth of space or at thebottom of a deep ocean.
Jōdo Shinshū has allowed him to“taste” the workings of the Dharma
simply and live his life as it is “meantto be lived.” Peter said, “though I have
had my ups and downs over theyears, looking back, living in theDharma, just as I am, has given me
the confidence to see that who I amright now, is the only person I can be,
where I am, is the only place I can be
and what I am doing, is the only thing
I can be doing, for which I have no regrets, just living the way I am.”Repaying Our Debt of Gratitude (Hōon)
What should we do to experiencehappiness? For example, should we
get the things we desire, have everything go as we wish, or resolve unpleasant problems we are facing? In
any case, we think of happiness as attaining what best suits ourselves andhaving things go as we wish. That is,
we believe that we will be satisfied
when our demands are met.
Accordingly, we try to get aroundwhatever barriers are preventing ourplans from proceeding as we wish.
We demand that things go efficiently
according to plan in both our work andprivate life, and we do not tolerate any
obstacles. In other words, we always
are concerned only with how conveniently we can satisfy ourselves andwant to eliminate any impediments tothat satisfaction.
However, if we consider carefully,
can we find anything that we have accomplished just by ourselves? In fact,
we have been helped by someone
and supported by something in every
aspect, allowing us to be born and live
until today. Various factors beyond

our imagination are interrelated inevery single thing that we have done,
and none of those factors are independent.
The nenbutsu, “Namu Amida
Butsu,” is also called “the act of repaying the debt of gratitude”(Hōonkō). This is not simply repayment of a debt (on), but rather a Buddhist ritual in which we turn ourthoughts to the fundamental thingsthat support and establish our lives,and verify our wish to engage in theact of repaying the debt of gratitude.
Shinran devoted his life to clarifyingthat the self is an existence that isowed to the Buddha, always and inevery circumstance, and this functions to awaken us. For that reason,
we reconfirm the teachings and carryout the Hōonkō (Gathering to Repaythe Debt of Gratitude) on Shinran’smemorial day.
The “on” of hōon is a translation ofthe Pali word kataññū, meaning “acknowledging what has been done forme.” It is our realization that theBuddha (Amitābha Tathāgata; AmidaNyorai) brings the light “for me,”strives for me, and is concerned
about me. Isn’t it crucial that we takethis opportunity to give heartfelt
thanks to the entirety of connections
and relationships that support us wholive here and now, confirming the significance of being born and the joy ofliving, enduring conscientiously without deception a life that does not proceed as we wish (adversity), relying
on the teachings?

07 Enninji - The Site of Shinran’ s Cremation     Shinran (1173–1263) died on January 9, 1263 (the 28thday of the 11th month in the second year of the Kōchōera), at the Zenpōin temple in Kyoto, where his brother
Jin’u was living, attended by Jin’u and his daughter
Kakushinni (1224–1283). The situation at that time wasrecorded as follows in the Godenshō (The Biography,1295), written 33 years later by his great-grandson
Kakunyo (1271–1351).
“Shinran came to feel slightly indisposed from late in
the 11th month of Kōchō 2 (1262). From that time on, hechanted the nenbutsu ceaselessly and spoke of nothingelse. At noon of the 28th, he lay down on his right sidewith his head to the north and died facing west with thenenbutsu on his last breath. He was 90 years old. As thehermitage where he lived was south of Oshikōji and eastof Madenokōji, his coffin was carried far to the east over
the Kamo River. He was cremated at the Enninji, locatedsouth of Toribeno, in the foothills of Higashiyama.”
The first cremation in Japan was tha t of the monk Dōsō
(629–700), who traveled to Tang China on an official
mission, and studied directly under the famous Buddhist

Enninji

Address / Location

pilgrim Xuanzang (602–664). The custom of cremation did
not originate from Buddhist doctrine but just happened tobe brought to Japan together with Buddhism. In fact, it
was a custom in India from before Shakyamuni’s birth.
It takes time to perform a cremation by building a funeralpyre at the burial site, placing the body on top of it,
covering the body with firewood, and then setting it on fire.
Modern made-to-purpose crematories in Japan today use
fuel oil to reduce the body to ashes in only 90 minutes,
controlling the heat by computer. But for cremations in theolden days, the fire was lit at sunset and the ashes could
not be gathered until the next morning. When done bypeople with no experience at cremations, the body might
not be completely reduced to ashes, the fire might go out
midway, or parts of the body might remain intact.
The Enninji mentioned in the Godenshō disappeared
from history for a time, but reappeared again after many
vicissitudes. The present-day Enninji lies midway on asloping road in Yamashina. Shinran’s cremation site lies
surrounded by a stone fence deep within a forest at thehighest point of the slope that borders the Enninji
graveyard, a vivid reminder of the past.

2 Imakumano Aza Sozan-cho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto

Phone number
075-561-4379

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