By Rev. Miki Nakura
Although a commoner from Japan’s countryside, Dōshū’s remarkable faith caught the attention of Rennyo Shōnin, Jodo Shinshu’s “second founder.”
Most men wish always to have something new and novel; but a person of faith feels everything is fresh and new, even if constantly repeated. Regardless of how many times, each is heard anew with open ears,” Rennyo said. “Although Dōshū listened to the teachings constantly, he listened as if hearing them for the first time and he was grateful.
Dōshū (道宗)—a myōkōnin (simple person of deep faith in Jōdo Shinshū)—was born with the name Yashichi in Gokayama’s Akao village, deep in mountainous Toyama Prefecture, near the Japan Sea. He passed away in 1516. Today, Gokayama is designated as a World Heritage Site, known for its “gassho (prayer hands) style” thatched roof homes. The region is covered in snow during winter.
The esteemed Buddhist scholar Daisetz Teitarō Suzuki wrote about and popularized myōkōnin (literally wondrous good people), followers of Jōdo Shinshū whose devotion and deep understanding were reflected in their simple lives.
In the book Living with Thanks, The Gojō Ofumi, The Five Fascicle Version of Rennyo Shōnin’s Letters, Rev. Kemmyo Taira Sato writes:
To reach Akao one must travel a distance of over twenty miles after leaving Jōgahana, a perilous journey through deep valleys and high mountains. Nowadays we can go there by car. In those days, however, the mountain path was so dangerous that the slightest misstep would have meant a lethal fall. There was at least one particularly dangerous gully one had to negotiate using a box and ropes. In winter the region lies under more than 20 feet of snow. A trip between Akao, where Dōshū lived, and the Honganji Branch Temple at Jōgahana must have been made at the risk of his life.
As a child, Dōshū was served fish for dinner when he suddenly told his father: “It’s wrong to kill innocent humans, but is it right for humans to catch and eat innocent fish they know nothing about?” His shocked father could only stare at his son’s face. How could he possibly answer?
Losing both parents at a young age, his loneliness led him to Kyoto where he encountered Rennyo Shōnin. He listened intently to Rennyo’s Dharma talks for three days and three nights, impressing the esteemed Buddhist teacher with his single-minded spirit seeking truth. Eventually, Dōshū awakened to Amida Buddha’s Original Vow—his true parent—and became a person of deep faith (shinjin).
While Rennyo lived in Kyoto, Dōshū visited two or three times a year and would stay for a few months, seriously discussing faith. Once on a visit, he found his teacher sitting in a dark room. When Rennyo turned to greet him, Dōshū saw the Master’s body light up the room. He truly felt Rennyo was the embodiment of Amida Buddha.
When Honganji temple was attacked, Rennyo fled Kyoto, eventually establishing a temple in Yoshizaki, a region near where Dōshū lived.
Rennyo wrote (Letter I-8, Rennyo: The Second Founder of Shin Buddhism):
Around the beginning of the fourth month of the third year of Bunmei [1471], I just slipped away, without any settled plan, from a place near Mii-dera’s southern branch temple [Kenshō-ji] at Ōtsu, in Shiga district of Ōmi province, and travelled through various parts of Echizen and Kaga. Then, as this site—Yoshizaki, in the Hosorogi district of [Echizen] province—was particularly appealing, we made a clearing on the mountain, which for many years had been the habitat of wild beasts. Beginning on the twenty-seventh day of the seventh month, we put up a building that might be called a temple.
(Minor and Ann Rogers translation)
Rennyo’s letter was written in 1473, two years after he established Yoshizaki. The temple became a popular gathering place for local people, so much that Rennyo worried their attention was misdirected.
Rennyo wrote (Letter I-5):
From [the beginning of] this year, an unexpectedly large number of priests and lay people—men and women from the three provinces of Kashū, Noto, and Etchū—have flocked in pilgrimage to this mountain at Yoshizaki; I am uneasy as to what the understanding of each of these people may be.
The reason for this, first of all, is that in our tradition, assurance of birth in the land of utmost bliss with this life is grounded in our having attained Other-Power faith. However, within this school, there is no one who has attained faith. How can people like this be born readily in the fulfilled land? This is the matter of greatest importance.
Among those flocking to Yoshizaki, Dōshū sincerely sought faith and understanding. He eventually became the great teacher’s escort and guard.
Various anecdotes about this myōkōnin abound. The book Rennyo, The Second Founder of Shin Buddhism by Minor and Ann Rogers, recounts how Dōshū had many scars on his body. Once a neighbor saw him sleeping somewhat painfully on a pile of wood. The neighbor told Dōshū that despite hearing just entrust in Amida Buddha and be saved, it seemed more was required, such as the difficult practice he witnessed.
Dōshū replied, “There’s no more to it than what I said. But if a stubborn fellow like me sleeps on top of bedding, I’d sleep the whole night through, completely unaware of the Buddha’s benevolence. By making it difficult to sleep, I’m at least able to think of Tathāgata’s compassion when I wake and say the nenbutsu.”
According to Goichidaiki Kikigaki (Sayings of Rennyo Shōnin) Article 279 states:
Dōshū, begging Rennyo to give him some written instruction, was told: “You may lose a letter, but faith kept in the heart can never be lost.”
Rev. Sato describes a story in which Dōshū was asked by his wife to obtain guidance from Rennyo for her acquiring faith. After a long journey to Kyoto, he returned home and before taking off his straw sandals produced a piece of paper on which was written Namu Amida Butsu. His wife immediately looked disappointed, obviously expecting more. He said, “All right,” and immediately set off for Kyoto.
Rev. Sato writes, “I think this story—even if only legendary—enables us to understand the extent of Dōshū’s purity and honesty, such that hardship and privation could make no inroad.”
Article 45 quotes Dōshū saying:
As a matter of daily concern, you should never neglect the morning service at the family altar, you should make monthly visits to the nearest temple to worship the Founder of our tradition; and each year you should make a pilgrimage to the Head Temple.
On hearing what he had said, Reverend Ennyo declared, “How remarkable for him to have spoken like that!”
Article 131 quotes Dōshū:
Even though I have been hearing one particular word repeatedly, I always feel as grateful as if I were hearing it for the very first time.
Rev. Sato comments: “A man of pure faith is not attached to anything from the self-centered world, but is always open to what is happening to him. Because he knows how to free himself from attachment, in his spiritual life each thing is always experienced as if for the very first time.”
What was that special wonder for Dōshū? None other than “the wonderfulness of how an evil ordinary person can become a Buddha through a single thought of entrusting to Amida” (Article 78).
Nearly three years after Rennyo’s death, Dōshū decided to write down his own words of self-reflection, which became known as “Twenty-One Resolutions of Akao Dōshū,” now kept at Akao’s Gyotoku-ji Temple, which he founded. They express his resolve in following the path of faith. Here are the first three:
- As long as you live, never be negligent of the One Great Matter of Rebirth.
- If anything other than the Buddha-dharma enters deeply into your heart, consider it shameful and renounce it immediately.
- When you find yourself reluctant to proceed positively and self-indulgent, resolutely break free of such selfish thoughts and move forward.
Munakata Shiko, a renowned printmaker who was deeply moved by Dōshū’s spirit, used a chisel to create a woodblock print with an inscription, “As long as you live, never be negligent of the One Great Matter of Rebirth.” The print appears on the cover of a book, “Dōshū of Akao” by Iwami Mamoru, a Higashi Honganji priest.
Dōshū’s words ring in my ears. The “One Great Matter of Rebirth” was the Dōshū’s great concern. One Great Matter doesn’t mean one of many. It means “the only one,” in other words, “the great matter of one’s lifetime incomparable to anything else.”
I hear Dōshū telling me—If we’re not awakened to truth, life will be vague and incoherent. We’ll waste our lives aimlessly wandering, like in a dream or an illusion. By awakening to faith, our path becomes clear, we’ll appreciate the karma creating our life, and even death brings no regrets.
Where exactly is this “Rebirth” or “afterlife”? It’s here and now. Without “now,” we cannot think “after.” This means “after” exists “now.” Therefore, the one great matter of “rebirth” or “afterlife” is a crucial concern for our very existence right now. It’s about awakening to Truth in this very life or not.
By investigating and clarifying the one great matter of Rebirth, we can live truly and thoroughly in the light of Great Compassion. Therefore, “One Great Matter of Rebirth” means the “great matter that all born in this world must realize.”
There’s a saying, “The great matter is life and death, impermanence is swift.” This means facing death is the one great matter. It also means “life” is the one great matter. All living beings live in the swift storm of impermanence. Living is inseparable from impermanence.
“The One Great Matter of Rebirth” is Buddhism’s focus.
Dōshū’s words, “As long as you live, never be negligent” admonishes us against being careless and unmindful. Even as I consider these words, I’m overwhelmed by small, insignificant things of everyday life. I mustn’t let down my guard.
Dōshū, thank you for your kind words.
-Rev. Nakura is minister of Jodo-Shinshu Shin-Buddhist New York Sangha in New York City