Stories to read when you feel 'life is painful.' The surprising reason Buddhism reveals that 'the more you suffer, the more you are saved.'
'I'm doing my best every day, but somehow only painful things keep happening...' 'What on earth am I living for?'
Don't you ever feel like you're about to be crushed by the life worries and anxieties that come one after another like that?
Actually, about 800 years ago, at the end of the Heian period, there were people who were shedding tears in exactly the same way, saying 'Why do I have to live such a painful life?'.
This time, I will introduce a moving episode that Honen Shonin told a 'yujo' (courtesan) he met on a boat heading to Shikoku.
If you know this story, the warm message that 'Those who are suffering are actually the ones who will be saved first' will surely soak into your heart. Please relax and read it!
1. A series of sufferings... The sad reality that the courtesans were carrying
The saying 'Born into a sea of suffering, dying at Jokanj-ji Temple'
Long ago, among the courtesans who worked in places like Yoshiwara, this saying was spoken.
'Born into a sea of suffering, dying at Jokanj-ji Temple'
This is a poignant phrase they would mutter as they looked back on their own lives.
Born into a sea of suffering Because their families were poor, they were sold by their parents, and it was a life where they were thrown into a sea of suffering from a young age. The work was very painful, and even if they caught a disease (like syphilis), they weren't even cared for, and they ended up suffering in loneliness with their skin festering.
Dying at Jokanj-ji Temple When they passed away, they wouldn't even be given a proper funeral. They would be wrapped in a cheap straw mat and tossed into the grounds of a temple near Yoshiwara (commonly known as the 'throwing-in temple').
From the time they were born until they died, it was a harsh daily life where there was no place to rest anywhere.
The poignant worry of 'What am I living for?'
These women, who were living such painful days, were constantly asking in their hearts.
'What on earth was I born for?'
'At this rate, it's like I was born just to suffer...'
'Why do I have to keep living when it's so painful?'
They couldn't find the meaning of their own lives and were carrying deep worries.
2. A miraculous encounter on a boat! The 'salvation of Amitabha Buddha' that Honen Shonin conveyed
An unlikely, intimate dialogue between a high priest and a courtesan
Once, when the 75-year-old Honen Shonin was exiled, he was on a boat heading to Shikoku. A courtesan happened to be on the same boat.
At the time, the profession of a courtesan was considered lowly by society. However, Honen Shonin, a high priest respected by all, sat knee-to-knee with her, regardless of status or position, and began to preach earnestly.
It is said that those around them were surprised by his incredibly warm and devoted demeanor.
The joy of discovering for the first time that 'my life had meaning'
The courtesan poured out the suffering she had been harboring deep in her heart to Honen Shonin.
“Why must I live such a painful life?”
In response, Honen Shonin spoke movingly about “the salvation of Amida Buddha.” Upon hearing his words, the courtesan could not stop her overflowing tears.
“Even someone like me had a reason to live.” “It is precisely because I am like this that the Buddha’s compassion saves me.”
She was deeply grateful for the warm salvation she learned of for the first time, and was enveloped in great emotion.
3. Why are those who suffer the ones who are saved?
One of the people who was saved after hearing the teachings of Honen Shonin was Shinran Shonin. Shinran Shonin left behind the following words regarding our lives and the salvation of Amida Buddha.
“The sea of suffering of birth and death has no shore;
For us who have long been sinking,
Only the ship of Amida’s great vow
Will carry us across to the other shore.”
Life is a 'sea of suffering of birth and death' with no end
Shinran Shonin likens our lives to a 'sea of suffering of birth and death' (a sea of pain and anguish).
In our daily lives, waves of suffering crash upon us one after another. 'Just when you overcome one suffering and feel relieved, the next wave comes...' and so on; there is nowhere for the heart to rest no matter how far you go. This is what 'no shore' means.
Drowning and suffering in this sea of pain, we try to cling to various things floating in the sea, hoping to find even a little relief.
Clinging to the logs of 'parents' or 'spouse'
Clinging to the wooden board of 'children'
Clinging to the log called 'money'
Clinging to the plank called 'work'
Even if you cling to these temporarily and think, 'Now I am relieved,' they are all unstable things floating on the sea. When a big wave comes, they flip over, or you are betrayed by someone you love, your family, or your company, or you get sick and are betrayed by the happiness of 'health.' In the end, you are thrown back into the sea, forced to drink salt water, and suffer once again.
'We who have been sinking for a long time'
'We who have been sinking for a long time' refers to our state of suffering and sinking for a long time, from our youth and adolescence even into old age.
It refers to the state of constantly suffering while searching for something to cling to, worrying, 'It might be better to die if it's this painful,' or 'What on earth am I living for?'
Those who suffer are the guests of honor (the target) who board the 'Vow Ship of Great Compassion'
Shinran Shonin teaches us that there is a 'Ship of Amida Buddha's Vow (Ship of Amida's Great Vow)' that will save us. 'Ship of Amida's Great Vow' that will save us.
Since this is a ship bound for the Pure Land, once you are on board, this world becomes bright and joyful, and you will surely be taken to the Pure Land.
And when he was allowed to board (was saved by) this 'Ship of Amida's Great Vow (Vow Ship of Great Compassion),' Shinran Shonin described his own experience as follows.
'When I boarded the Vow Ship of Great Compassion and floated in the vast sea of light'
'Great Compassion' is the Buddha's great merciful heart that cannot leave those who are suffering alone and wants to help them somehow, so Amida Buddha considers those who are currently drowning and suffering to be the'guests of honor (the target)'.
When he was allowed to board that Vow Ship of Great Compassion, his life of suffering changed completely into a life of happiness, and his life swirling with agony (the sea of suffering of life and death) changed into a bright and vast life (the vast sea of light).
[What is Amida Buddha's Vow?]
4. Summary
This time, I introduced 'Amida Buddha's salvation' through the episode of Honen Shonin and the courtesan.
Life is like a sea where waves of suffering come one after another
Even if you cling to money or human relationships, you will be abandoned
Those who are drowning in such worries are the very ones who are Amida Buddha's primary 'target for salvation'
There may be times when you feel down, wondering, 'Why is it only me who has to suffer so much?' But it is precisely because you know that pain and hardship that Amida Buddha will never abandon you.
When you feel like you are about to be defeated by the rough waves of life, please remember these 'teachings of Shinran Shonin'.
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