Our Last Day
Today was the last day of our gathering. Some ministers have already left for other parts of Japan. Reverend Imai left for his home in Brazil yesterday. He will travel for the better part of 24 hours.

The students, who study at Ryukoku University and Chuobukkyo Gakuin and who we displaced upon our arrival, have begun to return to their dormitory. Next door, Earl Ikeda of Hawaii is practicing reading the Gobunsho. Reverend David Matsumoto has moved back from his temporary lodgings at the Monbo Kaikan, and has already left this evening for discussions elsewhere.

My roommate for the past few days, Reverend Charles Hasegawa, has left for Niigata. I will leave in two days. Already my thoughts are turning to the busy demands of the temple schedule. Reverend Ohata has conducted four makuragyo in the past week. The busy demands of my past week have been so different.

Perhaps, the most valuable thing I take with me from this seminar is a greater appreciation for Shinran’s life in Inada and the communities that formed around him. These were living Nembutsu communities of people who pooled their resources to live within the teachings. In our temples today, I see the remnants of those communities scattered around the world. The ministers leaving this seminar return to homes, now in a global Nembutsu community.

Shinran’s life is still vital and significant for us today. We still struggle with discovering the meaning of our own lives. We still encounter difficulties that can be overwhelming. We still seek to be accepted for who we are.

Today an individual shared with us the difficulties of his childhood and the later difficulties of young adulthood. He described how, these difficulties were so overwhelming that he quit his job to find a spiritual resolution. He was intent on perfecting himself and laying to rest his despair. He entered a Buddhist school not knowing it was a training school for ministers. But in his accidental discovery, he discover the nembutsu. Here was something he could do. Something that brought meaning to his life.

As I now read the letters of Shinran, I hear, not analytical discussions, but conversions between student and teacher, between individuals of a shared community, between friends.
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