I am Not Only My Physical Body
I am Not Only My Physical Body
Having heard in the lecture that the dark mind means the mind of being ignorant regarding what happens after death, I remembered my father’s death three years ago. Although his body still remained as if he were alive, it never moved no matter how long I kept watching it. There was no sign of motion, and I had to admit that it would never move again. It was just like an empty shell. He was alive and moving until seconds ago. In his last few days of life, even though his condition got worse and he finally fell into a coma, I never thought his body was just an empty shell. My father was there indeed. He took a provisional form of “my father” in this life time. Then where did the “real him” go leaving his provisional body behind? I couldn’t believe that my father had ceased to exist just because his body had lost mobility. When we look at people moving, we call them alive. But what is it that moves their bodies? My body is also with me for a while. There must be the time for me to leave it. It is called “death.” What happens then to the “real me” that is moving my body? What is the substance of “real me?” I am caught up in a strange feeling. The harder I think of it, the more it becomes mysterious to me. To be born, to live and to die are only matters regarding the physical body. What Buddhism focuses on is not this provisional body but our eternal self which has been in flow through past, present and into the future. I will listen to Buddhism seriously until the moment of ichinen when the “real me” is revealed.
Eriko Kobayashi,Chiba
A Local Lecture Hall Enables Us To Chant Before Lectures
Shinran followers in Shikoku district could not chant before video lectures. But gradually they started saying, “It is a must that we chant before the lecture.” This must arise from the heart of respecting SEIGOHONZON. So the missionary Jun Kitamura had a negotiation with a local hall which is located at Marugame city in Kagawa prefecture and finally they could set an altar at the hall. People who attend the lectures are very happy and appreciate the fact, saying “Since we set an altar, we can worship Amida Buddha, offer some sweets and flowers and it makes us treasure each lecture.”
Source: The Buddhist Village Times #06 | 2011, I am Not Only My Physical Body
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