Looking Up, Looking In (Reflection at the Buddhist Cemetery) 08.08.10
Near the granite markers in the cemetery, there is a glass case containing this altar to Amida Buddha. The doors were locked, so I took pictures through the glass. My reflection ends up in the photograph, along with the sky and trees behind me.
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In the form of Buddhism I grew up with, Buddha is almost always depicted standing up, with his right foot stepping forward. Unlike buddhas who are depicted sitting lotus style or reclining, this representation conveys an active buddha, one who is engaged in the world.
When I searched online for “Standing Buddha Shin Buddhism,” one of the first hits was for the Moiliili Hongwanji — the temple in Honolulu where my grandfather and father had been resident ministers, and where I spent my early childhood. It explained Buddha’s standing position this way:
In Hongwanji Temples or “Temples of the Primal Vow,” Amida Buddha is always depicted in the standing position expressing dynamic Compassion moving toward us, with eyes half-opened showing that part of the vision is directed inwardly for self-reflection, with the right hand held upward representing the Wisdom of Enlightenment and the left hand lowered representing the Compassion of Enlightenment.
I didn’t know my father’s church was a “Temple of the Primal Vow.” I’ve never seen the word “primal” – which I automatically associate with “primal scream” or “primal urges”- used in connection with Jodo Shinshu. It’s startling.
