Holidays, Rituals and the Nembutsu

There are many different kinds of holidays that we celebrate throughout the year.

For example, there are the national holidays such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January, Memorial Day in May, Thanksgiving in November, and so on. 

We also have international holidays such as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, International Women’s Day, World Day of Social Justice, etc. 

There are also daily holidays. Some are steeped in tradition while others may be wacky, unique or otherwise simply different holidays. 

For example, we have a holiday called “National Underwear Day” on Aug. 5 which is the day when you have to wear your favorite underwear.

We also have “Left Handers Day” on Aug. 13 when the lefties celebrate their own special day and complain about the world that is mainly built for right-handed people.

It is said that right-handed people operate in the left side of the brain and the left-handed people use the right side so only left-handed people are in their “right mind.” On this holiday, the left handers certainly earn their right to have a day dedicated to them.

Finally, there are religious holidays such as Easter, Ramadan, Hanukkah, Hanamatsuri, etc.

In this way, there are a lot of holidays that are celebrated throughout the world. Their reason, time, and the way they celebrate may differ from culture to culture, religion to religion, but what is common among most holidays is that they are celebrated annually. Therefore, celebrating holidays is a custom for most of us.

The holidays provide us a moment to take a break,  but some of them also allow us to come together to feel the interconnectedness. When holidays have a strong tradition of doing certain things, you know many others are probably doing it as well. Even if you are far away from your parents, children or friends you know they are doing the same thing and so you are connected to them.

This is true of any religious rituals as well. In the case of the Jewish people, when they celebrate Pesach, they are connected to all other Jewish people throughout the world. When Muslims pray to Mecca, at that point, they are connected to all other Muslims everywhere. 

Such a religious ritual in our tradition of Shin Buddhism is the Nembutsu, reciting Namo Amida Butsu, which is the name of Amida Buddha, the Buddha central to Pure Land Buddhism.

When we recite the Nembutsu simultaneously and blend our voices together as we gather, we can feel our interconnectedness because we are doing the same thing, in the same room, at the same time. 

Of course, even when we can’t gather together, we can still recite the Nembutsu in our everyday lives. 

When I do so, it makes me think of how my parents are probably doing so in Japan, how my friends in this tradition might be doing and how the many people throughout the world who find joy in the Nembutsu are reciting it as well.

For me, the Nembutsu provides my interconnection with these people — and with the world — and so I can feel comforted. I know I am essentially not alone. 

This is actually a new feeling that has come to me over time. Just because I became a minister did not actually mean that I will automatically and naturally recite the Nembutsu all the time. 

In fact, I recited only at Sunday services. I think I felt inhibited and awkward reciting the Nembutsu in my everyday life and it was not particularly meaningful to me. 

I cannot explain how but somehow over time the Nembutsu became part of my life. Today I am becoming more comfortable reciting the Nembutsu in my everyday life and I feel that my appreciation for it is increasing.

Rev. Dr. Takamaro Shigaraki noted something similar in one of his writings: 

“The Nembutsu should be recited in our everyday lives even if it does not immediately give us comfort or fill us with a deep sense of gratitude. That is something that will come with time. For example, we feel comfort and gratitude towards our parents, teachers and friends because we have been calling on their names for innumerable times. Someone who has not or who refused to call their parents, teachers and friends names might not get a sense of gratitude towards them. Therefore, it is through the experience of our continuous recitation that gradually brings a sense of gratitude and joy.

“Thus, it is important to recite the Nembutsu not only at Sunday services but also in your everyday life. For it is by persisting in this practice that we come to understand how it can bring us comfort, joy and a sense of gratitude.”