Teachings and Lectures

Does Jodo Shu collect Pure Land Death stories? And if not, why not?

From Bishop Joji Atone

Yes, Jodo Shu does collect death stories; there are many in Japanese but not translated. To me personally, they aren’t “necessary,” per se. As with many things, Jodo Shu and belief in the Pure Land is a leap of Faith. In Jodo Shu, birth and death are one and the same, there is no distinction. Once you’re born, you die – and vice versa. If you recite Nembutsu, the concept of death and the proof of rebirth don’t matter.

Take my mother, for instance. She’s in her 90s and she says she’s “too busy to think about dying.”  With Jodo Shu, fear of or preoccupation with death goes away. You’re going to the Pure Land, so there is no fear of death. You’ll hear a Pure Land Buddhist saying that he or she is “excited about Amida coming for me.”

I was in a hospice once, and everyone was concerned about what death is, and what it brings. There were Christian ministers speaking about Heaven and Hell. In Pure Land, there is only the “Realm of Buddha.” Just say Nembutsu, and you will go there. It’s something to look forward to.

My Kendo master used to say to me, “If you have wealth, desire, greed, you’ll get good care in the end…but mentally it’s Hell because of your attachments.” There’s no need for things, and no need for fear. Similarly, the Tibetans don’t fear death, because they believe in transmigration. There is no death. You are reborn, or reborn as a heavenly being, or reborn into Buddha’s realm. Either way, there is no death to fear.

I sometimes wonder if the Western religions, which were born in the desert, have a predisposed disdain for the laws of nature – or rather a metaphorical fear of death…because nature in the region is so desolate. In the Far East, the leaves fall in the winter, but the flowers are in glorious bloom once again in the spring. This is illustrative of death and birth in the Pure Land. This is a natural cycle, and something we accept.

That said, I understand that Jodo Shu devotees wish to hear these stories not due to fear of death but as a means of inspiration and strengthened faith. There isn’t a lot that is translated into English, but please do have Faith. I hear these stories all the time. I visited a Jodo Shu minister friend of mine two days before his death. His eyes did not move from the ceiling of his hospital room, and his hands were pressed together in prayer. For at least those two days while he welcomed his death, and probably longer, he was transfixed by Amida who had come for him, and utterly focused on his passage. He was ready to be born in the Pure Land. I do hear these stories, and I’ve seen Amida Buddha at work in my personal experience.