Unit 3: The Real Pitch Darkness

Revised on the 17th, January 2015

This life is such that you can’t even predict what will happen tonight. Therefore, you must not avoid pondering about “death” and of “what it will be like at the point of death” during the course of your hearing the Buddha-Dharma. At the point of death, it is “really pitch dark”! Hence, I say “the real pitch darkness will appear,” and that “once you pass through this gateless gate, you can walk freely in heaven and earth”[1].

The “real pitch darkness” that appears at the point of death will cause anyone to forget anything. Nothing comes out at that moment. What has been heard in ordinary days will all be forgotten; nothing comes to mind!

What is “real pitch darkness”? It is the uncertainty of our destiny in the afterlife that floods our minds during the moment of death. Loneliness or desolation is felt in the midst of the real pitch darkness. Man feels lonely at that moment because he alone is to die, leaving behind his family, home, property, wife, children, friends and relatives; he has no choice but to give them all up in the present life. Hence, the “loneliness and desolation” that confront you will be intolerable. When we part for a trip in this life, we know that we will meet again; but when we die, we will never meet again. Those who are going to be left behind can never meet those who are going to die. If one is to fall into hell, they will never meet one another again. If one is to gain birth in the Pure Land, however, there will still be opportunity to meet again. This is apparently a point of divergence. Think this matter over. It is a huge problem in coming to terms with “real pitch darkness.”

This “real pitch darkness” is not the “blackness” that we face when we are blind. It is the “real pitch darkness” we have regarding our unforeseen destiny after death. Most people will face such a problem, and that is why we always hear dying people moan, “My! Life after death is real pitch darkness. What am I supposed to do?”

In March this year, I went to Hiroshima to meet someone. This man died of cancer in the hospital. On his deathbed, he asked his mother, “Mother, what will happen to the karmic evil that I have created all my life?” His mother could not answer him. The mother was at a loss, witnessing her son pass on without receiving an answer. After that, I met the mother twice, and she said, “It would be good if I could have asked Sensei at that moment.”

“What will happen to the karmic evil that I have created?” This is a question that we must not neglect to think over with great care.

Having listened to the Buddha-Dharma, having remembered the Buddha-Dharma—these are just not enough. The karmic evil that a man has created will manifest itself as “real pitch darkness.” It will express itself as “loneliness” and “horror.” When you examine these, it is obviously the question of “What will happen to the karmic evil that I have created?”

The disciples from other sects such as Kegon, Lotus, and Shingon cultivate diligently, don’t they? However, they are just as helpless when coming to terms with the problem of “What will happen to the karmic evil that I have created?” Unfortunately, many people neglect this problem, and so it is troublesome.

“I have heard the Buddha-Dharma, I know about the Buddha-Dharma.” Such a level of “I know it” will not sustain you through the gate of “real pitch darkness.” How do you deal with the karmic evil you have created?

“I have heard the Buddha-Dharma this way, I feel this way, I suppose I can be born in the Pure Land,” and so forth. You will not be able to get through with such a superficial attitude of hearing.

“The karmic evil that I have created” is a realistic problem, which is different from the problem of “thoughts.” I am not sure about other religions, but in Shinshu it definitely has nothing to do with something inside your head or thoughts. It is nothing like “knowing” and “understanding.” Touching on the realistic problem, it is about the karmic evil that we have created and how we can deal with it. This is a realistic problem.

All of you commented on “What is shinjin like?” “What is anjin like?” “What does Nembutsu mean?” and so on. But these are just “thoughts.” We play with ideas in our heads and think this or that, but this all remains “knowing” and “understanding” and discrimination. No matter how skilfully you calculate in your head (that’s wishful thinking!), the fact is “the karmic evil that I have created” will not just go away. Therefore, it is useless to think or do anything. How can human beings eliminate karma?

Humans, after birth, will live up to fifty or eighty years, won’t they? “Where there is life, there must also be death.” This is a fact of life! However, conventional wisdom holds that humans will not grow old.

Even if you feel that “I am quite young now,” are you not becoming older? Even if you believe that “someone will die, but not me yet,” won’t you still die one day? This is a fact; it is reality. Without having a strong will to “tackle this problem” in hearing the Buddha-Dharma, you will be sure to regret it.

This is about putting Buddha-Dharma into practice, a real battle. Speaking of “real battle,” it is not like the martial arts training field, where we put on masks, protective coats, and hand gloves to practice. In the past, it meant killing each other off using swords and spears. Today, it is killing with guns. This is what we mean by “real battle, real war.” Buddha-Dharma must also be treated like real battle. This is not like having a competition in the martial arts training field. This is reality! How can you not take it seriously, since this is real battle?

At the point of death, are we not all passing away after going through that moment of “real pitch darkness”? How would you handle this problem at that moment? This is real battle—a practical and also tangible problem! You must not neglect to listen to the Buddha-Dharma so that you are in time before the pitch darkness arises.

By doing so, when the real pitch darkness appears before you, it can be shaken off instantly. As all that you can remember will disappear, and therefore you can’t rely on your memory, it won’t do unless you make the Buddha-Dharma penetrate deep into the marrow of your bones. In so doing, even if you behave as though you are “talking nonsense,” that “nonsense” would be just like saying, “How great the Vow-Power is!” It will happen naturally, just like that.

On the twenty-fourth of last month, the fellow traveller Mr. Hara, who lived at Rokunoi, Ikeda, Ibi District, Gifu Prefecture, nearly died three times of cancer. He was about seventy-five years old at that time. I was told that he encountered the real pitch darkness three times. At that juncture, he had this thought: “Oh! I have heard that at the point of death one will experience ‘darkness,’ and this is true.” Consequently, all Buddha-Dharma he had heard in the past as well as all his thoughts vanished into thin air. The Buddha-Dharma he had listened to in this life, all Dharma books that he had read (he owned twenty to thirty books of mine, all that had been published)—the memory of that much, too, faded into oblivion.

When all his memories turned blank, this single phrase came out: “How great the Vow-Power is!” This was the phrase that came out in the end. Thereupon, he was very excited. “How great the Vow-Power is!” This phrase denotes the fact that birth in the Pure Land is assured. If you pay no heed to the great problem of the afterlife, hell will definitely be your destiny. Following “How great the Vow-Power is!” we go to the Pure Land. The Vow-Power is boundless, and so we attain birth.

Sentient beings at the point of death are deprived of all power and aspiration; one cannot say “no” to death. When one must die alone, how can one leave like that? When “the road is not seen” we rely on “How great the Vow-Power is!” for birth. This is because “the eagerness to save sentient beings (who will experience real pitch darkness at the moment of death)” is what the Primal Vow is.

Therefore, when “How great the Vow-Power is!” emerged in that moment, he was so excited and thought, “If I were to survive, I must tell all my family members about this.” As it turned out, he was fortunately able to survive. So he gathered all his family members together to share his experience. After that happened, Mr. Hara, who used to be a quiet person, whenever there were Dharma friends around, would talk endlessly about his deathbed encounter.

Therefore, in case of emergency, it won’t do if it does not flow out spontaneously like that. In case of emergency, what sort of things will flow out? For the person who attains birth it would be “How great the Vow-Power is!” The fellow traveller Foolish One from Saso, Notogawa-cho also relied on “How great the Vow-Power is!” to attain birth. Would such a verse flow out or not by then? Avail yourself of life to make sure that such a verse penetrates the marrow of your bones.

You won’t make it with the mentality of “How great is the Vow-Power really?” Following “How great the Vow-Power is!” the persons who must fall into to hell, whose fate is to be hell-destined, regardless, can even so be born in the Pure Land.  Hence it was said, “Carrying hell on your back to the Pure Land.” This person, who cannot make it to the Pure Land regardless, is enabled to be born in the Pure Land through “How great the Vow-Power is!”

Next is the fellow disciple Mr. Kitagawa from the Gantoku-ji temple. At the moment of death, he cried out, “Oh, Oya-sama [honourable Parent] is here!” Because “Oya-sama is here,” how can Oya-sama leave His child in the lurch? This is the second person.

Then, we have the fellow disciple Shirakami from Osaka, who attained birth when she was eighty. A week before her birth (ojo), she posted me a registered letter reading, “Would you please come?” As I did not know where she lived, I called a cab and tried to locate her house according to the address. I was at her place for about an hour. As I sat beside her, the fellow traveller Mrs. Shirakami exclaimed, “Oh, like a crouching lion, He compassionately pounces on this being of heavy karmic evil!” She kept repeating this, too many times to count, for nearly one hour. She had listened to this saying from a cassette recording of a Dharma talk. A cassette player had been placed right next to her pillow. She has a niece called Kiyoko who would play her the Dharma talk.

The saying that she kept repeating came from the second chapter of Faith-Mind Inscription (Shinjinmei). The words “like a crouching lion” refer to the fact that Amida Buddha is not just sitting in the Pure Land. Because there are sentient beings falling into hell, He is therefore alarmed, as described in the saying, “The great compassion concealed in the Western Pure Land was roused to enter the door of this burning house of a world” (“Mysterious Meaning Part” of the Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra by Shan-tao). Amida Buddha becomes Namo Amida Butsu and flies out, snapping  me up firmly and proclaiming, “Namo Amida Butsu will not let you fall into hell!” Because of this, I am born in the Pure Land. I used a writing brush to express the compassionate power of Buddha and the truth of the Primal Vow-Power to all through the above saying.

The fellow traveller Mrs. Shirakami could barely remember this saying. She died at the age of eighty, and had begun to listen to my Dharma talks in her seventies. I had never discouraged her with “Do not go to other dojos” or anything, but she said, “Ever since I followed the teaching of Sensei for hearing the Dharma (chomon), I didn’t feel like going anyway.” For as long as ten years she came once a month to listen to my Dharma talk. What had she remembered in those ten years? She could barely remember firmly this single saying! But this saying is good enough. It is not necessary to remember so many sayings as long as you stick unwaveringly to one. If you can remember one saying enough for it to penetrate deeply into the marrow of your bones, then it is just enough with that one saying; don’t bother trying to remember two or three.

“Oh, like a crouching lion, He compassionately pounces on this being of heavy karmic evil!” She recited this saying joyfully, and just relied on this saying for birth. Hence, birth in the Pure Land is realized through “Oh, Oya-sama is here!”, “Oh, how great the Primal Vow-power is!”, “Amida Buddha has pounced on me,” or so.

The proof of “Buddha-power,” “the heart of compassion,” and “absolutely saved and no mistake” is Namo Amida Butsu. Namo Amida Butsu is not that difficult. This is essential.

The essential points must be made clear before a person dies. Death comes in a second or two, hence this is difficult! A person may die while having lunch. Our birth must be settled well before the moment of death, otherwise we will be in trouble. Amida Buddha is with you at all times!

Therefore it is said that “there is no Tathagata apart from me, there is no me apart from Tathagata.” Such a mentality is just the same as “pounced on me.” This is a crucial point; therefore I say:

There is no Tathagata apart from me,

There is no me apart from Tathagata;

The great enlightenment that echoes and spreads in the ten quarters

Is the perfect twofold benefit, which is beyond imagination.

[1] http://www.zenguide.com/zenmedia/books/content.cfm?t=the_gateless_gate&chapter=00