Immigration Within the Six Realms - Salt Lake Buddhist Temple

2 Salt Lake Buddhist Temple: 211 West 100 SouthSalt Lake City, Utah 84101, volume 15
issue 6 web site: slbuddhist.org June, 2007
My generation, the baby boomers that are
now defining much of our public policy, have
lived in a society of entitlement. Most of us never
been to war. I remember the Vietnam War, but the
draft ended before I was 18 and I had no interest in
joining the military. The army was used as a threat
by my father. If I didn’t hurry and graduate from
college he would make me join the army. The
Vietnam war was a very unpopular war, shouldn’t
all wars be unpopular
I believe that as a result of the brutal
devastation witnessed and experienced by my
parent’s generation during World War II, their
societal consciousness realized how bad any war
could be. Those generations wished that their
children never experienced the atrocity and fear
war brings out; gold star mothers, concentration
camps both Nazi and domestic, rationing of basic
necessities such as food and gas. Many from this
generation were also the children of immigrants.
These immigrants came from Germany, Italy,
Greece, Japan, China, to build a better life for their
children and the future generations.
Asian families had experienced the various
Asian exclusion laws that had tried to limit Asian
immigration. There were national laws such as
The Chinese exclusion Act of 1882, The Geary Act
of 1892, the Page Law of 1875. Asian peoples
immigrating to the United States at that time were
called the Yellow Peril. The popular press often
explained how “Orientals” were dirty or less then
Human. As a result, it was very easy to shuttle the
Japanese Americans, may who were U.S. citizens,
off to concentration camps during World War II.
My generation experienced very little of
what my parent’s generation had. We lived in
relative luxury by comparison, business and first
class living accommodations. Our lives go in
cycles, we have returned to the lower realms back
to the economy seats. Once again we are on the
verge of World War. Once again we fear
immigration. The shrieks of Ashura (fighting
demons) and Gaki (hungry ghosts) are all around
us. Where is the voice or our human spirit
My dog and cat, Ponzu and Baby, always
fight over territory in our house. I can hear Baby
hissing and Ponzu growling in the middle of the
night. I have to yell at them to stop their fighting.
There are times when I have left them alone for the
night. When I return in the morning I can smell cat
urine or Ponzu will have pooped on the carpet. It
really makes me mad and I have to tell myself,
“They are only animals marking their territory.
They can’t help it. They don’t know any better.”
Until they can go beyond this type of thinking, I
wonder about their ever gaining enlightenment.
Over they past few weeks, I have been
reading and hearing about immigration reform.
Our country is built by immigrants. The only
natives to this land are the Native Americans and
they probably came from Asia. When we speak of
the glories of the United States and extol our
national values, we often bring up the image of the
statue of liberty. On the base of the statue of
liberty is a passage from the poem The New
Colossus. I have begun this article with this
passage. This is the essence of this experiment in
democracy we call the United States. Nowhere in
this poem are exceptions to race, creed, color or
national origins. This is a very human voice. I
have heard the voice of opposition to the
immigration reform over the news. Men and
women speaking about how it will take away from
what we have as Americans if we allow too much
immigration into this country. I heard one woman
saying, “Why don’t they just go back to where they
came from.” As I listen to this type of thinking in
attitude, it reminds me of Ponzu and Baby marking
their territory. It smells the same, it looks and feels
the same, only this time coming from the mouths
of beings in human form. I hope that my
children’s generation can come back to live in the
human realm. It is possible. Let freedom ring.
Namo Amida Butsu.