PACIFIC WORLD - The Institute of Buddhist Studies

Arai: The Dead as Personal Buddhas 11are considered home, saying them oneself and receiving the responsesgenerates a warm sense of belonging and intimacy. Each time Ms.Honda comes back to her studio apartment, although she lives byherself, she calls out, “Tadaima, I’m home,” to the photos on herBuddhist altar of her long deceased parents. In so doing she knows sheis not alone.This is a healing ritual. It is not commonly performed or recognizedas such, but in the case of Ms. Honda, it helps her heal. If it were not fordoing collaborations in the women’s homes, I would never have knownit had occurred. Ms. Honda did not think of using these ritualizedwords as a conscious part of her healing process. Nonetheless, it is apowerful way that she has integrated her loss into her everyday life. Her“personal buddhas” make her feel at home.As the dead are transformed into “personal buddhas,” they enablethe healing of the survivors. Through engaging in memorial and ancestralrituals, the living can find support and understanding in a way thatis not readily available through other means. For these “personalbuddhas” in the home altars are specifically focused on taking care ofthem in a direct and intimate way. These buddhas know all the secretsand idiosyncrasies. There is nothing hidden and nothing for which to beashamed. They allow a person to amae, 13 that is, one can be purelydependent on her “personal buddha” with no need to calculate howmuch is being received versus how much is being offered (past, present,and future). The relationship with one’s “personal buddha” is liberating,for you also do not need to consider that what you say, do, or thinkmight have negative ramifications due to things being taken out ofcontext and used against you in the future (a possibility when dealingwith living people).These mundane rituals belie the profound insight that grievingnever ends, it just changes with the seasons. They also illustrate howhealing is available in the home through the dead as “personal buddhas.”Jizø NagashiThe second ritual is called the Jizø Nagashi. Jizø is an enlightenedbeing (a bodhisattva) who guides people in the different realms ofexistence. The ritual is done annually on the seventh of July. Althoughparticipants readily recognize the beauty and power of the ritual, it isnot a common ritual. Currently only Søtø Zen nuns lead this ritual. Bothmen and women are invited. Usually about four hundred fifty womenparticipate along with a few men. Fourteen chartered buses are typicallyneeded for transporting. Busses numbered four and nine are not