FEATURED ESSAY Encountering Shinran Shonin Through a Coffeeshop Window Rev. Enrique Galvan-Alvarez (Shaku Kekai) 18
REV. ENRIQUE GALVAN-ALVAREZ (SHAKU KEKAI) In the early summer of 2011, I visited Japan for the first time. It coincided with the rainy season ( 梅 雨 ) and I recall walking for hours from temple to temple under the warm rain. On my first visit Kyoto ( 京 都 ) I was to meet Shinran Shonin, though I would only learn about who he really was six months later. At the time, I had just finished my PhD and I was attending an academic conference in Osaka ( 大 阪 ). I used some of the time in Japan to do some sightseeing and visit Buddhist temples. I was completely ignorant about the different Japanese Buddhist traditions but since I had been a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner since 2004, I was curious about discovering other forms of Buddhism. On a slightly drier day I found the time to jump on the train and visit the city of Kyoto, where I planned to visit many temples and beautiful gardens. Walking out of Kyoto station I set on a straight line north towards the Imperial Palace, along Karasuma dori ( 烏 丸 通 り). Very soon I passed Higashi Honganji ( 東 本 願 寺 ) on the left and the slogan inscribed on their banner caught my eye: ‘Now, Life is Living you’. I sensed there was a deeper truth to the phrase but I mostly just found it funny, so I took a picture and continued walking. Little did I know than not so long after I will find my spiritual home just a few blocks to the west, at the mother temple of our tradition, Nishi Hongwanji ( 西 本 願 寺 ). The walk to the old Imperial Palace was long so I stopped for a coffee at a small coffeeshop on Karasuma dori. While I sat sipping my drink and looking through the café’s interior-facing window, I noticed a small Buddhist temple that had been boxed in between huge buildings, so I decided to leave the coffeeshop and visit it. This was the Rokkakudo ( 六 角 堂 ), where Shinran Shonin ( 親 鸞 聖 人 ) received, in a dream, the inspiration to go and meet his teacher Honen Shonin, but I didn’t know any of this at the time. The temple had a very intimate feeling, like a little oasis of calm in the middle of the big city with its imposing and functional architecture. I identified the gohonzon as Avalokitesvara ( 観 音 , Kannon) so I offered incense, paid my respects (in the Tibetan way) and lingered by the hexagonal hall for a few minutes. I was really taken in by the place and promised to myself that I will come back to visit it again. I remember feeling a sense of deep peace and a warmth that felt at once homely and foreign. A few months later, I found myself at a crossroads. I had been practising Tibetan Buddhism for almost a decade but I had a distinct sense that the intensive practices and retreats I had been doing were not making me any more enlightened, or helping me in my life for that matter. These doubts kept growing until they became unbearable. I had been spending a lot of time on the cushion as I completed my studies. Once I finished the PhD, I was faced with having to start building an academic career. At a more personal level, I also felt that I wanted to form relationships and travel the world, which I hadn’t had the chance to do, since most of my time was taken by my studies and Buddhist practice. Although in the Tibetan tradition I belonged to monastic ordination wasn’t really the goal, our lifestyle and commitment was similar to that of monks, involving lengthy daily practices and extended retreats a few times a year. I enjoyed the practices and learned a lot from them, but I felt strongly that my priorities were shifting as I started sensing that my commitment was becoming some sort of burden. I felt deeply conflicted. Even if I had doubts about the efficacy of practice and my ability to do it, I also felt guilty Little did I know than not so long after I will find my spiritual home just a few blocks to the west, at the mother temple of our tradition, Nishi Hongwanji. 19
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