Funeral

I remember you and will meet again in Amida’s embrace.

One of the most challenging realities we must confront is the separation from those we love. Whether they are parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts & uncles, friends, or neighbors, and regardless of how close we were, the death of a loved one introduces a pause and a sense of emptiness into our lives. This is especially true if the person was very close to us, leaving behind unimaginable pain and a profound void.

For details regarding a funeral, please refer to the provided information.

The purpose of religion is to help us find answers to the ultimate questions: Why are we born? What is the meaning of our life? Why do our loved ones have to die? Our educational knowledge and human words may not always provide answers to these questions. In the Hongwanji tradition, we are taught that our loved ones are under the compassionate care of Amida Buddha. Funerals and a series of memorials are not only significant opportunities to remember and honor our departed loved ones but also moments to contemplate these ultimate questions and to find answers that resonate within our hearts and bodies.

A funeral is a time for family and friends to honor their loved one, reflecting on the impermanence of life and the teachings of Amida Buddha. The ceremony serves as a reminder that the end of life is inevitable for all, regardless of age, though we often think it lies in some distant future. It confronts us with the stark reality of our existence and inspires us to cherish every unrepeatable moment. A funeral also prompts contemplation about our own mortality and the nature of death. Is it simply an end, or as the Hawaiian saying goes, ‘make is make‘—death is death—, or a transition to a place free from pain? We must acknowledge our finite existence, over which we have no control when it comes to sickness and death.

Amida Buddha’s vows are to embrace all beings. Those who hear without doubt and receive this vow realize that at the end of life, we do not simply cease to exist; rather, we are released from earthly bonds and merge with the profound truth of enlightenment. Like a river merging with the ocean, becoming indistinguishable within its vastness, so does Amida Buddha’s compassion cares for people at life’s conclusion. In Amida’s embrace, our limited lives are transformed into the highest state of existence, that of a Buddha.

We are reassured that our loved ones who are in this embrace have not passed away but have become part of true compassion, guiding us in various forms so that we may also experience this embrace, right here right now. This is the perspective of Hongwanji on life and death. It is Amida Buddha’s compassionate wish to never abandon those who grieve. With the deepest care and wisdom, Amida Buddha reaches out to assist us, to reveal the truth, to provide a shoulder to lean on, to listen to our sorrows, and to offer arms that never turn us away. This embrace is Namo Amida Butsu, calling out, “I am here for you, no matter what.” This embrace is not just at life’s end; it has always been present, even before our birth, even when unnoticed, as compassionate care. Thus, our loved ones demonstrate this embrace so that we may encounter it now, in this moment, gaining an understanding of death and the life beyond. While we must part from each other, there is no parting within Amida’s compassionate embrace. We are united within it.

In remembering our loved ones, we are reminded that we do not merely live to die, but rather, we live to be a part of true compassion. It is in the moment my breath is drawn and yet I am embraced, right here, right now, by Namo Amida Butsu.

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