As you know, Rev. Saito passed away on March 10, 2001 in Hawaii and his Funeral Service was observed on March 31. Rinban Ito, Rev. Hirosumi and I attended his Funeral Service at the Honolulu Betsuin. For his funeral, the Saito Family asked me to present the Eulogy in English. Also on April 22, the Betsuin observed the Memorial Service for Rev. Saito, and Rinban Ito asked me to deliver the Japanese sermon. It was so hard to talk about Saito Sensei at his Memorial Service, because I was not ready emotionally.to talk about him. After the service, one of the members called me and asked me to translate my talk in Japanese to English. I would like to share my talk for Saito Sensei’s Memorial Service this morning.
I worked and learned about Buddhism with Saito Sensei at the Betsuin for 14 years as his assistant minister. I learned many things about Buddhism and Shinshu. I also encountered a lot of people under the guidance of Saito Sensei. I really appreciated meeting Saito Sensei and being able to work with him for 14 years. I still remember having a Study Class on Wednesday night with Saito sensei, Rev. Patti, Mr. Kennedy and Dr. Ulmer. Those days with Saito sensei were wonderful and I will treasure them always. They were irreplaceable days.
Rev. Saito was born on July 6, 1927 in Kumamoto prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. He was born the 2nd son of the Saito family. They were big farmers in that area. When he was young, his family had a lot of employees and had cattle and horses for farming. I believe that Saito sensei was born and raised in a wealthy family, but he never talked nor boasted about his family. He was raised in the military as many other boys in Japan were at that time. Then he entered into the Japanese army academy school, which is similar to West Point in the US Army. In order to enter into the Army Academy, you had to have a good record at School, and you had to be healthy and have a strong physical body. He told his mother that he had decided to go to the Army Academy School. He was not good at pull ups on the horizontal bar. He had to do 50 pull-ups or more to enter the Army Academy. So his mother ordered some one to make a horizontal bar in their garden. Anyhow, he passed the test and entered the Army Academy where he was taught how to be a good warrior and an officer. Also, he realized that he could die for his country and for the Emperor of Japan.
But after World War II, Japan changed overnight. Before the war, Japan was a militant nation, and the Japanese believed that the Emperor was the god who created the land of Japan. But after the war, Japan changed into a free and democratic nation, and the Emperor became just a human being. So after the war, the Japanese people literally "lost every thing." They were confused about what was the truth. Because of the war, Saito-sensei lost the value system which he had learned from school and the Army Academy. This big change in Japan made a huge impact on Saito sensei’s life. I think he really felt the impermanence of his life, and it was a historical change for the entire world. He began studying electrical engineering at Kumamoto University, and during his studies, he met Rev. Akegarasu. It was after meeting Rev. Akegarasu that Saito-sensei decided to study Buddhism and moved to Kyoto. The meeting with Rev. Akegarasu completely changed Saito-sensei's life. Encountering a teacher is the most important event in a person's life. This is not only because he teaches the Buddha-Dharma itself, but also because his whole life and being demonstrates to us how the Buddha-Dharma is at work in life.
In his sermon at Saito Sensei’s Funeral Service in Honolulu, Dr. Nobuo Haneda said that when Saito Sensei met his teacher, Rev. Akegarasu, Saito Sensei encountered the world of the innermost aspiration of Amida Buddha, or Hongan. I think that my experience of meeting with Saito Sensei was the same experience. Saito Sensei had a power to help and encourage me to discover my real self. He also helped me gain the strength to learn about my self and the dharma.
Saito sensei was good student of the Buddha and a good teacher for me. He was also very creative. He always prepared new talks and had insights into teaching every time he spoke. Furthermore, he was a handy man, a good cook; and he really liked to do carpentry work when he had free time. When I came to the USA, Saito sensei had one free day out of the week, so we made a bookcase and shelves for the Temple. Once, after he had come back from Japan, he still had jetlag, so he said "I am so sleepy, but I have to adjust to the time in LA as soon as I can. So I have to move my body. If I sit in the office, I might fall asleep. I am going to make a shelf for the papers in the office." Then he measured where he was to put his shelf. He started to cut the wooden boards outside the office. When he completed his mission, he tried to put the new shelf into the office. However, the shelf was too big and would not go through the doorway. So he had to take it apart to bring it into the office. Then he placed the new shelf against the wall, but the size of shelf was still a little too big, and the shelf stuck out from corner of the wall. He was wondering why the shelf was bigger that he had measured. I know that he had jetlag and was sleepy. So he did not measure the wall right. But he continued to wonder the whole day.
I said that he was a good cook. He really liked to cook. His favorite dishes were Nabemono, Steamed fish, and Sushi. He was an engineering major, so cooking was just like an experiment. I was one of his guinea pigs. He always renovated his cooking. When he cooked, he drank vodka and tasted his food. So when he finished cooking, he was already drunk and full. He said eat more and eat a lot. One time he cooked steam fish. He always put vodka in his fish because he believed that the vodka took the smell of the fish away and made it tender. One day he put placed the fish with vodka inside of a pan and sealed it tightly with aluminum foil. Then he cooked it in the oven. When we started to eat, we realized that everybody was drunk, even those who did not drink any beer or Sake. Saito sensei had put too much Vodka into the Steamed fish, and the foil was sealed so tightly over the pan that the alcohol did not evaporate. So everybody was drunk, of course Saito Sensei was drunk even before we began to eat.
There were a lot of golf stories about Saito Sensei too. But we don't have the time right now. Anyway, I realized that Saito Sensei had taught me about the realization of my own true self and at same time, he taught me about my darker side, too. By helping me see both sides, I am able to know what is true and what is false. He was like a mirror of the dharma. Until I met Saito sensei, I had always tried to protect my self and my world. but after meeting Saito sensei and experiencing a new life in the USA , I realized that I don’t have anything to protect. Encountering Saito sensei was the collapsing of my self, in other words, the death of my old self. As a result, it was like I had received a new life.
Regarding Shakyamuni Buddha’s awakening and Shinran’ self-realization, Saito sensei quoted from Rev. Akegarasu’s writing that "when Shakyamuni attained his enlightenment, Shakyamuni’s awakening was, " I am ignorant." Also Shinran’s deep understanding of his self was, " I am the foolish one." Rev. Akegarasu’s deep understanding of his self was, "I am the evil one." Saito Sensei said that those three people had the same awakening and understanding of themselves and that this awakening was enlightenment of the Buddha. The first time I heard this, I could not understand nor accept his understanding of Buddhism. I was offended by his thinking, because at that time, I felt that I was a good person, not an ignorant nor a foolish one, and I definitely felt that I was not an evil one.
But, I felt the power of impermanence within his self. Gradually I began to understand little by little what he had wanted to teach me. When I began to understand myself as useless and hopeless through my own experiences, I began to realize the encountering with a real teacher, the Saito Sensei. I received new eyes to see my self and discover the true teaching, the Dharma from Saito Sensei. That understanding of my self and understanding of the Dharma was the Deep mind from Shan Tao’s understanding and awakening of the working of Dharma, or Shinjin.
Dr. Haneda mentioned that the encountering of a teacher is encountering with Amida’s innermost aspiration, or Hongan. Through encountering Saito Sensei, I was introduced to the world of the infinite, the world of one’s innermost aspiration. Also through meeting with Saito Sensei, I realized, "How important it is to encounter a teacher who lives a Buddhist life." Meeting with Rev. Akegarasu was the most important event for Saito Sensei. Rev. Akegarasu changed his life completely. He had a great spiritual encounter with Rev. Akegarasu. I think that the encounter with a great teacher who can inspire us is an important part of our Buddhist tradition. Rev. Akegarasu had the same inspiration when he met with his teacher, Rev. Manshi Kiyozawa. Also, Shinran Shonin’s great teacher was Honen Shonin. And yet this great inspiration was the same as Dharmakara Bodhisattva’s upon meeting his teacher "Lokeshvararaja" in the Larger Sutra. Such an encounter with an inspirational teacher moves us to listen to the BuddhaDharma in our daily lives.
I think that as Buddhists, we need such an encounter. I am fortunate to have met Saito Sensei in my life so that I could have the same great appreciation as those who lived in our tradition. I feel that I must share and hand down this great inspiration to others. Saito Sensei left me with a tremendous task. I want to follow Saito Sensei’s footsteps and continue his mission. I really appreciate meeting Rev. Saito. He was my most important teacher and he became my best Dharma friend. It is so sad to say, " Good-bye" to Sensei. However, Saito Sensei becomes the Buddha Dharma in my being and illuminates me all the time.
I think that the death of Saito sensei represents a new encounter with Saito Sensei. It represents a new start to learning the Buddha Dharma.
Thank you.