During the last half of October, Socho(Bishop) Ikuta will be in the Southern Alberta area performing a Sarana Affirmation Service at each of the temples. (Some of you may know this better as the Kikyoshiki Service.) This being the case, I feel that I should offer you some of my thoughts as to why this event in one's life is important.

Unlike other religions that we are familiar with, in which a newborn is baptized and becomes a member of the church before he or she is conscious of what that may mean; our Jodo Shinshu stream of Buddhism requires that one be committed to one's choice of religion before one accepts it as his or her own. The implications of this are immense.

The act of deciding to be a Jodo Shinshu follower, and therefore deciding to participate in the affirmation service, implies that one has given some thought as to the importance of their chosen religion to their lives. It is a statement something like; "I have tested the waters; delved into the various philosophies and religions that attempt to teach me how to live and have decided that this is the one for me." expressed in a very physical act.

Right about now some of you may be thinking; "If this is so, what is the significance of the Hatsumairi, or Infant Presentation Service?" Well the Hatsumairi is an act that is more centred on the feelings and hopes of the parents, and the responsibilities and hopes of the temple and its community. The parents are in effect revealing their commitment to raising this child in such a way that the child will hopefully see the merit of the parent's chosen religious path and after that choose it as their own. The temple and its community of followers are revealing their commitment to support and cherish that child so that in the future that child will hopefully see the merit of that community's chosen religious path and choose it for their own. The Hatsumairi is essentially an explicit statement of the responsibilities that the parents feel and that the temple community feels towards that specific child. The child is merely the focus; the catalyst if you will for those feelings.

The Kikyoshiki is the culmination of all of this. The child, having developed his or her own consciousness, now decides that after all the pondering, searching and wondering about what life is and what religion is, that he or she is ready to fully commit themselves to a specific religious path. There is no set time for this to happen. One may choose to put it off until they are quite old, if their questions and hesitancy remain.

Every morning at Hongwanji; our mother temple, after the morning service, a Kikyoshiki is held. Sometimes there are many people; sometimes there are only a few. Some have been brought there by a deepening of their spiritual maturity; some come merely to re-affirm their commitment to their teaching. No matter how it comes about it is kind of a magical slice of time.

As part of the service, the person is given a Dharma name. The Dharma name is kind of like a goal, or a constant reminder of the life that one is supposed to be leading.

I partook of my Kikyoshiki ten years ago, as part of the youth tour to Japan. I was about 22 years old. I had lost the enamoured feeling that I had had towards the rational mindset; finally seeing it for the cold, dry spiritual wasteland that it is. I had read and followed some pop-oriented "American Zen" style books, and had turned into a ego-maniac (mainly because I was already a Buddha and others were too silly to realize this for themselves. Pretty strange how the ego can twist things around, eh?). Having had this rather scary experience with "popular Buddhism", in which my roommate had to expressly point out how unbearable I had become to live with, I reverted back to Jodo Shinshu, looking for a teaching that brought me closer to the humans around me, rather than distancing me from them. In re-doubling my efforts to see myself for the flawed human that I actually am, rather than the grand, wonderful person that I want to believe that I am; the teaching, experientially, proved itself to be true. There is a life-force that surrounds and sustains me, whether I seek to acknowledge it or not.

Some two years or so later came the opportunity to partake of a Kikyoshiki at our mother temple in Japan. It was a kind of a culmination, but also a kind of starting point. It signified a change in my perception of the Jodo Shinshu teaching. Before I thought of it as being more of my grandfather's religion, ie something that I had inherited; after I thought of our teaching as my own religion. With this came the commitment to try to fully understand it and some degree of concern for its future.

I would urge all of you to consider partaking of the service when it is held at your temple. Even if you already had it done; like many in Raymond had when the Zenmon, or previous Gomonshu visited Canada, I think that it is very important for all of us to occasionally re-affirm our commitment to our teachings and to the higher things in life.

In Gassho,

M. Hayashi