Kentetsu Takamori
I have dedicated my life to faithfully conveying the teachings of Shinran (1173-1263), the founder of True Pure Land Buddhism. I have lectured throughout Japan and worldwide on Buddhism for more than sixty years. I am the author of several bestselling titles in Japanese and the chair of the Buddhist organization Jodo Shinshu Shinrankai.
Excerpt from the “Introduction” of Unlocking Tannisho:
In spring of 1944, at the age of sixteen, I volunteered to join the Japanese Imperial Naval Air Service and was trained as a fighter pilot. Months before the end of the Pacific War, still a teenager, I watched as one after another of my comrades took off in an airplane loaded with explosives and just enough fuel for a one-way trip. Their orders were to crash their planes into allied warships and aircraft carriers in a desperate, last-ditch attempt to win an unwinnable war.
The treatment meted out to kamikaze pilots in training was cruel and brutal. We were constantly beaten, trained only to obey and die. We were brainwashed, told that to give up our lives was a great honor and that through our sacrifice we would not only save our sacred nation and serve the emperor but be granted immortality. Still too young to make the list, I knew it was only a matter of time before my turn came—yet deep down I prayed to live, as did my comrades. All of the doomed pilots tried to find meaning in that desperate situation. I well remember that as their only companion on that final flight, many chose to take along the book Tannisho and the message of Shinran.
After the war, my life fortunately spared, I turned my attention to that small book and its great teachings. My encounter with them transformed my life and filled me with renewed purpose. I still grow hot with anger when I think of how my friends and I were deceived, instilled with the idea that throwing away our lives was somehow beautiful. Yet I am grateful beyond words to have been granted the happiness of knowing the truth. I have dedicated my life to deepening my understanding of, and sharing with others, the same undying principles that were a ray of bright hope to those youths setting off on their dark and hopeless journeys.
“Unless you progress a step or a half-step more than yesterday, you haven't really lived today.”
“The painful sea of birth-and-death knows no bounds.We have long been submerged.Only the ship of Amida’s Vowwill take us aboard and carry us across without fail.(Hymns on the Masters)”
“Life has a definite purpose: to have one’s darkness of mind dispelled, and so achieve never-ending happiness.”
“Change irritation to appreciationPatience doesn't just happen, but must be cultivated. It is all a matter of attitude.”
“A Seed Not Planted Cannot GrowHidden in every success story are tears.A seed that is not planted cannot grow. People ignorant of this fundamental law of cause-and-effect are greatly to be pitied.”
“How wonderful it would be if people did all they could for one other without seeking anything in return! One should never remember a kindness done, and never forget a kindness received.”
“Greed kills us all.”
“On the Brevity of Our TiesTies in this world last only for a time. We are husband and wife, parent and child, for a short period only. Once this reality sinks in, we cannot help treasuring each moment of our brief association.”
“Bliss and suffering, it seems, always go hand in hand.”
“Absent a sense of the preciousness of one's own life, why respect the life of anyone else?”
“Knowing life's purpose would invest everything one did with meaning.”
“Amida's unimpeded light is the sun of wisdom that destroys the mind of darkness.(Preface in Teaching, Practice, Faith, Enlightenment)”
“If you are fortunate enough to enjoy great success, you should never forget the spirit of the beginner, and not grow indolent and arrogant.”
“Health, wealth, reputation, and status are all mere ingredients of happiness. The key to true well-being is being able to manage them capably.”
“Change yourself, and others will follow.”
“No one should ever despair because the entrance to his or her chosen career path is clogged. There is an ancient saying: "The persistent drip wears through stone.”
“Everyone makes mistakes. Whether we put our mistakes to use depends on how deeply we reflect on our actions. It is desirable to reflect until the tears come. - On Self-Reflection -”
“Living in a world such as this is like dancing on a live volcano.”
“Some nonreligious people are disgruntled by the word "faith," feeling that it has no connection to them. But we all have faith. Broadly speaking, "faith" does not apply only to belief in the supernatural. We have faith in our life, for example, believing we will live to see tomorrow, or in our health, believing we have years of healthy life ahead of us. Husbands and wives, parents and children have faith in one another.”
“Since living is believing, no one can be completely lacking in faith.”
“What each of us believes in is up to us, but life is impossible without believing in something.”
“Many Buddhist temple priests regard their parishioners as possessions and fear their departure as a diminishing of assets.”