Tariki: Tapping Into the Ultimate Power

One reviewer advised that this book was best for the despondent and not for those who still had fight left in them. Sometimes I wonder if those who fight check in with reality from time to time. The human condition doesn't give one much cause for celebration much less defense. True, our basal nature -- our Buddha-nature -- is good, but our normal existence lived in utter indifference to that nature is befogged and driven by lust, anger, and ignorance. Any attempt at bootstrapping our way to heaven just reveals the extent to which our ego believes it can transcend itself by the exercise of even more ego.TARIKI is not a pessimistic book if you are not an optimist. It is a stark often bleak appraisal of the aspects of our human being we would rather not acknowledge and obdurately deny. By starting from that most basic of Buddhist insights that living entails suffering, Itsuki moves on to a deep gratitude for the genuine moments of grace in our lives which come from the winds of a wisdom and compassion that embrace us and yet which are never other than us.While TARIKI may be of value to the despondent, it is of even greater value to those of us who need a grounding in the facts of life in order to make our efforts on behalf of others sane, reasoned, and devoid of expectation. I recommend this book highly to those who have few illusions about life and death.

First of all, it should be noted that this work is NOT a 'beginner's book' on Shin Buddhism. While there are parts which address the 'mechanics' of this school of Mahayana Buddhism, the real fact is that Itsuki's work is more directed to those who have already accepted the Nembutsu-faith as their own, or to those who wish to see the impact which that faith can have on those who are sometimes in the deepest and darkest places in their lives. As such, "Tariki" succeeds magnificently and powerfully.Often very bleak and dark in places, "Tariki: Embracing Despair; Discovering Peace" is a sobering examination of how faith in Amida Buddha as held by those of the Shin faith can be both an anchor and a comfort to those in grave infirmity, grief, or facing death. Since much of the tenets of Shin deal with "resolving the question of the afterlife", it is natural that the book dwell in such heavy territory for much of its material. And while Itsuki does concentrate on such darker issues, it's important to note that...as would be appropriate for Buddhism in general...ultimately one comes to a realization that the duality between the 'dark' thoughts and the 'light' ones is really false. In this, Itsuki creates a very interesting and thought-provoking 'map' of the harsher aspects of life and how this harshness can be resolved through faith in the "other power" of Amida Buddha to unfold these experiences as ones of personal power and meaningful depth.Again, this is no "starter" book for those wishing to learn more about Shin Buddhism; for those seeking that sort of information, I would suggest either Rev. Taitetsu Unno's "River of Fire, River of Water" or Dr. Ken Tanaka's "Ocean". But after absorbing the teachings set down in one or both of those, returning to Itsuki's book for a sober look at how those teachings affect and ground the lives of Shin Buddhists is a must.

Hiroyuki Itsuki provides a lucid and powerful explanation of Pure Land Buddhism in the Japanese tradition and supplements it with the lessons derived from his own suffering. Mr. Hiroyuki is to be commended not only for providing a spiritual essay with universal implications but also for drawing upon his own difficult experiences in a relevant, helpful manner that deftly avoids sentimentalism and self-pity.Hiroyuki describes his childhood as the son of a Japanese teacher in occupied Korea before and during World War II. When Japan was defeated, Hiroyuki's world fell apart. After losing their home and belongings, Hiroyuki's mother died, his father became an alcoholic. Ultimately it was the then thirteen year-old Hiroyuki who cared for his siblings and dragged them to safety in South Korea. The trauma of these experiences and others caused Hiroyuki to develop a very negative view of life. The significance of this development, which was clearly missed by one reviewer, is the fact that Hiroyuki's negativity is not nihilistic. Instead, Hiroyuki argues that when we accept the negative facts of life (primarily that we will experience loss, pain, sickness, old-age, and death) we are better able to lead a positive life. Hiroyuki goes on to describe the Buddha as "the ultimate negative thinker" and explains how the Buddha gave up His life of wealth and privilege in order to comprehend and then address the suffering that comes with existence. In explaining the differences between Zen and Pure Land Buddhism, Hiroyuki addresses the common misconception that the latter is based on blind faith. Zen, according to Hiroyuki is a religion of action that involves meditation and other exercises while Pure Land Buddhism simply requires a simple belief in and verbal acknowledgement of the Amida Buddha. This belief is not an attempt to find the Amida Buddha, for according to Hiroyuki He has already found you and has reached out to you with countless subtle mechanism that can include the kindness of complete strangers and the pages of Hiroyuki's book. Hiroyuki refers to these countless mechanisms as the "Other Power" and contrasts them with the "Self Power" associated with Zen. According to Hiroyuki, the practice of Zen involved time and activity to perform self-development that was simply not available to anyone beyond Japan's privileged classes. Pure Land Buddhism appealed to the commoners because it did not require developing the "Self Power" of Zen. Instead they merely had to believe in and acknowledge the "Other Power" of the Amida Buddha's commitment to save them. More to the point, the Amida Buddha already had saved people; they simply needed to wake up to this fact.If Hiroyuki's writing only focused exclusively on the suffering and despair of his personal history then readers could justifiably find his negativity appalling. But Hiroyuki contrasts these experiences with the surprising kindness of strangers and other positive experiences that he eventually came to a

Fortunately, the world does not simply become "whatever we think it is", as the reviewer below assumes. If that were true, there would be no illness, old age or death, nor any reason for this gem of a book. As Hiroyuki says, "Some things just don't work; some things just can't be done." These are not words that some people are ready to hear in our "new age" of self help, positive thinking and "self power". But as he points out, "Long ago people used to describe life as a long, long journey on which we all carry a very heavy load. The passage of a mere three or four centuries isn't going to change the reality of human experience." If you have ever felt that life has no meaning; if you have ever thought "there is nothing I can do"; if you have always suspected that "willpower" was a sham, then this book will be a friend to you. Written like a great dinner conversation, full of digressions, this book is a deep well of humanity and compassion.

Reading the newspaper on any given day reveals that we are living under the influence of worldwide suffering. "All people, all around the world and at all times, live a life of sighs" (p. 42). In his powerful new book, novelist and Buddhist scholar, Hiroyuki Itsuki (1932- ) recognizes suffering as a catalyst for liberation. "We are all travelers who, from our first wail at birth, are making a journey, one step at a time, toward death," he writes (p. 218). Along the way, we discover that we "have no control over our birth, and we cannot avoid aging. We all fall ill and we must all face death, without exception. Human existence is defined by these four facts" (p. 183).Itsuki knows suffering. He tells us he has considered suicide twice (p. 3). He has written his book from his deeply-moving personal experiences with despair. The teachings found here provide guidance on how to live a meaningful life, with a proper attitude toward life, in the face of despair. "Truly enlightened thinking is not about being lucky or privileged, or content with one's lot in life," Itsuki writes. "Truly enlightened thinking only takes place when we have stared into the bottomless possibilities of human suffering and discovered light" (p. 22). Our Western notion of "positive thinking" offers "little more than mindless optimism, a vague feeling of hope" to Itsuki; "it is not something that can be a true source of strength in life" (p. 164). For him, enlightenment derives only from radically negative thinking (p. 163).Suffering, physical pain, sickness, mental anxiety, aging--our daily hell is not without moments of paradise also, here and now--kind acts, small joys, friendship, and love. Travelling life's peaks of "boundless joy" and valleys of "terrible suffering," Itsuki advocates equanimity to live a deeply meaningful life, together with the Buddhist philosphy of "tariki," meaning "Other Power," which "stands in contrast to self power" (p. xvi). "Tariki" is the "recognition of the great, all-encompassing power of the Other," Itsuki explains, "in this case, the Buddha and his ability to enlighten us--and the simultaneous recognition of the individual's utter powerlessness in the face of the realities of the human condition" (pp. xvi-xvii). This is the core concept of Pure Land Buddhism.This is not a "feel-good" book. Rather, it is a feel-real book that will speak to the heart of anyone feeling overwhelmed with all the suffering in this "terrible world of ours."G. Merritt