Spiritual Values and Personal Identity
by Alfred Bloom, Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii
The issue of spiritual values and
personal identity or the question of the meaning of life and
self-responsibility are major issues in modern life, particularly in
connection with the development of youth. In this essay I would like to
pursue the topic from the standpoint of Shinran (1173-1212) in Japan. He
was the founder of the Shin Buddhist tradition. Though he lived a long time
ago, his insights are still relevant today. Further the question of personal
identity is a major problem in our contemporary society. Young people, and
even older people, ask the question: Who am I? What is the worth and purpose
of my life?
In earlier times these questions were
more easily answered, because our family and community defined our identity
for us. In Japan it was one’s group that generally defined the role and
status of a person’s life. There was a clear set of values and way of life.
The question was rarely raised individually. Around the world the same
situation has existed so that people were defined by their ethnic
relations, family heritage, national, state or local communities, and
sometimes by religious affiliation. However, in our contemporary,
international and multicultural world such definitions have become
inadequate to resolve our many personal problems or establish satisfying
community relations.
There is a phrase we often see,
exhorting us to think globally and act locally. It suggests that we should
have a wider vision of ourselves in relation to the human community, but to
realize that vision within our immediate life situation.
Where do we secure such a broad vision
of humanity, and why is it important today? In brief, a world vision of
humanity is a spiritual vision. It is rooted in religious understanding. We
do not get such a perspective from our national or ethnic communities or
immediate family relations, because all groups work for their own
particular, rather than universal, interests, often competing with other
groups. Only a religious understanding which transcends our differences can
provide a sound basis for uniting the world community of which we are a
part.
Our deepest and enduring sense of
identity comes from realizing our connection to the larger world of
spiritual reality. We come to see ourselves as expressions or manifestations
of that reality, working to bring people together and to break down barriers
of distrust, hatred and prejudice.
The values that are required for a
self-identity which includes the world of others are love-compassion,
justice, peace and mutuality-community. Without these values functioning in
our world, we cannot live meaningfully and securely. We can only attain a
secure identity when these values motivate our lives, because they are
life-affirming values, rather than death-destructive values. All the great
religious traditions affirm the supremacy of life, growth, and creativity
over death, decay and destruction. These faiths are the source of hope in a
violent and self-destructive world.
Shinran, the founder of Shin Buddhism,
taught that Amida Buddha, whose name means Eternal Life and Infinite Light,
is reality itself. Amida Buddha, through his fundamental Vows, works within
our own minds and hearts, experienced as the aspiration for a fuller and
deeper life in this world and in the Hereafter. The awareness of Amida's
unconditional compassion and wisdom is the essence of true entrusting or
shinjin, that is, true entrusting or faith, which is the core of Shin
Buddhist life and teaching.
The deliverance given by trust in Amida
Buddha's Vows is the release from self-striving, self-serving religious
efforts, distorted by egoism, and the awareness of a deeper self identity as
a focal point in the world for the fundamental life-sharing values of love,
compassion, justice, peace and community.
Shinran's teaching offers a vision of
reality which transcends all human distinctions, which we often employ as a
means to categorize, discriminate or judge people or to prove our
superiority. Shinran's highlighted the non-discrimination and inclusive
nature of reality in his major text, the "Teaching, Practice, Faith and
Realization" (Kyogyoshinsho):
"In reflecting on the ocean of great
faith (shinjin), I realize that there is no discrimination between noble and
humble or black-robed monks and white-clothed laity, no differentiation
between man and woman, old and young. The amount of evil one has committed
is not considered, the duration of any performance of religious practices is
of no concern. It is a matter of neither practice nor good acts...It is
simply shinjin (trust or faith) that is inconceivable, inexplicable and
indescribable. It is like the medicine that eradicates all poisons. The
medicine of the Tathagata's Vow destroys the poisons of our wisdom and
foolishness."
It will be argued that Shinran's view is
idealistic. That is true, but the world functions and has meaning only to
the extent we pursue positive ideals and realize life-affirming values.
Hatred, prejudice, and violence destroy life, emptying everything of
meaning. A life which is based on what we hate, rather than what we love,
offers a shallow identity which is self-destructive, because it places a low
evaluation on life itself, even our own life. To divide people and isolate
them as objects of hate means to deny our true identity as persons who are
interdependent and share the same life with all others.
Consequently, Shinran defined religious
faith as the working of the mind of enlightenment. The mind of enlightenment
seeks to bring compassion and wisdom to realization in the lives of others.
In our world, wracked by violence and
hatred, threatened by blind passion, and darkened by spiritual ignorance, we
all need to establish our identity and assume our responsibility to life by
deepening our faith and commitment to the ideals and values manifest in
Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Eternal Life and Infinite Light. Only by such
conviction can we maintain hope for the future of ourselves, our children
and the human community. Only such a vision will truly answer the question:
Who am I? What is the value of my life? Thank you. Namo Amida Butsu.
