Liturgy on White Ashes

A while back, I mentioned a well-known liturgy called the Letter on White Ashes (白骨の章, hakkotsu no shō). It is letter that is often read aloud in the Jodo Shinshu tradition, and was originally composed by the 8th head (monshu, 門主) of the order, Rennyo (蓮如, 1415–1499) to a follower.

Some quick backstory about Rennyo first though.

Rennyo is an interesting, though often controversial figure. Jodo Shinshu is somewhat unusual in Buddhism because it was, from the outset, a strictly lay order and even today the priests do not take any clerical vows. Rennyo reputedly had 28 children by 4 different wives (not at the same time). The ravages of war, famine, and medieval healthcare for pregnant women,¹ meant that he remarried 3 times.

Rennyo also presided over a very fractured and divided Jodo Shinshu community. Because the community was lay-oriented and had no political support, it divided into regional sects in rural areas, each developing their own interpretation, and with no oversight.

Further, certain established sects constantly viewed the widespread Jodo Shinshu Buddhism as a threat and, in the case of the Tendai complex on Mount Hiei, would send monastic armies to persecute them.

As if all this wasn’t enough, by Rennyo’s time, the central authority in Kyoto had broken down leaving the country in civil war (the Warring States period).

Rennyo was politically vulnerable against other rival, regional Jodo Shinshu groups and was actively being chased by the armies of Mount Hiei. He fled with his family to a more remote region in Echizen province. Here, Rennyo was finally able to catch his breath and gradually reunite many of the disparate Jodo Shinshu communities under a single organization, with reformed and updated liturgy, ordination and so on. Rennyo’s efforts were greatly successful and today he is remembered as the “Restorer” of Jodo Shinshu.²

Part of Rennyo’s success was his letter-writing. These are collected today in a text called the Gobunsho (御文章) or more colloquially the O-fumi (御文).

The letter below is perhaps the most famous of the collection (emphasis added). There are many translations available, but I tend to like Rev. Hisao Inagaki’s the most.

When I deeply contemplate the transient nature of human life, I realize that, from beginning to end, life is impermanent like an illusion. We have not yet heard of anyone who lived ten thousand years. How fleeting is a lifetime!

Who in this world today can maintain a human form for even a hundred years? There is no knowing whether I will die first or others, whether death will occur today or tomorrow. We depart one after another more quickly than the dewdrops on the roots or the tips of the blades of grasses. So it is said. Hence, we may have radiant faces in the morning, but by evening we may turn into white ashes.

Once the winds of impermanence have blown, our eyes are instantly closed and our breath stops forever. Then, our radiant face changes its color, and the attractive countenance like peach and plum blossoms is lost. Family and relatives will gather and grieve, but all to no avail?

Since there is nothing else that can be done, they carry the deceased out to the fields, and then what is left after the body has been cremated and has turned into the midnight smoke is just white ashes. Words fail to describe the sadness of it all.

Thus the ephemeral nature of human existence is such that death comes to young and old alike without discrimination. So we should all quickly take to heart the matter of the greatest importance of the afterlife, entrust ourselves deeply to Amida Buddha, and recite the nembutsu.

Humbly and respectfully.

Rennyo

Translated by Reverend Hisao Inagaki

Rennyo does a terrific job distilling important Buddhist truths into a single letter, written in a straightforward, accessible manner, with a simple message at the end: do not waste time, settle your affairs in the afterlife and entrust yourself to Amida Buddhia. It is no surprise this is still read aloud even today in Jodo Shinshu funerals, including my mother-in-law’s. Personally I always liked this letter more than something long and droning like the Shōshinge hymn.

Namu Amida Butsu

P.S. This is the first post I started after my medical emergency. Needless to say, I’ve been thinking about this stuff a lot.

¹ throughout most of world history, pregnancy and childbirth was extremely dangerous for women everywhere. Each childbirth had an average 10% fatality rate for the mother. And since pre-modern populations had high birth rates and high death rates, a family typically would have 8-10 kids on average. Each one of these was another 10% chance for a woman to die during childbirth. Small wonder that wives often died, and men had to remarry. I think about this sometimes because my wife had a very difficult labor with our firstborn, and I imagine that had we lived in pre-modern times, she would have almost certainly died. Chilling.

² something I didn’t cover here, and Rennyo’s biggest controversy was his association with the peasant rebellions known as ikko-ikki. Warfare and neglect caused multiple peasant uprisings and even disaffected samurai joined the cause. Some of these rebellions were quite serious and actively threatened the established order. Rennyo’s relationship is somewhat vague and confusing. It doesn’t appear that he advocated rebellion, but many of the rebels were devout followers of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism and looked to Rennyo for support.