There are many writers and teachers with different styles, each one having something to offer us.

In high school, I took an English class that focused on modern American writers, those who developed the short story as a new art form. We studied Hemingway, JD Salinger and Kurt Vonnegut among many. But the story that stood out most was The Bear by William Faulkner. It was published in 1942 and consisted of 25 pages. I remember it because it had a rambling, run-on sentence that covered several pages. I didn’t realize this until our teacher pointed it out. He said it was a literary device to make the reader feel uncomfortable and disoriented. It worked. It was very hard to follow and stay focused. It was a thousand words strung together with commas, semicolons and hyphens with a single period. I didn’t like it but it had the desired effect.

Recently, I discovered that this wasn’t even his longest sentence. In 1983, William Faulkner was awarded the title of “Longest Sentence in Literature” by Guinness World Records for his 1,288-word sentence in Absalom, Absalom!. 

Faulkner seems to have been somewhat of a contradiction in this pursuit. He once said,

 “I am trying to say it all in one sentence, between one cap and one period. I’m still trying to put it all, if possible, on one pinhead. I don't know how to do it. All I know to do is to keep on trying in a new way.”

You might be able to say it all in 1,288 words but it certainly would not fit on one pinhead.

This contradiction reminds me of two of my favorite Buddhist teachers among many: Taitetsu Unno and Testuo Unno. Or Tai and Tets for short. Once at a Buddhist conference, I introduced Taitetsu Unno as the guest speaker but was nervous and pronounced his name as Taitetsuo Unno. I had merged their two names together into one. He was very understanding. As he took the podium he just smiled at me.

I have noticed the same issue on the internet, the biographies and timelines for these two men are all mixed up making it even more difficult keeping them straight. For example, it is Taitetsu Unno who passed away in 2014 not Tetsuo Unno, who is now 90 years old.

If you knew them as people, you couldn’t possibly mix them up. Taitetsu Unno was warm and gentle. He spoke very poetically while Tetsuo is more direct and to the point. Some have observed that Taitetsu is more Shin in his approach while Tetsuo Unno is more Zen in his.

Taitetsu Unno is a scholar, having written two books: River of Fire, River of Water and Shin Buddhism: Bits of Rubble Turn into Gold. The former is the first book on Shin Buddhism that I had ever read. I read the book literally which was not how it was intended. I had trouble differentiating the metaphors from fact.

I remember the first encounter I had with Taitetsu Unno when he came to OCBC in 1999 to discuss his first book. Out of the blue, he turned and looked me in the eye and asked where is Amida Buddha? I really didn’t know but I was on the spot. I was going to point to the Amida statue in the Kodo but then without thinking I pointed to my heart. He smiled knowingly and moved on with his discussion.

Tetsuo Unno came at me from another direction, around that same time period. During a BEC lecture, also in the Kodo, he too looked right at me and said that it takes at least ten years to begin to appreciate Shin Buddhism. He meant me. He wanted me to exhale, relax and just listen – for ten years. Rather than feeling discouraged, I found this to be very encouraging. It takes time, there is no rush or pressure.

Interesting to have two such different styles from two brothers no less.

I recently watched Rev. Tetsuo Unno’s retirement Dharma talk on Vimeo from December 1, 2019. In typical fashion, he closed with this quotation from William Faulkner.

 “The past is never dead. It's not even past.”

Very short and sweet and to the point. But I have a feeling that Taitetsu Unno would have used the full quotation.

 “The past is never dead. It's not even past. All of us labor in webs spun long before we were born, webs of heredity and environment, of desire and consequence, of history and eternity. Haunted by wrong turns and roads not taken, we pursue images perceived as new but whose providence dates to the dim dramas of childhood, which are themselves but ripples of consequence echoing down the generations. The [everyday] demands of life distract from this resonance of images and events, but some of us feel it always.”

Both versions work well and fit on a pinhead. But it represents the two styles of both Faulkner and the two Unno’s. Not only do writers and teachers have to find their style but as students we also have to find our own style. Our teachers are out there but we have to find them. They are the ones who resonate with us in ways that are uniquely their own and our own.

I have come to the conclusion, that for me, both Unno’s are number one. I needed both the indirect and direct approach to make progress along the path. I am very grateful that I was able to learn from these two great teachers.

Namoamidabutsu, Rev Jon Turner