Self-Inspection with the Solar Eclipse
NASA/Keegan Barber
Since I’m not a big follower of astronomy, I hadn’t paid much attention to the lead up in the news to the total solar eclipse in April 2024. It really surprised me to see the reaction the event triggered. Millions of people traveled to points along the path of totality to celebrate the event. People interviewed spoke with emotion about the experience, as did the journalists covering the event. References to intense overwhelming emotions, lots of tears, feelings of interdependence, awe, humility, and unity were common. For one day, people across the country were gathered for a reason other than protest or politics.
Journalist David Robson wrote a BBC article titled “How the solar eclipse may affect the brain and bring people together”. In the past two decades, there has been interest in the scientific study of “Awe”. It’s defined as a sense of wonder and amazement, triggered by a perception of vastness that leaves us feeling small in comparison. Experiencing such an amazing event as the total solar eclipse can inspire us all to find greater humility, according to Robson.
In Rev. Gyodo Haguri’s The Awareness of Self, he writes about the Norwegian explorer and scientist Fridtjof Nansen, who was overwhelmed when he saw the natural beauty of the North Pole and wrote of how this experience affirmed his recognition of God. Faith involving belief in a greater power can be described by different religious experiences. Rev. Haguri sees Nansen’s faith as “blind faith. In Buddhism, faith includes awakening from the blind ignorance of our true self and the reality of life. Without awakening, we’re subject to a continuous cycle of frustration, disappointment and blind ignorance.
Rev. Haguri writes that blind faith is a faith without knowledge of life or of self. It is a faith created by awe or fear. It may make you feel good, but it is not permanent. In Buddhism, we focus on the teachings that give us insight into the self – our true self and of life. How do we understand the truth of self? Rev. Haguri distinguishes true self from acquired self.
True self represents the instinctive ego. It represents the self-centeredness and blind ignorance inherent in our nature. The acquired self represents the characteristics that we acquire throughout our life and is influenced by family, friends, work, and society. These acquired traits are not permanent and mask our true self.
Shin Buddhism focuses on understanding and accepting our true self and the self-centered acts that are part of our true self. If we allow our acquired self to hide our true self we’re not really seeing our total self which includes the blind ignorance and attachments at the core of our personalities, and ultimately prevents us from truly being at peace with ourselves.
Rev. Harada has an inspiring essay in his book Discovering Buddhism in Everyday Life titled “93,000,000 miles from the Sun”. He expresses the awesomeness of our universe, not unlike the experience from the recent solar eclipse. Out of millions of stars in our galaxy, we happen to be on a planet that revolves around one particular star – the sun, allowing it to sustain billions of people. And yet each of us exists as a single unique being on this planet.
He poses the question “how will we live this one life that we have within this expansive dimension of time and space?” Our lives may brief in the context of this vast universe, but he shares that there is a truth of life that is timeless. Shin Buddhism teaches us to live a true and sincere life which is expressed as immeasurable life-muryoju. When we embrace the truth of the Dharma, the Nembutsu, our life touches all of eternity.
The essay closes as follows: “A life that touches all of eternity is bright and radiant. It radiates a light that travels faster than the speed of light, that is brighter than the brightest star. The light of the Dharma is a light that is unobstructed, unhindered. It reaches into the darkest corner of my heart and mind, illuminating my life. We have this one life on this one earth that is exactly 93,000,000 miles from the sun. While we have this one life, on this one planet, may we awaken to the great immeasurable light and life that is Namuamidabutsu.”
In Gassho, Janet Arima, Ministers’ Assistant
