Jyumyo, "the body is borrowed, the mind alone is yours"

I visited my Ewa Beach grandmother yesterday. As always, over lunch (some curry that someone had given her), she gave me a talk on religion.

My grandfather died roughly a year ago; on February 9th, we are to have a year anniversary service. He died at age 92. His dog, Coco, a chihuahua, had to be given to a neighbor last year; apparently, he passed away a few months back. According to calculations and guess-timates, my grandma says that Coco was 92 years old as well (in dog-years).

This confirmed (for my grandma) that grandpa was supposed to die when he did (at age 92). She kept saying that it was his "jyumyo," his "destined time."

In Tenrikyo, there is much talk about "innen" (karma); from my grandmother's perspective, nothing is innocent, or "just happens"; everything occurs for a reason. Of course, on the surface, this doesn't differ with the way in which "normal" people view events; that is, basic karma is nothing other than the law of cause and effect, which most scientists would not question. However, in the context of religion, karma takes on a "spiritual," and therefore, questionable, aspect; in other words, "things happen" not simply because physical causes were present, but because they are "payback" for spiritual deeds (both good and bad) in the past. Adding this "spiritual" dimension makes karma moralistic in nature (or, at least, it can, potentially).

A long life, free of misfortune, is easily translated as being the result of "good karma." A short life, filled with suffering, conversely, is the result of "bad karma."

Yet all lives are filled with some misfortunes, some accidents. And we all know (or sense) that bad things often happen to good people (and vice versa). Where is the law of karma then?

The answer, of course, lies in the scope of our perception. Karma implies reincarnation, and therefore, the results of present karma could be the product of actions committed in previous lives... IDEALLY, then, karma is supposed to engender an attitude of acceptance... we cannot know what (good or bad) seeds we planted in previous lives, we can only harvest unconditionally that which grows in our present...

This brings us to the strange concept of jyumyo. If, as I imply, karma is this complex calculus of "good/bad," a computation whose origins stretch back further than we can see, a computation which is changing with each deed that we perform, then how is it possible that there can be a set "jyumyo" (date of death)? Is it stamped upon us like the frenulum left by the Angel Gabriel?

Just random thoughts...

Another thing that struck me during yesterday's discussion was the Tenrikyo idea/saying: "the body is a thing borrowed; the mind alone is yours." No, this is not talking about becoming some kind of body-snatcher... It is a way of saying that our physical body (and by extension, the physical body's experience of this physical world, i.e. "LIFE") is merely a vessel that is borrowed temporarily. The only thing we "possess" is our own mind.

Furthermore, according to Tenrikyo, God the Parent's intention is that we realize the joyous life. To simplify, God just wants us to be happy. The problem is, we don't know what real happiness is, nor how to get to it.

Supposedly, by following God the Parent's commandments to be sincere, and always help others, one utilizes the mind in a proper manner (one aligns the "self-possessed and independent" mind with the mind of God), and realizes the joyous life. Whether this has any effect on the "borrowed body" (and by extension the physical, causal world) is another question. [this goes back to the whole karma thing, I suppose]

Personally, I value religion in its call to consider and be aware of the internal workings of the soul/mind. Where I tend to shy away from religion is when it makes statements regarding the (expected) results of our internal work. I mean, should we do good deeds because we expect a good payback (harvest)? Or should good deeds be done because they are good?

In the modern world, I think, the whole model of "moral" causality is painfully seen as absurd. No one seems to get what they deserve. So if the basis for being moral/good is simply the incentive of getting good results, why, most encounter resistance simply because such a "moral" law flies in the face of all the evidence that they see everyday: i.e. Cyrus Bell, the 2 year old whose parents were addicted to ice, and who was dropped from a freeway overpass...

Goodness IS. Even if the laws of karma are broken, even if this world is absurd and cruel, goodness still is.

Jyumyo may be fixed, there is no avoiding our death. We accept and embrace the fact of it, the absurdity of it, and still (if we choose to) we try to be good.