In Memory of Rev. Hakubun Watanabe
Rev. J.K. Hirano
How Joyous I am, Gutoku Shinran, disciple of Sakyamuni! Rare is it to come upon the sacred scriptures from the westward land of India and the commentaries of the masters of China and Japan, but now I have been able to encounter them.
CWS: pg. 4
This passage I’m beginning with is from Shinran Shonin’s Kyogyoshinsho. It is in the preface, and he is expressing his deep feelings of gratitude to his many teachers from Japan, China and India. Our Buddhist tradition often speaks about how a teacher is so important along our spiritual search.
On January 6, Rev. Hakubun Watanabe passed away at the age of 86. I consider him as one of my teachers. He had been ill for a couple of years. He and Mrs. Watanabe were living with their daughter Grace in San Jose. When I heard the news about his death, I had just rented a car to visit him in San Jose. I was in Berkeley at the JSC and I had to stay until Monday and thought there would be sometime on Sunday or Monday to visit him. When I got to the JSC, I read in the BCA update that Rev. Watanabe had died. I had spoken to him a few times over the past year or so, but didn’t realize how sick he was. This reminded me that we should never take it for granted about visiting a sick loved one or friend for something we will do later.
I remember quite clearly, in June of 1971, at our Salt Lake Buddhist Temple’s picnic at Jordan Park, when this small Japanese man and his wife came over to my family’s picnic space. This was Rev. Watanabe and his wife. My family had always been friends with our temple’s ministers. Rev. Sanada and then Rev. Ishihara were before him. At the picnic, Rev. Watanabe approached me and said, “I am a baby; please be kind to me.” Little did I know what an influence he would have in my life.
In 1973, my grandfather suddenly died in his sleep. There was something about this death that bothered me. He seemed healthy, and suddenly, he was gone. I had heard that when you have questions about death or spiritual questions, you should ask your minister. More than any one from our temple telling me this, I would see that in movies and television, so I went to ask Rev. Watanabe. He listened to me, but as I had explained his English wasn’t that great. He told me it was a difficult question to answer, but he had a book he thought I should read. When I look back on this time, I have to laugh. He gave me a translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. It is a very difficult text for even an advanced student of Buddhism. Although I read it, I thought, “What is this?!” It began to make me curious about what my religion thinks about death. I often consider this as the starting point of my genuine study of Buddhism and other religions.
Another reflection was about an experience about a year or my grandfather’s death. Brent Koga, Mike Furubayashi and I wanted to go to the Western Young Buddhist League (WYBL) conference in California, but airline tickets were expensive. Rev. Watanabe volunteered to drive the three of us to California. I have written many times about how much the WYBL conferences had influenced my becoming a minister. It’s true that at that time, I went to the conference to meet girls. However, Rev. Watanabe’s kindness to us young sangha members, also reminded me how a minister can influence the sangha with their actions, as much as their words.
Rev. Watanabe was a very smart and shrewd man. When he was the Bishop of BCA, some of the younger ministers would discuss how Rev. Watanabe would have made a great politician or CEO of a company. However, one thing that we Sansei ministers remember is how Rev. Watanabe always took care of the younger ministers. As example, in my early years as a minister, after various national meetings, my friends and I would play cards. It was a little difficult with no tables big enough in the hotel room. Rev. Watanabe would contact the hotel staff and make arrangements for a table to be set up in one of our rooms, so we could play cards. As a result, in my ministry, I have always tried to do what I can for younger ministers.
I know that Rev. Watanabe was not always popular with the lay leaders of BCA. As is and has always been the case, if the minister doesn’t kowtow to the BCA leadership, they are treated bad by them. Rev. Watanabe wasn’t one to suffer fools. He knew what it was to be the bishop and he was not afraid to tell them when they were being foolish. I remember one of the BCA presidents, after a trip to Japan with Bishop Watanabe, complained that he treated him as bag boy. Just to speak in Rev. Watanabe’s defense, this person didn’t speak Japanese and I assume, he expected Rev. Watanabe to translate everything for him. This is something a Bishop does not do. I have been to a number of these meetings and they are all in Japanese and extremely formal. The meeting is actually for the bishops of the various Hongwanji districts throughout the world, and the presidents were invited more as a courtesy.
Rev. Watanabe was also the reason that BCA built the Jodo Shinshu Center (JSC). It’s interesting how it is rarely talked about, but Rev. Watanabe is the one who envisioned the center even though many people opposed it. To be honest, I was one of those that opposed it. However, I now realize the foresight Rev. Watanabe had. The JSC is the most important asset our BCA has. The BCA Center for Buddhist Education of which I am the director is now headquartered at the JSC. The Institute of Buddhist Studies (IBS) our graduate school is at the JSC and now so is the office of the Bishop. I always hear how important the JSC is for BCA. However, I have never heard anyone express their appreciation for Rev. Watanabe’s contribution to this building. Maybe now that he is physically no longer with us, they may appreciate him a little more. On occasions like this, I always think about something Kay Terashima who was our Salt Lake Temple’s president for many years tell me. “Don’t listen to the complainers. As a leader, you do what you think should be done. Because no matter what you do, there will be people who don’t like you and will complain anyway.” Kay and Rev. Watanabe were good friends, I wonder if Kay gave him that advice when he first came to Salt Lake?
I will always be grateful for Rev. Watanabe and what he has done for me, as a Dharma School student and a minister. Rev. Watanabe strongly told his family that he didn’t want a public funeral. I will try to visit Mrs. Watanabe when I am in the Bay area. Although I know that many people may disagree with me, but when I think of Rev. Watanabe I will be reminded of the closing passage from the Kyogyoshinsho, Shinran Shonin’s magnum opus. Thank you Rev. Watanabe. Namo Amida Butsu.
On seeing a bodhisattvha
Perform various practices,
Some give rise to a good mind and others a mind of evil,
But the bodhisattvha embraces them all.