Published: 2014-02-07 19:15:10
The Japanese name Baka-San roughly translates into English as "the honorable foolish one." One may ask why I would choose to take such a name. The answer, as with many things in Buddhism, cuts in opposite directions. During my initial exposure in the 1950’s, I visited many temples seeking answers to Buddhism. As a Caucasian, I was immediately met with skepticism.
Upon my second visit
to the Sen Shin Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles, I was introduced to Sensei Kuwasuke. With excitement I entered his meeting room. As I sat on the pillow, I asked simply, "What do I have to do to be a Buddhist?" He countered, "What has to be a Buddhist?" When you can answer that, I will answer the rest of your questions. For the remainder of the afternoon, I pondered his question while he read the newspaper. Once during this meeting, his hand reached around the newspaper in a fist. And slowly he opened his hand. Then he said, "Come back next week."
When I returned,
I explained to him about all the components of the Universe being integral parts of a greater family. Upon hearing my answer, he muttered under his breath, "O-Baka, Baka, O-Baka, Baka" and nothing more. As anybody with even the smallest exposure to Japanese knows, "Baka" is an insulting term. Each time I visited with him, I left confused.
As my studies continued,
Sensei Kuwasuke slowly began to open up his teachings to me. I progressed further along into my "awakened life." Yet after four years of guidance under Sensei Kuwasuke, he still muttered "Baka" under his breath in response to certain questions of mine. Soon thereafter he left to return to Japan. In his honor and feeling the name was appropriate, I decided to take the name of "Baka-San – the honorable foolish one.
"Many years later,
during a ceremony at the temple, I was introduced to visiting Buddhist scholars. Upon hearing my name, they immediately nodded their heads in approval. I asked my friend, Satoshi Miyata, what they were saying. He told me that they like your name. I asked why, knowing it meant "foolish one or, even worse, idiot." They told me that the word "O-Baka, " means "foolish one," but in the tradition of the Dharma, also means, "enlightened one." I turned to Satoshi and said, "Sensei Kuwasuke has opened his hand to me once again."
This web page is dedicated to
furthering the enlightenment of the readers to the joys and wonders of Buddhism and all its varied culture. It is the hope that the paintings and the brief stories of the women of Buddhism provide a starting point for the type of rich discovery that I experienced when painting these women. Another goal of this web site is to reduce the misinterpretations and misunderstandings surrounding Buddhism. As even the novice knows, Buddhism is an empirical way of life. The path to enlightenment branches in many directions. The Buddha himself said, "Accept no one’s word or authority for anything, including my own."
