January 2025

Observing “Omens”

How lamentable it is that monks and laypeople Select “fortunate times” and “auspicious days,” And paying homage to gods of the heavens and earth, Engage in divination and rituals of worship

Shozomatsu Wasan 101

Happy New Year to all! Last year, Sacramento Betsuin celebrated its significant milestone—the 125th anniversary—with great success, thanks to your generous support. However, this milestone is not a goal but a waypoint. We will continue to enrich our programs so that Sacramento Betsuin and Placer Buddhist Church remain an important place in your lives. We may occasionally ask for your support again, and we kindly ask for your continued assistance.

Now, speaking of the New Year, “Osechi” has long been a Japanese tradition. How is it these days? Even in my generation, the custom of preparing and eating Osechi has been fading, and future generations may practice it even less. So, what exactly is Osechi? Originally, it was an offering to Toshigami-sama, the deity of the New Year, and each dish was imbued with symbolic meaning.

For example, “black soybeans” are meant to ward off evil and represent diligence. “Kazunoko (herring roe)” symbolizes prosperity and the continuation of descendants, and “kuri-kinton (sweet chestnut paste)” represents wealth. I suppose, through food, people made wishes to Toshigami-sama. These dishes aren’t necessarily mandatory New Year’s foods, but it seems Japanese people love the idea of “observing omens.”

The term “observing omens” (げんを担ぐ, gen wo katsugu) originally stemmed from “carrying good fortune” (engi o katsugu). During the Edo period, a trend of reversing syllables turned “engi” into “gien” (akin to how “sushi” is sometimes jokingly reversed to “shi-su”), which later became shortened to “gen.” Interestingly, when “gen” is written as 験, it means the “effect” or “efficacy” of Buddhist practice. Well, I was wondering… have you ever observed omens before?

However, the practice of observing omens or praying to deities carries the risk of thinking, “I’m safe because I observed an omen” or “Everything will be fine because I prayed.” Conversely, it can also lead to thoughts like, “I observed an omen, but things didn’t go well,” or “I prayed, but it didn’t work.” This mindset shifts responsibility for one’s situation onto external factors, which is not aligned with Buddhist thought.

In Buddhism, engi (interdependent origination) refers to in-nen-sho-ki (因縁生起): “Arising through causes and conditions.” It emphasizes that every event has a cause. Misunderstanding engi—interpreting it as something superstitious, such as “the strap on my sandal broke, so it’s bad luck”—may have given rise to the mindset of observing omens. Nonetheless, recognizing that all phenomena arise from a web of causes and conditions allows us neither to rejoice nor lament over a single event, such as a broken sandal strap. Our current state is the result of countless factors.

The Buddha’s realization is sometimes expressed through the teaching of the Twelvefold Chain of Causation. This teaching traces our present state back to a fundamental cause called “ignorance.” One might question whether this implies a singular cause. However, Buddhism describes our current condition as one of delusion. The Buddha taught that the root of this delusion lies in a state of ignorance where one, lacking wisdom, arbitrarily determines causes without understanding the true nature of reality. I could say that the key lies in the self-centered, arbitrary nature of this determination.

In the wasan by Shinran Shonin mentioned earlier, we find the words, “How lamentable it is that monks and laypeople Select ‘fortunate times’ and ‘auspicious days’. In the Buddhist worldview, every moment and every day is inherently auspicious. To arbitrarily deem one day “good” and another “bad,” as in the practice of observing omens, is sternly admonished.

What we should rely upon is not omens but the Buddha’s wisdom, which perceives reality as it truly is. As we enjoy Osechi during the New Year, let us savor it not for the purpose of observing omens, but as a delicious tradition. Let us embrace the wisdom light of Amida Buddha, which illuminates our lives, as our guiding support for the year ahead.

Gassho,

Rev. Yuki