Shin Yatomi's Memorial - SGI-USA

Hello all,

Last Sunday, I had the great privilege of attending the memorial service for Shin Yatomi at the World Peace Culture Center in Santa Monica. It was extraordinary. The SGI staff really knocked themselves out to get it together in such a short period of time (Shin passed away just three days before). In the lobby, there was a large folding screen covered with images of Shin from throughout his life and they had printed up four-color programs with Shin's biography, bibliography, photos and quotes. The altar was awash in mountains of flowers from many different groups. The Ikeda Auditorium was absolutely packed with people and the doors were finally closed because every seat was full--over 2000 people. More than 200 extra people were moved over to the annex to watch the proceedings on closed-circuit television.

The service began with chanting of gongyo and daimoku, during which the traditional offering of incense was carried out. We were actually warned by the emcee that, due to the large number of people, this might take an hour to complete, which wasn't far from the truth. There was such an air of mutual respect in the room, however, that the mass movement toward the row of incense burners across the front of the stage was smooth and comfortable (with the help of a couple dozen byakuren, naturally). When it was my turn, I walked up to the incense burner and looked at the photo of Shin beside it. He was smiling and waving to me, his eyes bright, open and friendly. I felt as though he were about to shake my hand and congratulate me.

Shin's life was amazingly diverse. Besides receiving two master's degrees and leading the SGI-USA study department, he also studied kendo throughout his life. The ceremony began with speeches from a fellow instructor and one of his students. The instructor talked about how Shin had trained many, many children in the dojo, becoming their favorite instructor. He joked that, when Shin became ill and the instructor had to tell the children that he himself would be teaching them today, the children yelled "What?" and "showed their extreme disappointment." One of Shin's students arose to talk about how Shin had shaped his life with the constant admonition to "hit straight." After experiencing Shin's warm and friendly demeanor, the student was amazed to see his master's focus and strength when fighting in the ring. He was the picture of determination and strength. His student told of his dream to one day defeat his master, lamenting that, due to Shin's untimely death, he had "escaped winning." His comment drew a laugh from us all, knowing as we do that Shin would want his students to surpass their master.

Shin's family had received messages from all over the country and the world, including one from the general director of SGI-Australia who talked about how Shin had revitalized the youth of that country, even while his illness was encroaching upon his health. There were people in the audience who had traveled from New York , San Francisco , Miami and other points around the country. Naturally, there was a deeply felt message of condolences from President and Mrs. Ikeda.

One of Shin's high school friends sent a letter from Japan , recounting how, when the friend had fallen ill in high school with leukemia, Shin had ridden the train and several buses every day to visit his friend and chant with him in his hospital room. Although the doctors predicted that he would die in just a few months, the friend recovered completely.

I have heard Shin speak several times, and I can testify to his immense sincerity and deep knowledge of Nichiren Buddhism. He was a prolific writer and speaker, whose greatly-abbreviated bibliography was crammed on to a 8 1/2" by 11" page in miniscule type. In 2005, I attended the study conference at the Florida Nature and Culture Center and heard him speak on the nature of karma. He wove a series of beautiful analogies, comparing karma to a river of cause and effect or a script that plays out throughout our life. Over and over, however, he reminded us that, through our sincere practice, we could change any evil, any suffering, any unhappiness to a life of happiness and fulfillment. He was deeply determined to help every person in the room--every person in the world--to become deeply happy. I had the opportunity to get personal guidance from him at that time as well, and while I couldn't tell you exactly what he said, I came away with the warm knowledge in my heart that my
situation would absolutely change. When the conference ended, he came to the departure area and boarded every bus and every van as they loaded, shaking the hand of each participant, reaching into windows and running to catch each person before they left, thanking us for coming and encouraging us to do our best. I will never, ever forget the warmth of his eyes and handshake.

Shin's health prevented him from attending this year's conference in person but, with his strong desire to do everything possible for kosen-rufu, he made a video to send to Florida. This video was played at the ceremony. In it, he looks strong and vibrant, full of warmth and health, as he lays out the study points that he wanted the conference to focus on. In fact, he was less than three weeks from his death, but his sincerity hid his disease. It was a spectacular example of how spiritual health triumphs over physical circumstances.

If there was a universal theme to the service, it was Shin's determination to live each day to the fullest, to repay his debt of gratitude to the Gohonzon, to President Ikeda and to his parents. We heard a recording of his voice from jus t two days before his death, expressing his deep appreciation to his mother, saying, "Without you, I would not exist. I know that you will definitely achieve Buddhahood." He worked right up to the end of his life, greeting hundreds of people who came to his bedside to express their gratitude. Danny Nagashima chuckled at the memory, saying, "We needed traffic control!" Jeff Farr, the managing editor of Living Buddhism, a magazine that Shin had worked on since its inception, said that "We didn't ask him to write any more articles once he became ill, but they just kept showing up!" Shin studied diligently throughout his life and, just a few weeks ago, received the position of Master Scholar, the highest study award in the SGI, one that has been given to only a few Americans. Shin was only 46, but he packed a thousand lifetimes of effort into those years.

Speaking of America , Shin had proudly become an American citizen in 1996 and cherished a heartfelt dream to create happiness throughout this country, supporting the mission of the SGI-USA to fight for peace. In one of his last conversations with Danny Nagashima, Shin reminded Danny of when they were young men together and were sent to clean the toilets in the SGI culture center. "Let's go clean some toilets again!" said Shin, laughing. "Let's go clean toilets all across America !" Danny laughed at the memory and then said, after thinking about it later, that he had decided there was a deeper meaning--that we should all remember the prime point, that we are all devoting our lives to create peace across America.

In one of his last columns, Shin had talked about his struggle with the virulent cancer that was overwhelming his body. He was quoted in the memorial program:

"In the beginning of this ordeal, I was trying to prepare myself for death through stoic detachment, but now I am learning that the best way to prepare for death--which could come to anyone, anytime--is to live fully each day, to advance with hope every day, no matter the circumstance. One will face death only in the way he or she lives." (WT, 3-30-07)

After a steady stream of friends, family, co-workers and fellow SGI members came to the podium, the closing words of the service came from Carolyn Yatomi, Shin's wife, who he married this April. After some wonderful expressions of gratitude for all present, she said "I'd like to end by quoting Shin: "Thank you, thank you, thank you, arigato, arigato, thank you." With that, she turned and left the podium. As one, all 2000 of us rose to our feet in a thunderous standing ovation, one that you might see at the end of a brilliant concert or stunning Broadway play. There was no one on the stage at that moment, but there was no doubt who we were cheering for. We all stood to applaud the life of a brilliant person, a shining star of the world peace movement, a man who achieved everything he set out to do, a man who turned to a close friend the day before his death and said "That was fun. That wa really fun. Let's do it again!" We stood and clapped for a brilliant performance, a life lived for the sake of peace, friendship and faith. And then we all filed out into the warm Santa Monica afternoon, filled with encouragement and happiness, each of us carrying a flower from the mountain of blossoms on the altar, knowing that we had experienced the life and passing of a great Buddha.