Vacation
Reverend
Koho Takata
I
recently traveled to Japan with my daughter for about two weeks.
It was the first experience for me to travel alone with my daughter.
My wife always travels with us. However,
she could not make at this time because of her school.
Before
purchasing tickets to Japan, I had a strong confidence that I could fully take
care of my daughter. However, my
strong confidence weakened day by day. I
became very doubtful whether I could take care of my daughter by myself for
about two weeks.
Also,
two big dreadful events have bothered me. One
was the war in Iraq and the other was the SARS in Asia.
So I decided to cancel my trip. However,
it was too late. Because of the
close to our departure date, the travel agency would charge a big amount for the
cancellation. So I again decided to
travel to Japan with my daughter.
I
had a very good time with my daughter in Japan.
In Hawaii, I cannot wake up and go to bed same time with my daughter. For the most time, I cannot eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner
together with her. However, I could
be with my daughter all the times in Japan.
We woke up together in the morning, ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner
together, took a bath together, went to bed together, went to shopping together,
etc. Although I could not do as I
wished in Japan, I spent very precious time with my daughter.
During
staying in Japan, lots of people asked me about my travel with my daughter. They were all surprised that a father and a baby were
traveling together. Wherever we
went in Japan, most of the children were with their mothers or both parents.
Not many fathers took their children by themselves.
The
most hardest thing for me in Japan was changing her diapers at public places
such as shopping centers, airports, train stations, restaurants, etc.
Because of the culture differences between U.S.A. and Japan, there were
no places to change baby's diaper in the men's restrooms.
It had only in the ladies' restrooms.
I could not go there because I am a man.
So I changed her diapers on the sink area in the men's restroom.
Because of the uncomfortableness, she moved around and I had very hard
time to change her diaper.
I
did not think that it was so hard to take care of my daughter by myself,
however, it was hard like changing her diapers.
From Honolulu to Japan, she never slept on the plane for about 10 hours.
When we went to shopping center, she was running around with toys and
snacks before I paid for them. If I
did not buy them, she cried loudly. There
were many times that I thought if my wife would be here, I would not have such a
hard time to take care of her. Through
my two weeks vacation with my daughter, I realized my wife's hard job and deep
love for our daughter.
My
daughter never asked me to take care of her.
Because I am her parent and she is my child, I take care of her
unconditionally. When I carry my
daughter, she is embraced by me and trusts me with no doubt and hesitation.
Whenever I extend my both arms to her, she comes to me and is embraced by
me unconditionally. In the same
way, my Oya-sama, Amida Buddha is always taking care of me unconditionally.
Because Amida Buddha is my real parent and I am the Buddha's child.
I never asked Amida Buddha to take care of me.
However, my Oya-sama always worries about me and embraces me in the great
compassionate minds and hearts. This
travel with my daughter reminds me of Amida Buddha's embrace.
I, too, am always embraced by Oya-sama's love and compassion. I am truly grateful for this realization and Amida Buddha's
Compassionate Activity. Let us
realize wonderful virtue of our Oya-sama, Amida Buddha, and reflect upon
ourselves through the compassionate activity.
"Shakyamuni and Amida are our father and our mother,
Full of love and compassion for us;
Guiding us through various skillful means,
They bring us to awaken the supreme shinjin."
(The Collected Works of Shinran, P. 380)