Tariki: Embracing Despair, Discovering Peace

Tariki is the power derived from the full acceptance of the reality that is within us & surrounds us. Personal episodes in the author's life illuminate the principles involved & demonstrate how they can make sense of human experience.

Hiroyuki Itsuki, a novelist by trade, turned to Buddhism to make sense of his life, a life that has known both extreme deprivation and outstanding success. He notes that Buddhism begins with negativity, and instead of glossing over it and moving on to the brighter side, he dwells on it, calling the Buddha the ultimate negative thinker. This is what is known as True Pure Land Buddhism, a sect that subscribes to a belief in the unredeemable depravity of people and the need for divine intervention. But along with chanting "Amida" and hoping for the best, Itsuki offers a lyrical reevaluation of True Pure Land, showing it to be "a philosophy of radical spiritual activity, of personal, existential revolution." Tariki is the "other power," that second wind you get near the end of an ordeal or the unexpected blessing in the midst of general malaise. Itsuki examines this sect's patriarchs, Honen, Shinran, and Rennyo, finding that their lives and their work still speak to us today. Many of us feel powerless against the overwhelming forces of life. Tariki is about acceptance, about "having the wisdom to know what reality is, and the strength to react properly to that reality." And then, despite the harshness, we can enjoy the tariki wind when it blows. --Brian Bruya