The Rev. Dr. Carmela Javellana-Hirano, psychiatrist and minister’s assistant at the Salt Lake City Shin Buddhist Temple, found her home when she let Namo Amida Butsu (refuge in the immeasurable light of Buddha) guide her life.
Javellana-Hirano was born and raised Catholic in the Philippines, but her path to Buddhism started around 21 years ago upon the chance to meet her husband, the Rev. Jerry K. Javellana-Hirano, the resident minister of the temple.
“There’s this meeting beyond calculation we call ‘Ichigo Ichie:' one moment, one lifetime,” Javellana-Hirano said. “In my own experience, this started with my husband — the residential priest of the temple. I felt this incredible comfort of finally being home for the first time.”
Javellana-Hirano is a priestess under Jodo Shinshu, or Shin Buddhism, one of the largest sects of Buddhism in Japan. While Javellana-Hirano's position in the temple appears as a station of leadership in her religious community, she does not see it that way.
“So, you see it on the outside as leadership, but in our tradition it’s not about leadership. It’s about fellow travelers on the path by its very nature," Javellana-Hirano said. “This form of Buddhism — really all Buddhism, to some degree — is nonhierarchical, and we emphasize that we are all together as a community, or what we refer to as ‘Shanga.’”
Javellana-Hirano's approach to her faith is deeply intertwined with her professional life as a psychiatrist, embracing the philosophy of Kintsugi — a philosophy derived from a style of Japanese pottery repair.
Cindy Yamada Thomas, local Buddhist Women Association president, explained it as a form of repair that doesn’t hide away the cracks, but highlights them in gold to create a unique beauty that can't be replicated, creating symbolism on the self.
“Kintsugi is a philosophy that if you are broken in some way, you should not hide away from being broken. Rather, you highlight what was broken and what you overcame,” Thomas said.
Javellana-Hirano found this to be a profound metaphor for herself personally, emphasizing that the reality of life is about getting cracks and embracing imperfections, she said.
“You don’t get through life without getting chipped or cracked,” she said. “When people come and say they’re broken, of course they are. That’s reality. But healing happens when we embrace those cracks rather than hide them. Compassion is what heals.”
On Nov. 10, during the temple’s Sunday meditation service, local member Dave Black explained compassion is not something that is sought after, but something that is experienced through suffering.
“Very often, we don’t know what’s best for us,” he said. "Finding the richness in what doesn’t go right brings us more than the expectation we develop when things do go right. Really, when we get what we don’t want, it sometimes turns out to be good, leading us to greater compassion.”
The heart of Shin Buddhist practice is the Nembutsu: the recitation of the ‘Nemo Amida Butsu’ mantra, Javellana-Hirano said.
“We recite ‘Namo Amida Butsu’ while hearing the words as a command to take refuge in Amida Buddha. Nembutsu is our Buddhist life manifested verbally and is also an expression of gratitude for the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha,” the temple’s service book states.
The core of what Javellana-Hirano teaches is taking ownership of one’s own suffering and choosing to be grateful for life, no matter how difficult, she said.
“What I receive is what I give. So, I have to acknowledge that I have received, then giving away is my gratitude," she said.
This idea of gratitude is expressed amongst Jodo Shinshu practitioners through the common phrase: "Okagesama de." Thomas explained this to mean, “I am who I am and where I am thanks to you.”
Javellana-Hirano acknowledges that her path is not the path for everyone, but her decision to follow this path has resulted in a life of service that she feels to be right for her.
“Buddhism would say there are 84,000 oaths to enlightenment. We cannot claim that this is the only path,” she said. "It works for me though. I trust my experience and I think everyone should trust in theirs, and not just anything that anybody teaches you. This trust is a personal and moving experience. At least, it has been for me.”