by Yukimi Banjo

I was raised in the Big Apple, but I am now living in Kagawa, Japan, after marrying my husband a few years ago.

Our family has lost two very dear people in our lives recently—my husband’s mother and father—in just a short span of a year and a half, both due to cancer.

My oldest daughter, who is now five, always stayed close to me while I cared and prayed for them. When my mother-in-law took her last breath, my daughter asked me what would happen to her. I was so overwhelmed, I simply told her that grandma would be at Jiba with God and Oyasama.

When we returned to Jiba for the first time after my mother-in-law passed, my daughter was so happy when we arrived at Oyasama’s Sanctuary. “Where is Grandma?” she asked. But she soon became upset when I told her that we could not see her physically. However, that was the perfect opportunity to explain to her the teaching of “passing away for rebirth”—that one day Grandma would be reborn again as a baby—and she instantly became happy.

Ever since then, she often asks me, “Do you think Grandma is reborn already? How about Grandpa?” Returning to Jiba and the teaching of “passing away for rebirth” has really helped our family cope and heal from the grief of their passing. I feel so grateful that I can pass these wonderful teachings down to my children. 

My daughter and I sometimes joke that Great-Grandpa was probably reborn as her little brother, because every time he sees Great-Grandma, he runs to her and gives her a big kiss. Even though no one knows whether that’s true or not, it’s comforting to know that someone you lost will be reborn again—maybe even somewhere close to you.