A BRIEF HISTORY OF MY LIFE by HOSHIN Fernando Rodríguez, member of Amidaji Sangha

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biographies of Amidaji members

Warm greetings to Josho Sensei, Daigan Sensei, and friends and members of Amidaji International Temple. My name is Fernando Rodriguez - Shaku HOSHIN (which means Treasure of Faith). I am a member of Amidaji thanks to the generosity of Josho Sensei and the ongoing support of Sensei Daigan and, at the time, Sebastian (Sensei Kosho).
I am 73 years old and live in Montevideo, Uruguay. I am a retired agricultural engineer, married with five children and five grandchildren.
 
The reason for writing this, at the request of Sensei Josho, which was conveyed to me by Sensei Daigan, is to give a brief summary of my life and, in particular, my spiritual quest.
 
My spiritual concerns began back in my distant twenties. My family has Christian roots, which is quite logical given my Western origin. However, even in that distant youth, many things about Christianity did not convince me, such as the idea that a person's final destiny was decided in the tiny space of time that is a human life. 
I was also disappointed that no one could give me a rational and logical explanation for all the misfortune and injustice that occurred in the world. Famines, wars, children dying at birth, terrible diseases, etc. I remember that a recurring phrase I received in response to my questions was that everything could be summed up in the “Mystery of Pain.”
 
Not finding answers to my questions and feeling worse and worse, I turned to various branches of Hinduism, such as Kriya Yoga of the Self Realization Fellowship, Transcendental Meditation, the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, and Advaita Vedanta of Ramakrishna Paramahansa. In all of them, I found a much fresher and more clarifying space than in Christianity, and I even had the opportunity to meet true spiritual teachers in person. I received mantra initiation in Sri Ramakrishna's Advaita Vedanta and practiced Japa (mantra repetition) for several years. However, there came a time when I realized that for some reason, I was not making any spiritual progress. No matter how much I practiced, my flaws and limitations continued to haunt me, and I couldn't control my thoughts or actions. I felt very frustrated and hopeless when I realized that the years were passing inexorably and yet I could even say that I felt like I was becoming a worse person. Around the same time, I began practicing Karate Do as a path of self-discipline and intensive study of technique. It is a wonderful martial art that I am passionate about and still practice today.
 
And so my life went on, between my professional work, my wife, my children who grew up, and then my grandchildren. A whole life and just a dream. And I felt more and more intensely that despite everything I had done, my life had practically passed me by and that I had not really improved as a person and that all my spiritual search had borne no fruit. It was a very distressing feeling/conviction indeed.
 
And then suddenly, out of nowhere, three years ago, I had a very serious heart problem. I had to have heart surgery and two bypasses. It was all caused by a hereditary condition that was impossible to predict.
I was close to death and was only saved by the good physical condition I had achieved through more than 50 years of karate practice. All this further intensified my horrible feeling of having wasted my life and that at my age I no longer had any hope.
As for Buddhism, during my youth I had read some books that I found very difficult to understand. It was like reading in a language totally unknown to me, and I soon gave up.
 
This brings me to the time immediately after my heart surgery, when one day on YouTube I came across a Buddhist channel called Pure Land Buddhism. There, a friendly young Chinese nun living in Australia was talking about Pure Land Buddhism. Through these videos, I was finally able to begin to understand Buddhism in general and Pure Land Buddhism in particular. That's where I discovered Amida Buddha! How could I forget that moment!
 
And a few days later, I came across Sensei Josho's enlightening videos on the Amidaji branch of Jodo Shinshu. Since that day, I literally haven't been able to stop watching and rewatching his wonderful videos. I learned about his books and his extraordinary work over decades, reading and explaining the foundational texts and sutras of our school. I bought them all and am reading and meditating on them little by little. They are priceless treasures written with such simplicity and depth that I find it hard to understand how anyone could have done such work.
 
And from there, my unwavering decision to follow this path of salvation, which is so wonderful, which is not based on our power (jiriki) but on the Other Power (tariki). It is based on the infinite power, wisdom, and compassion of Amida Buddha. Through the Primal Vow, (the 18th Vow), He saves all sentient beings, regardless of who we are. As the saying goes, if the saints are saved, how can sinners not be saved?
 

Hoshin, Daigan Sensei, Chikai and Jishin
at Amidaji Dojo in Montevideo

We have nothing to do but say His Name, trusting that after this life, He will wait for us in His Pure Land, where we will immediately become Buddhas like Him, leaving Samsara forever and living for endless eons in absolute bliss and holiness, saving sentient beings throughout all the universes.
 
I will conclude by saying that what seemed to be a sure failure in my life, with a totally uncertain future after death, has been transformed into a bright future, thanks to Amida Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, the great masters of the tradition such as Shantao, Honen Shonin, Shinran Shonin, Rennyo Shonin, and contemporary teachers, among whom I would like to highlight our teacher Josho Sensei, without whose monumental work we would not have been able to access this inconceivable vow of Amida Buddha.
 
Finally, I would also like to thank the entire Amidaji Sangha on all continents and, in a very special way, Daigan Sensei and our Sangha in Montevideo.
 
Namo Amida Bu
Fernando Rodríguez HOSHIN
July 21, 2025