A Tale of Two Unno’s: In Search of a Teacher

Dr. Taitetsu Unno

Rev. Tetsuo Unno

There are many writers and teachers with different styles, each one having something to offer us.

In high school, I took an English class focused on modern American writers who developed the short story as a new art form. We studied Hemingway, JD Salinger, and Kurt Vonnegut, among many others. But the story that stood out most was The Bear by William Faulkner. It was published in 1942 and consisted of 25 pages. I remember it because it had a rambling, run-on sentence that covered several pages. I didn’t realize this until our teacher pointed it out. He said it was a literary device to make the reader feel uncomfortable and disoriented. It worked. It was very hard to follow and stay focused. A thousand words were strung together with commas, semicolons, and hyphens in a single period. I didn’t like it, but it had the desired effect.

Recently, I discovered that this wasn’t even his longest sentence. In 1983, William Faulkner was awarded the title of “Longest Sentence in Literature” by Guinness World Records for his 1,288-word sentence in Absalom, Absalom!

Faulkner seems to have been somewhat of a contradiction in this pursuit. He once said,

“I am trying to say it all in one sentence, between one cap and one period. I’m still trying to put it all, if possible, on one pinhead. I don't know how to do it. All I know to do is to keep on trying in a new way.”

You might be able to say it all in 1,288 words, but it certainly would not fit on one pinhead.

This contradiction reminds me of two of my many favorite Buddhist teachers: Taitetsu Unno and Testuo Unno — or Tai and Tets for short. Once, at a Buddhist conference, I introduced Taitetsu Unno as the guest speaker, but I was nervous and pronounced his name as Taitetsuo Unno. I had merged their two names into one. He was very understanding. As he took the podium, he just smiled at me.

I have noticed the same issue on the internet; the biographies and timelines for these two men are all mixed up, making it even more difficult to keep them straight. For example, Taitetsu Unno passed away in 2014, not Tetsuo Unno, who is now 90 years old.

You couldn't mix them up if you knew them as people. Taitetsu Unno was warm and gentle. He spoke very poetically, while Tetsuo was more direct and to the point. Some have observed that Taitetsu is more Shin in his approach, while Tetsuo Unno is more Zen.

Taitetsu Unno is a scholar, having written two books: River of Fire, River of Water, and Shin Buddhism: Bits of Rubble Turn into Gold. The former is the first book on Shin Buddhism I read. I read the book literally, which was not how it was intended. I had trouble differentiating the metaphors from the facts.

I remember my first encounter with Taitetsu Unno when he came to OCBC in 1999 to discuss his first book. Out of the blue, he turned and looked me in the eye and asked where is Amida Buddha? I didn’t know, but I was on the spot. I was going to point to the Amida statue in the Kodo, but I pointed to my heart without thinking. He smiled knowingly and moved on with his discussion.

Tetsuo Unno came at me from another direction around that same time. During a BEC lecture in the Kodo, he also looked right at me and said that it takes at least ten years to begin to appreciate Shin Buddhism. He meant me. He wanted me to exhale, relax, and listen – for ten years. Rather than feeling discouraged, I found this to be very encouraging. It takes time; there is no rush or pressure.

It's interesting to have two such different styles from two brothers.

I recently watched Rev. Tetsuo Unno’s retirement Dharma talk on Vimeo from December 1, 2019. In typical fashion, he closed with this quotation from William Faulkner.

 “The past is never dead. It's not even past.”

 It is very short and sweet, and to the point. I have a feeling that Taitetsu Unno would have used the full quotation. 

“The past is never dead. It's not even past. All of us labor in webs spun long before we were born, webs of heredity and environment, of desire and consequence, of history and eternity. Haunted by wrong turns and roads not taken, we pursue images perceived as new but whose providence dates to the dim dramas of childhood, which are themselves but ripples of consequence echoing down the generations. The [everyday] demands of life distract from this resonance of images and events, but some of us feel it always.”

Both versions work well and fit on a pinhead. But it represents the two styles of both Faulkner and Unno’s. Not only do writers and teachers have to find their style, but as students, we also must find our style. Our teachers are out there, but we have to find them. They are the ones who resonate with us in ways that are uniquely their own and our own.

I have concluded that for me, both Unno’s are number one. I needed both the indirect and direct approach to progress along the path. I am very grateful that I was able to learn from these two great teachers.

Namoamidabutsu,
Rev. Jon Turner