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REV. JOSHO ADRIAN CÎRLEA JODO SHINSHU BUDDHIST TEACHINGS

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The core teachings of Shin Buddhism

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REV. JOSHO ADRIAN CÎRLEA

JODO SHINSHU BUDDHIST TEACHINGS

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Copyright © Adrian Gheorghe CîrleaAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without prior written permission from the author.

Rev. Josho Adrian Cîrlea is the representative of Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Community from Romania, founder of Tariki Dojo Craiova and Tariki Dojo Bucharest. He is also the author of The Path of Acceptance – Commentary on Tannisho, published by Dharma Lion in 2011

Cîrlea AdrianO.P. 6, C.P. 615Craiova, Dolj,România

phone: 0725854326e-mail: [email protected] yahoo id: josho_anskype id: josho_adrianblog of the author:www.amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com

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Dedicated to my love, Ioana.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword ………………………………………………………. 7You are not your body ………………………………………… 8On the six categories of unenlightened beings ………………… 11Aspiration to become a Buddha – the most important matter …. 13About Amida Buddha and his Pure Land ……………………... 16On returning from the Pure Land ……………………………… 22Amida as the eternal Buddha and the Buddha described in the Larger Sutra ……………………………………………………. 25The Purpose of Shakyamuni’s coming to this world ………….. 27The three Dharma ages ………………………………………... 33Jodo Shinshu – the only effective path in this last Dharma age . 38Shinran Shonin – a manifestation of Amida Buddha and Avalokitesvara ………………………………………………… 47The meaning of “there are no precepts” ……………………….. 59No self improving programs for Jodo Shinshu followers ……... 62The effect is similar to the cause – difference between the Path of self power and the Pure Land Path …………………………. 63Entering the Jodo Shinshu path ………………………………... 67A bad Buddhist who entrusts to Amida ……………………….. 69The miracle of Jodo Shinshu …………………………………... 70Do not have patience …………………………………………... 73Don’t rely on „all beings will eventually become Buddhas” ….. 76Faith is simple, nothing special ………………………………... 78How can one know that he received shinjin if he has no access to a temple or priest? …………………………………………... 81Nembutsu of faith and gratitude ……………………………….. 84Self-power as an obstacle to nembutsu ………………………... 87Three vows of salvation ……………………………………….. 89Methods for the visualisation of Amida and shinjin …………... 96About your thoughts and bad tendencies that don’t stop even after receiving shinjin ………………………………………….. 100On doubts and fears ……………………………………………. 102I was a good Buddhist ………………………………………..... 108

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Four misconceptions concerning the nembutsu (impermanence, evil karma/good karma and one or many sayings) …………….. 111The alaya consciousness and faith in Amida Buddha …………. 115Merit transference from Amida Buddha to the practicer ……… 118No discrimination of women in the salvation of Amida Buddha 121The changing mind …………………………………………….. 124Faith and nembutsu are not our creations ……………………... 126Why some are saved by Amida and others are not? …………... 128The ten benefits in this life of a nembutsu follower …………... 130Equal to Maitreya Buddha …………………………………….. 142Shinjin and Buddha nature …………………………………….. 147The “exclusion” in the 18th Vow ………………………………. 149The Meaning of the Three Refuges in Jodo Shinshu ………….. 156Ryogemon (Jodo Shinshu Creed) ……………………………... 161Those who deny the existence of Amida don’t have shinjin –some simple explanations ……………………………………... 166Honen Shonin on Amida Buddha ……………………………... 169The reason for the western location of the Pure Land and its wonderful description in the sutras ……………………………. 171Pure Land is NOT here and now ………………………………. 173The Pure Land in the teaching of Jodo Shinshu ……………….. 177About petitionary prayers ……………………………………… 179Death barrier …………………………………………………... 184State of mind in the moment of death …………………………. 186Immediate Buddhahood for ordinary people, without passing through bardo ………………………………………………….. 188Only for me, Shinran …………………………………………... 191How do I feel as a Buddhist …………………………………… 192Enjoy the presence of the Buddhas ……………………………. 194

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Foreword

Jodo Shinshu does not give moral speeches and it doesn’t contain difficult practices. While other Buddhist methods talk about the ideal of Buddhahood and the possibility to attain it in this life, Jodo Shinshu starts with the sense of failure.

It is a simple path for ordinary people like you and me, lost from morning till evening in the fight for daily survival, filled with illusions and attachments to which we see neither the beginning nor the end. Jodo Shinshu is not a path for saints, but for losers, for those who cannot attain by themselves anything stable in the spiritual life.

Not the promise of purification, but of salvation as we are is the essence of Jodo Shinshu. Nothing special, no state of mind to be attained or developed. Only faith in the Infinite Compassion of Amida Buddha.

This book is an adaptation of some Dharma sermons given at Tariki Dojo and letters to my Buddhist friends all over the world.

I am grateful for the help of my Dharma friend Richard St. Clair (Shaku Egen), who proofread the manuscript and gave me valuable suggestions.

Namo Amida Butsu,Josho Adrian Cîrlea

Bucharest,December 30th 2555

Buddhist Era 2011 C.E.

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You are not your body

There are many situations when you want to do something but your body doesn’t obey your wishes. Like for example, you would like to read or learn all night but the body is too tired and wishes to sleep. Or you have a very important task to finish, but the body suddenly feels hunger and needs to eat. Also, you have to go to the toilet every day, even many times a day.

Sleep, hunger, thirst, the need to urinate comes automatically, no matter whether you want them to happen or not. So, it seems that your body has its own needs and its own mechanism.

Even now when you read these lines, inside your body the stomach is digesting food, the heart is beating, the blood is running through the veins: in short, many organs do their daily routine without your awareness.

And in the exact moment you enjoy your reading, it might happen that you need to go to the toilet. There are many moments when you really don’t want to go to the toilet because you are watching a good movie, spending your time in good company or listening to an inspiring Dharma talk. But no matter whether you like it or not, you will be forced by the body to interrupt any enjoyable activity and go to urinate. Urine forms itself inside your body without your notice, and from time to time you have to go to the toilet, no matter if you like it or not.

What do these simple situations show us and how should we interpret them? To me all these are clear proofs that I am not my body. It is as simple as that.

How can I be one and the same with my body if, when I want to do something, it doesn’t obey my commands? If I am to be my body

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then when I want to do this or that, I should do it without any impediments.

But it is very clear that the body has its own mechanism. It grows from childhood to maturity and old age by itself, it develops by itself, transforms by itself and I (this mind stream I call “I”) can’t do anything about it. I may have my own plans and wishes but the body just follows its own course. No matter if I want it to last for eternity, this will never happen.

The simple truth is that my mind stream is just covered by the body, carried by the body, influenced by the body, but surely I am not the body. This is very logical. The body is just a machine which works automaticaly if it is given fuel consisting of food, water, air, etc. This machine has needs like any other machine that must be sheltered against rain or other physical elements.

The consciousness or flux of consciousness (mind stream) is “impregnated” in the body, this is why I feel the pain of the body or its pleasures. Also the consciousness is limited by the body. So, for example, as long as “I” am in the body my vision will be limited by the eyes, ears, nose, etc. After the death of the body, the mind stream (which always changes due to various karmic impulses and desires) goes into another vehicle or body and continues its journey into the various realms of existence. Only if you have faith in Amida Buddha can your unenlightened mind stream naturally and spontaneously be transformed into a Buddha1, a truly free one.

Fear of death appears because of attachment to the body and identification with it. Life, in the general acceptance of the world, is the duration of the body from its birth to its death. But this period when you have this form and are carried by this vehicle is only a small part of an endless change. So, try to relax and don’t let yourself get driven into fear due to the materialistic views and philosophies that are now prevalent in the world. 1 See chapter „Amida Buddha and his Pure Land”

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Just observe your body and you will naturally realize that you are different from it. Of course, the fear of death might remain inside your mind even after accepting the difference between you and the body, because attachments are hard or impossible to be cleared away due to many past lives spent in ignorance. But at least you have made an important change at the intellectual level.

And this small step is very important on any religious path. When your vision is no longer that of a prisoner of materialistic ideas, you are ready to understand further Buddhist teachings on rebirth and karma and awaken the aspiration to Buddhahood, i.e. liberation from birth and death.

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On the six categories of unenlightened beings

Unenlightened beings are of many types, but what they all have in common is various kinds of illusions and ignorance.

Our view of reality is corrupted by many attachments of which some are hidden deep in our unconscious. Any action done by a being drowned in illusion and motivated by attachment gives rise to karma2

and suffering or passing states of wellness. Everything is cause and effect. As long as one acts with an unenlightened mind, under the slavery of false views, the effect is a little or more unsatisfactoriness or happiness of limited duration.

Thus there are beings that are always motivated by hate and constantly do deeds of cruelty. Even since this present life they are though being burned by fire, and after their life is ended they will be born in places where they are devoured by their own hate and the effects of their evil actions. These are the beings born in hells.

Other beings are consumed by a never ending hunger and thirst for various possessions, living as they are never satisfied. After death their mind stream, which is impregnated with this obsession, will take a form (body) similar with it and will wander in places without food or water. But even if water or food can be found their bodies are so much distorted that they cannot digest it. These are the beings born as hungry ghosts (pretas).

Next there are beings that have their minds focused only on sex, food and drink, with no further aspirations related to higher spiritual goals. Limited as they are to their instincts they will be born in their next life as animals. The fear they experience and the tensions created by instincts are so great that they live almost entirely to satisfy themselves.

2 Karma means any action by thought, deed and word which one day (in this life or future lives) will produce an effect.

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Humans are beings in which the various tendencies are somehow in the middle. The karma which manifested at their previous death was not so bad as to go to the lowest level of existence, but also not so good as to go higher than the human realm.

The two spheres of existence which are immediately higher than the human realm are by no means without suffering, illusions or attachments, but these can be found in smaller quantities than those on the human or lower levels.

Right above humans are the asuras (demigods or fighting spirits), which are beings in whom jealousy and a competitive spirit still remain very powerful.

Above the asuras are the devas or gods – whose merits and virtues they accumulated in previous lives manifested in the form of birth in heavenly realms.

It is very important to know that these states of existence generally described above and the beings born there are not free or enlightened, but rather are only owners of a better or worse karma.

Imagine something like a reservoir of good or bad karma – the result of various good or evil acts which is waiting to manifest itself. The more good karma this reservoir has, the happier the next life in various forms of existence will be. But there is a warning here, as this reservoir will become empty sooner or later and the person will fall in the end from the good state he dwells now, dying and leaving that place to be born somewhere lower, depending on other types of karma gathered in previous existences.

Thus, no state is permanent. No matter whether one is on the low level or the upper level of the wheel of life, he is never free and secure. Pain and suffering follow him always, in many forms, until Buddhahood or complete freedom is attained.

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Aspiration to become a Buddha – the most important matter

The goal of Buddhism is to become a Buddha: not to paint this life in different colors, not to become a smarter or more interesting kind of Buddhist, but rather to become a true, fully enlightened Buddha.

The Buddhist path is not a method of relaxation or a pill for a headache. In other words it is not something like “how can we become happier and calmer people” or a recipe for momentary happiness, but rather a road to Buddhahood or complete freedom for us and eventually all beings.

It is vital for those who enter the Buddhist path to have the aspiration to become a Buddha. Without this aspiration there is no true Buddhism. If we don’t want or don’t feel the urgency to attain complete freedom from the many sufferings of repeated births, then Buddhism will remain for us only an object of study, an interesting lecture of mythology or an intellectual delight.

There are, so to speak, two visions one can have about himself and the world: one is the ordinary vision depending on his cultural education or his daily concerns; the other is the Dharmic vision.

The first vision represents what is considered normal in various times, containing limited explanations of the world and without being interested in the sense of human existence or something which is beyond the life of the here and now. The immediate utilitarianism is fundamental in the non-Dharmic vision of the world.

On the other hand, the Dharmic vision perceives the world and personal life through the perspective of the Buddhist teaching (Dharma) where, for example, everything is explained in terms of impermanence and the law of karma. Also what is truly important is defined in a different way from immediate utility, and the need for freedom is especially emphasized.

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By reading, listening to and always reflecting on the explanations and light that the Dharma throws on the world and human existence, one can come to understand why it is necessary to become a Buddha.

By engaging more and more in the study of the Dharma, you reach the point where you receive what we may call the “Dharmic vision” or “Dharma eye”. Then, many of your mental constructions which you had considered to be solid and unbreakable will break down: the world will start to empty itself of the false colors projected on it and be taken as the true reality.

Walking the Buddhist path with the aspiration to become a Buddha and having the Dharmic vision on your side, you become more intimate with your own karma, that is, you start to know yourself better and especially your spiritual limitations.

This stage – the awareness of your spiritual limitations in comparison with the effort of becoming a Buddha – is extremely important and especially emphasized in Jodo Shinshu.

To aspire to become a Buddha is fundamental, but this aspiration remains just an unfulfilled wish like many others if your personal capacities cannot lead you to this goal. It is not necessary to become a saint or a special kind of person in order to have the aspiration to become a Buddha, but to be successful in attaining Buddhahood will require effort and spiritual qualities infinitely greater than your ordinary capacities.

So, in the moment you realize not only that you cannot, but that it is impossible to attain this state through your own power, you are ready to hear the message of the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha3.

This message is not a sophisticated or a hard to understand one, but the only disadvantage it has is that few Buddhists who are nice and 3 See the chapter „Amida Buddha and his Pure Land”.

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full of themselves are truly capable of recognizing their limitations and their incapacity to become a Buddha through their own efforts. Put simply, who is ready to recognize himself as powerless?

It is very important to understand that Jodo Shinshu doesn’t require people to consider themselves incapable in their daily activities, but only in matters of attaining supreme Liberation.

To become a Buddha is not the same thing as being a good electrician, businessman or anything you are in your private life. These are two different things.

Walking the path to freedom from birth and death is not a hobby or an interesting cultural topic, but rather it is the only meaningful activity in our lives. It means escaping from the endless sufferings of birth and death. If this is important to you, then you are indeed a disciple of the Buddha.

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About Amida Buddha and his Pure Land

I try to explain here, again in easy terms, who Amida Buddha is and how we should understand the Pure Land.

First of all, what is a Buddha – or more exactly, what is a Buddha not?

A Buddha is not somebody like us, although at some point in his history he was. In a well known dialogue, a brahman named Dona asks Shakyamuni Buddha4 who he is:

“Sir, are you a god?”“No, brahman.”“Are you an angel?”“No, brahman.”“Are you a yakkha?“No, brahman.”“Are you a human being?”“No, brahman.”

“When asked, ‘Are you a god?’ you answer, ‘No, brahman…’ When asked, ‘Are you an angel?’ you answer, ‘No, brahman..’ When asked, ‘Are you a yakkha?’ you answer, ‘No, brahman…’ When asked, ‘Are you a human being?’ you answer, ‘No, brahman…’ Then what sort of being are you?”

“Brahman, the defilements by which — if they were not abandoned — I would be a god: those are abandoned by me, their root destroyed, made like a palm tree stump, no longer subject to future arising. The defilements by which — if they were not abandoned — I would be an angel… a yakkha… a human being: those are abandoned by me, their root destroyed, made like a palm tree stump, no longer subject to future arising. 4 Shakyamuni is the historical Buddha.

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“Just as a blue or red or white lotus born in water, grows in water and stands up above the water untouched by it, so too I, who was born in the world and grew up in the world, have transcended the world, and I live untouched by the world. Remember me, brahman, as a Buddha.”

The state of human beings is limited by various kinds of delusions, so we are mistaken if we say, for example, that Buddha is a human being. This is because the state he attained is higher than the human state of spiritual evolution. In particular, some Christians accuse Buddhism saying that its Founder is just a human and is thus inferior to Jesus who was the son of God. Even some Buddhists say that Buddha was a human being in order to show that they don’t promote idols or god-worshiping.

Both methods of speaking about a Buddha are false, because although the physical appearance of a Buddha may be human, the state which he has attained and in which he dwells is supreme in the whole universe.

The ego’s unceasing run, led by desires and karma, is followed by suffering. Birth and death does not end until Enlightement or Awakening is attained. A Buddha is one who escapes from this maddening run.

The word “Buddha” means “The Awakened One”, that is, awakened to the true reality. He goes beyond birth and death, escaping the chains of karma. His existence in the Universe is supreme and beyond our thinking, which is still enslaved by illusions and ignorance.

A Buddha has Infinite Wisdom and Infinite Compassion, helping sentient beings to break free from birth and death.

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In Buddhism the situation is different from Christianity because there isn’t a Creator God, a Ruler, nor a Judge. Everything depends on karma: a Buddha is not a creator, a ruler, or a judge, but his existence in the Universe is supreme. He is just “The Awakened One” and he acts as a guide and Saviour, capable of true Compassion which is no longer enchained by the attachments or the illusions of ordinary beings.

Through Buddhism, the Ultimate Reality, i.e. Liberation or Nirvana, is accessible to all beings who observe the path given by the Buddha.

A very important doctrine in Buddhism says that we can become Buddhas because we already have in us this possibility or potentiality. Thus, it is said that all beings, no matter their delusion or actual misery, have in themselves what is called Buddha nature, the potentiality to become Buddhas. It doesn’t matter if you are a worm, a cockroach, a dog, a human being, a hungry ghost or a god, etc., you have in yourself, like an unknown jewel thrown in the mud, the Buddha nature and the possibility to become a Buddha.

This is good news, but unfortunately it doesn’t keep us very warm, because those who really come to liberate themselves from delusions and attain this state of a Buddha are extremely few in our time, or as Shinran5 said, they are completely nonexistent.

Therefore, only the Path of faith in Amida remains the securely accessible method for attaining Buddhahood.

Any Buddha is completely free and continues to manifest himself in various ways and forms in order to guide others to Liberation. All Buddhas attain the same ultimate absolute reality: this is why it is said that all Buddhas have the same essence or nature, often called the Dharma body of ultimate reality or Dharmakaya.

5 Founding Master: Shinran Shonin (1173-1262), the Founder of the Jodo Shinshu school of Buddhism.

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Further, every Buddha has multiple transcendent manifestations, visible only to those well trained in Samadhi or profound concentrated states of mind. These manifestations can take various forms to help unenlightened beings.

Various Buddhas create spheres or fields of personal influences, known as “pure lands” where beings who entrust in them and create special links with them can be born after their physical death.

In order to better understand how things are with these pure lands or Buddha spheres of influence, please try to remember how it is that in the presence of some peoples you suddenly feel better or worse or sometimes more excited or more tired. Every man has something like his own sphere of influence – which is the natural manifestation of his inside states of mind – and can influence more or less the others.

Some people automatically change the atmosphere in a room by their presence, for example a beautiful woman will surely make many men feel sexually aroused, or a killer will create an atmosphere of fear and coldness. In the same way, the presence of a Buddha inspires and influences, but this influence is one which brings Enlightenment or spiritually positive states of mind.

When we are in the presence of a killer and are influenced by him, we may say that we are in his “land” or his sphere of influence. Also, when we are born in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha, we automatically arrive in his field whose influence makes us become ourselves Buddhas. This Pure Land of Amida is real and effective, being the manifestation of Amida’s Enlightenment in a form that we can accept and in which we can aspire to be born after death.

It is not at all impossible for the supreme Enlightenment of a Buddha to take various forms for the sake of unenlightened beings. These special and transcendent manifestations of a Buddha are calledSambhogakaya or the Body of Recompense.

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Various Buddhas have different bodies of recompense, due to the vows they made when they engaged on the Path. Let’s say, for example, that a person named Jim begins to follow the Buddhist Path and he makes a vow to save especially the beings with physical disabilities. In the moment he becomes a Buddha, he automatically has access to the ultimate reality (Dharmakaya), which is the same for all Buddhas, but he will have different transcendent manifestations, especially made to help that category of beings for which he made specific vows – that is, he will have a Sambhogakaya different from other Buddhas. This body is named the “body of recompense” because it is the effect or the “recompense” of his practices and virtues, of the special vows he transformed through his Enlightenment in effective methods of salvation.

Next, the physical body in which somebody becomes a Buddha is called Nirmanakaya or the body of transformation.

Thus, if Jim becomes a Buddha he will be called Buddha Jim, and he will have a body of flesh (Nirmanakaya), which has a visible beginning and a visible end; a transcendent body (Sambhogakaya), with a beginning in the moment of the attainment of Buddhahood, but without end, which is the result of his vows and virtues, different from those of other Buddhas; and an ultimate body (Dharmakaya) –without beginning and without end, which is the same with all Buddhas.

In the same way, the Buddha we call Amida, a long time ago in another era than that in which we are living now, was a monk named Dharmakara. He made the aspiration to become a Buddha, but what makes him so different from other Buddhas is that he made a special Vow6 which promises salvation (attainment of Buddhahood) not only

6 The Primal Vow of Amida Buddha promises birth in his Pure Land to all those who entrust themselves in him, say his Name and aspire to be born there:If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and

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for those capable of some hard practices and virtues, but to all beings and especially to those who are incapable of any practice. He promised the creation of a special Pure Land in which everybody can have access and, once born there, they will themselves become Buddhas, completely free of birth and death and capable to save other beings. In accordance with his Primal Vow, only faith is neccesary to become a Buddha in Amida’s Pure Land, this faith being manifested in the saying of his Holy Name7 – Namo Amida Butsu.

Faith (shinjin) is not something complicated, but rather is a simple entrusting in Amida, that is, considering his Primal Vow to be true and effective.

In the moment Dharmakara became Amida Buddha, the vows and his Pure Land became real and effective for the salvation of sentient beings. Thus we may say that the Sambhogakaya of Amida Buddha is in his Pure Land.

This is, in short, the story of Amida, told by Shakyamuni (the historical Buddha) to his disciples and which we, the Jodo Shinshu followers, consider real and trustworthy.

Any Buddhist teaching can be considered authentic if it was approved or presented by Shakyamuni Buddha himself. The teaching about the path of faith in Amida Buddha and his Pure Land, where all beings can attain supreme Enlightenment no matter their capacities, is part of these teachings taught by Shakyamuni.

call my Name, even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.Birth in the Pure Land of those who entrust themselves in Amida without doubt, will coincide with their attainment of perfect Enlightenment or Buddhahood. The 48 Vows of Amida Buddha, among which, the Eighteenth is called the Primal Vow, are recorded in the Larger Sutra on Amida Buddha. This was taught by Shakyamuni Buddha on Vulture Peak, in the northern part of India.7 Nembutsu is the saying of the Name of Amida Buddha, “Namo Amida Butsu”. “Namo” means “I take refuge in” but also “homage/praise to”. “Butsu” means “Buddha”. So, Namo Amida Butsu is “I take refuge/homage in Amida Buddha”.

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On returning from the Pure Land

Question:“Do you think all beings who are born in the Pure Land will return

to this world in order to help others? Or only some great teachers like Honen and Shinran? If all beings return, would they have some knowledge on this (i.e. that they came from the Pure Land)? It seems Honen8, for example, only realized this (or mentioned it to his students) when he was about to die. Also, I wonder what the difference is between returning to this world from The Pure Land and returning to this world for an ordinary next life (without achieving Ojo9 first). I you have any thoughts on this, I’d be happy if you share them with me.”

Answer:Not all beings who are born in the Pure Land will immediately

return to this world to help others. Those who have faith mixed with doubts will stay for a period in the borderland of the Pure Land. They are those born in the Pure Land through the 19th and the 20th Vows10. But those who enter the Pure Land through the gate of the Primal Vow (18th Vow) will immediately become Buddhas and they will be able to quickly return to this world in various forms, to help others.

Only Buddhas can come to the Saha world whenever they wish and in whatever form they wish, to help all beings. The reason for being born in the Pure Land is to become a Buddha. Aspiration to become a Buddha for ourselves and others is central to Mahayana Buddhism and we, Jodo Shinshu followers, also have this aspiration. But, as Master Shan-tao said, we aspire to become Buddhas through Amida’s Power, not our own. So, if we entrust ourselves completely to Amida’s Power, then we will become Buddhas in the Pure Land. But if our trust is not complete, then we are forced by our own doubts to

8 Honen Shonin was the Master of Shinran Shonin.9 Birth in the Pure Land. 10 See the chapter “Three Vows of Salvation”.

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remain, until those doubts are purged, in the borderland of the Pure Land.

Between birth in the Pure Land of an ordinary person and of a great master there is no difference if they have shinjin (faith in Amida’s Primal Vow). Both become Buddhas capable to return to the world of suffering to help others. This is because it is Amida’s Power that causes them to be born there, not their virtues and personal merits.

If they were born in the Pure Land by their own virtues, then there would be differences among them, but because they are born through faith given by Amida, their birth and Buddhahood is the same. Honen is recorded as saying in Tannisho that if one has the same shinjin as his – which is shinjin given by Amida (shinjin of the Primal Vow) –then he or she will go to the same Pure Land as he (Honen).

And of course, everybody who returns from the Pure Land as a Buddha will know it, because all Buddhas know their own and all other beings’ previous lives. There is nothing a Buddha does not know about himself or other beings, no limitation to his vision or power, because he is completely free from all bondages. And freedom from all bondages is what all of us Buddhists truly want to become, isn’t it?

Buddhas come to this world of birth and death out of their free and enlightened will to help others, while unenlightened beings, who haven’t achieved Ojo (birth in the Pure Land) first, come due to their karma. The latter are slaves of their own karma; they do not choose where to go or where to be born, and no matter where they are, they will suffer and make others suffer even when they wish to make them happy.

So, one should first become a Buddha in the true Pure Land through simple faith in Amida’s Primal Vow if he or she wishes to help other beings attain Liberation and Buddhahood.

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In the end I wish to mention one more thing. In my opinion, Honen and Shinran were already Buddhas when they came into this world and preached the Pure Land teaching. This means that they somehow became Buddhas in the Pure Land in the distant past and their life we know on this earth was in fact a returning from the Pure Land. Shinran never regarded Honen as an ordinary person and we can see this in his wasans (hymns). I myself go even further, and am sure that Shinran was not only a returner, but the manifestation of Amida Buddha and Avalokitesvara11.

One very important thing should be very well understood: Buddhas never live for themselves and the Pure Land is not a place to enjoy egoistic pleasures. It is not a destination, nor the end of the journey, but the beginning of our activity to save other sentient beings. We go there in order to return.

11 See the chapter “Shinran Shonin , a manifestation of Amida Buddha and Avalokitesvara”.

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Amida as the eternal Buddha and the Buddha described in the Larger Sutra

Question:“….how can Amida Buddha be the primordial (eternal) Buddha if

he is Dharmakara who practiced aeons ago and had a starting point of existence in an other world? Is Dharmakara a manifestation of Primordial Buddha as Amida, like Shaka Nyorai (Shakyamuni) is a manifestation of Amida in this world? I am a bit confused...”

Answer:Dharmakara becoming Amida Buddha is the description in terms

of cause and effect of the salvation work of Amida as eternal Buddha. It is how the eternal and supreme Buddha or Dharma body of Dharma nature, indescribable and beyond any form, becomes the Dharma body of compassionate means with form and Name.

In its ultimate sense or Dharmakaya sense, Amida Buddha is the eternal Buddha nature, in Sambhogakaya terms he is the result of Dharmakara vows and practices, that is Amida Buddha as described in the Larger Sutra, and in Nirmanakaya terms it is said by Shinran that he emanated from Shakyamuni Buddha to expound his method of salvation.

In order to be born in the Pure Land and attain supreme Enlightenment there, we should entrust ourselves to Amida as described in the Larger Sutra, that is, as the Buddha who has a form and Name, who fulfilled the 48th Vows, and who now resides in the Pure Land.

This is my answer but I wish to go a little further. We cannot directly worship and entrust ourselves to Amida in his

aspect of eternal Buddha which is beyond any form. Shakyamuni encouraged us in the Larger Sutra to take refuge and have faith in Amida as the Buddha who made the Primal Vow and so who has a

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form and a Name. He didn’t tell us to have faith in the ultimate nature of Amida Buddha.

One cannot have faith in the Dharmakaya. In Dharmakaya one can only live when he becomes a Buddha because in that state there is a transcendence of subject and object. This is what those who deny the reality of Amida in his Sambhogakaya or transcendental form and of the Pure Land do not understand.

Only in Amida Buddha with a form and Name, that is, in Amida as described in the Larger Sutra, can one have true faith. Shinran Shonin also talked about Amida in ultimate terms but he encouraged people to entrust themselves to Amida as described in the Larger Sutrawhose story told there he fully accepted.

Thus, to call the story of Amida in the Larger Sutra or the existence of the Pure Land to be fictional, symbolic or mythical is equal with not having faith (shinjin) in Amida and to deny others the chance to receive it.

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The Purpose of Shakyamuni’s coming to this world

“All the scriptures, in thousands of volumesAre nothing but the Great Compassion”

(Zuiken Inagaki Sensei12)

Infinite Wisdom and Compassion are the essence of this universe, the ultimate reality beyond everything and everyone. This is the only vision I accept. And another thing: even though this ultimate reality transcends me, at the same time it envelops me and accepts me for who I am and what I am. I can feel this: Buddhism has made me feel this.

There is no fear on the Path of the Buddha. There is no loneliness perceived as alienation or abandonment. If these feelings do show up, don’t fool yourselves: for they are only in your head, they are not real. Please, do not misunderstand Buddha’s Wisdom and Compassion, that is, do not try to understand it by means of your narrow mind. Do not use discriminative terms to explain the Infinite Light and the Infinite Life - the two ways of portraying Amida Buddha.

Shinran and Honen wondered what the purpose was of Shakyamuni Buddha’s coming to this world. What is in fact the profound signification of the Bodhi Mind related to the Mahayana13

teaching? Furthermore, what is the purpose of the Enlightenment of a Buddha? Isn’t the Bodhi Mind the aspiration to reach Buddhahood for the sake of all beings? And once this is reached, aren’t all beings

12 Zuiken Inagaki Sensei (1885-1981).13 Mahayana or Buddhism of the Great Vehicle has the goal of leading all beings to attain Buddhahood. On this path, the follower makes the vow of practicing the Dharma not only for himself, but for the liberation of all sentient beings. Mahayana represents a great number of schools which relies on the Sanskrit canon. The Pure Land tradition, which also contains many schools, is one of the main streams of Mahayana Buddhism.

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invited to share in it? The Enlightenment of a Buddha isn’t a selfish act, as Nirvana is not selfish in Mahayana.

Seeing things from only one perspective, centered on yourself, is a limited vision and belongs to ignorant beings, but for a Buddha or a Bodhisattva, the vision is universally centered, everything being included in his Enlightenment. Discrimination exists only in our mind, but not in the mind of a Buddha.

So, has Shakyamuni appeared in our world only for a particular category of people, that is, only for those able to reach Nirvana14 by themselves, or in accordance with the Bodhi Mind, that is his Enlightenment which envelops all beings no matter their capacities? Shinran and Honen thought that the latter is true because it is in accord with the Buddha’s Infinite Compassion. It cannot be any other way, because Buddhism would otherwise seem pointless for a man like me, who is incapable of any virtuous practice and is full of various attachments.

How many of us are truly capable of fulfilling the difficult practices of a monastery? How many of us are able to have a kind and virtuous behavior throughout our entire lives? How many of us can reach during our confused lives, the same level of Enlightenment as Shakyamuni? How many of us would truly follow the Buddhist way if this way made sense only for those who are spiritually advanced?

Shinran and Honen believed that Shakyamuni never intended to exclude certain beings from his Path. If he did, he would have contradicted himself and the Bodhisattva spirit. That is exactly why

14 Nirvana comes from the term „nirv” – „to extinguish”, and is wrongly understood by many as becoming nothingness. But „nirvana” means to extinguish the flame of blind passions and illusions and to awake to the true reality or Buddha-nature which all beings possess. In the Jodo Shinshu school, the state of Nirvana or Buddhahood is to be attained in the moment of birth in the Pure Land of Amida, after death.

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Shakyamuni preached the salvation offered by Amida Buddha and urged all beings, no matter their spiritual capacities, to rely on him. Thus, Shinran considered that the true reason of Shakyamuni’s coming to this world is to preach Amida’s method of salvation:

“The reason for the Buddha’s appearance in the worldIs solely to expound the Primal Vow of Amida, wide and deep as

the ocean.All beings in the evil age of the five defilementsShould believe in the truth of the Buddha’s words”.15

Because this method of salvation is presented in the Larger Sutra on Amida Buddha, Shinran regarded it to be the supreme sutra among all sutras preached by Shakyamuni:

“To begin, the teaching of the Pure Land way is found in the Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life. The central purport of this sutra is that Amida, by establishing the incomparable Vows, has opened wide the dharma-storehouse, and full of compassion for small, foolish beings, selects and bestows the treasure of virtues. It reveals that Sakyamuni appeared in this world and expounded the teachings of the way to Enlightenment, seeking to save the multitudes of living beings by blessing them with the benefit that is true and real. Assuredly this sutra is the true teaching for which the Tathagata appeared in the world. It is the wondrous scripture, rare and most excellent. It is the conclusive and ultimate exposition of the One Vehicle. It is the right teaching, praised by all the Buddhas throughout the ten quarters. To teach Tathagata’s Primal Vow is the true intent of this sutra; the Name of the Buddha is its essence16.”

More than this, Shinran considered Shakyamuni to be the manifestation of Amida Buddha and he clearly expressed this in Shoshinge:

15 Shoshinge.16 Passages on the Pure Land Way

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“Amida, who attained Buddhahood in the infinite past,Full of compassion for foolish beings of the five defilements,Took the form of Sakyamuni BuddhaAnd appeared in Gaya.”

Nagarjuna17, considered by all Mahayana schools as the second in importance after Shakyamuni and one of their most important patriachs, also urged all beings to rely on Amida. Maybe most Buddhists know about Nagarjuna from his subtle writings on emptiness, but they forget or they don’t know that he also sought refuge in Amida and was reborn in the Pure Land after passing away.

In the chapter entitled “The Way of Easy Practice” from the volume “Dasabhumika-vibhasa-sastra” (“Commentary on the ten-stages Sutra”), he speaks about two types of practices: a hard one, based on personal power, similar to an arduous journey on land, and an easy one, based on the Compassion of the Buddhas, similar to a pleasant voyage sailing on water. Even though he recommends the easy way to those incapable of great personal efforts, which may lead to the impression that nembutsu is for “lesser” beings only, he himself, a bodhisattva of high attainment, also seeks refuge in Amida as he writes:

“The Buddha of Infinite Light and Wisdom, whose body is like a mountain of genuine gold,I worship with my body, speech and heart by joining hands and bowing down toward him.

If anyone is mindful of that Buddha’s infinite power and merit,He will instantly enter the Stage of Assurance.

17 Nagarjuna (approximately 150-250), is dubbed the”father of Mahayana Buddhism” and is famous for his rejection of any affirmation about the ultimate nature of reality in the Mahayana doctrine of emptiness. He founded the school of Madyamika (Middle Path) dialectics. The teachings of this school, together with the Yogacara teachings are the basis of Mahayana theory and practice. Also, he is considered by Shinran as one of the seven Patriarchs of the true Pure Land teaching (Jodo Shinshu), due to his works related with Amida Buddha.

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So I am always mindful of Amida.”

Thus, in the end, the nembutsu, saying “Namo Amida Butsu”, turns out to be a universal practice, for both the “inferior” and “superior” beings. Buddha Amida’s Compassion does not draw a distinction between the two. Again Nagarjuna writes:

“All the sages and the saints, all people and gods seek refuge in him,

That’s why I also take refuge in him, and worship him.”

In Buddhist history, there are many examples of spiritually evolved Masters18 who, even though they followed practices based on personal power, still felt the need to recite the nembutsu and seek refuge in Amida. They recommended this practice to their disciples, too. Therefore, if even these wise masters relied on Amida’s Compassion, thus showing how hard it is to become free from birth and death, how much more should we of this confused modern era and so full of attachments seek refuge in Amida.

Shinran says in Tannisho:

“Since it is extremely difficult to free oneself from blind passions and the hindrances of karmic evil in this life; even the virtuous monks

18 Another important figure well known in Mahayana Buddhist schools is Vasubandhu (approx. 320-400), exponent of Yogacara (“the practice of unifying meditation”) teachings which explain all plains of existence in terms of consciousness and teach the meditation about the relationship between personal conscience and the universe, as well as reaching supreme Enlightenment by realizing the inseparable unity between the two. As a Pure Land devotee, he wrote “The Hymn of Aspiring towards Birth: Discourse about Amida Sutra”, in which he explains the theory and practice based on contemplation of Amida Buddha, the Pure Land, and the Bodhisattvas who dwell there. At the beginning of the hymn he addresses to Shakyamuni and expresses his devotion towards Amida: “O World-Honored One, with singleness of mind, I take refuge in the Tathagata of Unhindered Light Shining throughout the Ten Directions, And aspire to be born in the Land of Peace and Bliss.”

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who practice the Shingon and Tendai19 teachings pray for enlightenment in the next life. In our case, what more need be said?We lack both the observance of precepts and the comprehension of wisdom, but when, by allowing ourselves to be carried on the ship of Amida’s Vow, we have crossed this ocean of suffering that is birth-and-death and attain the shore of the Pure Land, the dark clouds of blind passions will swiftly clear and the moon of Enlightenment, true reality, will immediately appear. Becoming one with the unhindered light filling the ten quarters, we will benefit all sentient beings. It is at that moment that we attain Enlightenment.”

19 Famous Japanese Buddhist schools in the time of Shinran Shonin.

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The three Dharma ages

I will explain in this chapter, the teaching about the three Dharma ages by using various quotes from the last chapter of Shinran’s Kyogyoshinsho. These quotes are Master Shinran’s own words or passages from sutras and commentaries that he himself used in his explanations.

Generally speaking, the doctrine of the Three Dharma Ages refers to the gradual decline of the capacities of beings to practice the Dharma and attain realization through it. Thus, there is a difference between the time when the Buddha was in a human body and when he influenced directly through his example and energetic field (Buddha field) those gathered around him, and the periods far away in time when only the teaching remains, but not the Teacher.

What a great chance it is to meet a Buddha in flesh and bones and receive instructions directly from him, being constantly in his presence and influenced by his Buddha field. How quick and safe the spiritual development can be, just by seeing his face and having devotion for him every day, not to mention the constant checking and support he gives to your practice. Also, if you live in the period close to the physical death of a Buddha, his influence is still felt and active through the working of his closest disciples or the disciples of these disciples.

As it is stated in the Sutra of Mahamaya:

“During the first five hundred years after the Buddha’s parinirvana, seven holy monks, sages all, including Mahakasyapa, will uphold the right Dharma in succession so that it does not perish. After five hundred years, the right Dharma will become completely extinct.”

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The first period of 500 years after the physical death of the Buddha (parinirvana) is called the right Dharma age. It is an age characterized by correct understanding and practice of the Dharma in all its aspects (meditation, wisdom and precepts) with often the attainment of emancipation.

The second Dharma age is called the semblance Dharma age, which lasted 1000 years after the previous one. It was characterized by gradual decadence in the determination by which followers, both monks and lay, practice the Way. Self indulgence slowly takes place and fills the minds and hearts of the followers. The breaking of precepts becomes more and more common among monks and nuns and “only a few attain the fruit of Enlightenment”.

The third and last Dharma age lasts for 10.000 years after the second age. In it “only the verbal teaching remains”, while nobody is capable of observing the precepts and of truly practicing meditation or other Buddhist methods based on self power.

Words like, “the right Dharma will become extinct” or “the teaching will be stored in the naga’s palace”, which can be found in Mahamaya Sutra, Benevolent King Sutra and others, means that although one can still find the written texts of the Buddhist teaching, the Dharma of personal power teachings and methods is as good as non-existent or practically non-existent because nobody can attain Enlightenment through it. The requirements of the paths of self power within the Buddhist teachings do not accord anymore with the capacities of beings. This is the situation in the last Dharma age.

Also, even if we read about precepts in the sacred texts, nobody can actually observe them. So it is said that in this period there are no precepts. If there were people who at least have the capacity to observe precepts in an imperfect manner, we could say that there is a breaking of precepts, but since people can’t observe precepts at all, it is said that precepts do not exist anymore. The capacities of beings in this period are so low that no requirement is made to them, hence

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there are no precepts20. It is the same with having no pretention of healthy behavior from a terminally ill person with a chronic disease.

The matter of accordance between the teaching and the beings to be taught and also the time in which they live in - close or far from the physical presence of the Buddha - is extremely important.

Master Tao-ch’o said that:

“if the beings, the teachings and the times were not in accord, it would be difficult to perform practices and difficult to attain Enlightenment.”

A person living in the presence of the Buddha or close in time to it can easily follow the paths of self power practice in comparison with someone living 2500 years distant from the Buddha. The requirements and practices cannot be the same for them because their times and capacities differ.

Master Shinran explained this:

“With regard to the Dharma, there are three ages, and among people, there are three levels. The instruction imparting the teaching and precepts flourishes and declines according to the age, and words of condemnation or praise are accepted or rejected depending on the person...

...the wisdom and enlightenment of beings of the five five-hundred year periods after the Buddha’s demise differ. How can beings be saved by only one path?”

20 No requirement in terms of precepts doesn’t mean that people of the last Dharma age should make no efforts in having a moral life or living in harmony with other beings, but that their trying cannot be called observation of precepts, anymore. They are not required to attain Enlightenment through leading a pure life because precepts and observation of precepts is exactly this - a method combined with the development of wisdom and meditation as a mean to attain Enlightenment.

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“How can beings be saved by only one path?” - how can beings living in the last Dharma age attain Enlightenment through the means and practices given to those living in the presence of the Buddha or in the right Dharma age, who have a different environment and different capacities?

“It is like rubbing green wood to build a fire; fire cannot be made, for time is not right”, said Master Tao-ch’o in a well suited comparison.

Also Master Shinran said it very clearly:

“Truly we know that the teachings of the Path of Sages were intended for the period when the Buddha was in the world and for the right Dharma-age; they are altogether inappropriate for the times and beings of the semblance and last Dharma-ages and the age when the Dharma has become extinct. Already their time has passed; they are no longer in accord with beings.”

Thus the Great Collection Sutra states:

“Out of billions of sentient beings who seek to perform practices and cultivate the way in the last Dharma-age, not one will gain realization.”

Master Tao-ch’o comments on this last quote by saying:

“This is now the last Dharma-age; it is the evil world of the five defilements. This one gate - the Pure Land way - is the only path that affords passage.”

The Jodo Shinshu path alone doesn’t discriminate between the capacities of beings and doesn’t depend on the time they live in, whether it is the period when the Buddha was in the world, the right, semblance and the last Dharna ages, or the time when the Dharma

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becomes extinct, because it is the path that brings all to perfect Enlightenment, not through their personal power, which is changeable and not reliable, but through the Other Power of Amida Buddha.

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Jodo Shinshu – the only effective path in this last Dharma age– based on some verses in Shinran’s Shozomatsu wasan –

Buddhism has spread widely in Europe in the last fifty years and this is indeed very fortunate. But in this spreading and in the image that Buddhism has in the West a very important element is missing or is not so well understood. Too many voices are heard in Western Buddhism that support some already established preconceptions like: “Buddhism is a path of Liberation by oneself” and “Buddha is only a teacher or the finger pointing to the moon”, etc. The established image of a Buddhist is a forever calm and smiling Buddhist monk or practicer, following a path of self liberation and improvement. This for many is Buddhism, but for Shinran, this is exactly what Buddhism is no more….

His life story and teaching shows another aspect of Buddhism which he considers it to be the real goal of Buddhism: the true Pure Land Teaching or Jodo Shinshu in which Amida Buddha is not the finger pointing to the moon, but rathat he is a Savior, - in fact, the best Savior of all the three worlds, with Shakyamuni being his messenger, guiding sentient beings to entrust in Amida. What a dramatic difference in the vision of what the Dharma truly is between Master Shinran and all other schools of self power Buddhism!

We can say that in Shinran’s terms, Buddhism will not be well established in the West until the teaching about Amida’s salvation is known. In fact, in the West only the provisional and accommodated (self power) teachings of Shakyamuni have spread until now, but not the teaching of his true intent of coming into this world. Thus, it is our mission to understand and transmit correctly the only Dharma of Shakyamuni that is still functioning in this world of the last age. The more we become aware of this truth, the better it is for all sentient beings.

The possibility of attaining Buddhahood in this very life is the essence of most of the Buddhist schools that are widely spread in

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Europe. News about famous Buddhist masters and their realizations are many and the number of disciples is growing. Who does not want to see, touch and be around somebody about whom it is said he is an incarnation of an ancient Master or even a living Buddha… But I myself cannot help looking with suspicion at all the so called spiritual achievements of today’s important figures of Buddhism.Seeing all these “modern realizations” with the eyes influenced by the teaching of Shinran Shonin about the true capacities of beings in the last Dharma age, I think there are two possibilities about those who seem to attain Buddhahood in our times:

1) They might be Bodhisattvas21 in disguise who already became Buddhas in the past and come here to keep on the Buddhist path those who can’t yet have faith in Amida but continue to follow other Dharma teachings, or

2) because we are deluded, we think that somebody who shows more calm than us has already supposedly attained Buddhahood.

But to become a Buddha means a lot more than always showing a calm face and saying beautiful words of wisdom. Shinran mentioned in Tannisho a few aspects of what it is to become a Buddha and what those smiling Buddhist faces of his days and ours do not have:

“Do those who speak of realizing Enlightenment while in this bodily existence manifest various accommodated bodies22, possess

21 The term „bodhisattva” is used to describe the practicer who aspires to become a Buddha for himself and all beings (bodhisattva in aspiration) and makes the vows of the Bodhisattva, and the one who although he has attained supreme Enlightenment or Buddhahood does not remain closed in it but continues to manifest himself in various forms in the world of suffering to help all beings (Bodhisattvas who are already Buddhas). 22 Nirmanakaya, in Sanskrit. One of the three bodies of a Buddha. Any Buddha manifests himself in various forms according to the conditions and capacities of those he wishes to save. See the chapter “About Amida Buddha and his Pure Land”where the doctrine of the Three Buddha Bodies (Trikaya) is explained.

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the Buddha’s thirty-two features23 and eighty marks24, and preach the Dharma to benefit beings like Shakyamuni? It is this that is meant by realizing Enlightenment in this life….”

A true Buddha knows all his previous births and the previous births of all sentient beings, He knows all the causes and their possible effects, thus being able to predict the possible future of any being; He knows perfectly which method is better to be applied to every one meeting him, and the list of the Enlightened capacities of a Buddha can go on filling many pages….

I think it is very important to understand that a Buddha is not a human being, as the human condition is just one of the many unenlightened states of existence. The inside Enlightened qualities of a Buddha manifest outside and are impregnated on his physical body, so both physically and mentally a Buddha is an extraordinary person, beyond and superior to any being.

To become a true Buddha, possessing such capacities as those enumerated above, is something that cannot be done in this age, according to Shinran Shonin. But unfortunately, people often don’t read carefully in the sutras what a Buddha truly is, and insteadbecome easily impressed by anyone who shows more calm than they do.

When I myself look to the various Buddhist magazines that are so popular nowadays, I always have the feeling of futility. So many smiling monks, sophisticated articles, Zen talks about emptiness and how we are already Buddhas and don’t need to worry about anything, practicers talking about how to overcome anger or jealousy, and many other wordy things…. I read all those articles and feel like they talk for aliens, but surely not for me.

23 “Thirty-two features”, refers to the thirty two physical marks attributed to a Buddha and to a Cakravatin (ideal universal king).24 „ Eighty marks” refers to the eighty important physical features of a Buddha. These are minor features that accompany the thirty two important features.

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Who are all those good Buddhists and how can their nice talks be of any help to me? Did the Buddhas came into this world only to teach these nice guys who are always calm and have such fulfilled lives through meditation? Then what am I doing here?Before coming to Jodo Shinshu I felt like in school when the teacher always talked with the good children and sent me in the back of the classroom with the bad children.

And then…I found Jodo Shinshu…which is the only reason why I am a Buddhist. Without Jodo Shinshu, Buddhism is just another nice discourse for the smart and good folks but with no relevance for the average person living in the real world.

I truly understand now why Shinran Shonin considered that preaching the Larger Sutra was the main reason for Shakyamuni’s coming to this world. He had the courage to abandon his mask of a good smiling monk and looked deeply into himself and the true human capacities. Shinran didn’t choose to teach the nice discourses of other sutras, but carefully selected the passages that were truly beneficial for himself and this world.

There are teachings and practices preached by Shakyamuni that Shinran chose not to speak about and he did this not because those practices are bad, but because they are not truly useful for our attainment of Buddhahood, given our limited capacities..

Shinran said in his letters that some Buddhist teachings are of limited relevance while others are of universal relevance and that the teaching of the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha is of universal relevance. To be of universal relevance means to be useful and effective both for the good and virtuous and for the evil beings filled with blind passions. Saints and stupid people can be saved equally. It is “the teaching in accord with the times and with beings” as he also said in Shozomatsu Wasan.

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Some might think (and I heard such a statement at one of the European meetings) that we should not be so radical as Shinran who says that only faith in Amida can make people attain Buddhahood, because in this way we might offend other Buddhist schools with whom we are engaged in ecumenical talks.

So what can we do? Why should they feel offended when so many other schools also claim they have the best practices and methods? Just look to the statements of the Tibetan schools when they speak about their specific teachings!

My opinion on this matter is that it is extremely important to keep strictly to the explanations of Shinran Shonin and expound them as they were truly said without adding anything to them so as to satisfy the expectations of unenlightened people from other schools or other non-Buddhist religions of this deluded world. This is because in Shinran’s explanations we find the true reason for the existence of Jodo Shinshu.

This wonderful teaching on the absolute reliance on Amida Buddha is not just another Buddhist method in the 84,000 Buddhist teachings25, but the most important teaching among all Shakyamuni’s teachings.

Shinran said in the second verse of Shozomatsu Wasan:

“…the teachings that Sakyamuni left behindHave all passed into the naga’s palace.”

25 Shinran said in Letter 8th of his Lamp of the Latter Ages: “Of the conceivable and the inconceivable Dharma, the conceivable comprises the 84,000 kinds of good of the Path of Sages. The Pure Land teaching is the inconceivable Dharma-teaching”- so he clearly separated the Pure Land teaching from other Buddhist teachings and practices.

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This means that all other Buddhist teachings are no longer effective during these times. To “pass into the naga’s palace” means exactly this – not being effective or only being as good as non-existent.

Shinran is even more clear:

“Although we have the teachings of Sakyamuni,There are no sentient beings who can practice them;Hence, it is taught that in the last Dharma-age,Not a single person will attain Enlightenment through them.”

“Not a single person will attain Enlightenment through them” is a very strong statement! Not a single one – this should be very well heard and understood. Not a single person can effectively practice the Buddhist teachings other than the reliance on Amida Buddha.

Shinran said it clearly for those who are ready to hear it:

“Without entrusting themselves to the Tathagata’s compassionate Vow,

No sentient beings of these times - the last Dharma-age, andThe fifth five-hundred year period since Sakyamuni’s passing –Will have a chance of parting from birth-and-death.”

Shinran’s words leave no trace of doubt about what we have to do. There is no other Buddhist method which can guarantee Buddhahood so quickly without asking anything from the practicer. All the nice discourses and practices of other schools through which they claim that everybody can become a Buddha in this very life are good in themselves, but they are not effective for this age and for the people living in it. So they are as good as non-existent – “gone into the naga’s palace”.

In this age, any truly spiritual practices, (by “truly” I mean any Buddhist practices and not the practices of other religions), which ask

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even to acquire merit as little as a particle of dust from the practicer are not effective practices. So we should abandon them, because we cannot become Buddhas through them.

If we should abandon all other Buddhist teachings and practices as being as good as nonexistent or gone into the naga’s palace, so much more we should never follow non Buddhist teachings and practices about which Shinran Shonin talks in greater detail in his Kyogyoshinsho where he states, for example, quoting the Great Nirvana Sutra:

“Good sons, there are two kinds of Enlightenment: eternal and impermanent…. The Enlightenment of non Buddhist ways is called impermanent, Buddhist Enlightenment is called eternal….. The emancipation of non Buddhist ways is called impermanent, the emancipation of Buddhist ways is called eternal.”

He makes reference again on non Buddhist teachings in Shozomatsu Wasan about which we are talking now:

“The ninety-five non Buddhist teachings26 defile the world;The Buddha’s path alone is pure.”

These words are immediately followed by these verses:

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“Ninety-five non Buddhist teachings” (kujugoshu ) originally appear in the Nirvana Sutra and others. It is said that at the time of the Buddha there were ninety-five kinds of wrong teachings. They are views of the six philosophical masters (rokushi gedo) and those of their disciples, fifteen under each master (Zuio Sensei explanations). I also think that any spiritual teaching nowadays that contradicts the law of karma as explained by the Buddha, denies rebirth, affirms the existence of a Creator and supreme judge of the world, etc., can be considered in the category of non Buddhist teachings that should be rejected. One cannot be a Jodo Shinshu follower and believe in God or deny rebirth or the law of karma.

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“Only by going forth and reaching Enlightenment can we benefit others

In this burning house; this is the natural working of the Vow.”

which if they are compared with the statement about the two types of Enlightenment (eternal and impermanent) quoted by Shinran in his Kyogyoshinsho and presented above, we can easily draw the conclusion that not through non Buddhist teachings, but through the Buddha’s path which is pure, is one made capable of attaining Enlightenment.

So, if we live in this last Dharma age with all its defilements and difficulties, we should follow only the path of the Buddha and not the various non Buddhist teachings which are themselves manifestations of this defiled world. More than this, among all Buddhist methods we should select only the teaching of the Primal Vow and abandon the rest as being as good as nonexistent.

I especially think that these statements of Shinran Shonin about the non Buddhist teachings and other Buddhist practices are very useful in our days when it became a custom to mix things and find so called synthesis of various religious beliefs. Many spiritual soups are prevalent in our days, mixing elements of Christianity with Buddhism and Hinduism.

But also in the Buddhist world mixing things is often met and even in our international community there is for example, the tendency among some followers to make Jodo Shinshu more Zen-like in order to accommodate their personal visions and their incapacity to be open to a salvation and totally faith-oriented teaching.

In rejecting non Buddhist views as not leading to Enlightenment and also other Buddhist teachings as ineffective, Shinran Shonin shows he is not interested in satisfying everyone’s ideas or in having a nice and politically correct talk with all doctrines and religious

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views, but is concentrated in saving people from birth and death, which is the most important thing in this life.

In front of the two rivers of fire and water with death and danger waiting to strike at every moment, and the rare chance of having another human life so hard to find, Shinran is interested only in showing us the path to escape from birth and death. And he clearly sees no other way than entrusting in Amida Buddha. All other methods are not real or they are ineffective.

Shinran calls us to awaken and not lose the precious time we have. This is a burning house and not a place for unimportant talks and doctrines. He is clear in his explanations like a doctor who prescribes exactly what a patient needs to save his life.

He says something like: “Do you want to escape birth and death? If you do, then this is the way to follow and no other. Entrust in Amida Buddha and in no one else”. It is Shinran’s message to a terminally ill world in the last Dharma age, a world that needs the best medicine ever to be found in all religious history.

For those who come to Buddhism and Jodo Shinshu only for intellectual delights or interesting discussions, the radical attitude of Shinran will always be embarrassing or not so politically correct. But for those to whom birth and death is the most important matter and realize their true capacities, the clear message of Shinran and his way of rejecting that which is not true or effective and selecting that which is true and useful, is all they need to hear.

So, dear friends, make a choice: escape this burning house or remain inside it, spending your time with false or futile practices. It’s your decision: no one can make it for you.

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Shinran Shonin – a manifestation of Amida Buddha and Avalokitesvara

Before I enter this topic, lets think a little about Shakyamuni, the Founder of Buddhism in our world.

Did he become a Buddha during his life on this earth that we all know from history, or had he attained Buddhahood countless lifetimes ago, in the incomprehensibly remote past? Or was he the manifestation of Amida Buddha?

The answer depends on which sutras you choose to read. In many sutras the first situation is presented, in others the second is taken as a profound truth (for example, the Lotus Sutra, - Life Span chapter). The Pure Land sutras are interpreted by Shinran Shonin to clearly show the third situation in which the true reason for the appearance of Shakyamuni in the world was to teach the Dharma about Amida Buddha’s salvation. To me, the third is the one I choose27.

The same thing applies to many important figures in the Buddhist history after Shakyamuni’s passing. Some Masters have a visible life in which they are born, do this or that, meet with the Dharma, practice it and one day attain the most important thing –supreme Enlightenment, or in the case of Shinran Shonin, he receives shinjin, which is faith in Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow.

This is the visible life, but an invisible one or hidden truth about them might be revealed by their own words or actions on various occasions or by the testimonies of their closest disciples who had revelatory dreams or visions about these Masters.

In the case of Shinran’s teacher, Master Honen (Genku), Shinran sometimes described him not just as an ordinary person who received

27 See the chapter „The purpose of Shakyamuni’s coming to this world”.

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shinjin during his earthly life after struggling with hard practices, but also in the following terms:

“It was said among the peopleThat the original state of our teacher Genku (Honen)Was Master Tao-ch’o,Or again, Master Shan-tao.”

Genku appeared as Mahasthamaprapta,And also as Amida.Emperors and ministers venerated him,And the ordinary people in the capital and the countryside revered

him.

He also recorded Honen’s own words about who he actually was during his life on earth:

“When the moment of death approached,Our teacher Genku (Honen) said,“This is my third time to be born in the Pure Land;It is especially easy to accomplish.”

Genku himself said, “Formerly, I was among the assembly on Vulture Peak28;I practiced austerities with other sravakasAnd guided beings to the Buddhist path.”

He then, explains again his own interpretation of who his Master truly was:

“Amida Tathagata, manifesting form in this world,Appeared as our teacher Genku;The conditions for teaching having run their course,He returned to the Pure Land.”

28 The Larger Amida Sutra was preached by Shakyamuni Buddha on Vulture Peak.

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[...]

“The death of our teacher GenkuCame in 1212, in early spring;On the twenty-fifth day of the first month,He returned to the Pure Land.”

Master Honen returned to the Pure Land, which means it was not the first time when he was born there – this is how Shinran Shonin regarded his Master. This is how I, a disciple of Shinran, look to Honen Shonin, too.

Also well known is the opinion of Shinran Shonin about prince Shotoku29, whom he also regarded not as an ordinary person, but as a manifestation of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. I myself look to Shotoku Taishi in this way, so as to be in accord with Shinran, my Master.

Now lets move to the actual topic of this chapter and refer to the case of Shinran Shonin about whom, I think, we can have two visions that are equally argued. First, we may think of Shinran as an ordinary person filled with blind passions who struggled for twenty years as a monk to attain Enlightenment through his personal power and after being confronted with failure, he met Honen Shonin and entrusted himself totaly to Amida Buddha, remaining an ordinary person until his death when he was born in the Pure Land and became a Buddha himself.

Or we may think of Shinran as the manifestation/emanation of Amida Buddha and Avalokitesvara who took the apparent form of anordinary person filled with blind passions, going through struggle, failure, conversion and birth in the Pure Land, so that the most suitable Dharma for this age (Amida Dharma) is being spread in the world and has become accepted by many.

29 Shotoku Taishi (574-622) was a prince who led the campaign to unify Japan, wrote the imperial constitution, and promoted Buddhism.

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The first vision about Master Shinran is sustained by the fact that he never described himself in his written texts as being a manifestation of anybody, but only an ordinary person filled with blind passions entrusting totally to Amida Buddha. We should clearly understand this. He didn’t even describe himself to be the founder of a new school, but always considered himself as a disciple of Honen.

The teaching he left to the world is outstanding and unique, however, he never said about himself as being an extrardinary person. I don’t insist on this first vision as there are so many quotes from Shinran’s own words that can be used as a proof for it.

My interest is to the second vision that I personally share about Shinran Shonin, despite the humbleness he always showed in what he wrote and preached. So, what is the basis for my vision of Shinran Shonin as being the emanation/manifestation of Amida Buddha and Avalokitesvara?

I don’t deny that my own feelings play a crucial role in this. On this basis I accept openly the testimonies of others who themselves have shared the same vision as myself. And who were these persons that also regarded Shinran Shonin as being the manifestation of Amida and/or Avalokitesvara?

First it was his own wife, the mother of our school, Eshinni. Here is what she wrote to her daughter Kakushinni, after Shinran’s passing:

“Also I recall a dream I had while we were at a place called Sakai village at Shimotsuma in Hitachi [province]. It seems that there was a dedication ceremony for a temple building. The building stood facing east, and it was apparently on the eve of the ceremony. In front of the building there were lanterns [burning] bright, and to the west of the lanterns in front of the building there were [two] Buddhist

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images suspended from the horizontal part of what seemed to be a shrine gate (torii).

In one there was no face to the Buddhist image, but only a core of light, as if it were the radiance of the Buddha’s head; distinct features could not be seen, and the light was the only thing there. In the other, there was a distinct face to the Buddhist image.

I asked what Buddhist images these were, and the person [who answered] – I have no recollection who the person was – said, “The one that is only light is none other than Master Honen. He is the Bodhisattva Seishi30. When I asked who the other was, he said, “That is [the Bodhisattva] Kannon31. That is none other than the priest Zenshin32 [Shinran]”.

Upon hearing this I was shocked [out of my sleep], and I realized that it had been a dream. I have heard that such things are not to be spoken to other people, for they may not think such things spoken by this nun [i.e. Eshinni] to be true. Therefore, I [have remained] silent, not telling other people [about this]. But I did tell my husband [Shinran] the part about Master [Honen].

He said, “Among dreams there are many different types, but this dream must be true. There are many [other] instances of dreams in which people have seen Master [Honen] in one place or another as a

30 Bodhisattva Seishi (Daiseishi) or Mahasthamaprapta, is one of the attendantBodhisattvas of Amida Buddha together with Kannon (Avalokitesvara). He represents wisdom.31 Bodhisattva Kannon (Kanzeon) or Avalokitesvara, is the Bodhisattva of Compassion and one of the attendants of Amida Buddha together with Bodhisattva Seishi. Kannon is often depicted with a small representation of Amida Buddha on his crown. In China and Japan he is often portrayed in feminine form as Kwan Yin.32

Zenshin is a clerical name adopted by Shinran during his six year period of study unde Honen’s guidance in Kyoto. Zenshin can be found in some parts of his writings, even if he used more often the name, Shinran.

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manifestation of the Bodhisattva Seishi. The Bodhisattva Seishi is the ultimate in wisdom, so he [appeared simply] as light.”

I did not say anything about my husband being Kannon, but in my own mind I never looked upon him from that time forward in an ordinary way. You should ponder these things well33. Thus, you should have no doubt [concerning Shinran’s birth in the Pure Land] however his death may have been.”34

We see that Shinran Shonin accepted as true the dream of his wife, without being informed about the part related to him. This is something to reflect upon....

To me, Eshinni is very important and her apparition in human form as a consort of Shinran Shonin is not accidental. She is a part, together with her daughter Kakushinni, of Amida’s salvation work. The image that suddenly appears in my mind is that of Buddhist paintings where some Buddhas are pictured together with their consorts. Such far my gratitude and devotion to her goes in my mind....

Things are profound and beyond our capacities to understand using our limited minds, but I certainly feel with my heart the wonderful Compassionate work of many Buddhas and their manifestations who are always active in order to make us, hopeless sentient beings, to entrust ourselves to Amida Buddha. I am amazed when seeing with eyes of devotion the working of the Buddhas.

We indeed live in the last Dharma age in which no one is capable of attaining anything permanent from the spiritual point of view, but exactly in this age Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are very active using a lot of methods to make us aware of the Amida Dharma. Shinran was

33 This long passage about Eshinni’s dreams is paraphrased in Kakunyo’s Kudensho.34 The quote and most of the footnotes are from Letters of the nun Eshinni, by James C.Dobbins, printed at University Hawai’i Press in 2004.

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the most important part of Amida’s working, following a long line of Masters which started with Shakyamuni Buddha himself, and in my opinion he could not be an ordinary person in his true nature.

Now let’s read other testimonies in which Master Shinran appears as an emanation/manifestation.

We read in Hongwanji Shonin Shinran Denne (Godensho35), the biography of Shinran Shonin written by Master Kakunyo Shonin (1270-1351), the third chief abbot of Hongwanji (the son of Kakushinni and grandson of Shinran):

“On the ninth day of the second month in the eighth year of Kencho (1265)36, at night at the hour of the tiger37, Shaku Ren’i had a vision in a dream: Prince Shotoku bowed in worship to Shinran Shonin and said in verse:

“Adoration to Amida Buddha of Great Compassion!You have appeared in this world (as Shinran Shonin) to spread the

excellent teaching;You lead people of the evil world in the evil period of the five

defilementsTo definitely attain the supreme Enlightenment.”

Hence, it is clear that Shonin, the Patriarchal Master, was an incarnation of Amida Tathagatha.”

Shaku Ren’i (or Ren’i-bo) was a native of Hitachi Province (present day Ibaragi Prefecture). He came to Kyoto and lived with Shinran, attending to him in his last years. So he was not a nobody, but a very close disciple.

35 This is even in our present time the official biography of Shinran Shonin recognized by the Hongwanji-ha branch of Jodo Shinshu. All quotes and footnotes that follows are from Zuio Hisao Inagaki’s English translation printed by the Horai Association in 2009.36 At that time, Shinran was 84. 37 About 4 o’clock in the morning.

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We also read in the Godensho the following testimony:

“The Shonin’s disciple, Nyusai-bo, cherished the desire to have a portrait of Shonin. Knowing this, Shonin said to him, “You can ask the Dharma-bridge38 Jozen [who lived in Shichijo] to portray me.”

Elated by the Shonin’s suggestion based on deep observation, Nyusai-bo invited the Dharma-bridge to the Shonin’s abode. Jozen came at once as requested. The moment Jozen saw the Shonin, he said, “Last night I had an inspired dream. The holy priest I saw in the dream is exactly the same person as I now see before my eyes.”

With profound joy and awe, he continued, “Two noble priests came to visit me.

One of them said: ‘I wish to have a portrait of this revered incarnated one made. Please make one, Jozen.’

So I asked: ‘Who is this incarnated one?’The priest replied: ‘He is the founder39 of the Zenkoji Temple’.I prostrated myself on the floor with my hands joined together, and

thought to myself in the dream, ‘He must be a living incarnation of Amida Tathagata’.

Feeling my hair standing on end, I deeply revered and paid homage to him. The priest added: ‘A portrait of his face will be enough.’

After the exchange of these words, I awoke from the dream. As I now see the Shonin’s august countenance at this hermitage, it is not a bit different from the holy priest that I saw in the dream.”

38 The Dharma-bridge: ‘Hokyo’ in Japanese, an abbreviation of ‘hokkyo-shonin-i’, the rank of the Master of of Dharma-bridge; originally, the lowest of the three higher ranks of priesthood, which corresponds to the older term ‘risshi’. Later, used as a title of honor for medical doctors, painters, poets, and so on. 39 Founder; hongan no onbo in Japanese; here hongan does not mean ‚primal vow’, but rather‚a founder or promoter of a temple, statue, or a Dharma meeting.

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So saying, Jozen shed tears of great joy. The Shonin remarked, “Let my portrait be just as you saw in your dream.”

Master Kakunyo commenting on this last testimony said: “Jozen portrayed the Shonin’s face only. Jozen had this dream in the night of the twentieth day of the month in the third year of Ninji.”40

He then concludes:

“As I deeply contemplate this miraculous and portentous event, I clearly see that the Shonin was an incarnation of Amida Tathagatha. It follows then that the teaching he promulgated was most likely Amida’s direct exposition. Amida holds up the brilliant lamp of undefiled wisdom to disperse the darkness of delusion in the world of defilement; furthermore, he showers the rain of Dharma everywhere in order to moisten the dried-up hearts of ordinary and deluded beings in the distant future. Let us revere and entrust ourselves to his teaching.”

Here is another incident from Godensho which shows that Shinran Shonin was not an ordinary person in his original nature. When Heitaro of Obu village in Nakanosai County in Hitachi Province was obliged to make a visit to Kumano Shrine (a Shinto shrine) due to his public duty, he went there without observing the Shinto prescribed manner concerning such a visit, didn’t put on the mask of a wise person and did not purified his body with special rituals, but kept adoring the Primal Vow in his heart.

As the story goes,

...he reached Kumano without any incident. On that night, Heitaro had a vision in a dream: the door of the shrine was opened and a layman in proper ceremonial dress and hat came in and said to

40

This corresponds to 1242.

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Heitaro, “Why have you come here in such a defiled and impure state, unafraid of the deity?”

At that moment, the Shonin suddenly appeared before him and said “He practices the Nembutsu in accordance with Zenshin’s (Shinran) instructions.”

Thereupon, the layman held up his scepter in the proper way and bowed deeply to show his respect to the Shonin, without saying a word. Then Heitaro awoke. He was struck with unspeakable wonder.

On his way home, Heitaro paid a visit to the Shonin and told him what had happened. In reply the Shonin said: “That was good”. This was also an inconceivable thing.

At the end of Godensho, Master Kakunyo states:

“Many miraculous stories were told about the Shonin, but it is impossible to relate them all. I have presented only a selected few.”

As we clearly saw, Eshinni, Kakushinni, Ren’i-bo, Nyusai-bo, Juzen, the painter, Heitaro and Master Kakunyo are only a few names of those who shared the belief that Shinran Shonin was the manifestation of Amida Buddha.

Master Kakunyo is the third abbot of our school (Hongwanji-ha and Otani-ha branch) and a very important figure in Jodo Shinshu history. His book, Godensho, is considered even now to be the official biography of Shinran Shonin and is included in the canon of our school. It is always chanted in every Jodo Shinshu temple on the occasion of Ho-onko or Shinran’s memorial days (9-16 January) and on his 750th Comemoration we attended in 2011. So, this work is not an ordinary one.

All these testimonies, together with my own feelings, prove to me that Shinran Shonin was in fact an emanation/manifestation of Amida Buddha himself and of Avalokitesvara. He came to this world and

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took the human appearance of an unenlightened person who tried at first practices based on personal power, gave up to them, received shinjin and preached the Dharma about Amida Buddha in such a unique and accesible way for everybody. At the death of his illusory body he came back to his original form, which is Amida Buddha. He is now dwelling in the Pure Land as well as here in samsara with us, taking many forms, always guiding us in ways known or unknown.

Shinran, the emanation of Amida Buddha and Avalokitesvara, took not only human form but also human problems and a human personality with its many difficulties and shortcomings, living the life of an ordinary person in the last Dharma age in order to show that Amida’s salvation is especially concerned about such people who can’t save themselves by any self-power method. Shinran „experienced” failure in his spiritual life as a monk and a self power practicer in order to show that failure is accepted and we should not worry about it.

He intentionaly lived the life of an ordinary person, got married even if he was a monk, didn’t preach about precepts and showed that even hunters, fishermen, prostitutes and all hopeless people can be saved only by faith in Amida Buddha. He did all these and lived like an ordinary person filled with blind passions, in order to show that Amida especially saves such beings as ourselves. I think that nothing in Shinran’s life happened accidentally, but was included in Amida’s plan of salvation. Also I think that the lives of Kakunyo, Rennyo or other patriarchs were not accidental either.

But no matter if all Jodo Shinshu followers share or not the second vision about Shinran Shonin that I myself share, we all have to agree on one point, that he became a Buddha in the Pure Land of Amida, like any person of shinjin will become at the end of his or her life. That Pure Land is a real place and once born there through shinjin we become Buddhas.

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Also, no matter whether Jodo Shinshu followers believe or not that Shinran was a manifestation/emanation of Amida and Avalokitesvara, they have to listen and entirely accept his teaching so that they can receive the same shinjin as his.

If for you, Shinran was just an ordinary person until death and birth in the Pure Land, but you totally accept his teaching and receive shinjin in your heart, then you have fulfilled everything on the Jodo Shinshu path.

We have enough reasons and arguments to chose each one of these visions about Shinran Shonin, so it depends on each one of us. After all, the most important matter in Jodo Shinshu is to receive shinjin. If you can listen openly to his teaching and entrust in Amida Buddha, nothing else matters.

Shinran finally gave his message to the world, and in doing so he acomplished his mission. Now, it falls upon us to keep and transmit his message without modifying it.

Namo Amida ButsuHomage to Shinran Shonin, the emanation of Amida Buddha and

Avalokitesvara!

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The meaning of “there are no precepts”

Question:“Why does Jodo Shinshu deny and discourage the observance of

Buddhist precepts? Can I observe precepts and be a Shinshu follower? Why it is said in Jodo Shinshu that “there are no precepts”?

Answer:In Jodo Shinshu we do not deny nor discourage anybody to try to

observe precepts. We are not against precepts; we do not say that followers of this school should not try to observe precepts or to lead a moral life. What we say is that we should not think that trying to observe precepts creates personal merits or that by doing this we can add something to the salvation of Amida. We are born in the Pure Land and become Buddhas only due to Amida’s Power, not to our own efforts in observing precepts or in doing such and such practices.

My advice is this: as a voluntary choice and not a requirement try your best to live a moral life, which can include not to hurt anybody directly or indirectly, don’t steal, don’t engage in sexual misconduct, don’t lie, don’t drink intoxicants, don’t eat meat, etc., but never relate this to your attainment of Buddhahood which comes only through Amida Buddha’s Other Power. Your success or lack of success in voluntarily observing precepts has no connection with your Enlightenment, so be relaxed in this matter. This is the difference between Jodo Shinshu and other Buddhist schools.

What a Jodo Shinshu follower does is to delete once and for all the words “personal merit” or “personal virtue” from his Buddhist vocabulary. These concepts may have some significance in other schools but in Jodo Shinshu they have no significance at all.

Neither Shinran Shonin nor any patriarch of our school ever said, “kill, steal, lie, cheat on your wife, etc.”, but rather they intended to

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say: “even if you don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat on your wife, etc., it doesn’t mean that you are a good person capable of attaining Buddhahood by yourself.” This should be very well understood.

Also even if it is said in the sacred texts that in the last age of the Dharma precepts do no longer exist, this doesn’t mean that we should kill and steal as we like. The expression, “there are no precepts” means that people living in the last age of the Dharma are no longer capable of using precepts in order to advance to Enlightenment. Thus, precepts are as good as non-existent for the last goal of Buddhist practice. I repeat, precepts are as good as non-existent for the last goal of Buddhist practice which means the attainment of Buddhahood.

But still we can read in the sutras and other Buddhist books about the precepts so we can’t say they have been deleted from our written or collective memory. We can read about them and see how the Buddhas wants us to behave, think and talk, so we should try to guide our lives by them as well as we can, but doing so no longer constitutes a merit or a means to advance on the path to Enlightenment.

This is because our capacities to truly observe the precepts both in letter and spirit are as little as non-existent. Jodo Shinshu states that the minds and environment of beings living in this age distant from the physical presence of Shakyamuni are so much perverted that they cannot advance to Buddhahood by themselves using various methods of self improving until one day purity, perfect wisdom and perfect compassion is achieved.

So we say that Jodo Shinshu doesn’t believe in the spiritual capacities of unenlightened beings. This is why we do not insist on precepts. Everything unenlightened beings do in the three ways of action41 is poisoned by ignorance and egoism, so they can’t be called 41 With mind, speech and body.

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pure or good actions useful for attaining Buddhahood. Attachment to our so-called goodness is just another illusion among the many that we inherit from the distant past.

That being said, I ask you again, please do not misunderstand the teaching of our school:

- Jodo Shinshu is not an encouragement to immorality, irresponsibility or laziness.

- Followers of this school may try their best to lead a life based on non-harming Buddhist principles explained in the precepts.

- Jodo Shinshu states that Enlightenment comes through Amida Buddha and is not gained by the actions of unenlightened beings

- Jodo Shinshu believes that only Buddhas have true merits that can be shared with others.

In short, do your best in your everyday life to live according to the precepts but rely only on Amida for the attainment of Buddhahood. Also, if you fail in perfectly observing the precepts, and I am certain that you will fail, don’t ever feel that you are excluded from Amida’s salvation. Don’t transform your trying to observe precepts into an obstacle blocking the nondiscriminating Compassion of Amida Buddha.

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No self improving programs for Jodo Shinshu followers

It must be very well understood that when I speak about trying to have good behaviour towards others in our daily lives, I do not propose self improving programs for Jodo Shinshu followers, and I do not say that we should do this or that good deed in order to be born in the Pure Land.

Birth in the Pure Land on one hand, and on the other hand my efforts, for example, of trying to not hurt people when I become angered or not to cheat on my girlfriend when I meet with temptations, have no connection with one another. I am saved exactly as I am, no matter if I am calm or burst into anger, if I am a good partner or a bad partner, sober or a drug addict, or anything else. The Jodo Shinshu teaching is very clear on this issue. As Shinran says in the Tannisho: “No evil act can bring about karmic results, nor can any good act equal the nembutsu”.

But why not try to abstain from all these vices when no matter if I succeed or not, I am still loved and accepted by Amida Buddha. Why not try – to try is the key word. If I change something within me even for a second its okay, and if I fail, its okay, too.

This is, I think, the meaning of “don’t take a liking to poison just because you have the antidote” from Tannisho, or some letters written by Shinran, in which he speaks about not encouraging people to intentionally do evil. Shinran never said, “go and kill everybody because you are saved by Amida”. Jodo Shinshu teaching does not say “rape, kill, and torture people”.

Although Amida saves evil people, Jodo Shinshu is not an encouragement to do evil. A mother never encourages her children to do bad deeds, but even if they do all the evil things in the world, she still loves them and accepts them. This is the meaning of “no evil act can bring about karmic results, nor can any good act equal the nembutsu”.

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The effect is similar to the cause – difference between the Path of self power and the Pure Land Path

The effect is similar to the cause, so when the cause and origin of your practice is your unenlightened personality, the effect is delusion. Similarly, when the cause and origin of your practice is Amida Buddha, the effect is always Enlightenment and Buddhahood. This should be very well understood.

When one relies on his own power, various obstructions appear. These are:

1. internal obstructions caused by his own mental states and attachments, illusions and blind passions; and

2. external obstructions caused by Maras42 and various spirits who try to hinder the practicer from attaining the ultimate goal.

Due to these two kinds of obstructions, false spiritual achievements may occur. They are so intense that in the mind of the practicer and others around him these may seem to be genuine. Supernatural powers and visions can also appear to divert him from the right path. We cannot really imagine how easy it is to fall under the seduction of these false powers and achievements!

The Path of Sages or the path of personal power and the Pure Land path are two separate Dharma gates into the supreme Buddhahood. They should never be thought of in the same way. What one path requires, the other doesn’t, and vice versa.

In Zen Buddhism for example, one often hears sayings about “killing the Buddha”, which means that if during meditation a

42 Mara (often pluralized as “Maras”) is a celestial demon who plays with practicers minds, distracting their attention and offering them false sensations of spiritual fulfillment, thus stopping them from attaining true freedom or Buddhahood. Maraalso tried to stop Shakyamuni from becoming a Buddha.

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Buddha image appears into your mind, this may be false and an obstruction to genuine spiritual realization. Why is that? Because, in the Zen path and any other form of self-power Buddhism similar to it, one relies on emptiness or the ultimate nature of things, i.e. on Dharmakaya without form.

In such circumstances, what appears in your mind can be misleading and may suggest an attachment to forms. Also, because with any of the methods of the Path of Sages (i.e. self-power Buddhism) you rely on your own effort to meditate, various demons and Maras can take the false form of Buddhas in order to misguide you. Thus, when such visions and forms appear you have to treat them as fabrications of the mind and go on aiming to achieve the formless ultimate Buddhahood.

To the contrary, on the Pure Land path we accept forms and are guided by Amida Buddha in his transcendental (Sambhogakaya) manifestation. We do not rely directly on the ultimate Buddha nature, but rather we take an indirect road to Buddhahood through the nembutsu of faith and birth in the Pure Land.

On the Pure Land path, as we rely exclusively on Amida Buddha and have faith that all spiritual realizations come only from him, we are not in any danger of being misguided or influenced by internal or external obstructions. If a vision appears, this is genuine too, as the effect is similar to the cause. Because we rely on Amida (the cause) and not on ourselves, the result (effect) is a manifestation of Amida, not of our own unenlightened mind. Thus, what can be an obstruction on the Path of Sages is a help on the Pure Land path.

Please do not have any fear if you have entered the Pure Land gate of settled faith in Amida Buddha. You are secure from the very moment you take your first step on this path. Nothing can harm you, nothing can make you retrogress, and nothing can stop you from attaining birth in the Pure Land of Amida and ultimate Buddhahood.

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If shinjin (faith) has been received into your heart, all these will come naturally. The goal of both Dharma gates is the same: supreme Buddhahood and Nirvana - and both gates were preached by Shakyamuni Buddha. When followers of the path of personal power and those of Pure Land path become Buddhas they awaken to the same ultimate Buddha nature which is beyond any form and color, but until then, they should not misinterpret the meaning and characteristic of these two separate Dharma gates.

The Pure Land path of exclusive reliance on Amida Buddha should not be judged based on the criteria of the Path of personal power (also called the Path of Sages). More than this, it should not be changed or preached in such a way as to accommodate the Path of Sages. It is very sad, for example, that nowadays some try to transform the simple, faith-oriented Jodo Shinshu teaching into a more Zen-like practice to make it acceptable to the so-called modern reader who has no taste for beliefs related to transcendental Buddhas.

A Pure Land follower should never ask guidance in matters of his attainment of Buddhahood from masters and teachers who follow the Zen path, Theravada (Hinayana) methods, or any other method that implies or teaches in one way or another some sort of reliance on personal power, because this will only cause great confusion in his mind43.

Mixing the two separate Dharma gates at the level where we are now as unenlightened beings is extremely dangerous and presents an obstruction on the Buddhist path. Only a Buddha who has transcended all methods and is completely free from delusion can play with various practices and understand them fully, but

43 Also practicing various meditation methods like Zazen, Vipassana, etc, with the goal of attaining Enlightenment annihilates the effects of the Pure Land path. But doing these only for calming the mind in ordinary life, for fun, or for other personal reasons, while relying exclusively on Amida for Enlightenment in the Pure Land, is harmless.

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unenlightened beings cannot and should not imitate the behavior of the Buddhas until they have become Buddhas themselves.

At the level we are now on, we cannot truly understand the “Oneness of all things”, no matter how much we read and talk about this, so we should stay humble and embrace the dualistic vision of the one who saves (that is, Amida Buddha) and those to be saved who have faith in him (that is, ourselves). This is all we need now as ordinary people caught in the suffering of birth and death.

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Entering the Jodo Shinshu path

Entering the Jodo Shinshu path is like becoming a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and recognizing: “Hello, my name is Josho and I am an alcoholic”.

Jodo Shinshu doesn’t state something like: “My name is Josho and I can become a Buddha”, but “my name is Josho and I am full of blind passions, incapable to heal myself”.

While in other Buddhist schools, an important matter is the recognition of the possibility of every being to become a Buddha in this life like Shakyamuni, the Jodo Shinshu path begins with the sense of failure. When you are 100% convinced that you cannot attain Buddhahood in this life, then you are ready for the Jodo Shinshu path. As long as you still harbor in your mind the smallest thought of personal merit or “maybe I can” kind of things, you cannot see and enter the Dharma gate of birth in Amida Buddha’s Pure Land.

Amida Buddha’s Pure Land is like a country where everybody can emigrate without the least requirement: no visas, no special capacities, nor any other qualities. As Shinran said:

“This is the way of easy practice to be followed by those of inferior capacity; it is the teaching that makes no distinction between the good and the evil.”

Thus, the Jodo Shinshu sangha is like an “idiot’s club” or alcoholics anonymous, in comparison with the nice and good Buddhists, who believe they are always calm and ready to become Enlightened and the same with Shakyamuni.

If you hope to find here some interesting quotes about detachment or how capable people are for goodness, virtues and any kind of spiritual realizations, then this is not the place for you. But if you

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recognize yourself more and more in the group of spiritual alcoholics or those incapable of any important practice which leads to perfection here and now, in the middle of sufferings and miseries of any kind, then this teaching would be of much help, and I wish to you a warm “welcome to the club!”

I repeat, Jodo Shinshu starts with the sense of failure….

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A bad Buddhist who entrusts to Amida

Long time ago I was in correspondence with a drug addict who showed great interest in the Jodo Shinshu teaching. He had a hard time trying again and again to give up taking drugs but he always returned to his bad habit.

I said to him:Just entrust to Amida as you are. If you can abstain, and it is useful

to try, this would be good for your health, but if you cannot, don’t worry. Jodo Shinshu is especially for people who cannot abstain, who are incapable of any practice - for those for whom any advice or any treatment is useless, for people whose minds are too sick to recover from their problems, anxieties, and deviations. It’s not that they especially want to be like this, but their habitual karma is too strong for them to overcome. After many years and even many lives of taking the drugs of ignorance and blind passions how can one think and act like a normal person? How can one practice Buddhism and become a Buddha by himself?

I have met many times with alcholics and have told them the same if they asked me questions about Buddhism. If you tried and cannot give up, then be an alchoholic who entrusts to Amida. Be an alchoholic nembutsu follower. Its okay and normal to be like that. Be a bad Buddhist who entrusts to Amida. But if you are able, it is for the sake of your own well-being to give up your bad habits.

Jodo Shinshu is the path for spiritually sick people, for those with no hope. It’s the path for alchoholics, drug addicts, and all kind of people with strong attachments. All are equally accepted by the Compassion and Primal Vow of Amida Buddha. So please, come as you are.

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The miracle of Jodo Shinshu

“Hokyo-bo said to Rennyo Shonin44, ‘The Myogo (six character NA MO A MI DA BUTSU) you have painted has been destroyed by fire but it has become six Buddhas. How extraordinary!’The Shonin remarked, ‘It is nothing extraordinary. Since the Buddha (that the Name represents) has become a Buddha, it is nothing extraordinary. What is extraordinary is that an evil bombu45 becomes a Buddha through a single thought of entrusting to Amida46’.”47

If you hear that a Buddha or a saint performed miracles, you might become happy and want to see that miracle for yourself, but you will always feel it is quite natural for such superior beings to perform miracles.

However, to hear that you, an ordinary person with strong attachments and blind passions, some of them known only to yourself and kept hidden with shame in the depths of your heart where no one can see them....you the reader of this book and internet addict who like to read a lot about Buddhism, Nirvana, Buddha-nature, ultimate reality, and virtuous Masters of the past, but always finding yourself incapable to be like them….. imagine that you will become a Buddha!

Say you are sitting in front of your computer for many hours, surfing the internet, reading a lot of good teachings and wise

44 Rennyo Shonin (1415-1499) was the eighth descendant of Shinran Shonin and Patriarch (Monshu) of Hongwanji, the mother temple in the Hongwanji-ha branch of Jodo Shinshu.45 A bombu is a being full of illusions and blind passions and who cannot attain Nirvana by his own power.46 According to the Jodo Shinshu teaching of Shinran and Rennyo, a person who entrusts in Amida enters in the same moment in the stage of non-retrogression or the stage of being assured of Nirvana, and becomes a Buddha in the moment of death, when he is born in the Pure Land.47 Rennyo Shonin Goichidaiki Kikigaki (Thus I Have Heard from Rennyo Shonin)

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Buddhist quotes, but never really being able to put them into practice for even 24 hours a day. From time to time, you practice a little bit of this, a little bit of that, some zazen48, some vipassana49, etc., and then you come back to the internet or books to read about the spiritual realizations of others. You read all those pages and try to practice this or that, but in the end you return to your true reality – the every day misery of living with your own ego and fighting with the ego of others. You, who recognize yourself in my description, imagine that you will become a Buddha! And to become a Buddha at the end of your life, you need nothing else than to entrust yourself completely to Amida!

When I heard for the first time about the promise of Amida, that ordinary people will become Buddhas, through simple faith in him, I was struck with wonder and couldn’t believe my eyes and ears, as if I had seen or heard someone from another planet.

Soon, after realizing this is true and not just a parable with esoteric and hidden meaning, I found myself saying: “What am I waiting for?” For the first time I felt that Buddhism was speaking to me, and not only to supermen. Since then, every time I recall to my mind the promise of Amida’s Primal Vow that everybody who entrusts in him and recite his Name will become Buddha, and realize that I myself will become a Buddha, I feel there is no greater miracle.

Zuiken Sensei said:

“Without being hindered by my evil karma,I go to be born in the Pure LandBy entrusting myself to the Path of the Vow-Power,This is the wonder of all wonders.”

“Without severing evil passions,one will realize Nirvana’ (Shoshinge)

48 Zen Buddhist meditation.49 Meditation in Theravada (Hinayana) Buddhism.

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Isn’t this the most wonderful thing in the world?This phrase makes us savor deep in our heartthe wonder of the Power of the Primal Vow.”

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Do not have patience

I myself cannot find any satisfaction with Buddhist teachings and practices that doesn’t promise me a quick escape from birth and death. This why I entrust myself to Amida Buddha, because I am in a hurry to become a Buddha.

I know that some virtuous practicers might interpret my hurry as laziness in spiritual matters or as lack of patience. I don’t deny anything, but when I deeply contemplate the rare chance of being born a human and how easy it is to fall again in the lower realms50 or when I see that even in this life, thoughts resembling those of animals, hungry spirits or hell dwellers often appear in my mind and in the mind of others, I feel that I do not want to assume any risk of failing to quickly become a Buddha for once and for all.

To have patience on any spiritual path where personal power is important is not at all a virtue but an illusion. It is to not be aware of one’s own lacking capacities and those of other beings living in this last Dharma age, and to not know what it really means to become a Buddha or a Free One. It means to not be aware of the subconscious karmic energies which come from the distant past, from eons of drinking the poison of ignorance and of evil deeds. It is not to be aware of the fragility of this life and of the possibility that death could come at any moment and could catch you unprepared, or at least not yet entered in a stage from where you cannot retrogress.

What patience should I have when I confront myself with such dangers? What patience can I have with myself when I contemplate the wickedness of this world and my own inner darkness?

When I see the state of mind of my close friends who do not read even a single Buddhist book, not to mention even practice anything, unaware that there is a path to escape birth and death, not even 50 Birth as an animal, hungry spirit or hell dweller.

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wanting to escape it…when I ask myself where will these people go after death and worry that I myself might wander in samsara still unenlightened and not free, incapable to help them or myself, how can I have patience?

I ask myself: Where will my parents or my girlfriend go after death? Where are my dear grandparents now? What can I do for them? Where will my dear animal friends go, driven by the power of their karma? Where will my dog Rocky go, lost even in this life?

These are very important questions to me….

I am sure, dear reader, that if you love your kids, wife, husband, parents, grandparents, friends, etc., you too ask yourself such questions. But how can you really help them to receive true freedom from birth and death if you do not become a Buddha, possessing infinite wisdom and capacities?

Indeed not only for you, but also for all beings, you should follow the Buddhist path.

So, can you afford to be unsure about your own Enlightenment, do you allow yourself to wait many more lives until someday, who knows when, you will attain something? Can you afford the risk of losing again or forever the beings you love? What is more important, the support you give to them in this life, when due to your own ignorance, do you really know what is good or evil, useful or not useful for them, or the gift of freedom from the suffering of repeated birth and death?

How can you help others if you do not become a Buddha, and how can you become a Buddha by relying on yourself? This is the most important question. If you haven’t attained Buddhahood until now, when do you think you will attain it?

Please, awaken yourself from the dream of self-satisfaction! The ego cannot overcome itself by any method. There are many false

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spiritual sensations and many illusory Nirvanas when you rely on your own power, and the time seems always enough to do anything both material and spiritual. If you lack the sense of urgency and you are patient in the grave matter of birth and death, then you may already have lost this chance of being reborn a human. Every day in which you do not become a Buddha is the day you may die, and to die unenlightened and not free is the most dangerous thing that can happen to you.

Mara, the celestial demon, likes to play with the minds of virtuous practicers and often whispers in their ears: “do not be afraid, you have enough time, be patient, rely on yourself alone and make another effort…. look you are almost there!.... think how many wonderful spiritual experiences you had this week…” - until one day, death comes suddenly and unexpectedly like a thief and you die the same person, maybe a better one –a small drop of water in an ocean of poison and illusion – but still not enlightened and not free, incapable of doing something for yourself and others.

In such an outcome, Mara would certainly smile, filled with satisfaction: “how I love these virtuous practicers!”

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Don’t rely on “all beings will eventually become Buddhas”

To think that all beings will eventually become Buddhas is a dangerous trap for ordinary, unenlightened people who thus might strengthen the reliance on their false ego. It is another delusory thought of those who “copy and paste” the words of Enlightened Beings without discrimination.

“But the Buddha said this”, someone can argue....

Yes, he said it, but the meaning is that he as a Buddha will never stop until all beings will also become Buddhas. It is not that ordinary people will become Buddhas by their own power at some time in the future, but that the Buddhas will do everything in their transcendental powers to make this aspiration come true. That sentence is the wish and aspiration of the Buddhas, not what people will actually do without their help.

Only if we give up trust in our self power (the power of our unenlightened ego) and entrust ourselves to Amida Buddha’s Power (Other Power) will we become Buddhas. Otherwise, no one can escape birth and death, with the exception of a few special beings who are already very close to perfect Enlightenment but who have struggled for this since timeless past, such as, for example, Maitreya Bodhisattva51.

The time is infinite, but the Buddhas have enough patience to wait and will always work to make all beings entrust to Amida so that all will eventually be free from birth and death. This is because all Buddhas sustain Amida Buddha, who is the one who provided the best method (his Primal Vow) to make this wish come true: to bring all beings to Buddhahood. Some methods require special capacities on the part of beings, but the Primal Vow requires truly nothing – no

51 See the chapter “Equal with Maitreya Buddha”

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virtue, no special quality or ability. This is why this method is universal: both saints and idiots can be saved through it.

If Amida’s Primal Vow had not been made then the beings wouldn’t have had any chance for Liberation and the sentence that “all beings will eventually become Buddhas” would have been spoken in vain.

The Buddha, as the Supreme Doctor, knows that some are too sick to recover: because he has infinite Compassion he does not wait until they become capable to emerge by themselves from deep hells or other lower realms. What mother would do such a thing – to let her child sink into hell and wait for him on the edge of the abyss until he finally recovers? But what if he does not recover? And in fact, what chances does anybody have to recover by himself if he sank in the ocean of immeasurable pain of the lower realms. No Buddha whose essence is compassion, would wait and see without doing anything. This is why Amida made his Primal Vow and established his Pure Land, because he didn’t want to stay and wait until sentient beings will eventually become Buddhas by their own efforts. It would have been stupid and compassionless had he done that. He wouldn’t have been a Buddha had he done this.

So, dear friends, please do not rely on words that you cannot understand, but keep in mind the thought of impermanence: the impermanence of your life which can end anytime, and the impermanence of your so-called spiritual realisations based on self power. Please bear in mind that in the ocean of birth and death there is no “you” alone who will eventually become a Buddha. The road to the lower realms is always open for those who rely on their personal power. There is no real spiritual evolution for an unenlightened being like you, no “today I learned someting new and made a new step forward”, no hope, nothing, just Amida’s helping hand. Please accept it.

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Faith is simple, nothing special

I noticed that some practicers from other traditions or with previous experience in other schools, who sometimes talk with me about Jodo Shinshu, perceive shinjin (faith in Amida Buddha) like a special state of mind that must be attained by them and which is hard to attain. Maybe this tendency comes from the practices they are used to within their traditions, where something has to be attained, felt or visualized, etc.

But shinjin is different. It doesn’t necessarily imply a special state of mind, or special thing to be felt or experienced. It is simply to entrust in Amida Buddha. I rely on Amida for my attainment of Buddhahood in his Pure Land. That is all.

People, in general, are hungry for special feelings and sensations, thinking that if they don’t feel something special then maybe they have no true spiritual realisation. But in matters related to shinjin and the salvation of Amida Buddha, no special state of mind is necessary in your daily life.

When faith is first experienced, the follower experiences a great burden has been taken off his shoulders, in the sense that he no longer needs to rely on himself to become a Buddha - a truly free One. The burden of his liberation is carried by the Buddha called Amida, who already crossed the Path for him.

You can be happy or feel relief when you first entrust yourself to Amida Buddha, if attaining Buddhahood or final liberation from birth and death is the most important matter for you, but this doesn’t mean that hour to hour, minute to minute, second to second, you will think on Amida or feel a continuous joy as to jump in the air. Our lives are in such a way that we can always be overwhelmed by daily problems and worries. But its okay, it’s simply okay to be like this.

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We are not compelled to always jump with joy because we are saved by Amida. Despite this, the salvation of Amida is always present, as our simple faith in him remains with us since we first received it in our hearts.

I often say that faith, once received, becomes like breathing, always being there although you don’t realize it consciously every moment.

On the Jodo Shinshu path we are relaxed because we don’t need special states of mind or special qualities, we don’t need to be different than we already are in our daily lives, that is, caught in attachments of every kind; we don’t need to be wise … in short we need to be nothing else than we already are.

This is because Amida does EVERYTHING….

Refuge in Amida, faith in Amida, recitation of his Name is effective not because of us, of a certain state or quality we should develop, but because of the Other Power of Amida. Once you realize this you can be relaxed. To be relaxed in Jodo Shinshu is to leave everything to Amida. It’s the problem of Amida to save you, to make you become a Buddha, and Amida has already accomplished this for you many kalpas ago when he fulfilled his Primal Vow.

Faith in Amida is faith in Amida, it is not reliance on ourselves, on what we can do, on our own feelings and states of mind. It’s faith in the Other, in the One who is already a Buddha, a completely free One and who promised that all unworthy, ordinary people will attain Buddhahood through him.

I repeat, (as I am not writing this chapter by accident but because of my experience with some people who I think need it) don’t think of something special in relation to faith.

Also, don’t think that something has to happen with you after you rely on Amida, such as, for example, becoming a better or wiser

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person. Jodo Shinshu is first intended for people that remain unchanged in their delusions and blind passions all their lives. The Buddha has no expectation from the people for whom he made his Primal Vow. It’s normal for ordinary people filled with blind passions to remain ordinary people filled with blind passions.…

Or if it seems that you truly did something good or useful to someone after entrusting to Amida, think this is due to Amida’s influence, but not that you are a better person because of being saved by Amida. Don’t busy yourself with virtue or non-virtue: just entrust in Amida and do what you can in your daily life, for yourself or for others.

Somebody told me that he can’t sleep, making efforts to attain shinjin. I told him:

“Relax, shinjin means just to rely on Amida; it’s not something you should create or construct in your mind. Don’t stress yourself, just entrust in Amida. Let go of the idea of feeling or creating something. Just entrust.”

The human mind is so complicated…but shinjin is just simply to rely exclusively on Amida for the attainment of your Enlightenment. Doing so, when you die, you will be born in the Pure Land or Amida’s sphere of influence, and you yourself will become a Buddha. But until then, relax and stay as you are. Everything is okay. You don’t need to construct anything in your delusional mind.

Amida does EVERYTHING and asks NOTHING from you.

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How can one know that he received shinjin if he has no access to a temple or priest?

Question:“Because nothing physical happens or is done to the person

receiving shinjin (baptism /Dharma transmission, etc.) how can that seeker know he/she has indeed received shinjin and attained the rightly established state?”

This question above assumes that the person or persons referred to has no physical access to a Shinshu Buddhist temple or priest, which is a sad reality across most of the world except for Japan.

Answer:Fortunately, in our school there are neither gurus nor masters who

can give or confirm the receiving of faith in the heart of the practicer. Jodo Shinshu is a personal and exclusive relation between Amida Buddha (a real and living Buddha) and the person who has faith in him. They are like mother and child.

Thus, the Mother (Amida) is always sending her love to the child and she knows if the child entrusts to her while the child (the follower) knows that he is loved and has faith in the Mother.

When someone entrusts to Amida for the first time, he/she knows or becomes aware of this faith. He knows, without any doubt or hesitation, “I entrust in Amida Buddha for myself to attain Buddhahood in his Pure Land”. By having faith in Amida he becomes aware of two simple things:

1. that he cannot save himself from birth and death (deep awareness of his limitations)

and

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2. that Amida will do this for him - he accepts Amida’s salvation (expressed in his Primal Vow) as being real and trustworthy.

Nothing special has to happen inside the mind of the practicer or outside of him when he receives shinjin in his heart. There is no need to feel anything special, although the follower may experience something like a heavy burden being lifted from his shoulders – the burden of having to reach freedom from birth and death by himself. Also, there is no need for another person to say “now I certify that you have shinjin”.

Various ceremonies and receiving of a Buddhist name are beautiful and can be performed if the follower has access to a temple or sangha, but if he is living in a place too far from them or he simply doesn’t want to be an official member of a certain group or denomination, then he should not ask for such ceremonies. Alone or in a group, all that matters is that you understand the Dharma and receive shinjin.

The teacher is important in Jodo Shinshu but only as a messenger of Amida’s salvation. He or she is somebody who encourages you to entrust in Amida. It would be better if you have face-to-face access to a true teacher and a true sangha so that you can always ask questions to clear your doubts and misunderstandings, but if the conditions are difficult and you cannot meet anybody in particular, then use every means necessary, the internet for example, to have this Dharma dialogue.

Or if you don’t trust in any living teacher, just read the sacred texts by yourself, while asking Amida Buddha and Shinran Shonin to guide you and protect your understanding. Reading the sacred texts (with or without access to a priest or sangha) is also listening the Dharma as now there are many good translations that can be found everywhere in the libraries or on the internet.

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Dharma dialogue and Dharma listening is very important, no matter whether you do it by face-to-face meetings or by internet, letters or telephone, because only by first understanding with the head the content of the teaching, openness toward Amida’s message of salvation, can shinjin (faith) arise in the heart.

Then you will know that you indeed rely on Amida Buddha and have faith in him. The others can see or not see this change in your heart, but their opinions are really not important.

The most important thing is that you know for yourself that you entrust in Amida Buddha52 for attaining Buddhahood in his Pure Land. You have to know this, not somebody else, because Amida addresses each and every individual in particular. He is having a personal relation with every one of us: it is as if only you or only I are the only beings to exist on this planet. All sentient beings in particular can say that the Primal Vow of Amida was made especially for him or her. This is also what Shinran himself felt.

Your first moment of entrusting and the later moments when you continue to savour your faith during the entire life represent your personal and intimate relationship with Amida Buddha. Even if the whole world is filled with false teachers and no true sanghas exist, or if you remain the last human being on the planet, you have nothing to worry about. You entrust in Amida and he receives you. This is all that matters.

52 Amida as a real and living Buddha, not a symbol, metaphor or a fictional character like some deluded priests and teachers are trying to present him. Only with a real and living Amida Buddha one can have a relation of faith and be saved. Metaphors, symbols or fictional characters can’t save anybody and faith in them is not true faith but a cultural and intelectual game of the mind. See the chapter: „Those who deny the existence of Amida don’t have shinjin”.

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Nembutsu of faith and gratitude

We often speak in our tradition about nembutsu as being the expression of gratitude for the assurance of birth in the Pure Land by Amida Buddha. It’s a correct understanding, and Master Rennyo especially emphasized this aspect in his letters in order to help people not to fall into the wrong view of considering nembutsu as a self power practice – such as, for example, a wrong view that holds the better or longer you recite the Name, the more chances you have to be born in the Pure Land.

But at the same time as being the expression of gratitude, the nembutsu is also the expression of faith, and one can find the same Master Rennyo using for example, words like “recitation of the nembutsu arising from True Faith” in his Goichidaiki Kikigaki (Thus I Have Heard from Rennyo Shonin). Both aspects, nembutsu as the expression of faith and nembutsu as the expression of gratitude appear in Master Rennyo and Master Shinran’s texts.

“Namo” from “Namo Amida Butsu”, means “homage to”, which expresses gratitude and also “to take refuge” which expresses faith (shinjin). It is logical that one cannot feel gratitude to Amida if he has not received faith in him. Only because I entrust in Amida, being convinced that his Primal Vow is true and reliable, am I able to feel gratitude. This is why I always explain the nembutsu as the natural expression of faith and gratitude.

It is natural because it is not forced by my will and not created by my own power. It is natural because in reality both faith (shinjin) and saying of the Name (nembutsu) comes from Amida.

Nembutsu is the calling of our mother, Amida Buddha, to whom we, as her children lost in the dangerous streets of samsara, answer immediately. It is due to the power of the Mother’s call and her love that the child is able to answer and say, Namo Amida Butsu, Namo

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Amida Butsu, thus taking refuge and expressing gratitude. The child’s answer is the mother’s call that manifests like an echo in his heart and he answers, Namo Amida Bu53, Namo Amida Bu.

*

Now there is another matter that troubles some people in relation with the Nembutsu.

One day we say nembutsu often, while the next day we might say it a few times. But there is no problem with this. Don’t worry. The number is not important. Faith does not increase or decrease because we say the Name often or seldom in the same way gratitude to our physical mother does not increase or decrease because we say „I love you, thank you” often or seldom. The gratitude and faith in your mother is there in your heart, no matter how often you express it verbally.

If you allow me another comparison which I use – we don’t always feel our breathing, but this doesn’t mean that our breathing doesn’t exist. Sometimes we feel it better when, for example, we are fascinated by the clear air of the mountains or of a beautiful morning and we take long and deep breaths, while some other time we are too hurried and busy in our daily life to concentrate on it.

But the breath has always been there with you since you were born, being a part of yourself, even though you don’t experience it consciously every minute. The same applies to faith and nembutsu. The faith is there, inside you, since the first time you entrusted in Amida Buddha and you were born as a person of faith. No matter what you do in your every day life, eating, sleeping, going to toilet, spending time with your girlfriend or boyfriend, being sad or happy, sober or drunk, the faith is there and cannot be destroyed (once fully

53 Bu is the shortened form of Butsu, used sometimes in reciting the nembutsu. There is no difference between Bu and Butsu. Sometimes in reciting the nembutsu Namu is used instead of Namo, but they mean the same thing.

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settled) by anything, not even by the worst of your blind passions. From time to time you express this faith and your gratitude to Amida Buddha by saying vocally or in your mind, Namo Amida Bu, Namo Amida Bu.

So, don’t worry about anything, relax and enjoy saying the nembutsu of faith and gratitude whenever you like it. Amida doesn’t keep a record of how many times you say his Name

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Self-power as an obstacle to nembutsu

Question:”Quite often it seems that we want it both ways...’our power’ and

Other Power. Could we think about it this way, ‘self-power’ is an illusion that exists within Other Power, and even this illusion cannot obstruct the nembutsu?

Answer:I think we should not complicate our minds. To rely on your own

power cannot lead you to Buddhahood in the Pure Land. It’s as simple as that. To rely on your own power will obstruct the nembutsu and your birth in the Pure Land. In the true Other Power faith there is no trace of self power. You rely on Amida Buddha or not. Mixed faith is not true faith.

When it is said in the sacred texts that nothing obstructs the nembutsu this means that no matter how heavy your karma, you are saved by Amida if you fully entrust in him. In this sense, your illusions or blind passions cannot be an obstacle to the nembutsu. But self power simply means that you do not rely at all or not exclusively on Amida for your attainment of Buddhahood in the Pure Land. This is why self power is an obstacle for the nembutsu, because in reality, the vehicle that takes you to the Pure Land is Amida’s Power, not your own power.

We also have to understand clearly the meaning of the terms “self power” (jiriki) and “Other power”(Tariki).

They are related only with the ultimate goal of becoming a Buddha in the Pure Land. They have nothing to do with our daily activities related with work, family, health, business, etc. In everyday life one can make efforts to be successful, to be a good husband, a good doctor, a good engineer or teacher, etc, but in matters related with

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Buddhahood one should rely only on Amida Buddha and on nobody else, especially not on himself.

To put it in the simplest terms, with Other Power your becoming a Buddha is the doing of Amida, not you.

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Three vows of salvation

Generally speaking, Buddhist practices taught by Shakyamuni can be classified into two groups:

1. meditative practices 2. non-meditative practices

Meditative practices include various types of meditation and visualization that we can find in all schools of Buddhism from Theravada to Mahayana and Esoteric Vajrayana54.

Non-meditative practices include chanting sutras, observing precepts, abstaining from evil or doing various good acts, etc. These non-meditative practices are said to generate merit or positive karmic energy that help the practicer attain higher rebirths or spiritual states. They can also be transferred or directed by the practicer toward various goals, including his future Enlightenment.

But Shinran disagreed with this, saying that as long as we are not enlightened and our minds are darkened by ignorance, we cannot generate genuine merit. This is especially true in the period of the last Dharma age (Mappo) in which we now live. Only the Buddhas, and of course, Amida Buddha, can have true merit. Shinran considered merit transference from the practicer toward Enlightenment as being futile, and he said that the true merit transference actually takes place from Amida Buddha to the devotee who has faith in him.

Thus we should give up any thought of generating or accumulating merit and instead rely exclusively on Amida Buddha’s Power of salvation. This exclusive reliance is described in the 18th Vow found in the Larger Sutra, called the Primal Vow. In it, Amida promises:

54 Tibetan Buddhism.

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If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and call my Name, even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

Let us consider these words: All sentient beings that entrust to Amida, desire to be born in his Land and call his Name, will be born there. Nothing else is needed. No mentioning of merit or things that the practicer should add to the power of Amida. Just wish to be born in the Pure Land, have faith and recite the Name.

These three aspects: 1. wishing to be born, 2. faith and 3. calling of the Name, are in fact three manifestations of the same thing, which is faith or the entrusting heart (shinjin). This is because there cannot be any desire to be born in the Pure Land or a saying of the Name if one doesn’t believe in the existence of Amida Buddha and his capacity to make us be born there. We wish to be born in the Pure Land and say the Name of Amida because we entrust in Amida’s power to bring us there.

Namo Amida Butsu means “I take refuge in Amida Buddha” and to take refuge is to have faith. Saying of the Name (nembutsu) is the natural expression of faith and is the same as faith. There cannot be any true nembutsu – i.e. the nembutsu of Other Power – without genuine faith. This is the case with the 18th Vow, the Vow by which Amida Buddha saves all who entrust in him, old or young, good or evil, male or female.

However, the situation is that not all practicers are able to give up entirely the attachment to their personal power in reaching birth in the Pure Land. They simply cannot rely exclusively on Amida but think there is still something they need to add to his Power so that they will deserve to be born in the Pure Land. Thus, they remain attached to the idea of merit accumulation even if they also rely on Amida.

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This kind of faith mixed with reliance on their own merit and personal power is not in accord with the 18th Vow, but still such people are not abandoned by Amida. Especially for those who are not capable to rely exclusively on him, but still wish to be born in his Pure Land, Amida created the 19th and 20th Vows.

Let’s read and understand these Vows:

(19) If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters, who awaken aspiration for Enlightenment, do various meritorious deeds and sincerely desire to be born in my land, should not, at their death, see me appear before them surrounded by a multitude of sages, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

(20) If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters who, having heard my Name, concentrate their thoughts on my land, plant roots of virtue, and sincerely transfer their merits towards my land with a desire to be born there, should not eventually fulfill their aspiration, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

What does Amida say in the 19th Vow? That those who do various meritorious deeds in order to be born in the Pure Land will see Amida Buddha at their death surrounded by many sages, welcoming them in the Pure Land. The various meritorious deeds mean they continue to practice many kinds of meditative and non-meditative practices. For example, whenever they do a visualization or contemplation of Amida in accord with the Contemplation Sutra or even when they do other meditation techniques, when they observe precepts, do a good deed like saving a life, abstaining from meat, etc., they think this will help them to be born in Amida’s Pure Land and actually transfer the merit of these practices (meditative or non-meditative) toward their future birth there.

Usually followers of various schools do meditation practices or observe precepts, etc., in order to become a Buddha in this life, like

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Shakyamuni, but practicers of the 19th Vow change the goal of these meditative and non-meditative practices to become a Buddha in the Pure Land of Amida. They change the direction of their Buddhist practice toward Amida Buddha. This is the difference between them and other Buddhists and this difference makes them to enter Amida’s influence and guidance.

The followers of the 20th Vow make another important step further into the Light of Amida Buddha. They do not stop at meditative and non-meditative practices, but among all practices they chose only one which is to say the Name of Amida Buddha.

The expression “hearing my Name” from the 20th Vow means to become aware of the Name of Amida and to say it both in mind and with one’s mouth. The concentration of thoughts on the land of Amida and the desire to be born there is done this time through recitation of the Name. In the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amida-kyo) the recitation of the Name of Amida is called the root of all virtues, because among all Buddhist practices recommended by Shakyamuni, the recitation of the Name is supreme. So, to “plant roots of virtue” mentioned in the 20th Vow means to recite exclusively the Name of Amida, i.e. to choose among all practices only this practice.

Like followers of the 19th Vow, those of the 20th Vow are also not free of doubts and do not rely exclusively on Amida’s Power to be born in the Pure Land but consider this Name recitation to be their own virtue and a practice that depends on their own capacities to be done correctly. So they transfer the merits they think they accumulated through a good recitation toward birth in Amida’s Pure Land. They are still dependent on their own power and their faith in Amida is not absolute.

What we see from reading these two vows, the 19th and the 20th, is that people following them are also born in the Pure Land of Amida and escape once and for all from samsara or birth and death. Amida especially finishes these two vows with the promise that the

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practicers fulfilling the requirements contained in them will definitely be born in his Pure Land and if this will not happen then it means he does not deserve to be called a Buddha or he is not a Buddha – “may I not attain perfect Enlightenment”.

But if we read the Contemplation Sutra on Amida Buddha we see that among those born in the Pure Land through directing their merit in one way or another there are various grades and differences. Not all are equal. The more the virtues, the better the place one occupies in the Pure Land, for example, the higher level of the highest grade, the middle level of the highest grade, the lower level of the highest grade, then the higher level of the middle grade, the middle level of the middle grade, and so on, until the lowest level of the lowest grade.

But no mention is made there about those who enter Amida’s Pure Land through faith alone as in the 18th Vow. The various levels are established only according to the personal virtues of the practicers in their previous life when they transferred the merit acquired through various meditative or non-meditative practices and through nembutsu recited in self power.

What does this mean? Why are those born through faith alone not mentioned in any of these categories?

Shinran said this is because they immediately become Buddhas when they are born in the Pure Land, and for Buddhas there are no categories in which they can be classified. But those who are born in the Pure Land through the gate of the 19th and 20th vows do not immediately become Buddhas but due to their clinging to personal power they continue to stay there in an unenlightened state of mind until they overcome their doubts and attachments to the so called merits and virtues and entrust entirely to the Power of Amida Buddha.

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The 18th is the Vow of direct entering into the true Pure Land, while the other two are Vows of indirect entering. It is like a house with three doors. One door is the main one which leads directly to the owner and in his presence you become like him (a Buddha sharing the activity of Amida), while the second and third door are leading to an anteroom or waiting room where you have to stay for a while until having access to him.

This anteroom or waiting room to perfect Enlightenment in Amida’s Pure Land is called the borderland of the Pure Land or the realm of indolence and pride, the city of doubt, the womb like palace, etc. Birth here is not a punishment, but practicers actually keep themselves there by their doubts and clinging to their own power.

The 18th, the 19th and the 20th Vows are the three Vows of salvation which give deliverance from birth and death to all beings that rely exclusively or partially on Amida Buddha, who have absolute faith or still cling to their so called power and merit but wish to be born in the Pure Land.

Because these three Vows – and especially the 18th – are mentioned in the Larger Sutra on Amida Buddha, Shinran considered its deliverance to be the main reason for Shakyamuni’s appearance on earth, while the Contemplation Sutra where visualization of Amida, transference of merits and the nine grade of aspirants are mentioned and the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amida-kyo) where the recitation of the Name alone is encouraged as the root of all virtues, are provisional means for those who still can’t rely exclusively on Amida Buddha.

Many people go through these three vows of salvation consciously or unconsciously in their Buddhist practice. Many of us had a time when we practiced other Buddhist methods to become a Buddha in this life after we abandoned various religious paths or didn’t have any religion at all. Then, we heard about Amida’s Pure Land and westopped aspiring to attain Enlightenment in this life but wanted to be born there. Still, doubting that birth in the Pure Land is so easy, we

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felt we need to do something in order to deserve it. So we continued to follow various practices to feel we are better people than others.

Then, we heard that nembutsu is the greatest practice among all Buddhist practices, the root of all virtues, and we start reciting it, but still we felt this is too easy, so again attachment to our own power kept us prisoners of doubts.

And finally, after listening again and again to the teaching, contemplating our true capacities and the Compassion of Amida, we realized he is like a mother who wishes to save her children quickly from the danger of fire and death, without waiting until they become perfect. So, for the first time we heard the 18th Vow in which no special virtue or capacity was mentioned in order to be born in the Pure Land, and we received faith. Then, the nembutsu we continued to recite was no longer the nembutsu based on self power, but the nembutsu of faith and gratitude.

With this nembutsu of faith and gratitude we enter directly into the presence of Amida, the Master of the Pure Land, where we too become Buddhas and forever join his salvation work.

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Methods for the visualisation of Amida and shinjin

Question:“I was reading about the practice described in the Pratyutpanna

Samadhi Sutra and I was really impressed by the idea of experiencing the presence of Amida Nyorai and the other Buddhas. I also read that this sutra contains one of the earliest mentions of Amida Tathagata so I would like to ask you about such practices.

It is true for me that some times I feel my faith becoming strong and settled in my mind while some other times it becomes weaker so there is still work for me till I experience true and pure shinjin in Amida Nyorai and the Vow.

My question is, whether practices like that mentioned in the sutra above are allowed to practicers of the Jodo Shinshu sect. The Contemplation Sutra which I have not yet studied is said to contain ways to visualise Amida and in Chinese Pure Land school this kind of visualisation was widespread among priests and monks. Is it okay if someone tries to visualise Amida in addition to chanting the nembutsu (I do not mean chanting as a way to gain merit but having in mind the Shinshu doctrine that it is an expression of gratitude for Amida’s Power of salvation)?

Are visualizations of Amida Nyorai and the 90 days practice in Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra examples of reliance on jiriki? In my opinion, such practices could be useful in strengthening the experience of shinjin and I do believe that the results of these visualizations and practices are made visible to us by the Other Power and not our personal power. I mean, isn’t it Amida who makes the visions possible to us? A man of shinjin for example, could practice visualization methods to have a look of Amida Tathagata and his attendants.

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If I keep in my mind that the visualisations are a gift of the Other Power and are experienced only with the help of the Other Power, could I for example, visualise Amida and the Pure Land?”

Answer:A Jodo Shinshu follower can do any practice he wants if by that

practice he doesn’t think he adds something to the salvation of Amida. If one has firm faith in Amida Buddha and thinks that only through the Power of Amida he is born in the Pure Land and becomes a Buddha then he cannot deviate no matter whether he sometimes does some meditation or visualisations.

But if one thinks that by practicing a certain meditation or visualisation he is gaining merit, improves his chances of being born in the Pure Land or even thinks that he improves his shinjin, then this is not in accord with the Jodo Shinshu teaching.

In Jodo Shinshu faith is something very simple. It’s just to entrust in Amida.

If it helps you, maybe you can say this to yourself: “From now on I rely exclusively on Amida for my birth in the Pure Land and attainment of Buddhahood. No matter what other thoughts arise in my mind or fears or doubts, I leave them alone and rely exclusively on Amida Buddha.”

Do not try to create a special state of faith in your mind, and don’t work on that special state of faith. Just rely on Amida in a simple manner and let other thoughts, fears or doubts arise and leave your mind. Listen again and again to the Dharma as explained by Shinran Shonin. Listening deeply to the Dharma opens us to Amida and prepares us to receive shinjin.

There are many sutras and sacred texts about Amida Buddha, and many interpretations, but Shinran’s view is unique among all. In Tannisho, Yuien-bo encourages us to adhere only to Shinran’s explanations of the sutras.

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In the sutras, Shinran said, “the true and real and the accommodated and provisional are mixed.”And he continued, “that we abandon the accommodated and take up the real, set aside the provisional and adopt the true is the Master’s fundamental intent. You must under no circumstances misread the sacred writings.”

This means that the teaching about Amida’s salvation is presented in various ways depending on the sutras. Some sutras encourage people to practice visualisations, others to keep precepts and do good deeds in addition to aspiring for birth in the Pure Land, yet others to recite the Name with right concentration. The Larger Amida Sutra(Bussetsu Muryoju Kyo), which Shinran considered to be the most important sutra preached by Shakyamuni, presents the Primal Vow in which only saying of the Name in faith is all that matters. No other requirements or other practices like visualisation or meditation and following precepts are mentioned in the Primal Vow (18th Vow).

What does this mean? It means, according to Shinran, that the methods related to visualisations presented in some sutras are only provisional methods for those still incapable of relying exclusively on Amida Buddha in accordance with the Primal Vow. They are not direct means of entering the Pure Land, but practicing such methods shows a lack of shinjin and an attachment to one’s own power. Such methods practiced without shinjin can lead only to the borderland of the Pure Land and not to the true fulfilled Pure Land where one becomes immediately a Buddha.

But for one who has received shinjin in his heart and knows surely that he is born in the Pure Land only by faith in Amida and through Amida’s Power, he may enjoy such visualisations if he wishes because he knows that success or lack of any success in visualisation does not add something to the salvation of Amida. We can say that he tries visualisations for fun.

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You can also give it a try if you are in the situation of the person described above. Only the person described above is not going against Jodo Shinshu teaching if he practices visualisation. This is simply because he has already received shinjin – a simple, uncomplicated faith in Amida Buddha. But if something like transference of merit is involved and suggested in the technical description of performing that visualisation, then you, as one who knows that you have no merit, should bypass that part.

Of course, in the end, any success of Amida’s visualisation is due only to Amida’s Power and influence. You said: “I do believe that the results of these visualizations and practices are made visible to us by the Other Power and not our personal power.” Yes, this is true, but those without faith and who rely on their own power do not realize this, and because they cling to their so-called realisations and not on the Power of Amida they are not born directly into the true fulfilled Pure Land but in the borderland of the Pure Land.

But I also do not deny that after seeing Amida with their own eyes, some self-power practicers might become aware that it is only Amida’s working who does all things and end up relying exclusively on Other Power. So, I am not against visualisations but against the wrong attitude of mind that does the visualisations. All that matters is whether there is the presence of shinjin (simple faith) or the lack of shinjin (lack of simple faith).

It is very important to know that shinjin does not become stronger through visualisations and does not depend on visualisations. It is an error to think that shinjin is the product of a successful visualisation or it is strengthened by it. Shinjin is just the simple entrusting to Amida that comes after hearing and accepting the Primal Vow in which only faith and the nembutsu of faith are involved. In its ultimate sense shinjin is the gift of Amida and is not dependent upon or strengthened by any visualisation.

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About your thoughts and bad tendencies that don’t stop even after receiving shinjin…

Don’t busy yourself with them, just as Amida doesn’t. Your salvation has nothing to do with them. This is why Master Rennyo said that for the person of shinjin our negative karma is as if non-existent, in the sense that it will not become an obstacle to our attainment of Buddhahood in the Pure Land. This is also the meaning of “we attain Buddhahood without destroying blind passions”.

If bad thoughts arise in your mind, let them pass. It is not in your power to stop them and is not even recommended that you stop your thoughts, as this can bring mental problems. Just notice them and let them pass. They are your karma, your karmic tendencies, conscious or unconscious. I say they are “yours” because you are attached to them, identify yourself with them and you try to fulfill them, but in reality they are like clouds in the sky, impermanent and transitory.

Thoughts belong to nobody; they come from emptiness and go to emptiness. So, just leave them alone: you don’t need to insist on acting on them or modifying them. Just rely on Amida and say the nembutsu. The object of your attention should be Amida’s promise from his Primal Vow, not the various thoughts that wander in your mind.

If you experience good moments, say the nembutsu. If you experience bad moments, say the nembutsu. There will always be something to happen to you or appear into your mind. Don’t expect not to experience bad thoughts after receiving shinjin (faith).

Take refuge in Amida Buddha and say his Name no matter the state of mind you are in. Amida doesn’t care that you are in a good, special, or bad state of mind. He knows who you are and that you need him, so don’t worry. He is your best friend, asking nothingfrom you.

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Here is a wonderful poem by Senmyo Wajo:

“When you are alone and hurt, recite Namo Amida Butsu.When you feel the loneliest man in the world and you are

depressed, again recite Namo Amida Butsu.Namo Amida Butsu is for this ignorant person full of blind

passions.When things are as they should, not good or bad, Namo Amida

Butsu.Namo Amida Butsu is not recited for other people’s ears,but it’s a Call between parent and child.I hear Namo Amida Butsu with my ears,Namo Amida Butsu I answer with my voice and my heart,Namo Amida Butsu, recite even for ten times and sleep in peace!If you suddenly die, whenever and wherever you are, you are home in the Pure Land of Enlightenment.”

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On doubts and fears

Question:“How does the person of nembutsu, who has received shinjin, deal

with the ‘demon’ of doubt that resurfaces after the believer has received and experienced the blessings of true entrusting from Amida Buddha?

As foolish beings, our Saha world minds are prone to delusion and ‘doubt’. That is part of our hopeless condition as bonbu. Perhaps those who have doubt after receiving shinjin are loved all the more by Amida Nyorai, because Amida recognizes the great need to embrace these hopeless, helpless beings in their delusional state of doubt. A Chinese Pure Land Master once said, “You may not ever doubtBuddha Amitabha, but, you will doubt yourself.” (I realize that those who have shinjin have Amida’s own faith through his merit transference to us, and that Amida Buddha cannot doubt himself).

At some level, most Westerners, who are converts from some form of Christianity, know they are ‘risking their very eternal lives’ (souls?) to receive, and possibly transmit, the Dharma of our school of Buddhism.

Could it be that ‘all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas praise the person of nembutsu,’ because of that person’s stubborn reliance on the Great Vow and belief in the sutras preached by Shakyamuni...at a ‘fundamental’ level? Are people of shinjin...heroes to all the beings of all the worlds?

Are these children of Amida Buddha recipients of the ‘Present Benefits’ because they recognize their stupidity and know, beyond any doubt, that the one thing they cannot do is save themselves from birth and death?”

Answer:

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A person who has received shinjin cannot doubt Amida’s salvation. To have shinjin means, in the words of Shinran, to hear the Primal Vow of Amida without doubt. So, doubt and shinjin cannot coexist with one another.

Of course, in terms of his personal daily life, the follower can have doubt related with many things, like his relations, his friends, even his own self, but he never doubts in ultimate matters like his own birth in the Pure Land and subsequent attainment of Buddhahood.

Generally speaking, the follower who has faith in Amida should not expect to feel special things or become a better person, to acquire qualities that he hasn’t had until then, or to overcome his ordinary problems and fears. Simply stated, he remains an ordinary person filled with delusions and attachments even after receiving shinjin.

But there is one big difference – he knows that from now on (from the moment of his first thought of full entrusting) a great burden has indeed been taken off his shoulders, the burden of becoming a Buddha by himself. He certainly knows, with no doubt, that he has become assured of birth and Buddhahood in Amida’s Pure Land when this life comes to an end.

He knows all these, but deep inside, fears of various kinds, delusions and difficulties might continue to coexist with this faith. Shinjin or faith is an “outside element” in the heart of the believer because it is not his creation but rather what Amida has planted inside him.

Shinjin is also like the big and warm arms of the mother who carries the frightened child across the turbulent waters of a flooded river. The child continues to cry, being frightened of various things he sees and hears around him, but he is safely kept in his mother’s embrace.

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Fears of many types are present but there is also entrusting in the mother. For example, he might be scared when he sees a big wave coming toward him or hears a thunderbolt in the sky or the rain pouring over his face, but he knows he is safely carried away by his mother to the other shore.

Fear is an instinctual habit which cannot completely disappear from our hearts and minds until we have become Enlightened. For example, even when we are in a big and solid house we might fear for a moment when we hear a powerful thunder. In the same way, we continue to fear death even if we know that when we die we go to the Pure Land and become Buddhas. Fear of death is the manifestation of our powerful attachment and identification with our bodies. It is the same with fear from being injured, but I would not call these fears the same as doubting Amida’s salvation.

If we were asked to feel no fear in order to be saved by Amida, then who would be saved? Who is free of at least one type of fear? So, Amida Buddha does not require us to be without fear as there is no mention in his Primal Vow of anything like this. If we read the Primal Vow we see that he only asks us to entrust in him (saying of the Name and aspiring to be born being the same as entrusting).

In the ultimate sense, faith in Amida is not the product of our minds or hearts as unenlightened beings. It is said that in a forest filled with poisonous trees, there cannot appear any tree with good fruits. So in the hearts filled with illusions and attachments, faith in Amida cannot appear unless Amida causes it to appear. It is the same as the love of the mother who makes the child entrust to her. Without the love of the mother, the child can do nothing.

The calling of the mother echoes in the child’s heart and makes him respond with faith, just as it is with Namo Amida Butsu (which is the expression of faith). But it is the mother’s love which works inside the child to make him entrust to her. This is how I explain in

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limited verbal terms the impossible to understand concept that shinjin comes from Amida and is not our creation.

Because shinjin comes from Amida it is called the diamond-like shinjin, which means it cannot be destroyed by anybody, be it a demon or a person from a different religion. Even if we hear others tell us that because we left Christianity we’ll go to hell, it is like hearing thunderbolts and heavy rain from inside a big, strong and safe house. The thunderbolts and heavy rain might sound frightful for a moment, because we are used to hearing many threats all our life since childhood, but we remember that we are safe in the house, which is a metaphor of Amida’s embrace.

It is the same when watching a horror movie. We can become scared, but in the end we know we are safe and that it is only a movie, nothing real. After all, the reality is that we are safe with Amida Buddha and carried to his Pure Land where we’ll become Buddhas.

I repeat, in ultimate matters – that we are saved by Amida – there can be no doubts for one who has shinjin. No matter what happens or how he feels, sometimes good and sometimes bad or scared by various things, he knows deep inside him, due to his faith, that he is saved by Amida and destined to become a Buddha in the Pure Land.

There is nothing we, ordinary people, can do with our fears, attachments and problems, so there is no need to worry that they may remain with us for the rest of our lives. Most important is that we rely on Amida, that we have a simple faith in him and thus be sure that this is our last life as non-Buddhas.

Please do not forget that fear, attachments, and delusions are different and apart from shinjin. The first are the product of your own delusion, while the latter originates from Amida and is the assurance that he saves you and accepts you as you are.

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People of nembutsu are praised by all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas not because they made something special through their own power, but because they follow the most important teaching of all Buddhas by entrusting themselves to Amida. All Buddhas know the Amida Dharma is the supreme Dharma because it can save everybody, no matter how great or small their spiritual capacities. The goal of all Buddhas’ appearance in the world is to save all beings; and what method is indeed saving everybody and corresponds to this goal, if not the nembutsu of faith in Amida?

So, to be open to this Dharma, accept it, venerate it and say the nembutsu of faith is what all Buddhas praise even if the follower does not have anything special inside him.

It is due to Amida that persons of shinjin are praised by all Buddhas. We are not heroes, because without Amida we can do nothing but end in hell or other lower realms; we are not heroes, because it is Amida who works inside us, once we have entrusted ourselves to him, and causes us be born in his Pure Land. We can rather say that we are the children with the most important father or mother in the universe. If you have the most important father or mother you can be certain that all Buddhas will praise you, even though you are nothing special in and of yourself.

Also it is one thing to see yourself as you are in the light of your own wisdom and another to realize your limitations once the infinite light of Amida enters your being through faith (shinjin). It is the difference between sitting in a dark room with a small candle on the one hand and illuminating it with lots of modern electrical devices on the other. Shinjin, or connecting to Amida’s Light, is what causes you to receive the ten benefits in this life and the praise of all Buddhas.

All one needs do is listen deeply to the teaching about the Primal Vow again and again. Even if he doubts many times, he should continue to listen, ask questions, meditate on himself and on what he has heard, and one day he might well become open to and arrive at a

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simple faith in Amida naturally arising in his heart. Then he will be sure of his birth in the Pure Land no matter if his mind remains as ordinary as before.

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I was a good Buddhist

Many Buddhist practicers are like a man staring at the sun, but with his body in a hole full of excrement.

Here the sun represents the ideal – Buddhahood to be attained through his own power. This ideal is of course very beautiful and the practicer always likes to stare at it and to take delight in many beautiful words about Enlightenment, emptiness, Buddha-nature, that we are all Buddhas-to-be, etc. The hole of excrement is his true reality in the here and now, his deep karmic evil, his limitations, attachments and blind passions that cover all his body and mind.

However, he likes to dream about Enlightenment: he sometimes even thinks that this is something that can be attained in this very life. After all, he might ask, we all have Buddha-nature, don’t we?…

And this dream continues as he practices in self power for 20, 30, 40 years or more, until he finally dies like an ordinary unenlightened person, going to the next life with all his karma, attachments and his so called “merits” accumulated in this life.

I often meet with people that talk a lot about the fact that we all posses Buddha-nature and because of this there is nothing that we have left to do but just realize this truth in our mind. They are always full of wise quotes from Buddhist masters and sages of the past from various schools, about Buddha-nature, emptiness, etc. Usually such people try many types of practices, always going here and there, never being totally satisfied with any school or teacher.

“I’m still searching”, they say, always feeling comfortable with this searching, behaving as though they have all the time in the world. They enjoy good books and good meditation, until they suddenly die. I said that they “suddenly die” because when death comes to them is

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like a surprise. In fact, they never seriously think about death: this is why they enjoy their “searching” for truth and the right practice.

If they were really aware of the inevitability of their own death and impermanence, the next step would be to ask themselves in what state of mind death will find them if it comes not tomorrow, but today, at this very hour and second. If they were to ask themselves this question, then they could feel the smell of the excrement they are in and awaken from the self-satisfying dream of beautiful words about Enlightenment.

I myself was a “good” Buddhist, staring at the sun until the awareness of my own death and impermanence hit me so powerfully and awoke me from my dream of self satisfaction. I suddenly became aware not only of the fragility of my life, but also of the fragility and impermanence of my practice based on personal power. In that moment I abandoned myself and took refuge in Amida. Since then, I cannot deceive myself with my spiritual “realizations”.

I imagine myself like a man lying helplessly in a deep and dark ravine with walls so steep and slippery that they cannot be climbed given my weak body. A good man sees me and throws a strong rope to me. But being so weak, I cannot climb myself on it, so he tells me just to tie myself to this strong rope and let myself to be lifted by him. He tells me not to be afraid and to have full trust in him. I do this immediately and I am finally released from the dark ravine.

This dark ravine in which I was lying helplessly is samsara (the world of birth and death), the good man is Amida Buddha and the rope is his Primal Vow through which he tries to help me. His intention is not to have a good chat with me about emptiness or Buddha-nature, or encourage me to climb by myself up the steep and slippery walls, because he realizes that I definitely cannot do this. His only intention is to save me immediately, without delay and in this very moment. He even says to me: “I beg you, take this rope, take it

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immediately, there is no time!” This is what we mean when we talk about Amida Buddha’s call.

The rope is so well secured that I only need to let my body be raised by it – I do not need to climb myself on it. You probably know the kind of ropes that are launched from helicopters when injured people are saved from various dangerous situations – these kinds of ropes are made so that injured persons can be lifted up to safety, they do not need to climb themselves on it.

To hear Amida’s call is to listen to the teaching, that is, to the intention of his Primal Vow. To let myself be lifted by the rope dropped to me by him is shinjin (entrusting to his Primal Vow) and also nembutsu – “Yes, I rely on you and I am grateful that you have saved me.” Entrusting myself to Amida Buddha and being grateful to him is Namo Amida Butsu. This how I understand Jodo Shinshu teaching.

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Four misconceptions concerning the nembutsu (impermanence, evil karma/good karma and one or many

sayings)

(A commentary on a fragment from “The Essentials of Faith Alone” by Master Seikaku)

The four misconceptions concerning the nembutsu, presented by Master Seikaku in the fragment I chose from the Essentials of Faith Alone, refers to the wrong understanding of impermanence, bad karma, good karma, and the matter of once calling and many callings of the Name of Amida Buddha.

If we wish to understand a certain object we look to its qualities, to the elements that make it up. What are the elements and fundamental qualities of life? A body and mind which are subject to an inexorable cycle of birth, growing, maturity, decay and death. Decay and death …. Especially these two must attract our attention in the same way we analyze a certain object: some qualities distinguish themselves from others and lead to the definition of the object.

In the case of life, impermanence is the fundamental characteristic. So, what we do with an object that has impermanence as its main quality? What is as slippery as an eel and very dangerous so that, when it is wrongly understood and used, gives rise to suffering? This is the most important question. All true practicers have analyzed and will analyze this life with the same seriousness Siddhartha treated the meeting with an old man, a sick person and a corpse. His life could no longer be the same after these encounters.

The life of someone who is aware of the truth of impermanence is not divided in the present moment and the moment of death, rather it is a life in which the moment of death is lived here and now, in this very second. My conversion happened in the moment when the distance between me and my death was reduced to zero. Until then, I

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always felt like I had a lot of time to practice meditation, be wise, read, etc. But in that moment I felt that I had no time. Shinjin is sometimes received on the deathbed. At least that is how it was in my case. This is why nembutsu from that moment continues even now, because my first nembutsu was the nembutsu of a dying person.

But why was my conversion from a self power practice towards a practice based on Other Power? Why not to “a better practice”, but still in the realm of self power? The answer is because I felt that I could not rely on myself. Because in the moment one feels the fragility of his body and sees with his own eyes the corpse of a friend or of a close relative, one cannot praise himself with his personal capacities. In the moment of my conversion I felt that I could not be a refuge for myself and that Amida became my only refuge. Since then I continue to experience this truth every day. Not only the perspective of my death but also my own personal life are constant reminders of the necessity of getting free from myself in the embrace of Amida.

Master Rennyo said:

“The teaching of Buddha Dharma is the teaching of non-ego”.

In Buddhism, the teaching of non-ego is often linked with the image of Bodhisattvas who never think of themselves but are always dedicated to the salvation of all beings. This is true, but it is only one aspect of it. How can we, ignorant people, understand the teaching of non-ego? In what form do we find it emphasized it in Jodo Shinshu? To follow the teaching of non-ego also means to abandon once and for all any thought of merit or non-merit, for it means not to include any personal calculation in matters that concerns our birth in the Pure Land.

Rennyo Shonin also said:

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“When a single thought of faith is awakened in us, our birth in the Pure Land is definitely settled. It is left up to Amida Tathagata55

whether he saves us after destroying our karmic evil or not. It is useless for us to discuss matters concerning our karmic evil. What concerns us is that Amida saves those who entrust themselves to him.”

I see the two wrong views, corrected by Master Seikaku, about the influence of bad karma or good karma in the act that leads to birth in the Pure Land, in the light of the above two explanations given by Rennyo Shonin. In the same way, Seikaku demonstrates the futility of any attachment regarding the evil karma or good karma from the past.

To worry about our karma means to be blinded by ourselves and not to see the Buddha. It means not to hear the teaching but to hear the noises of our personal ego. Because what is in the essence, our practice of reciting with faith the Name of the Buddha, if not the escape from the dangerous traps of the ego that thinks itself to be the center of the universe? The ego tries in vain to lie that it struggles to transcend itself and attain Nirvana through its own efforts, when in fact, it does nothing more than strengthen itself in a more subtle way, i.e. putting more obstacles between it and the true Enlightenment.

I wonder, how can the ego overcome itself while still relying on itself – how can we make a mirror through polishing a brick? These are fundamental questions in Jodo Shinshu.

Then, the question of “how many times should we recite nembutsu” is also useless for someone who relies on Amida. We must not become complicated but search to understand the essential. For the person of faith, the Name is not separate from shinjin(entrusting heart).

Saichi said:

55 Tathagata means Buddha.

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“When someone is catching a cold he cannot abstain not to cough. I caught the cold of Buddha’s Dharma and I cannot stop coughing the nembutsu.”

Nembutsu does not appear before the awakening of faith in the same way coughing does not produce a cold, but is an expression, a manifestation of it. I like this simple explanation about the relation between shinjin and nembutsu. It is very simple to deduce from here that the number of nembutsu recitations is not important. But of course, when we catch a cold, we cough many times. It would be really stupid to think that a cold manifest itself only through a single cough, even if we became aware of its existence when we coughed for the first time. In the same way, when we rely for the first time on Amida, we say nembutsu spontaneously, as an expression of faith. Namo Amida Butsu! – I take refuge in Amida! – this is something very natural. Then, because we became “infected” with shinjin, of course we will feel the need to say nembutsu in the future.

To think “how many times must a man cough who has caught a cold” or “how many times must say ‘I love you’ for a man who is in love”, is not something else but to philosophize on cold or love. It means to see them from the outside. To remain aside and look from afar at the Primal Vow, asking yourself how many times you must say nembutsu, it means that you still haven’t “clung to Amida’s sleeves”, as Rennyo said.

We must truly let ourselves be embraced by the nembutsu, that is, to rely completely on Amida and not be concerned about anything else. And we must do this today, that is, here and now, on the “deathbed of today”, when every useless question ceases and nembutsu appears spontaneously.

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The alaya consciousness and faith in Amida Buddha

In Buddhism we speak about the Eight Consciousnesses which are generated when our senses encounter their objects: 1) consciousness of sight, 2) consciousness of hearing, 3) consciousness of smell, 4) consciousness of taste, 5) consciousness of touch, 6) consciousness of mind, 7) impure (mind) consciousness, 8) the alaya (storehouse) consciousness.

The meaning of the first five consciousnesses is easy to comprehend, so I will not dwell upon them.

The consciousness of mind integrates the perceptions of the five senses in concrete images and makes decisions concerning the exterior world.

The impure (mind) consciousness is the source of clinging and so the origin of the sense of ego as well as of the other illusions which are born from the fact that the man takes as real something which is merely apparent.

The alaya consciousness or storehouse consciousness is the place where all the actions and experiences in this life and the previous lives generated by the seven consciousnesses are stored as karma, being the only consciousness which comes along with every birth. This consciousness influences at the same time the workings of the other seven consciousnesses. Let us examine this consciousness:

We take this alaya consciousness with us in all our births in the various realms of existence. It contains the seeds of various types of karma, and it is the storehouse of the habitual evil karmic tendencies that we have cultivated for eons. Because of the karmic seeds contained in the alaya consciousness one may die a premature death, be stricken with unexpected disease or inexplicable misfortune, be overcome by strong desires, aversions and obsessions, and can think

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and do things that one should never even imagine, etc. So strong is the influence of the alaya consciousness. ..

When Shinran is recorded as saying in chapter 13th of Tannisho: “a person may not wish to harm anyone and yet end up killing a hundred or a thousand people”, he is in fact referring to the influence of past karma contained in the alaya consciousness.

Here are two questions and answers related to alaya consciousness:

1. How can the influence of this alaya consciousness be annihilated in our case, as ordinary people?

Answer:Only through the nembutsu of faith in Amida Buddha.

2. What exactly happens with alaya consciousness after we receive shinjin (faith in Amida Buddha)?

Answer:After we take refuge in Amida Buddha and receive shinjin, the

alaya consciousness as well as the other consciousnesses continue to exist as long as we are still in our bodies, but at the end of our lives, when we are born in Amida’s Pure Land or his sphere of influence, it naturally melts and is absorbed in the Buddha nature. It is as the comparison with ice and fire. Once the ice meets fire (birth in the Pure Land), it becomes water (Buddhahood). Thus we can no longer speak about alaya after we become Buddhas in the Pure Land. It simply doesn’t exist anymore.

We can’t purify this consciousness during our lives, but due to Amida’s influence it becomes powerless and cannot accompany us in the next life. By receiving shinjin56 during this present life, the seeds

56 It is important to realize that shinjin is not our creation, nor the manifestation of a karmic seed from alaya counsciousness, but it comes from Amida Buddha’s Mind. Because it is not our creation and it does not have its source in the alaya, but in

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of our karma contained in alaya consciousness are cut, never to arise again. It is like the struggle of the fish after it was taken out of the water. It will still move for a while but it will surely die in short time. Or like the flower cut and put into a vase. It still preserves its color but will soon wither away.

Our karma stored in alaya consciousness is like this. It may continue to influence the present life, but cannot accompany us into the next life, because we become Buddhas in the moment we die and are born in the Pure Land.

No other religious practices outside or inside Buddhism can destroy the karmic seeds of the alaya consciousness so easy as the Jodo Shinshu method. This is because in Jodo Shinshu we become totally connected to the enlightened karmic energy of Amida Buddha who takes care of everything related to our attainment of Buddhahood.

Amida’s Mind, shinjin cannot be destroyed by the forces of evil karma from alaya counsciousness.

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Merit transference from Amida Buddha to the practicer

Master Rennyo said in one of his Letters:

“Attaining the entrusting heart (shinjin) lies in understanding the Eighteenth Vow. To understand this Vow means to understand what “Namo Amida Butsu” is. And so, when one takes refuge, that is, “namo”, in Amida in one thought-moment, “making aspiration and directing virtue” is implied. This means that Amida Tathagata directs virtue to us, foolish beings. This is taught in the Larger Sutra as ‘bringing all sentient beings to the attainment of virtues’. So it follows that all the karmic evil and blind passions which we have given rise to since the beginingless past are completely extinguished by the inconceivable Vow-Power. Hence, we dwell in the stage of non-retrogression, or the stage of the truly settled.”

Master Rennyo emphasizes here another important aspect of the Jodo Shinshu teaching – Amida Buddha’s transference of merit towards us. In the practices based on personal power the practicer “earns” virtues which he transfers for his own Enlightenment. But in the case of the Other Power way, the transference of merits takes place from Amida Buddha to the person of shinjin. This transference of merit is what makes the follower capable of attaining Nirvana. There is a hymn by Shinran Shonin which says:

“When sentient beings of this evil world of the five defilements57

Entrust themselves to the selected Primal Vow,Virtues indescribable, inexplicable, and inconceivable

57 The five defilements are the five marks of decay of the world we live in: 1) the defilement of views, when incorrect, perverse thoughts and ideas are predominant, 2) the defilement of passions, when all kinds of transgressions are exalted, 3) the defilement of human condition, when people are usually dissatisfied and unhappy, 4) the defilement of life-span, when the human life-span as a whole decreases –according to the sutras, when it is less or close to one hundred years, 5) the defilement of the world-age, when war and natural disasters are rife.

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Fill those practicers.

The merit transference from Amida to the practicer has two aspects: 1) the merit transference of going forth (Oso-Eko) and2) the merit transference of going back to this world (Genso-Eko) .

The first refers to the fact that Amida transfers his entire store of karmic merit to us, making us capable of attaining Buddhahood in the Pure Land; and the second one means that the person who has thus become a Buddha by sharing the same Enlightenment as Amida, is made capable of returning to this world in order to save all beings.

The Awakening of the Bodhi Mind – the aspiration to attain Budhahood for saving oneself and all beings – is fulfilled in the Awakening of Faith in the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha. Shan-tao said: “Awake your Bodhi Mind to Amida’s Compassion”, that is, aspire to your and other beings’ Liberation by relying on the Compasion of Amida (his Primal Vow).

So, the Awakening of the Bodhi Mind, the obligatory condition in Mahayana of attaining the supreme Enlightenment, appears in Jodo Shinshu in the form of the entrusting heart (shinjin).

Shinran Shonin said in the “Hymns on Patriarchs”:

“Faith is One MindOne Mind is the Diamond-like Mind;The Diamond-like Mind is the Bodhi-Mind;This mind is given us by the Other-Power.”

The One Mind represents the cause of Enlightenment. Since this is the Bodhi-Mind, it has two aspects58:

58 The two aspects of the Bodhi-Mind are to aspire to the attainment of Buddhahood for himself and others.

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“To take refuge with One Mind in the BuddhaOf Unhindered Light Shining throughout the Ten DirectionsIs the mind aspiring to become Buddha;So says Vasubandhu, the Master of Discourse59.”

“The mind aspiring to become BuddhaIs the mind seeking to save sentient beings;The mind that seeks to save sentient beingsIs True Faith endowed by Amida’s Compassion.”

59 “Discourse on the Pure Land” (Jodoron), a work whose author is Master Vasubandhu.

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No discrimination of women in the salvation of Amida Buddha

If one reads the 35th Vow of Amida Buddha without carefully understanding its meaning, he might come to the conclusion that there is a prejudice against women:

“If, when I attain Buddhahood, women in the immeasurable and inconceivable Buddha-lands of the ten quarters who, having heard my Name, rejoice in faith, awaken aspiration for Enlightenment and wish to renounce womanhood, should after death be reborn again as women, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.”

“Womanhood”, like “manhood” is just a limited form for us living in samsara or the world of delusion and suffering. In reality, our true nature or Buddha nature is not of women or men, so upon birth in the Pure Land of Amida where we attain Buddhahood, we naturally “renounce” our womanhood or manhood – that is, we do not define ourselves by these terms. By birth in the Pure Land we become Buddhas and go beyond the limitations of being a woman or a man.

So, this Vow does not look down on women, as though there is something wrong with being a woman, but it shows that women are equally treated as men by the salvation of Amida Buddha, contrary to some texts which promote the idea that women have fewer chances than men to become Buddhas.

In his Letters60 Rennyo Shonin often especially addresses women. Here are just a few quotes:

“Let all women living in the present age deeply entrust themselves with singleness of mind to the Amida Tathagata. Apart from this, they must realize they will never be saved in regard to the afterlife, whatever teaching they may rely upon.”

60 Gobunsho or Ofumi.

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“Women who have renounced the world while remaining in lay life and ordinary women as well, should realize and have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that there is deliverance for all those who simply rely deeply (single-heartedly and steadfastly) on Amida Buddha and entrust themselves to that Buddha to save them, bringing them to Buddhahood in the afterlife. This is the Primal Vow of Other Power, the Vow of Amida Tathagata. Once they have realized this, when they then feel thankfulness and joy at being saved in regard to the afterlife, they should simply repeat “Namo Amida Butsu, Namo Amida Butsu”.

“By just entrusting herself solely to Amida Buddha (with no double-mindedness, with steadfast, and with the single thought that Amida saves her in regard to the afterlife) a woman will readily become a Buddha. If this mind is free of the slightest doubt, she will unfailingly go to the land of utmost bliss and become a splendid Buddha.”

“All women – if they are concerned about the afterlife and have a sense of reverence for the Buddha Dharma – should simply entrust themselves deeply to Amida Tathagata, cast off the sundry practices, and rely single-heartedly and firmly on Amida to save them [bringing them to Buddhahood] in the afterlife. They should have no doubt whatsoever that such women will be born without fail in the land of utmost bliss.”

Especially in the letter “On Women Attaining Buddhahood”,Rennyo Shonin speaks about the 35th Vow of Amida Buddha, which he calls “the Vow of Women’s Attainment of Buddhahood”:

“Amida Tathagata himself made the supreme great Vow concerning women who are abandoned by all other Buddhas, thinking, “If I do not save women, which of the other Buddhas will save them?”

Resolving to go beyond all other Buddhas and save women, he meditated for five kalpas; undergoing practices for numberless

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kalpas, he made the all-surpassing great Vow. Thus it is Amida whooriginated the incomparable Vow, “Women’s Attainment of Buddhahood”. For this reason, women who deeply rely on Amida and entrust themselves to him to save them in regard to the afterlife, will all be born in the land of utmost bliss.”

All these passages prove that there is no discrimination against women in the salvation of Amida Buddha. Especially because other practices or religious systems might discriminate women, Amida wants to reassure them that in his case, they need not worry about anything. Although his Primal Vow already made no discrimination among sentient beings, he wanted to make another Vow to be sure that nobody will ever ever say that women are not included in his salvation. Thus, we may say that the 35th Vow supports the 18th Vow by emphasizing that all beings, including women, are born in the Pure Land and become Buddhas if they fully entrust themselves to Amida.

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The changing mind

“What state of mind do you want?Even if you attain the state of mind you want,It will change again.Do not depend on the mind which keeps changing.”– Zuiken Sensei

Impermanence is the fundamental law of the world we live in and of our spiritual “realizations”. If we believe in the permanence of this world, we will lose ourselves in it, in our desires about it. If we believe in the permanence of our spiritual “realizations” based on the false ego, we will lose ourselves in a false Enlightenment.

This is why, in our tradition, we take refuge in Amida Buddha in order to attain the true Enlightenment (birth in the Pure Land).

The ego cannot become free by himself.

Namo Amida Butsu

***

Discussion at the dojo:

“… Last night I felt so bad, that I wanted to be born in the Pure Land as quickly as possible.”

Answer:“Last night you wanted to go to the Pure Land so quickly because

you felt very bad, but today, when everything is okay, you do not wish to go there too soon. It is our changing and selfish mind that wishes to go sooner or later to the Pure Land.

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Fortunately, our birth in the Pure Land is the working of Amida, not our working. We cannot attain Birth by relying on such a mind that today wishes to be born in the Pure Land and tomorrow doesn’t want this any more. It is precisely because we have such a changing mind filled with illusions that we are saved by Amida. The people who lack the seeds of Buddhahood and feel so hard to leave this world are exactly the people taken care of by the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha.”

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Faith and nembutsu are not our creations

The reason why in a nembutsu follower’s heart both the faith in the Primal Vow and his blind passions and illusions coexist is that this faith doesn’t belong to him.

This is another important aspect of the Jodo Shinshu teaching. It is said that in an Eranda61 forest grow only Eranda trees and not the famous Chandana62 trees with their fine fragrance. It is a miracle if a Chandana tree grows in an Eranda forest. Similarly, it is a miracle if faith in Buddha flourishes in the people’s hearts. How can it be possible that from human passions the faith in Buddha can be born?

The answer is that this phenomenon is practically impossible, and the faith in Buddha is not due to our power but rather what the Buddha plants in us. That is why shinjin or the entrusting heart is called “rootless faith” for it has no roots in the man’s mind but in Buddha’s Compassion. The same thing happens when saying the Name expresses faith and gratefulness. Everything comes from Amida and manifests like an echo in our souls and on our lips, just like a child who faithfully answers his mother’s calling.

A mother calls her child and the child answers immediately. The answer of the child is due to the mother’s call, not to the power of the child. In the same way, shinjin (entrusting heart) is not our own creation, but the natural answer to the call of Amida Buddha, the Compassionate Mother of all beings. Because of Amida, we entrust in Amida and say nembutsu.

Only because the mother always sends unconditional love to her child, can he trust in and rely on her. The faith of the child is in fact, the love of the mother which manifests in him. The mother is the one who actually feeds and makes the child grow. A child is nothing

61 Trees from Asia which have poisonous fruits.62 Trees from Asia with beautiful smelling flowers.

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without a mother. The power of her love makes him grow, not his own power.

Shinjin and nembutsu are the echo – manifested in us, of the powerful call of Amida.

When one is in the mountains and shouts in a loud voice, automatically you can hear the echo. If you do not shout, no echo can be heard. In the same way, if Amida would not compassionately call to us, there would be no shinjin and nembutsu.

This matter – that shinjin and nembutsu comes from Amida and are not created by us – is very difficult to explain in words. In fact, it is beyond conceptual understanding. I am using here images to cause my mind and heart, and the minds and hearts of the readers, to understand this important truth – that there is nothing we can call to be ours and our creation, especially shinjin and nembutsu.

I do not know if these images are the best. Just please use them, if you consider them useful, to abandon your thoughts of personal merit in receiving shinjin and birth in the Pure Land. Just rely on Amida Buddha and don’t think on anything else. I do not use by chance the term “receive” and not the term “attain” when referring to shinjin.

Eiken Kobai Sensei explains in his book Understanding Jodo Shinshu63:

“The shinjin that is the acceptance of Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow and the nembutsu that we recite with our mouth, are absolutely not things that depend on our efforts. Rather, because they result solely from the Buddha-centered power, we refer to them as the shinjin of merit transference based on Buddha-centered power (tariki eko no shinjin) and the nembutsu of the merit transference based on Buddha-centered power (tariki eko no nembutsu.”

63 Published in 2007 by Dharma Lion Publications, Craiova, Romania.

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Why some are saved by Amida and others are not?

“There is no heart far from Amida, But a covered bowl of water cannot reflect the moon.

Once a friend asked me the following question:

“Why is that one person is ready for the nembutsu and others obviously are not? And assumed the nembutsu comes only from the Buddha to us, as taught by Shinran, does the Buddha choose between those he wants to save now and those he doesn’t want to save yet?”

Answer:Imagine that somebody loves you unconditionally, but you do not care. The love of that person is always upon you, but because your eyes are closed, you cannot feel his or her love.

There is another image, which it was also used by Master Rennyo64: the moon is reflected in every bowl full of water, but some bowls are covered. So, the moon is not guilty that her image is not reflected in the covered bowl. In the same way, you can become open or closed to the message of the Primal Vow of Amida, although Amida’s Light Compassion) is always shining on you. Amida Buddha does not chose “between those he wants to save now and those he doesn’t want to save yet”, but some people are simply not opened to his call, while some others are open.

Some might ask: what do we have to do in order to receive shinjin?

64 It is said that Zen Master Ikkyu sent the following koan to Master Rennyo:“Amida has no mercy since Amida only saves those who says His Name”. Master Rennyo answered him with the poem: “There is no heart far from Amida, but a covered bowl of water cannot reflect the moon.”

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Master Rennyo said in Rennyo Shonin Goichidaiki Kikigaki (Thus I Have Heard from Rennyo Shonin)65:

“Regardless of our doubts, if we listen intently with our entire being, we will be given shinjin because of Great Compassion. The Buddhist teaching begins and ends in hearing.”

So, in our tradition, listening to the teaching is the most important practice. You have to listen again and again, and one day, you will become open and you will receive shinjin. The words “we will be given shinjin because of Great Compassion” shows that shinjin comes from Amida, but the first part “if we listen intently with our entire being” shows what we have to do, if we wish to receive the gift of faith from Amida. As my nembutsu friend, Jason Ranek said in his poem:

“Uncover your cupTo receive the Dharma rain,Then faith, and the Nembutsu, Will naturally arise.”

If somebody does not listen deeply to the teaching but is filled with ideas of self power, he cannot receive shinjin and nembutsu (which is the natural manifestation of shinjin). Shinjin and nembutsu are not forcibly imposed in our hearts by Amida Buddha, so if somebody does not show interest in the Buddhist teaching and especially in the teaching about the Primal Vow of Amida, he cannot receive shinjin.

Things are very simple and yet very profound. My opinion is that we should not complicate our minds, but listen to the Dharma again and again, and faith will be given.

65 Thus I Have Heard from Rennyo Shonin (Rennyo Shonin’s Goichidaiki Kikigaki) - An annotated translation by Zuio Hisao Inagaki. Published in 2008, by Dharma Lion Publications, Craiova.

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The ten benefits in this life of a nembutsu follower

Shinran Shonin speaks about the ten benefits a nembutsu follower receives in this present life:

1. Protected by unseen divine beings (myoshu goji)This means that those who have shinjin are protected against

various influences from external evil forces. Thus, the nembutsu follower has no reason to be afraid of sorcery, black magic or evil spirits. Shinran Shonin said in “Hymns of Benefit in the Present”:

When we say “Namo Amida Butsu,”Brahma66 and Indra67 venerate us;All the benevolent gods of the heavensProtect us constantly, day and night.

When we say “Namo Amida Butsu,”The four great deva-kings togetherProtect us constantly, day and night,And let no evil spirits come near.

When we say “Namo Amida Butsu,”The earth-goddess called FirmnessReveres and protects us constantly, day and night,Accompanying us always just as shadows do things.

When we say “Namo Amida Butsu,”Nanda, Upananda, and the other great nagas,Along with the countless naga-gods, revereAnd protect us constantly, day and night.

When we say “Namo Amida Butsu,”

66 Brahma is the creator God in Hinduism, but in Buddhism he is the Lord of the first Dhyana Heaven from the world of form.67 Indra is the Lord of the heaven of the thirty-three gods (Trayas-trimsa).

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Yama, the king of the dead, reveres us,And the officers who judge the beings of the five courses of

existenceAll protect us constantly, day and night.

When we say “Namo Amida Butsu,”We are protected by the great king of marasResiding in the sixth heaven;This he vowed to do in the presence of Sakyamuni Buddha.

The gods of the heavens and earthAre all to be called good,For together they protectThe person of the nembutsu.

There are many similar references in Kyogyoshinsho and other writings of Shinran Shonin.

2. Possessed of the supreme virtue (shitoku gusoku)It means that by entrusting ourselves to Amida Buddha’s Primal

Vow we receive his merit and virtues that cause us to attain birth in the Pure Land:

“When sentient beings of this evil world of the five defilements Entrust themselves to the selected Primal Vow, Virtues indescribable, inexplicable, and inconceivable Fill those practicers.”

Shinran Shonin explained in his work “Passages on the Two Aspects of The Tathagata’s Directing of Virtue”:

“Concerning the directing of virtue through the power of the Primal Vow, the Tathagata’s directing of virtue has two aspects: the directing of virtue in the aspect for our going forth to the Pure Land and the directing of virtue in the aspect for our return to this world.”

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The directing of virtue in the aspect for our going forth means that by receiving shinjin during this present life we are made to be born in the Pure Land where we become immediately Buddhas68.

The directing of virtue for our return to this world means that as soon as we become Buddhas in the Pure Land we return to this world in various forms to help all beings.

Both these aspects are the transference of merit from Amida Buddha to us which we receive in the form of shinjin (entrusting heart) and nembutsu (saying of the Name).

In fact, every one of the benefits presented here are the manifestation of Amida’s transference of his entire store of karmic merit to us; they are all the gifts of Amida.

Here it is a question about the merit transference from Amida and my answer:

Question:“When I first experienced gratitude and said the Nembutsu, Paul69

wrote and said, “He (Amida) not only knows your name, but he has given to you his own store of infinite karmic merit.” Does that “karmic merit” only apply to what happens after this life?”

Answer:In the moment you receive shinjin, as Paul said, you also receive

Amida Buddha’s store of infinite karmic merit. This means that you have entered the stage of non-retrogression in this life (see the 10th

benefit) and you become assured of birth in the Pure Land exactly as you are. In this way Amida’s karmic merit applies in this life.

But this doesn’t mean that you are free of any suffering while still alive. You can’t always experience happiness in this world

68 See the 10th benefit. 69 Paul Roberts, disciple of Eiken Kobai Sensei and webmaster of the Shin Ugly Blog and the True Shin Buddhism Yahoo! group.

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because your mind still remains unenlightened until you die, at which time you are born in the Pure Land.

You ask questions like why are you not happy here and now since you have shinjin, but the answer is that you are not happy because you are not a Buddha yet! An unenlightened mind cannot be happy, no matter what it has and what kind of pleasant circumstances it encounters. On the contrary, you can experience bliss and lack of suffering when you are born in the Pure Land – because then you become Enlightened. Only an Enlightened mind can be truly happy. Thus Amida’s Pure Land is called “The Land of Peace and Bliss”.

Jodo Shinshu is not a path of becoming a Buddha in this life, so you cannot become perfectly happy here. Only a Buddha can be perfectly happy in this world, because his mind is a Buddha Mind, an Enlightened Mind, Awakened and Free. Anywhere he goes he is free and happy.

However, with shinjin your unenlightened mind is assured of birth in the Pure Land – this is the meaning of this second benefit.

3. Having evil turned into good (tenaku jyozen)Due to the influence of Amida we can transform an unpleasant

experience into an opportunity to understand life as it is and the Dharma. It doesn’t mean that we will no longer have problems, or experience lack of material things, etc., but that we can understand these unfortunate events as being the effects of our karma, using them to become more aware that this is samsara, the world of suffering from which we must escape once and for all. Bad events in our lives can thus be transformed through the light of the Dharma into useful ones – useful for our understanding.

Also this benefit refers to the fact that in the instant we receive shinjin our karma is cut and cannot plant its seed in another life. When shinjin enters our heart we receive the pure karmic energy of Amida Buddha. Our evil is turned into good in the sense that it is no

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longer an obstacle for our attainment of Buddhahood at the end of this life. No matter what we did in the past or will do in the future due to our illusions and attachments, our evil becomes as good as non-existent once we receive shinjin. Being an ordinary person of grave karmic evil brings us to the special attention of Amida’s Compassion.

4. Protected by all Buddhas (shobutsu gonen)This benefit is again related with protection, like the first benefit. It is said in the “Hymns of Benefit in the Present”:

“When we say “Namo Amida Butsu”, Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta,

Together with bodhisattvas countless as the Ganges’ sands or as particles,

Accompany us just as shadows do things.

Countless Amida Buddhas reside In the light of the Buddha of Unhindered Light; Each one of these transformed Buddhas70 protects The person of true and real shinjin.

When we say “Namo Amida Butsu”, The countless Buddhas throughout the ten quarters, Surrounding us a hundredfold, a thousandfold, Rejoice in and protect us.”

Protection of the Buddhas can be understood not only in the sense explained at the first benefit, but also that shinjin can’t be lost once we receive it from Amida. This is why it is said in chapter seven of Tannisho:

“nonbuddhists present no obstruction”.

70 Manifestations of Amida Buddha which accords with the particularity of each being.

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How many Christians have tried to tell me that I will go to hell because of being a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist! Of course such attempts to frighten me fail not because I posses some special powers, but because my faith (shinjin) is not my creation. It is not by accident that in Jodo Shinshu we often meet the expression “diamond-like shinjin”. That which gives power to our faith is its origin – the Heart and Mind of Amida Buddha. This

is why Jodo Shinshu followers can’t be influenced by those who follow nonbuddhist paths.

We may also say that the protection of the Buddhas means that since the moment we receive shinjin, we safely go into the direction of Buddhahood. All Buddhas are witnesses of this truth and praise the wonderful salvation work of Amida.

Here it is a question about the protection of the Buddhas in this life and my answer:

Question:“I still don’t understand how a person is “protected” by these

various Buddhas if a person’s karma can’t be changed in the present life”.

Answer:In the moment you entrust to Amida Buddha your karma has its

root cut off in the sense that it cannot plant its seeds into another life – that is, you will no longer be subject to birth and death. But in this life you continue to experience the effects of your past actions from previous lives or of those actions you will commit until the moment of death. So, we should not make any confusion and think that after we receive shinjin we should always be happy or always experience happy circumstances.

Since, with shinjin, we are protected from rebirth in the unenlightened states of existence, no being (visible or invisible) can destroy our faith or divert us from the Buddhist path, and the

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attainment of Buddhahood in the Pure Land is guaranteed – these are the ways through which this benefit of all Buddhas’ protection manifests itself.

5. Praised by all Buddhas (shobutsu shyosan).All Buddhas praise those who entrust in Amida, looking to them as

to future Buddhas. It is wonderful that we have come to entrust in a teaching so hard to be accepted in faith, as Shakyamuni himself recognizes.

In the Larger Sutra, he said:

“The one who hears and never forgets this Dharma, But sees and reveres it and greatly rejoices in attaining it -That person is my true companion.”

Also it is stated in the Contemplation Sutra:

“Know that the person who says the nembutsu is a white lotus among people.”

Shinran Shonin explained in one of his Letters (Mattosho):

“Further, Amida’s Seventeenth Vow declares that the Buddha will not enter into perfect Enlightenment if those who say the Name are not praised by all the countless Buddhas throughout the worlds in the ten quarters. The passage declaring the fulfillment of the Vow states: ‘‘Such people are praised by all the Buddhas and rejoice.’’

.6. Protected by the Buddha’s spiritual light (shinko jogo)I think this benefit is in close connection with the fourth.

Here we see that the protection is a spiritual one. It means that Amida always illuminates us, making us understand our life’s events as they are explained by the Dharma. Amida’s Light causes us to profoundly realize our limitations and how reliable the Primal Vow

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of Amida is. This twofold awareness never disappears from us because we are embraced in Amida’s spiritual Light, never to be abandoned.

It also means that we are protected from wrong understanding of the teaching. False teachers can’t influence us and we’ll never distort the essentials of the Jodo Shinshu Dharma in our presentations.

7. Having much joy in mind (shinta kangi)The receiving of shinjin is equivalent with escaping a great burden.

We know that we’ll become Buddhas no matter our present situation. We are able to feel this relief and joy many times in our life, no matter that sometimes it is covered by the everyday difficulties and sorrows.

Imagine that you are in a prison and somebody in whom you trust 100% assures you that you will be released in one year or a few years. That one year you are still in prison is of course difficult, but you also know for sure that your day of freedom will soon come. So you are able to feel relief and joy remembering your assurance, no matter how hard your everyday life in prison still remains.

8. Acknowledging His benevolence and repaying it (chion hotoku)We become aware of what Amida does for us, freeing us from

birth and death, and we feel gratitude. We express this gratitude by saying nembutsu and by doing many kind of activities in the benefit of the Dharma. For example, some people become teachers and preach the Dharma to others in order to help them receive shinjin.

Also, sharing Dharma texts or helping Jodo Shinshu sanghas, dojos and temples, and supporting our teachers and fellow practicers are acts of repaying the benevolence of Amida Tathagata.

Shinran said in the Hymns of the Dharma Ages:

“Such is the benevolence of Amida’s great Compassion,

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That we must strive to return it, even to the breaking of our bodies;Such is the benevolence of the masters and true teachers,That we must endeavor to repay it, even to our bones becoming

dust”.

9. Always practicing the Great Compassion (jyogyo daihi)This doesn’t mean that we act like Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in

this very life. If we are already Buddhas and have Great Compassion then it means that we no longer need the Primal Vow. So, what is the benefit of always practicing Great Compasion?

I think that although we do not act like Buddhas in this life, by receiving shinjin we become part of the salvation work of Amida or a link in Amida’s Great Compassion chain. We can understand others’ limitations and realize that everybody is accepted as they are, including ourselves. Especially we can benefit others by helping them to create connections with the Dharma of Amida.

If somebody gives the true teaching about Amida to others, then he indeed practices the Great Compassion in the sense that he acts as a messenger of this Great Compassion.

In his Kyogyoshinsho, chapter three, section on the true disciple of the Buddha, Shinran Shonin quotes this passage from The Sutra of Great Compassion:

“What is ‘great Compassion’? Those who continue solely in the nembutsu without any interruption71 will thereby be born without fail in the land of happiness at the end of life. If these people encourage each other and bring others to say the Name, they are all called “people who practice great Compassion.”

71 This nembutsu is the expression of faith. To continue in the nembutsu without any interruption means to have a stable faith, without any doubt.

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This clearly shows that practicing Great Compassion in this life means to encourage others to say the nembutsu of faith in Amida Buddha72.

10. Entering the Rightly-Established Group (shojyoju ni iru)By receiving shinjin in this life we enter the rightly established

group or those assured of birth and Buddhahood in the Pure Land. This is also called the stage of non-retrogression. Because we are in this special group we enjoy every other benefit. I think we may also say that this benefit and all other benefits are given to us because of the merit transference from Amida Buddha to us (second benefit).

The tenth benefit is the wonderful news that people like us, full of blind passions, are saved just as they are – i.e. assured of birth in the Pure Land, if we entrust ourselves to Amida Buddha.

At the end of these explanations I wish to present you with another three very important questions and my answers, related to the benefits in this life. Please read them carefully.

Question: “… that feeling of safety doesn’t seem to apply to how we live life

in this realm of samsara, nor even how we die (suffering, pain etc) but to the next life and rebirth in the Pure Land .”

Answer:The feeling of safety of a person of shinjin is that he feels assured

he goes directly to the Pure Land. He knows that no matter how he dies or how he lives, he will surely go to the Pure Land. Any karma he still creates in this life will no longer have an effect in terms of another birth in samsara. This is an assurance he receives in this life, not in the moment of death. (See the tenth benefit)

72 See my commentaries of the chapters four and five from Tannisho in my book, The Path of Acceptance – Commentary on Tannisho, published by Dharma Lion Publications in 2011. For the free online edition check my blog at www.amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com

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But he also knows that the remaining part of this life is the life of an ordinary unenlightened being, so it’s normal that, as long as he is not a Buddha, he still suffers. I repeat, he still suffers because he remains an unenlightened being until his death.

To receive the merits of Amida is like entering into an infinitely powerful stream of water. You remain as you are, an ugly piece of wood but you are carried by the stream of water to the ocean. Maybe this image will be helpful to you. To receive the merits of Amida in this life through shinjin and to be protected by the Buddhas means that you are carried safely to the other shore, while you remain as you are.

It is like being a small and disoriented bee in the great hand of the Buddha. The bee still suffers but she is carried to her true home and when she reaches it, she becomes truly happy.

Or it is like a sick man carried by an ambulance. The sick person still experiences pain on the road to the hospital (the rest of the life you have until death and birth in the Pure Land), but when he reaches the hospital and meets the Doctor in person (birth in Amida Buddha’s Pure Land) he is healed for ever and he becomes a Doctor himself (becomes a Buddha and returns to this world to save others).

Question:“ I am just confused about the entire premise of Buddhism leading a person beyond suffering in this world. It sounds like you’re saying the only way out of suffering for a Shinshu Buddhist is death.”

Answer:The only way out of suffering for a Shinshu Buddhist is to entrust

in this life in Amida Buddha, which means to let himself being carried by the ambulance of Amida and be sure that when he reaches the Hospital (the Pure Land) and meets the Doctor himself (Amida), he is cured. It can’t be any other way.

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But this entrusting and sense of assurance that he is saved appears during the present life. Faith and assurance do not lead automatically to the absence of suffering from his life because he is not a Buddha yet, as I explained before.

Question:“From what I understand in your explanations, I created all that happens in this life and that can’t be changed. I just grin and bear it until I die, go to the Pure Land and become a Buddha. Can any actions in this present life change how past karma is manifested in this life? “

Answer:Yes you may alter your karma in many ways, you may arrange

your time you still have here in samsara to be more pleasant, or you may not - this depends from person to person - but what is most important is that you can’t heal all your wounds here (that is, become perfectly happy in this life), because you can’t become a perfect Buddha while in this present body.

Jodo Shinshu doesn’t say you should do nothing to make your life more comfortable, but it says you cannot solve the great problem of birth and death by yourself and become perfectly happy here. And as I said previously, you can’t be 100% happy here because you are not a Buddha yet, and only a Buddha can be 100% happy in all the worlds, even in hell.

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Equal to Maitreya73 Buddha

A unique teaching in Jodo Shinshu is that followers who received shinjin are equal to perfect Enlightenment, equal to all Buddhas and equal to Maitreya Buddha.

Maitreya, now residing in the Tusita heaven, was said by Shakyamuni to be a future great Buddha who will appear in this world after many billion years (5,670,000,000) from his era.

Shinran Shonin explained this in letter 3 of Mattosho:

“Since those who have realized shinjin necessarily abide in the stage of the truly settled, they are in the stage equal to the perfect Enlightenment. In the Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life those who have been grasped, never to be abandoned, are said to be in the stage of the truly settled, and in the Sutra of the Tathagata of Immeasurable Life they are said to have attained the stage equal to perfect Enlightenment. Although they differ, the terms ‘truly settled’ and ‘equal to enlightenment’ have the same meaning and indicate the same stage. Equal to the perfect Enlightenment is the same stage as that of Maitreya, who is in the rank of succession to Buddhahood. Since persons of shinjin will definitely attain the supreme Enlightenment, they are said to be the same as Maitreya.”

Those who entrust themselves to Amida Buddha in this life are said to be in the stage of the truly settled or the stage of those assured of Nirvana – or in other words, the “stage of non-retrogression”. This means that since faith has been aroused in their hearts they are assured of the attainment of birth in the Pure Land which will occur at their death. This birth in the Pure Land will be immediately followed by the attainment of Buddhahood or perfect Enlightenment.

73 Miroku in Japanese.

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So, the stage of the truly settled or of those assured of Nirvana is equal with that of perfect Enlightenment in the sense that those belonging to the first state will surely attain perfect Enlightenment. The cause of perfect Enlightenment is definitely settled when faith in Amida arises in the heart of the followers.

Faith is the cause of Enlightenment, so both are equal in the sense that one is the effect of the other (as in there can be no smoke without a fire). The fire will necessary produce smoke even if the fire is not the same with the smoke. In the same manner, a follower who has faith in Amida Buddha is equal with the state of perfect Enlightenment because he will become a Buddha and has the seed of Buddhahood already planted in his heart, but is not a Buddha yet during this life until death.

Shinran said to Joshin-bo in letter 7 of Mattosho:

“You should understand that the moment of settling of those who entrust themselves to Tathagata’s Vow is none other than the settling into the stage of non-retrogression, because they receive the benefit of being grasped, never to be abandoned. Whether we speak of the settling of true shinjin or the settling of the diamondlike shinjin, both come about through being grasped, never to be abandoned. Thus is awakened the heart and mind that will attain the supreme Enlightenment. This is called the stage of non-retrogression, the stage of the truly settled, and the stage equal to the perfect Enlightenment.”

He also said in letter fifteen:

“The Garland Sutra states that those who have attained true shinjin are already certain to become Buddhas and therefore are equal to the Tathagatas. Although Maitreya has not yet attained Buddhahood, it is certain that he will, so he is already known as Maitreya Buddha. In this manner, the person who has attained true shinjin is taught to be equal to Tathagatas.”

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The stage of the truly settled or of those assured of Nirvana is the same state in which Maitreya now dwells in the Tusita heaven where he is waiting for the right moment to be born in this world and attain Buddhahood, exactly as Shakyamuni did in the past.

In letter 18 of Mattosho, Shinran said:

“…the moment they realize the diamondlike mind (shinjin), they are said to abide in the stage of the truly settled and to attain the same stage as Bodhisattva Maitreya74.

Since persons of true and real shinjin are of the same stage asMaitreya, they are equal to Buddhas.”

[….]

“Further, since Maitreya has already become one who is certain to attain Buddhahood, he is called Maitreya Buddha. By this we know that the person who has already realized shinjin that is Other Power can be said to be equal to Buddhas. You should have no doubts about this.”

Shinran explains further:

“The Buddhas in the ten quarters rejoice in the settling of this mind and praise it as being equal to the hearts and minds of all Buddhas. Thus, the person of true shinjin is said to be equal to Buddhas. He is also regarded as being the same as Maitreya, who is in [the rank of] succession to Buddhahood.”

74 “Since Maitreya is already close to Buddhahood, it is the custom in various schools to speak of him as Maitreya Buddha”, explained Shinran. So, Maitreya is sometimes called “Bodhisattva Maitreya” in the sense of a person who engaged himself in practices to become a Buddha for the benefit of himself and all beings or “Maitreya Buddha” because he will surely become one in his next life.

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“…all Buddhas feel great joy when such a person rejoices in the realization of true shinjin, and they proclaim, ‘This person is our equal.’ Sakyamuni’s words of rejoicing are found in the Larger Sutra: ‘The one who sees, reveres, and attains [the Dharma] and greatly rejoices - that person is my excellent, close companion’; thus he teaches that the person who has attained shinjin is equal to Buddhas.”

As you see, Shinran based his arguments on the words of Shakyamuni in the Larger Sutra or other sutras:

“’Those who attain shinjin and joy are equal to Tathagatas’. This is from the Garland Sutra and means that the person who rejoices in shinjin is the equal of all the Tathagatas. This is also indicated in Sakyamuni’s statement about those who realize shinjin and greatly rejoice: ‘The one who sees, reveres, and attains [the dharma] and greatly rejoices - that person is my excellent, close companion’.

“The Buddhas in the ten quarters rejoice in the settling of this mind and praise it as being equal to the hearts and minds of all Buddhas. Thus, the person of true shinjin is said to be equal to Buddhas. He is also regarded as being the same as Maitreya, who is in [the rank of] succession to Buddhahood.”

There is also the 17th Vow of Amida Buddha recorded in the Larger Sutra about which Shinran wrote:

“Further, Amida’s 17th Vow declares that the Buddha will not enter into perfect Enlightenment if those who say the Name are not praised by all the countless Buddhas throughout the worlds in the ten quarters. The passage declaring the fulfillment of the Vow states: ‘Such people are praised by all the Buddhas and rejoice’.”

The only difference between Maitreya and the followers who have faith in Amida Buddha (and are now in the same stage as perfect Enlightenment like him) is that Maitreya has entered this stage

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through his own power while those who have shinjin become truly settled through the Power of Amida.

Shinran said in his letter 15 of Mattosho:

“To think in self-power that one is equal to the Tathagatas is a great error. But it is because of the shinjin of Other Power that you rejoice; how can self-power enter into it? Please consider this fully.”

This clearly shows that ordinary people become equal to the Tathagatas (Buddhas) and equal with Maitreya not through their own power but through the Power of Amida Buddha.

There is also another difference between Maitreya and us. If he has to wait many more billions of years until he is born into this world and become a Buddha, we who entrust in Amida will become Buddhas after this life is ended. Until death and birth in the Pure Land we remain ordinary beings filled with blind passions but carrying in ourselves the settled cause for becoming Buddhas.

We are not equal to the Tathagatas and to Maitreya just because we deserve it or have great merits and virtues, but rather because Amida made us to become so. This is the meaning of “they receive the benefit of being grasped, never to be abandoned.” Due to Amida grasping us are we made capable to receive faith, enter this stage and are assured of becoming Buddhas in the Pure Land.

It is like a person flying in the air by his own power (Maitreya) and another one (us) carried by a plane. Both are flying (are in the stage of non-retrogression/assured of Nirvana or the stage next to Buddhahood, etc.) both will reach their destinations, but they travel by different means, the first by self power and the latter by Other Power (Amida’s Power).

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Shinjin and Buddha nature

Question:“In some writings of Shinran Shonin it is said that shinjin is itself

Buddha-nature. How do you explain this?”

Answer:First, even if we say it in conventional language that we have

shinjin (faith in Amida Buddha), in reality this is not our propriety, but what Amida Buddha awakens in us.

Second, Amida is a Buddha, which means he is one who has became awakened to his Buddha nature. His Buddha nature is the same with our Buddha nature, as all beings have the same innate Buddha nature (Buddhahood) or the same potential to become a Buddha. But unlike a Buddha, we are now living at the level of ignorant beings, having delusional personalities which are the product of various attachments, ignorance and karma.

Shinjin cannot be the product of our delusional personalities that change according to karma from life to life, because this would mean that he himself should also be subject to change and not the “diamond-like shinjin” that Shinran was speaking about.

So, shinjin is only the manifestation of Amida as a Buddha: it comes from his Enlightenment, and because Enlightenment means the attainment of Buddha nature, we can say that in ultimate sense, shinjin is the manifestation of Buddha nature via Amida Buddha in his Sambhogakaya form. This is how I think we should understand the words, “shinjin is itself Buddha-nature”.

Shinjin cannot come directly to us from the ultimate Buddha nature without the help of Amida Buddha, because we can’t receive anything directly from it in the state which we are in as unenlightened beings, due to the many layers of delusion and heavy karmic evils

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which cover our innate Buddha nature. This is why we need Amida Buddha in his Sambhogakaya form to take us, through shinjin, to the fulfilled Buddha nature or Buddhahood, which is to be reached once we die and enter Amida’s Pure Land.

Question:Can we access directly our innate Buddha nature, without the help

of Amida?

Answer:No, we can’t.

In other Buddhist schools it is indeed said that followers can directly access the innate Buddha nature through various meditation techniques, but in Jodo Shinshu we think this is no longer possible due to the low level of beings in this dark age.

So, without entering directly to our Buddha nature, we first come to Amida’s sphere of influence or his Pure Land through shinjin, which is the indirect step toward Buddha nature. If we receive shinjin in the present life, then when we die we are born in the Pure Land where our blind passions and unenlightened personalities are immediately transformed into fully enlightened Buddhas.

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The “exclusion” in the 18th Vow

Until now I haven’t presented to you the Primal Vow in its entirety, especially avoiding the last sentence, because I wanted to offer it a special chapter:

“If, when I attain Buddhahood, the sentient beings of the ten quarters, with sincere mind entrusting themselves, aspiring to be born in my land, and saying my Name perhaps even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain the supreme enlightenment. Excluded are those who commit the five grave offenses and those who slander the right Dharma.”

Many people that come into contact with the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha experience two types of reactions: they are happy in finding the message that is full of hope in the first part, but they become unsure right after reading the last sentence: “excluded are those who commit the five grave offenses and slander the right Dharma”.

Something seems wrong, an “exclusion” still exists, so after all the 18th Vow is not quite universal, there are some people that aren’t received by the Compassion of Amida. But is this the way things really are?

In my first days as a Jodo Shinshu follower, when I still did not have a direct contact with anyone from our tradition I was trying really hard to understand the purpose of this “exclusion”; I admit that I got really frightened every time I read that part. It was like a lump, like I never managed to really enjoy my meeting with Amida. “What if I committed one of those grave offenses myself?”, I kept asking again and again. I had reached for Amida Buddha’s help in a very difficult time, when I felt as though I couldn’t handle my own life, and now, after the joy of a hope, I kept hitting against this phrase that was refusing to go away.

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But it wasn’t long until the calm came into my heart: “everything is all right, how could you doubt me?” seems that Amida would have said.

We all have been admonished at least once by our mothers while we were kids and our behavior became unbearable. Maybe we were afraid in that moment that she will leave us or who knows what she will do if we do not behave properly, but in the end she was always there, no matter how we acted, admonishing us, trying her best to change us, but always welcoming us with her love.

Amida Buddha’s Compassion is like a mother’s love, and the “exclusion” in the Primal Vow is just an admonishment addressed to some stupid and crazy kids, that are always ready to make mistakes. It’s not an “exclusion” in its own way, but a warning: “some actions are very serious, do not commit them, or else ...”. But that “or else..” remains unfulfilled because of the first part of the Vow that proves the unconditioned salvation of a real mother.

The Buddhist teaching must be always understood in its spirit, and the reader of the sacred scriptures must not stop at the words but should try instead to see beyond them. So, what is the real purpose of the Primal Vow? Shinran said in Tannisho:

“If it were only by observing precepts and upholding rules that we could entrust ourselves to the Primal Vow, how could we ever gain freedom from birth and death?”

In chapter 16 of the same writing, while correcting the erroneous view that nembutsu followers must go through a change of heart every time they get angry or do something bad, Shinran said:

“Suppose that attainment of birth were possible only by going through changes of heart day and night with every incident that occurred. In that case - human life being such that it ends even before breath exhaled can be drawn in again - if we were to die without going through a change of heart and without abiding in a state of

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gentleness and forbearance, would not Amida’s Vow that grasps and never abandons us be rendered meaningless?”

Because Buddha has Endless Compassion and sees every being as his own child, it would be absurd to abandon them because of their ignorance. This attitude would be against the Bodhi Mind and the most elementary Mahayana vows. A Buddha can’t make a statement and immediately after, deny it or state its contrary, something like: “I will save you all even if you just say my Name ten times ...but actually, I changed my mind and I impose some hard conditions that you won’t be able to cross”.

Amida Buddha knows the true capacities of human beings and he didn’t create his Vows for those capable of reaching Enlightenment by their own power:

“To destroy your blind passions means to become a Buddha and for the one who is already a Buddha, the Vow coming from the profound contemplation for five kalpas has no meaning.”

In Shinran’s opinion, this “exclusion” actually shows that even the worst beings are included in the salvation of Amida, especially those who committed the five grave offenses and slandered the right Dharma. I think that the mentioning of these gravest offenses is a clue that they are not wanted in the disciples’ behavior but, in the same time, the effects of those offenses are annihilated by the Endless Compassion that is received in the believer’s heart through the awakening of faith. Probably, each of us, in our past lives or this life, has committed at least once one of these offenses, driven by our illusions or blind passions.

Something appears though in the moment of the awakening of faith, something called “change of heart”, that is the fully understanding of the hopeless spiritual situation we are in, permanently driven by the tendencies of our negative karma and always capable of committing any act, but also of the salvation and indiscriminate working of Amida, manifested in his Vow and Name.

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In the moment we start to rely on Amida Buddha we experience this “change of heart”, an event that completely transforms our life’s direction, making it straight, independent of its illusions, to the supreme Nirvana.

Although in the Sutra of Immeasurable Life appears the “exclusion” mentioned above, in the Sutra of Contemplation the situation is completely different. Here Shakyamuni Buddha tells Ananda and Vaidehi that a man lying on his death bed that committed the five grave offenses, the ten transgressions and every kind of evil acts, can be born in the Pure Land if he meets a good spiritual teacher, listens to his advices and recites Namo Amida Butsu even ten times. Why this sutra doesn’t mention the slandering of Dharma among the evil acts which can’t obstruct birth in the Pure Land? This is a very important aspect that must be well understood. I will further present questions and answers from Kyogyoshinsho that will bring light upon this subject.

“Question: The Sutra of Immeasurable Life states,‘Those who aspire for birth are all brought to attainment.

Excluded are those who commit the five grave offenses and those who slander the right Dharma.’

The Sutra of Contemplation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Lifestates,

‘Those who have committed the five grave offenses and the ten transgressions, and who are possessed of various evils also attain birth.’

How are these two sutra passages to be reconciled?

Answer: The first sutra speaks of committing two kinds of serious evil act: the five grave offenses and the slander of the right Dharma. Because of committing both these two kinds of evil act, a person is unable to attain birth. The other sutra speaks only of committing the evil of the ten transgressions and five grave offenses; nothing is said of slandering the right Dharma. Because a person has not slandered the right Dharma, he attains birth.

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Question: Suppose a person has committed the five grave offenses but has not slandered the right Dharma. In the sutra, it is granted that such a person can attain birth. Further, suppose there is a person who has only slandered the right Dharma but is free of the five grave offenses and other evil acts; if he aspires for birth, will he attain it or not?

Answer: Although he has only slandered the right Dharma and has not committed other evil acts, he will definitely be unable to attain birth. How is this known? A sutra states that the person who has committed the five grave offenses falls into great Avici hell and fully undergoes their recompense for one kalpa. The person who slanders the right Dharma falls into great Avici hell, and when that kalpa has run out, he passes on into the great Avici hell of another quarter. In this way he passes through a hundred thousand great Avici hells one after another. The Buddha does not indicate any time when it is possible for him to emerge. This is because slandering the right Dharma is an evil act of extreme gravity.

Further, the right Dharma is the Buddha-dharma. Such a foolish person has already slandered it; how can it be reasonable to think that he would aspire to be born in the Buddha-land? Suppose the person aspires for birth merely because he craves to be born into happiness; this is like seeking ice that is not water or fire without smoke. How can it be deemed reasonable that he attain it?

Question: What are the characteristics of slandering the right Dharma?

Answer: Saying there is no Buddha, no Buddha-dharma, no Bodhisattva, no Bodhisattva-Dharma. Deciding on such views, whether through understanding thus in one’s own mind or receiving the ideas from others, is called slandering the right Dharma.

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Question: Taking such views only concerns the person himself. What pain and suffering does his act inflict on other sentient beings, that it should exceed the evil of the five grave offenses in seriousness?

Answer: If there were no Buddhas and bodhisattvas to expound themundane and supramundane good paths and to teach and guide sentient beings, how could we know of the existence of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity? Such mundane good would all be cut off, and the sages of the supramundane would all perish. You know only the gravity of the five grave offenses, and not that they arise from the absence of the right Dharma. Thus, the person who slanders the right Dharma is involved in the gravest karmic evil.”

I think the passage quoted above says it all about the so-called “exclusion” from the Eighteenth Vow. I would though add one thing: both sutras talk about slandering the true Dharma in the present moment: “the right Dharma is the Buddha-dharma. Such a foolish person has already slandered it; how can it be reasonable to think that he would aspire to be born in the Buddha-land?”.

“He already slandered it” refers to a slander that still goes on in that person’s mind, but it does not refers to a situation when he slandered it in the past and now, through a change of heart, he understands the evil he did and repents about it.

It’s logical to say that a person who still slanders the Dharma in his mind can not have a sincere aspiration for birth in the Pure Land, but that is not valid if slandering the Dharma becomes a mistake of the past, a mistake which is now repented. So, the one who slandered the Dharma in the past but goes through a change of heart in the present time, admits and feels sorry for his act, then relies with sincerity on Amida Buddha’s Compassion, that person will attain birth in the Pure Land. It’s logical to be this way. In Buddhism there are no eternal punishments except for a mind locked in mistake, which in fact punishes itself, but the mind that changes its ways can not be the same as the old one.

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This reminds me of a thing that happened during Shakyamuni’s time: A man deeply offended the Buddha, throwing in his face everykind of harsh words, but the next day he felt sorry and asked for forgiveness. Going before him, he kneeled and asked forgiveness. Buddha said: “Get up, the person who stays now in front of me is not the same as the one offending me yesterday.”

The nembutsu follower who dwells in the true shinjin can not slander Buddha Dharma and has nothing to do with any of the acts he did before receiving faith, because he is now a new man, a born again person in the light of Buddha’s Compassion, completely separated by the old man from this life or the past lives.

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The Meaning of the Three Refuges in Jodo Shinshu

The Three Refuges75 are:

I TAKE REFUGE IN THE BUDDHABuddham saranam gacchamiI TAKE REFUGE IN THE DHARMADhammam saranam gacchamiI TAKE REFUGE IN THE SANGHASangham saranam gacchami

The first line means to take refuge first and foremost in Amida Buddha who is the central Buddha in Jodo Shinshu. Only through him can we attain Buddhahood in the Pure Land as he is the only Buddha among all Buddhas who made the Vow of saving everybody, no matter their spiritual capacities.

We also honor and take refuge in Shakyamuni Buddha as the Teacher who showed us the path of Amida Dharma, his main reason for coming into this world.

At our dojo we recite the traditional “Vandana”: NAMO THASSA BHAGAVATO ARAHATO SAMMA SAMBUDDHASA (Homage to Him, the Blessed One, the fully Enlightened One) before reciting the Three Refuges. This is addressed to Shakyamuni Buddha in his position as a messenger and Teacher of Amida Dharma.

To second line means to take refuge in the Dharma about Amida that was preached by Shakyamuni Buddha and further explained by the Masters of our tradition, especially Shinran Shonin and Rennyo Shonin. It is the Dharma contained in the sacred texts of our tradition, the sutras and commentaries, not the books of some scholar or priest.

75 When someone becomes a Jodo Shinshu follower in the Romanian sangha,he/she says these refuges together with Ryogemon (Jodo Shinshu Creed) in front of the altar and in the presence of the sangha.

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By taking refuge in the true Dharma, which is, I repeat, the teaching contained in the sutras and commentaries of the Masters, we indirectly reject false views or opinions that contradict these sacred texts.

We reject such false views held today by many, like the denial of rebirth, of cause and effect, or those regarding Amida as being a symbol, metaphor, fictional character, those who misinterpret the Pure Land as being a state of mind to be attained here and now, etc76.

Taking refuge in the Dharma means that we make the vow of putting the Dharma higher than our own unenlightened opinions and ideas. We receive and transmit to others only the teaching left to us by Shakyamuni and the Masters of our tradition.

While we respect all Buddhist methods as coming from Shakyamuni, we follow only the teaching about Amida Buddha and only in it do we take refuge.

The third line means that we take refuge in those (lay and priests) who have received shinjin in the present life and whose future birth in the Pure Land is thus assured.

By taking refuge in them we wish to be like them, we consider them to be our fellow travelers on the path, our brothers and sisters in the Amida Dharma.

Those who haven’t received shinjin yet, should look for the company of those who are firm in shinjin, listen to their explanations, and wish to become persons of settled faith themselves.

76 See chapters “Those who deny the existence of Amida don’t have shinjin”, “Honen Shonin on Amida Buddha”, “Pure Land is not here and now”, “The Pure Land in the teaching of Jodo Shinshu”, from this book.

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We do not take refuge in those who share false views or views that are not in accordance with the words and instructions of the sutras and commentaries of the Masters.

The true Jodo Shinshu sangha (community) is composed only of those who fully accept the teaching found in the sutras and commentaries of the Masters and who have received shinjin or sincerely aspire to shinjin. In such a sangha we take refuge. Such a sangha we venerate as part of the Three Treasures.

The sangha is the place where the true Dharma is shared and transmitted so that we can receive shinjin and become Buddhas in the Pure Land.

Only in sharing and transmitting the true Dharma does the sangha have meaning. Without taking refuge in the living Amida Buddha and accepting the Dharma about him as it was taught by Shakyamuni and the Masters, there is no sangha.

Question:How should we look to other Buddhists that are not Jodo Shinshu

followers?

Answer:They are disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, too, just they follow

other Buddhist methods than us.

In accordance with Master Rennyo’s instruction found in his letters, we should not despise those who practice other Buddhist teachings than the nembutsu of faith in Amida Buddha. “Respect but not follow”, is the rule for treating other Buddhist schools and their disciples. After all, Buddhists of all schools are brothers and sisters in the Buddha Dharma and disciples of Shakyamuni. They are part of the general Buddhist sangha, so to speak, containing all Buddhists, but we specifically take refuge in the sangha of those who have faith in Amida Buddha.

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Question:How should we look to other religions?

Answer:“Respect but not follow” applies here, too.

Shinran Shonin insisted very much in the last chapter from his Kyogyoshinsho, by quoting many sutras, on the fact that the disciples of the Buddha should not take refuge in non-Buddhist teachings, or venerate any divinities outside Buddhism, should not rely on superstitions, lucky days, propitious or unpropitious times, etc.. Here are a few revealing passages:

“Those who take refuge truly and wholeheartedly, freeing themselves from all delusional attachments and all concern with the propitious or unpropitious, must never take refuge in false spirits or non-Buddhist teachings.”77

“Do not turn toward other teachings; do not worship gods.”78

“Good sons and good daughters of pure trust must never serve gods to the very end of their lives.”79

Also we must not mix the Buddha Dharma with various religious systems from the past or present. Buddhism is the medicine prescribed to us by the Buddha, who is supreme among all the teachers in the three worlds and it is a grave mistake to mix his teaching with those of other paths.

77 Shinran quoted this passage from the Sutra of the Ten Wheels of Ksitigarbha.78 Shinran quoted this passage from the Sutra of the Samadhi of Collecting All Merits.79 Shinran quoted this passage from the Sutra of the Vows of Medicine Master Buddha.

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So, we abandon all non-Buddhist teachings and select the Buddha Dharma. Next, among all Shakyamuni’s teachings we choose only the nembutsu of faith in Amida Buddha.

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Ryogemon (Jodo Shinshu Creed)

Ryogemon is the creed of Jodo Shinshu Buddhist teaching, composed by Rennyo Shonin, the eight Monshu of Hongwanji. In it we find all we need to know and accept in order to be born in the Pure Land of Amida. By taking refuge in the Three Treasures and accepting this profession of faith into our hearts we become Jodo Shinshu followers, so we must fully understand its meaning. There are a few English versions of Ryogemon, but I prefer to use the following one, translated by Zuio Inagaki Sensei:

“Having abandoned the mind of self-power to perform various practices and miscellaneous acts, I have entrusted myself to Amida Tathagata with singleness of heart recognizing that he has resolved my crucial after-life problem once and for all.

I understand that at the moment such entrusting Faith arises in me, my deliverance from Samsara is settled with the assurance of birth in the Pure Land, and joyfully accept that recitation of the Nembutsu which follows is to express my indebtedness to Amida.

How grateful I am that I have come to this understanding through the benevolence of the founder, Shinran Shonin, who appeared in this country and of the masters of the succeeding generations who have guided me with deep compassion!

From now on, I will abide by the rules of conduct all my life.”

***

“Various practices and miscellaneous acts” which we abandon, include all the religious practices, teachings and actions through which people believe they achieve something, especially perfect Enlightenment and Buddhahood. These can be various meditations/contemplations or non-meditative methods, observing

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precepts with the thought of transferring the merits thus gained toward Enlightenment, etc.. Even the saying of Amida’s Name can be placed in this category if it is done while relying on personal power80.

All these practices and acts are abandoned as is the very idea that you can do something by yourself to gain perfect Enlightenment and Liberation from Samsara. You simply realize that you are limited and incapable to become a Buddha by yourself and you accept that only Amida Buddha81 can help you in this and stop your endless wandering in the repeated cycle of birth and death.

In the exact moment you entrust yourself to Amida you are assured of escaping from Samsara and simultaneously assured of your birth in the Pure Land. In that exact moment (not when you die) you become saved, your karmic destiny is fixed and you are sure to become a Buddha in the Pure Land. Nothing which follows this moment of the emergence of faith can in any way influence, improve or destroy your chances to be born in the Pure Land.

You remain an ordinary person as you have always been until the moment of your death, and even if you die unexpectedly, without thinking on Amida or not being in a good state of mind, you will still go in the Pure Land because you are already saved from the very instance of your first moment of faith (shinjin). So don’t worry about anything, just entrust in Amida and all is assured for you. The saying of Amida’s Name is just the expression of faith and gratitude because Amida saves you without asking anything from you, not even the smallest virtue or merit.

80 For example if you think that the better you recite it, the more chances you have to be born in the Pure Land, or that the number of recitations and the concentrated state of mind are important, or if you imagine that you can gain merit by this recitation which can be transferred to your birth in the Pure Land, etc. 81 If one thinks that Amida is a symbol, a fictional character, or a metaphor, as some deluded modern scholars interpret him, then this Ryogemon is useless. Only those who accept Amida as a real and living Buddha in accordance with Shakyamuni’s description in the Larger Sutra can have true faith in him.

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You met the Dharma of Amida’s salvation because of Shinran Shonin’s appearance in this world and of his explanations. His successors who were faithful to his teachings and further spread them to the later generations, like for example, Master Kakunyo or Master Rennyo, also provided you with the conditions to meet this wonderful teaching. So they all, especially Shinran Shonin, deserve your gratitude and appreciation.

The rules of conduct you engage to observe all your life when you enter the Shinshu sangha are to be found in Rennyo’s Letters82. They are reformulated by me here:

- respect other Buddhist schools and do not denigrate their teachings or followers83

- do not belittle other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas- do not denigrate the kami (gods of Shintoism)84

82 References to these rules can be found at pages 20, 27, 32, 34, 35, 40, 41, 47, 50, 53, 71, 74, 77, 81 from Rennyo Shonin Ofumi (The Letters of Rennyo), published by Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and Numata Center Translation and Research in 1996.83 Rennyo said in one of his many letters referring to this aspect: „Within our tradition there must be no slandering of other teachings and sects. As the teachings were all given by Shakyamuni during his life time, they should be fruitful if they are practiced just as they were expounded. In this last Dharma age, however, people like ourselves are not equal to the teachings of the various sects of the Path of Sages; therefore, we simply do not rely on them or entrust ourselves to them”. 84 We do not rely on the kami, but this does not mean that we denigrate them. As Master Rennyo pointed out in many of his letters, some of the kami worshiped in Shintoism were in fact manifestations of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who tried in many ways to bring sentient beings to finally entrust in the Amida Dharma. Thus, by receiving faith in Amida, we fulfill their wishes and aspirations, so we do not need to worship and take refuge in them. Shinran Shonin himself forbade worshiping of the kami and various gods, but he also never said we should denigrate them or their followers. Also, unlike Rennyo, he never spoked in his writings about kami as manifestations of Buddhas. I would not go so far as to say that the important figures of all religions are in fact, manifestations of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. We know that in Buddhism, in general, gods are just one type of unenlightened beings among others, so we must not conclude that Master Rennyo tried to make us see all gods from various

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- do not put on airs of a high spiritual person – be humble- do not impose our faith to others of various religions or

Buddhist schools- be careful when you talk about Jodo Shinshu teaching

with people who are not karmically mature and not open to understand and receive it – do not impose it on them; in general, speak only when it is truly necessary and at the right time.

- do not be proud and do not become noisy, especially in the public, with your convictions and faith in Jodo Shinshu; be discrete, act normal, and enjoy your faith in silence and humbleness.

- do not denigrate or slight government and local authorities because you have faith and they don’t

- meet your public obligations and duties in full without fail- take the laws of the state as your outer aspect85, store

Other Power faith deep in your hearts and take the principles of humanity and justice as essential86.

mythologies or important figures of major religions as being Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. In his letters he specifically made reference to Shintoist kami which other Japanese Buddhist schools also considered as having a link with the Buddha Dharma. Also, it would be a mistake to view all spirits, all kami and all figures of Japanese folklore as being Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In order to accomodate Rennyo’s instructions with Shinran’s instructions the best thing to do is to consider that indeed some kami are manifestations, but to be sure that we make no mistakes and do not come to worship unenlightened spirits or gods, Jodo Shinshu followers should concentrate exclusively on Amida Buddha and leave aside, respectfully, all is related with Shintoism and its divine figures. Generally speaking, we should never look to Shintoism and especially to other religions as being the same with Buddhism. Shinran himself quoted Nirvana Sutra in his Kyogyoshinsho, where it is clearly stated that: „the emancipation of non Buddhist ways is called impermanent, the emancipation of Buddhist ways is called eternal”. So we abandon all non-Buddhist ways and follow only the Buddha Dharma, but in doing this we respect other people’s religious decisions and do not denigrate them. 85 Act accordingly with the laws of the state you live in. Of course, this does not apply to laws that are inhumane and criminal.86 Try to be compassionate and treat all people equally no matter their differences.

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Also by becoming a Jodo Shinshu follower you automatically promise not to distort this wonderful teaching with personal ideas and opinions based on your unenlightened mind. Thus, you accept that the Shinshu Dharma is the wonderful medicine given by Shakyamuniand the Masters to save people from birth and death, and in order for it to be effective you must not change it or alter it in any way since you are not a Doctor or a Buddha yourself.

This is a rule of conduct which you automatically and naturally accept when you enter this path. It’s just common sense. If one destroys or modifies Amida Dharma, then this Ryogemon becomes useless and no salvation from birth and death can be possible. So, please be careful when you talk about Jodo Shinshu or when you try to transmit it to others. Indications about this general rule of conduct are to be found everywhere in the teachings of Shinran and Rennyo, so take it as essential when you enter the Shinshu sangha.

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Those who deny the existence of Amida don’t have shinjin –some simple explanations

Unfortunately, there are many false teachers in the international Jodo Shinshu community who support wrong interpretations of the nembutsu Dharma - the so called modern and progressive interpretations - but which are in evident contradiction to the teaching of the sutras and the sacred texts. One of the most widely distributed errors is the theory that Amida is a symbol, a metaphor, or a fictional character.

Such interpretations prove the absence of the genuine shinjin from the hearts of those who support them. It is simply impossible to have the experience of faith in Amida and in the same time to consider him a fictional character or a metaphor. On the contrary, such shinjin is false or fictional just as how fictional the object of their “faith” is.

I have never heard nor read in the sacred texts about such presentations of Amida Buddha. Not Shakyamuni, nor Shinran Shonin or other masters of our tradition ever spoke in those terms about Amida and his Pure Land. This is why I always say that those who present Amida as a fictional character, metaphor, symbol or something similar to these terms, don’t have the experience of faith and salvation.

The entrusting heart (shinjin) is the cause of our birth in the Pure Land and of our attainment of Buddhahood, but how can faith in something fictional be called true faith? This is something easy enough for a child to understand. Fictional is fictional no matter how you present it, while the real is real. Only faith in something real and alive can be a true faith and have true results - birth in the Pure Land.

If somebody says that you, the reader of these lines, are a fictional character, I suppose he doesn’t believe that you exist. It’s as simple as that.

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It is said that trees are known by their fruits. It’s impossible that someone speaking and insisting in his entire work on such false teachings can have a real experience of faith and guide others to faith. It’s not that I judge the faith of others, but their own words speak for themselves. They simply don’t know or don’t feel or don’t understand or don’t want to accept who Amida is (i.e. who the sutras and explanations of the Masters say he is): so how can they have faith in him?

Master Honen was recorded in the postscript of Tannisho to say that some people don’t have the same shinjin (faith) as his so they will surely not go to the same Pure Land he goes, after death. His shinjin and the shinjin of Shinran both came from Amida Buddha, the real Amida Buddha, not the fictive Amida, the symbolic or metaphorical Amida. This is the reason they had the same shinjin, although their personal wisdom and knowledge of the Dharma differed.

Both Shinran and Honen, but also the other Masters, accepted the teaching about Amida Buddha as taught by Shakyamuni in the Larger Sutra. By listening to this teaching they received shinjin and became Buddhas in the Pure Land when their life here came to its natural end. We, their disciples of modern times, are also different in knowledge, experience and wisdom, but we too must accept the same teaching they accepted in order to receive the same shinjin as they.

Birth, life and death are not fictive, symbolical or metaphorical. Also our freedom from birth and death can’t be fictive, symbolical or metaphorical. A Buddha who is not alive and active in the world of suffering, cannot help and guide us to the supreme, unsurpassed Enlightenment. Faith in a fictive character, in a symbol or metaphor does not keep warm and cannot free anybody.

If shinjin comes from Amida and is the cause of our Freedom, what kind of shinjin do they have who do not entrust in Amida as

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being a living and active Buddha? Please use your mind and simple logic, so that you do not fall into such illusions and wrong understanding as theirs.

The true Jodo Shinshu Buddhism is not a rambling metaphysical system, filled with symbols, metaphors and hidden meanings, but a set of clear and precise teachings intended to free all beings from birth and death through a simple faith in a living and active Buddha called Amida.

Those who don’t like or cannot accept this path are free to leave it or forget it, but they should never try to change it so as to accommodate it with their personal ideas and lack of faith, and they should certainly never misrepresent it as being Jodo Shinshu Buddhism.

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Honen Shonin on Amida Buddha

In the Dialogue on One Hundred Forty-Five Topics, Honen Shonin said:

“Although there is one Amida Buddha, his teachings have different interpretations. The Shingon school teaches that Amida Buddha resides in one’s own heart; they do not admit his existence outside of one’s heart. The Pure Land school, however, teaches that Bodhisattva Dharmakara realized Buddhahood and became Amida Buddha and now resides in the west87. These two viewpoints reflect great differences between the two schools”.

The words of Master Honen are very clear for those who have a sincere wish to understand who Amida really is and repent for spreading wrong views.

I especially chose this quote to show that any presentation of Amida Buddha as being a metaphor, a myth, a symbol of one’s own Enlightened nature or one’s own heart and mind, etc., is not in accord with the Pure Land teaching of Honen and his Dharma heir, Shinran Shonin.

The right view that a follower of our school should have about Amida Buddha and teach to others is the one presented by Shakyamuni in the Larger Sutra: Amida is a real and living Buddha who resides in his Pure Land of the west (a manifestation of his vows to save all beings). Because Amida is not something inside our heart or mind, his Pure Land too is not inside us, is not “here and now” and is not “our own pure mind” as some might say.

87 The Pure Land of Amida Buddha is sometimes called the Pure Land of the west. See the chapter „The reason for the western location of the Pure Land and its wonderful description in the sutras”.

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Because Amida is a real and living Buddha outside of us, his Pure Land too, is a real place outside us unenlightened beings who can never have a pure mind and heart. In our own heart and mind there is nothing else than illusion, so we cannot say that Amida Buddha or his Pure Land is to be sought there.

There are great differences in interpreting Amida between our Pure Land school and other Buddhist schools based on personal power. But if we consider ourselves disciples of Honen and Shinran Shonin we should discard the latter and take refuge in the living Amida Buddha of the western Pure Land. Only upon birth in the Pure Land, when we become Buddhas, will we understand fully the ultimate nature of all things and the Pure Land.

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The reason for the western location of the Pure Land and its wonderful description in the sutras

Question:“Why is the Pure Land of Amida Buddha called “the Western Pure

Land” or “the Pure Land of the West”? Why is the “west” so much emphasized in many of the sacred writings related with Amida? And also why is the Pure Land described in such a fantastic way in the sutras?”

Answer:In order to show that Amida’s Pure Land is not a metaphor, but a

real place in which people can actually aspire to be born after death, the land is given a direction and is described in great details in the sutras.

Some say that the direction “west” and the marvelous descriptions of the Pure Land are a proof for its non-existence or for its existence as a symbol or metaphor only. But the truth is that by making the effort to describe in many words the wonders of the Pure Land and by pointing to a direction where to face the Pure Land when worshipping Amida, Shakyamuni Buddha wants to emphasize its actual existence as a place where sentient beings should aspire to be born without worry and doubt.

It is as though I speak to you about a beautiful park I would like you to visit. If I tell you, “it’s there, in the west of the town” and I start describing it to you, then you will have no doubt about its existence and you will wish to see it. It’s the same with the expression “Pure Land of the West”.

The exaltation with which Shakyamuni describes the Pure Land of Amida in the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amida-kyo) without even being

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asked to do it88, or the radiant light that emanated from his body when he delivered the Larger Sutra in which he expounded the story of Amida and his 48th vows89, are both an indication that his words were true and his listeners should accept Amida as a living Buddha and his Pure Land as a real place.

88 The Smaller Amida Sutra (Amida-kyo) is a sutra spontaneously delivered, not in response to a question, which is a proof of the importance of the teaching about Amida Buddha. In this discourse, Shakyamuni begins every description with great enthusiam, repeating the name of his main listener, Shariputra, telling him the wonders of the Pure Land and the uniqueness of Amida Buddha among all Buddhas. 89 It is recorded in the Larger Sutra on Amida Buddha that when Shakyamuni was about to deliver it”all the senses of the World-Honored One radiated joy, his entire body appeared serene and glorious, and his august countenance looked most majestic.” After Ananda asks him about the reason for these wonderful manifestations, Shakyamuni reveals to him the true goal of his coming to this world, by presenting the history of Amida Buddha, the 48 Vows and encouraging sentient beings to aspire for birth in the Pure Land. In the same sutra, the whole gathering listening to the discourse, including Ananda, had a vision of Amida Buddha and his Pure Land, which is further proof that Shakyamuni speaks about real things, not symbols or fictions.

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Pure Land is NOT here and now

Questions:“1. I sometimes think the central theme of Buddhism is that it all

comes from Avidya (ignorance) and this makes us view the world as samsara rather than Nirvana. I wish to know what some Buddhists mean when they say there is no distinction between the two. Also, related to this and bringing it back to Jodo Shinshu: Is the Pure Land here and now or not? Or is it to be reached after death when we become Buddhas? Personally, I think it has to be here and now or it is nowhere. For me this is what I thought was the essence of Shinran’s teaching, and why I was attracted to it.”

2. As far as the nembutsu is concerned does it have a particular form? Or rather is it a door through which ignorance is cleared and we realize we have always been in the Pure Land?”

Answer:Yes, ignorance makes us see samsara (the world of illusion,

suffering, birth and death) as different from Nirvana, and when Buddhas or Enlightened Masters talk about them as being in unity and not different they are truly able to manifest this ultimate truth, because they became enlightened. Their understanding is not just an intellectual one.

However I, as an unenlightened person, can speak about the unity between samsara and Nirvana for days and nights, but I use only mere words and still remain caught in my limited mind. No matter how much I speak about this, I still don’t become a Buddha. Only from the Buddha’s perspective (the absolute truth), are Nirvana and samsara one, but from the perspective of an unenlightened person, these two are different. Thus, samsara and Nirvana will remain different as long as we are not Buddhas, no matter how much we speak about unity.

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And about the Pure Land:Shinran Shonin is quoted as saying in chapter 15 of Tannisho:

“According to the true essence of the Pure Land way, one entrusts oneself to the Primal Vow in this life and realizes Enlightenment in the Pure Land; this is the teaching I received.”

To entrust in the Primal Vow of Amida in this life amounts to the same as saying the nembutsu – Namo Amida Butsu – with complete faith and gratitude in Amida. Namo means “to take refuge” and also it means “homage to”, so it’s an expression of faith and gratitude.

There is no other meaning related to the nembutsu in our Jodo Shinshu teaching.

“‘Saved by the inconceivable working of Amida’s Vow, I shall realize birth in the Pure Land’: the moment you entrust yourself thus to the Vow, so that the mind set upon saying the nembutsu arises within you, you are immediately brought to share in the benefit of being grasped by Amida, never to be abandoned.”

So, Shinran says that in the moment you entrust yourself to the Vow (and because of this you say the nembutsu) “you are immediately brought to share in the benefit of being grasped by Amida, never to be abandoned.” This means that you enter into the stage of those assured of Nirvana or the stage of non-retrogression.

What is meant by the stage of non-retrogression? It means that the root of your karma is cut, that is, although you continue to experience the results of past karma and to act as a being full of illusions and blind passions until the moment of your death, your karma cannot plant further seeds into another life in samsara.

Because of the merit transference from Amida, you are now assured of Buddhahood, which you will attain in the moment of your death, when you are born in the Pure Land. You are established in

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this stage of non-retrogression, not by yourself, but by Amida (“being grasped by Amida”) who will never abandon you (“never to be abandoned”) – this is what is mean by non-retrogression, or assured of Nirvana.

Master Rennyo used the six-character name (NA MO A MI DA BUTSU), although the ten-character Name90 and the nine-character Name91 are the same in meaning with the six-character Name because they express the same faith in Amida Buddha.

We should not forget that the Name is made to be easy to recite, and it doesn’t have any hidden meaning, whether esoteric or some “Zen meaning”. It simply means to entrust in Amida’s saving power.

The Name was not created in order that we be led to understand the Pure Land as here and now. That is not why the Name was created. For us unenlightened beings, “here and now” means only samsara, the world of illusion and suffering. We can be born in the Pure Land and become a Buddha even if we don’t understand the ultimate unity between samsara and Nirvana.

Nembutsu being the same with shinjin (this is why I always call it “nembutsu of faith”), it means to be aware of and to understand two very important things (“the doctrine of the the Twofold Profound Convictions or nishu jinshin)”:

1. The profound understanding of the fact that we are merely mortals influenced by our negative tendencies with no hope of salvation through our personal powers. This represents the deep mindfulness of human nature just as it is; and

90 KI MYO JIN JI PO MU GE KO NYO RAI – Homage to the Tathagata of Unimpeded Light Pervading the Ten Quarters.91 NA MO FU KA SHI GI KO NYO RAI – Homage to the Tathagata of Inconceivable Light.

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2. The profound understanding of the fact that Amida’s Primal Vow will save us with no exceptions and that it is intended precisely for beings like us. This represents the wholeheartedly reliance on Amida Buddha’s Compassion.

So, as you see, shinjin and the nembutsu of shinjin do not mean that “the Pure Land is here and now” or to “realize we have always been in the Pure Land”. Nowhere in the writings of Shinran or Rennyo is there to be found such an interpretation, not to mention anywhere in the Three Pure Land Sutras about Amida, which are the words of Shakyamuni Buddha himself.

But why do some followers insist on spreading false views like “the Pure Land is here and now” or presenting Amida as a symbol, myth or fictional character? The answer is simple – it is because they cannot accept in their hearts the words of Shakyamuni and the Masters, and because they are blinded by their own limited and illusory opinions to which they try to adapt the Jodo Shinshu teaching.

Such people think the Dharma must necessarily adapt to the materialistic or so-called “modern” visions of a world in which they are incapable of going beyond what they can see with the naked eye. It is as if they are deludedly saying that our eyes, or our limited minds, are the only criteria upon which we can judge what is real from what is not real in the universe, and further, what we don’t see, touch or smell, etc. automatically doesn’t exist.

Only in the moment of death, when through faith in Amida Buddha we are born the “birthless birth” in the Pure Land and become Buddhas, will we understand what our present minds and senses can’t understand – the unity between samsara and Nirvana, the “non-arising of all phenomena,” “emptiness”, etc.

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The Pure Land in the teaching of Jodo Shinshu

Chih-i (538-597), the founding master of the Tendai Buddhist school in China, advocated the idea that the Pure Land „exists in one’s mind”, which was later transmitted to Japan. This can be found in the Vimalakirti Sutra, a teaching belonging to a diferent Dharma gate than the Pure Land92, and in which it is said that if one’s mind is pure then the land appears pure by virtue of the purity of the mind.

Essentially speaking, the Pure Land was understood by many Tendai masters of the past as existing only in one’s mind. Chih-i even spoke of Amida Buddha and his Pure Land as elements of one’s consciousness to be realized in the mind.

Nowadays, many followers and so-called teachers of our school take this idea and integrate it in various ways into their own interpretation of the Jodo Shinshu teaching without knowing or without wanting to accept that such ideas are against the Pure Land teaching advocated by our Founding Masters.

We need to understand very well that contrary to the theories of “mind only” or “pure land is pure mind”, the Jodo Shinshu teaching recognizes the existence of many transcendental Buddhas who preside over many realms or Buddha-lands and that it is possible, by various methods, to be born in one of these after death. Various examples of such Buddha-lands are, for example, Maitreya’s Tusita Heaven, Akyobhya’s land, the land of Tara Bodhisattva, Bhaisajyaguru (Yakushi) Buddha’s land and Amida’s land of the west, the last mentioned of which is the best land to be born into by those who wish to attain Buddhahood quickly.

The real existence of such Buddha-lands and especially of Amida Buddha’s Pure Land was naturally accepted by the masters of our

92 See the chapter „The effect is simmilar to the cause – difference between the Path of self power and the Pure Land Path”.

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school, including Nagarjuna, Shan-tao, Honen, Shinran and others who clearly instructed us to aspire to be born only in Amida’s Pure Land. They all embraced the idea of the Pure Land from the viewpoint of the next life (raisejodo), which means it is to be attained after physical death, and of Amida as a real and living Buddha.

Shinran himself lamented in the third chapter of Kyogyoshinshoabout those who embraced wrong views about Amida and his Pure Land:

“The monks and laity of this latter age and the religious teachers of these times are floundering in concepts of ‚self-nature’ and ‚mind only’, and they disparage the true realization of Enlightenment in the Pure Land way”.

It is unfortunate that many of today’s false teachers continue to lead people into confusion with concepts that are not to be found in our school, due to their own lack of faith in Amida Buddha and their lack of a sincere aspiration to be born in his Pure Land.

How far they are from the words of faith spoken by Nagarjuna:

With reverence I bow my head to Amida, the Sage, The Most Honored One, who is revered by humans and devas. You dwell in the wonderful Land of Peace and Bliss, Surrounded by innumerable children of the Buddhas.

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About petitionary prayers

In the Kyosho (Essentials of Jodo Shinshu) it is said:

“..we shall live expressing our gratitude without depending on petitionary prayer and superstition”.

Here we see that petitionary prayer is linked to superstition as both are put in the same category of the things we, as Jodo Shinshu followers, should not do.

But what does it mean to use the nembutsu as a petitionary prayer or superstition? Simply stated it is to say the Name of Amida in order to receive worldly benefits, like wealth, possessions, success in love affairs, etc., or to think that by reciting it in a certain manner will bring good luck and good fortune.

To believe in luck is in itself a superstition as this implies the denial of the law of karma according to which one reaps what one sows. Luck it is said to appear from nowhere, while the karma implies that everything has a cause. One cannot be a Buddhist and believe in luck or good fortune which comes from other sources not related to personal karma.

So, any religious method which implies asking a higher being, a Buddha or a god, to grant one’s worldly wishes or any divinatory practice that is believed to modify one’s destiny outside the law of karma is strictly forbidden in Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in particular and in Buddhism in general.

I think the above sentence from the Kyosho was especially promulgated to prevent Jodo Shinshu followers from falling in two wrong views:

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1. to misinterpret nembutsu as a divinatory method or a petitionary prayer for worldly benefits, and

2. to discourage wrong dependency upon various gods and higher beings.

But what if we cry to Amida Buddha, like a child calls his mother when he feels sad or when he is in danger? Can this be considered wrong, too?

For example, when I was in a plane and I was passing through strong turbulences I prayed to Amida and Avalokitesvara and asked them to protect my life. I simply didn’t care then if this was a petitionary prayer or not, and I also think that Amida was not upset with me.

I am an ordinary person who is afraid of death, and in times of great sorrow or fear I may cry to Amida or Avalokitesvara: “please help me, I am afraid of this or that….” I think it’s all right to do this. Amida and Avalokitesvara and any Buddha we call is always present, can hear our cries, and understands our need of protection.

One cannot ask me to suddenly have no fear of death after I entrust to Amida. If we were supposed to have no fear after receiving shinjin then it would mean that Jodo Shinshu is not a path for ordinary people, as ordinary people are always capable of experiencing fear. To be free from fear in this life means to no longer be in the category of ordinary people. And Amida Buddha especially saves ordinary people.

Shinran said to Yuien-bo in Tannisho that he himself was afraid of death and did not wish to go to the Pure Land soon. Instead of putting him outside the Dharma, this fear is exactly what assured him even more of Amida’s salvation.

Of course, it is not the fault of Amida that I suffer and have to pass through many kinds of dangerous situations. Due to my heavy karma

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from the past I deserve to experience any injury – this is the law of cause and effect. But in the exact moment of being injured, who can really have a calm state of mind and say to himself: “I am now experiencing the results of my heavy karma so I should stay calm and not cry to Amida for help”?

I myself cannot really promise that when facing danger I will not pray to the Buddhas for protection. It’s really impossible for me to never say “Please Amida, protect me”.

I think we should not be strict when approaching Amida in our daily lives or when we meet with problems. We can ask for help, without becoming upset if due to causes and conditions unknown to our limited minds: we still suffer and apparently receive no help as we wished it. But surely we are helped and supported even if our minds can’t understand how a Buddha helps us.

My opinion is that there is no real Dharmic problem as long as we don’t think we can get money or other things through the nembutsu, or that through petitionary prayers we are born in the Pure Land or we become more worthy to go there.

As I said previously, I think that exclusion of petitionary prayers in Jodo Shinshu comes from fearing that some might misinterpret the nembutsu as a petitionary prayer or use it to transfer merits gained from a good recitation to this or that worldly gain, or think we can obtain material wealth ignoring the law of cause and effect by praying to higher beings and Buddhas.

It should be very well understood that nembutsu is not a magic formula to solve one’s problems in daily life, but only the manifestation of faith in Amida which causes our attainment of Buddhahood in the Pure Land. Through the nembutsu of faith one receives only the assurance of attainment of Buddhahood in the Pure Land, nothing else.

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To end all suffering, to become a Buddha and to help others indefinitely, this is the natural outcome of nembutsu. Once we have received faith in our hearts and have started saying the nembutsu of faith, our karma is cut and we are assured of birth in the Pure Land.

Having our karma cut means that it doesn’t plant its seed in another life filled with ignorance and suffering, but as long as we live we continue to experience the results of our past actions from this life or the endless past. It is like a flower taken from the ground – it will soon wither away and die but still it preserves its colour for a few hours or days. Our karma is like that flower after receiving faith. We still suffer until we die and we are born in the Pure Land, but after death our suffering is 100% finished and we become Buddhas.

I think there is a great difference between using the nembutsu for worldly means and crying for help in times of danger when we are overwhelmed by fear. The latter is simply the child’s cry toward his mother (Amida Buddha) and no one can say it is not doctrinally correct for a child to cry to his mother.

We should be relaxed in our relationship with Amida Buddha, Avalokitesvara or any Buddha, as Buddhas are our parents, and we, as their children, should be able to talk freely with them. How can I, a child of Amida, not be allowed to call on him in times of great sorrow, fear or danger? Of course, I as a child, can’t always abstain from becoming emotionally overcome with fear or sorrow and act without wisdom. But a mother never judges a child like an adult, and in the same way a Buddha never relates to an ordinary person like a Buddha.

I do not know how my last moments of life would be, so I cannot promise that I will die like a courageous person, facing death with bravery, although I wish this so much. But no matter if in my last breaths I ask helplessly not to die due to my unconscious attachment to life, and I finally die, I know I will go to Amida’s Pure Land and become a Buddha myself. Shinran said in his Letters that he gives no

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special meaning to one’s last moments. If one has shinjin, then he can die in any circumstances, as he will surely go to the Pure Land after death.

To have fear or ask for protection and help from the Buddhas in times of great dangers and suffering is due to our own blind passions, while to be saved as we are from birth and death is due to Amida’s Power. These two have no connection with one another.

In concluding this chapter I wish to mention one more thing. I know that the example of Shinran’s giving up the recitation of the Pure Land sutras for the benefit of others93 is always shown as a proof against petitionary prayers and wrong interpretation of practice in Jodo Shinshu. But into my opinion, what Shinran tried to do when he chanted Amida-kyo in that specific situation was transference of merit. He hoped to achieve merits by sutra recitation which he intended to be transferred to those in need. He then realized this attempt is not in accord with the Pure Land teaching, and he stopped.

In comparrison with this, what I did when I prayed to Amida and Avalokitesvara in that dangerous situation, was not a transference of merit but just a cry of help in the hour of suffering and fear.

I am sure that faith and the nembutsu of faith can co-exist with some cries of help in the middle of great suffering. Amida will not be upset.

93 It is said that one day, when Shinran saw the immense suffering of peasants from an area devastated by hunger, he secluded himself and concentrated on chanting the Three Pure Land sutras many times in order to benefit them. But after a period he gave up this practice realizing it was a mistake to think that he could rely on his own power of chanting to save others. To chant sutras and transfer the merits thus gained is a custom in many Buddhist schools, but not in Jodo Shinshu because we think only Amida, as a Buddha, has true merits that can be shared with others.

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Death barrier

“Death barrier,what does it mean to you?”94

This question is like a koan. You have to answer it, but not using only your rational mind. You have to put all your heart into this question. Ask yourself over and over again, “death barrier, what does it mean to me?”

What does death mean to you? Do you really feel that you will die, do you really understand impermanence? This question is addressed to you personally; it is not a general question, not a philosophical question, but a very intimate question. It must become very personal.

Take the thought of death in your everyday life, when you go to bed in the evening, when you start your day in the morning, when you are sad or when you feel happy, when it is your birthday or when you get marry, when eating a good meal, after having sex, when you are satisfied…invite death to enter your mind and make you aware of its hidden presence.

Everything you have is fragile, so feel this fragility. “Fragile” is a very good word. Feel the fragility of your own body, of your relations with others, of the environment you live in, and especially feel the fragility of your own so-called spiritual achievements. Be aware that you can die every day, every moment, and fear most about the place you might go after death.

Fear most if you haven’t received shinjin (faith) yet, and do all you can to be sure that your destination is certain. Don’t waste the time you have without solving the most important matters of death and what comes after death.

94 Zuiken Inagaki Sensei.

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Master Rennyo said:“Those who do not know the importance of the afterlife are

ignorant, even though they may understand eighty thousand sutras and teachings; those who solved the problem of the afterlife are wise, even though they may be unlettered men and women”.

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State of mind in the moment of death

Shinran Shonin said in one of his Letters (Mattosho):

“I, for my own part, attach no significance to the condition, good or bad, of persons in their final moments. People in whom shinjin is determined do not doubt, and so abide among the truly settled. For this reason their end also - even for those ignorant and foolish and lacking in wisdom - is a happy one.”

This is for me, one of the most important statements of Shinran Shonin which gives me true relief and assurance in my moments of strong depression. No matter if I die well, in my bed, or in the street like a homeless person, no matter if I feel good or bad, if I smile and die peacefully with the appearance of a wise person or I cry because of pain or fear, no matter if my death makes a good impression or not, no matter if I die of old age or in my youth, I am accepted exactly as I am and I will be born in the Pure Land because of Amida’s Compassion.

This is because, in his Primal Vow, Amida Buddha did not mention a special condition in which I have to die in order to be born in the Pure Land, he just promised that those beings who trust in him, wish to be born in his land and say his Name will be born there. These three minds – the mind who entrusts in Amida, the mind who wishes to be born in Amida’s Land and the mind who says nembutsu are in fact one mind, the manifestations of the entrusting mind.

In Jodo Shinshu we are saved here and now, that is, we enter in the stage of non-retrogression (“truly settled”) or the stage of those assured of Nirvana, in the very moment we entrust ourselves to Amida Buddha, and we are born in the Pure Land where we become immediately Buddhas in the very moment we die.

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But even after we receive shinjin (faith in Amida Buddha) we continue to live our lives like ordinary people, filled with blind passions and illusions, and we can die like ordinary people because of the problems of ordinary people, because we are ordinary people.

But this very ordinary person is already “received and never abandoned” by the Compassion of Amida Buddha and in this way his end becomes a happy one. He dies like an ordinary person but is reborn as a Buddha in the Pure Land of Amida.

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Immediate Buddhahood for ordinary people, without passing through bardo

Although it is not so well spread outside Asia, like Tibetan Buddhism, Jodo Shinshu deserves its place among the most advanced Mahayana teachings and practices.

I know that in Tibetan Buddhism, there are methods for attaining complete Buddhahood quicker than in other Mahayana schools. Some practices are hard and dangerous like those of the tantras, but some are easier like the practice of attaining Enlightenment in the bardo or the intermediate state between death and the next birth, in accordance with the Bardo Thodol. Through its methods, Tibetan Buddhism promises, if well practiced, Enlightenment in 16 lives maximum, or even in the bardo, if one is not capable of attaining it in this very life.

It is indeed wonderful, but looking to the teaching and practice of Jodo Shinshu, I feel even happier that through faith in Amida Buddha I will attain supreme and complete Buddhahood in the very moment of death and birth in the Pure Land: not in the bardo, where I still have to practice something based on my own power, while I also experience the manifestations of my own karma and delusions, but in the very moment of my death.

While every unenlightened sentient being has to pass through bardo when they die, the Jodo Shinshu practicers don’t experience this intermediate state, because of their reliance during their present life on the Infinite Power of Amida Buddha who embraces them and safely transforms them into Buddhas in the very moment of their death and birth in his Pure Land.

This is extraordinary because even if you have a practice and concrete instructions to follow in the bardo, it might still be difficult to accomplish it, because of the fears, evil karmas, attachments and delusions that manifest in that state. The power of every thought and

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delusion becomes ten times stronger when you are in the bardo. Let’s say you may overcome these difficulties, but what if you don’t? There is still plenty of room for errors.

But there is no possibility for failure to become a Buddha in the Pure Land if you rely on Amida, because there is not even the slightest trace of your own imperfect personal power involved in this process. Among all the Buddhas, Amida made the greatest Vow, which promises complete Buddhahood by birth in his Pure Land to all ordinary95 sentient beings who entrust themselves to him, say his Name and aspire to be born in his Pure Land (threefold faith).

Because this is the Promise of a Buddha, we can’t doubt it. As Master Shinran explained, those who completely entrust themselves to Amida Buddha are born directly in his Pure Land at the moment of their death, where they immediately attain complete Buddhahood andstart benefiting all sentient beings through their newly acquired enlightened capacities. We die, are born in the Pure Land, become supreme Buddhas and return to the three worlds to help all sentient beings. That’s it – no bardo, no further obstacles to overcome!

So, as you see, the method of complete entrusting to Amida Buddha is the safest, easiest and fastest method to fulfill the aspiration to liberate ourselves and others (Bodhi Mind). No visualizations are required nor the slightest special capacity, and no personal merit. It is the only method through which ordinary people, filled with heavy karma and incapable of any practice, become Buddhas. This method is so easy that it is almost forgotten and not taken into consideration. And it is so simple that it becomes

95 The words “ordinary sentient beings” are most important in Jodo Shinshu. People may say that other Buddhist methods also offer easy practices to attain Buddhahood. Yes, this might be true, but it depends on what one understands by “easy”. Jodo Shinshu really requires nothing from the practicer - no merit, no virtues, no special capacities, nothing - to attain Buddhahood. Faith in Amida Buddha is indeed the only method for ordinary people with no special capacities.

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unbelievable to many. But it is nevertheless a method preached by Shakyamuni in the Pure Land sutras, which he himself acknowledged is hard to be accepted in faith.

We may safely assume that Jodo Shinshu is the easiest method among all Buddhist methods for ordinary people, even faster than Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhist methods, leading to the same goal – to become a fully Enlightened Buddha, always active in saving sentient beings. It is also the safest way, because there is no possibility to fall back into samsara.

The Jodo Shinshu follower is assured of attaining Buddhahood in the Pure Land in the very moment he entrusts himself to Amida, thus receiving the infinite merit and virtues of Amida and entering the stage of non-retrogression while still remaining an ordinary person. In the moment he receives faith in Amida, he becomes carried by Amida, like a child carried by his mother at her chest safely across the river. Nothing can make him fall from his Mother’s embrace. This is Jodo Shinshu.

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Only for me, Shinran

Shinran Shonin said:

“When I deeply contemplate Amida’s Compassionate Vow, I realize it was made only for me, Shinran.”

If you don’t come to the point to think that the teaching is addressing personally to you, then it is all in vain.

Treat the Dharma as if Shakyamuni, Amida, Shinran, Rennyo and all the patriarchs speak directly to you. Think they are before you, addressing personally.

This is not a symbol, but the real truth. Perceive the teaching as being an exclusive, intimate, friendly and maternal relationship between you and Amida Buddha. He doesn’t treat sentient beings as numbers, but addresses each one individually, so his relationship with you is like that between mother and child or between best friends. Think that Amida Buddha addresses himself to your own personal suffering, to all the forms that suffering manifests in your life, and that he wishes to heal you once and for all.

Replace the word “Shinran”, with your own name, and say, for example:“When I deeply contemplate Amida’s Compassionate Vow, I realize it was made only for me, Adrian.”

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How do I feel as a Buddhist

You don’t need to do anything in order to attain Buddhahood in the Pure Land of Amida. In Jodo Shinshu, Buddhahood is not to be gained or deserved. Unlike other paths outside or inside Buddhism, here the final liberation from birth and death is not to be acquired by you.

You don’t go by yourself to Nirvana, but Amida Buddha takes you by the hand, like a child, and brings you there. He is the One who makes you see the ultimate nature of all things, who melts the many layers of delusions that cover your innate Buddha nature.

Once born through the gate of faith in the Pure Land of Amida or his sphere of influence, all these transformations occur instantly and naturally. Your journey in this life as a prisoner in samsara is over once you receive faith, and your journey as a Buddha begins when you are born in the Pure Land of Amida96 at the moment of death.

Faith (shinjin) and saying of the Name (which is the expression of that faith) means that you simply let Amida Buddha bring you to Buddhahood. You trust that he can do this for you and that you can’t do it by yourself.

There is no other path like this one. No matter how much you study all the religions of the world and even all other Buddhist methods, you will never find such a teaching that truly requires nothing from you.

96 In the moment one receives faith, he immediately enters the stage of non-retrogression or assured of Nirvana and is born in the Pure Land of Amida at the end of his life.

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This teaching of Shakyamuni about Amida Buddha’s salvation is the best expression of the infinite Love and Compassion a Buddha can feel for sentient beings. It is the medicine to be applied when all other medicines (methods) have proven ineffective for you.

Once I was asked:“How do you feel as a Buddhist?”

I answered:

I feel loved and accepted.I feel as though I am surrounded by warm and huge gentle hands.I feel embraced.I feel secure. Nothing can harm me spiritually, not even my own

blind passions and evil karma.I see the smiling face of Buddhas everywhere. I can make jokes

with the Buddhas, I can laugh with them. When seeing a statue of the Buddha I can touch his nose and cheeks and joke.

I feel the Buddhas never become upset with me, never judge me or abandon me.

I feel that the essence of the entire universe is great love and great Compassion.

I feel I walk in the Light although I am impure.

No matter how I live or die my destination is certain. All problems have been solved for me.

This is how I feel as a Buddhist.

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Enjoy the presence of the Buddhas

One thing that I especially like in Jodo Shinshu is the feeling ofBuddhas being close to me, walking with me, seeing me in my daily life, watching over me.

Buddhas are not just teachers. If you think of the Buddhas only in this way, then the Buddhas will seem very far from you, somehow secluded in their Enlightenment, while you are here to struggle alone following their example.

But this is not the single side of the coin. Buddhas are indeed teachers and “fingers pointing to the moon”, but they are also saviors, active in your daily life. They walk with you, think of you, see you, make plans how to make you understand important things, etc. Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Masters are alive and active – this is a matter of extreme importance.

You can speak directly with the Buddhas, with Amida, Avalokitesvara, Mahasthamaprapta, with Shinran, Rennyo, Nagarjuna, etc. In your times of sorrow or in your happy times, you may chose to speak with each one of them directly as though they are in front of you, because they are indeed in front of you (this is not a metaphor).

Buddhas are in your room, in your car, in the train you are travelling with, in the bar where you drink a beer and enjoy good times with your friends, in your solitude when you find it so hard to endure your sorrow. Amida is always with you, so it is Shinran Shonin.

Please remember this from time to time and I am sure that you will find great comfort in it.

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Don’t bother with what some people might say, interpreting Buddhas only in their aspect of ultimate nature or Dharmakaya, because Buddhas, like Amida – and Shinran too, who is also a Buddha – have transcendent bodies of manifestation that can travel and be present everywhere, and can hear and see everything.

Avalokitesvara, for example, hears every single cry of sorrow from the tiniest little insect to humans and gods. Her name translates into “the One who Hears the Cries of the World” and this name is not just a metaphor or symbol of the Compassionate qualities that lies in the Buddha nature, but She really hears the cries of the world, your individual cries or your individual joys, too.

Amida is the same, He knows everything, hears everything and sees everything. He always accompanies you together with all other good friends you have among Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and the Masters.

So, you are never alone, my friend.

Master Shinran said on his death bed:“If you alone rejoice in Nembutsu-Faith, remember that you are

with someone else. If you two rejoice in Nembutsu-Faith, remember that there is still another accompanying you. I, Shinran, am that other person.”

Take these words literally and enjoy the presence of the Buddhas.

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