For those who asked how to recite the Name of Amida Buddha (nembutsu) here is a record from a Dharma meeting at Tariki Dojo Craiova.
This is how we do it, but its not the only method of saying the Name in our tradition.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Nembutsu recitation (audio/video recording)
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Jodo Shinshu – the only effective path in this last Dharma age
-based on some verses in the Shozomatsu wasan-
(my speech at the last spring meeting in Jiko-ji temple (Antwerp, Belgium)
Buddhism has spread a lot 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 showing the moon”, etc. The established image of a Buddhist is a forever calm and smiling Buddhist monk or practitioner, 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 Buddhism: the true Pure Land Teaching or Jodo Shinshu in which Amida Buddha is not the finger showing the moon, but 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 will be known.
In fact, in the West only the provisional and accommodated 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 the Buddhist schools that are so well spread in Europe. News about famous Buddhist masters and their realizations are many and the number of disciples is growing. Who will 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 abstain not to look with suspicion to 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 Bodhisattvas 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, already 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 day and today, don’t have:
“Do those who speak of realizing Enlightenment while in this bodily existence manifest various accommodated bodies, possess the Buddha's thirty-two features and eighty marks, 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 and fill 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(1).
Inside Enlightened qualities of a Buddha manifests outside and impregnates 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 instead become easily impressed by anyone who shows more calm than them.
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, practitioners talking about how to overcome anger or jealousy, and many other bla, bla things….I read all those articles and feel like they talk for aliens, but surely not for me.
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 guys but with no relevance for the real people, living in the real world..
I truly understand now why Shinran Shonin considered that preaching the Larger Sutra was the main reason for Shakyamuni coming into 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 chose 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 not truly useful for our attainment of Buddhahood, given our real capacities. He 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 either for the good and virtuous and also 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.
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 teachings (2), but the most important teaching among all Shakyamuni’s teachings.
Shinran said in the second verse of Shozomatsu Wasan:
“…the teachings that Sakyamuni left behind
Have all passed into the naga's palace.”
This means that all other Buddhist teachings are no more effective during these times. To “pass into the naga’s palace” means exactly this – not being effective or being 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, and
The 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 practitioner. 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 people living in it. So they are as good as non-existent – “gone into the naga's palace”.
In this age, any true spiritual practice, (by “true” I mean any Buddhist practice and not the practice of other religions), which asks even a merit as little as a particle of dust from the practitioner is not an effective practice. So we should abandon them because we can’t become Buddhas through them.
If we should abandon all other Buddhist teachings and practices as being as good as non existent 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 nonbuddhist ways is called impermanent, Buddhist enlightenment is called eternal….. The emancipation of nonbuddhist 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 nonbuddhist teachings defile the world(3);
The Buddha's path alone is pure.”
These words are immediately followed by the verses:
“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 to attain 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 non existent.
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 Jodo Shinshu there is for example, the tendency among some followers to make Jodo Shinshu more Zen like in order to accommodate to their personal visions and incapacity to be open to a salvation and 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 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. 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 do 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 who needs the best medicine ever to be found in the 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 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 needed to hear.
So, dear friends, make a choice: escape this burning house or remain inside it, spending your time with false or futile practices.
Its your decision.
Namo Amida Butsu
______________________________________
NOTES:
(1) A brahman called Dona encountered the Buddha shortly after his enlightenment and, struck by the Buddha’s serenity, asked Him:
“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.
“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.”
(2) Shinran said in Letter 8 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.
(3) "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 nowadays spiritual teaching 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, deny rebirth and the law of karma.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Against Shigaraki's false teachings
I am presenting you here, a very good article written by my Dharma friend, Paul Roberts, in which he deconstructs some false statements made by one of the many false teachers of our international sangha - Takamaro Shigaraki.
Please have the patience to read it - I assure you it will be very helpful.
And also please read the discussions about Shigaraki that took place on true shinbuddhism yahoo group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/true_shin_buddhism/messages/1213?threaded=1&m=e&var=1&tidx=1
and:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/true_shin_buddhism/messages/1228?threaded=1&m=e&var=1&tidx=1
This group is indeed the most active and reliable online place for discussing and understanding the Jodo Shinshu Dharma.
-----------------------
In his essay entitled "The Problem of the True and the False in
Contemporary Shin Buddhist Studies: True Shin Buddhism and False Shin
Buddhism", Takamaro Shigaraki asks and answers the following three
questions:
1. Is Amida Buddha an Entity or a Symbol?
2. Is Shinjin in Shin Buddhism Non-dualistic or Dualistic?
3. Is Shin Buddhism a Religion of Power or a Religion of Path?
I assert that his answers are WRONG. By WRONG, I mean that his answers
are entirely different from the answers that Master Shinran, Master
Rennyo and the Seven Pure Land Masters give to us in their writings.
Since Shigaraki has a large sphere of influence in the Shin Buddhist
community today, let me get into a bit of detail as to why, where and
how his answers differ from those of our Dharma masters. In the end,
of course, it is up to each person to listen deeply to the Dharma for
himself or herself, and decide which memes (or beliefs) to embrace:
the memes of Professor Shigaraki or the memes of Master Shinran.
I'm not going to attempt to have a scholarly debate with Shigaraki on
the particulars of his academic arguments. Rather, I'm simply going
to look at Master Shinran's answers to Shigaraki's questions.
Question #1: IS AMIDA BUDDHA AN ENTITY OR A SYMBOL?
Anyone who approaches the core texts of Shin Buddhism with any
honesty, and without a pre-existing bias or an axe to grind, will
inevitably conclude that Master Shinran, Master Rennyo and the Seven
Pure Land Masters ALL recognized Amida as a True Buddha - an
independent entity - a Buddha of Reward Body who rules over a place we
know as The Pure Land.
I challenge anyone to find passages where our Dharma masters either
say or imply that Amida Buddha is an idea, a symbol, a "finger
pointing at the moon", or any sort of semiotic device, as Shigaraki
and other modernist Shin teachers assert.
I could easily write an entire book, if I had the time, filled with
nothing but quotations from our Dharma masters to prove my point ABOUT
WHAT THEY EACH AND ALL BELIEVE. But instead, I'll choose just one
quotation that sums up the position of all of them.
Here are the words of the great sage Nagarjuna, the first of the seven
influence in the Buddha-Sangha is so great that he is sometimes called
"the second Buddha".
===
JUNIRAI
TWELVE ADORATIONS
By Nagarjuna
Translated by Hisao Inagaki
1. 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
Surrounded by innumerable children of the Buddhas.
2. Your spotless golden body is like Sumeru, the king of mountains;
Your steps while you are absorbed in Shamatha are like an elephant's;
Your eyes are as pure as blue lotus-flowers.
Hence, I prostrate myself to the ground and worship Amida, the Holy One.
3. Your face is in perfect shape and serene like the full moon;
Your majestic light shines like a thousand suns and moons
put together;
Your voice sounds like a heavenly drum or a cuckoo.
Hence, I prostrate myself to the ground and worship Amida, the Holy One.
4. You reside in the crown which Kannon wears on his head;
Your excellent features are adorned with jewel-ornaments;
You destroy anti-Buddhist views, devilish thoughts and
conceited ideas.
Hence, I prostrate myself to the ground and worship Amida, the Holy One.
5. Incomparable, spotless, broad and pure
Is your virtue; it is serene and clear like space.
You have attained freedom in giving benefit to beings.
Hence, I prostrate myself to the ground and worship Amida, the Holy One.
6. Bodhisattvas in your Land, renowned everywhere in the ten
directions,
Are always glorified even by innumerable maras;
You dwell with the Vow-Power for the sake of all sentient beings.
Hence, I prostrate myself to the ground and worship Amida, the Holy One.
7. In the jewel-pond strewn with gold sands grows a lotus;
The excellent throne on its dais has been produced by your
acts of merit;
On the throne you are seated like the king of mountains.
Hence, I prostrate myself to the ground and worship Amida, the Holy One.
8. From the ten directions the Buddhas' children come in flocks;
Manifesting supernatural powers, they reach the
They look up at your august face adoringly and worship you
without interruption.
Hence, I prostrate myself to the ground and worship Amida, the Holy One.
9. All things are impermanent and selfless,
Like an image of the moon in the water, lightning or morning dew.
Your sermons to the multitudes are, in reality, wordless.
Hence, I prostrate myself to the ground and worship Amida, the Holy One.
10. In the Revered Buddha's Land exist no evil names,
Nor are there beings in the female form, nor fear of evil realms.
All worship the Honored One in sincerity of heart.
Hence, I prostrate myself to the ground and worship Amida, the Holy One.
11. In the Buddha's Land accomplished with innumerable skillful devices,
There are no samsaric realms, nor evil teachers;
Upon attaining birth there, one reaches Bodhi without falling back.
Hence, I prostrate myself to the ground and worship Amida, the Holy One.
12. I have extolled the Buddha's excellent virtue,
Thereby acquiring boundless merit like the ocean.
The roots of pure good I have thus acquired
I wish to share with other beings, aspiring together to be born in his Land.
===
Over and over again, the great Dharma Master Nagarjuna says, "I
prostrate myself to the ground and worship Amida, the Holy One."
He would never say that if he considered Amida to be a SYMBOL. He says
that because he has been given the faith-mind that KNOWS Amida to be a
real and true Buddha of reward body, "the Sage, The Most Honored One,
who is revered by humans and devas."
So we have two competing visions of truth here: Nagarjuna's vision,
and Shigaraki's vision. Which is true and real? Which is false and
delusional?
If you believe that Shigaraki sees more clearly into reality than
Nagarjuna, then of course you will want to follow him. But if you
believe that Nagarjuna was one of the great Dharma masters of all
time, and that is vision is truer than yours, or mine, or Shigaraki's,
then you'll be hungry to know the REAL and TRUE Buddha Amida, the very
same Buddha that Nagarjuna knew.
Ultimately, no one can decide this question for another. Each person
has the privilege and the responsibility to listen deeply, and wait
for the answer to arise from the deepest part of his or her being.
Question #2: IS SHINJIN IN SHIN BUDDHISM NON-DUALISTIC OR DUALISTIC?
Once again, I'm not going to make a point by point dissection of
Shigaraki's arguments that SHINJIN is a non-dualistic experience. One
can argue that 2 + 2 = 5, but that does not make it so.
Instead, I'm going to do what I did before, and simply show you what
Master Shinran believed, asserted and taught for 60 years of his life.
I'll also discuss why the understanding of Master Shinran - that we
come to the experience of settled SHINJIN while we are still very much
prisoners of dualistic view - is so central to understanding True Shin
Buddhism as a coherent Dharma teaching.
Although there are so many passages that can be cited, once again,
I'll choose just one. Here is Master Shinran's letter "Lamp for the
Latter Ages #6":
===
It is saddening that so many people, both young and old, men and
women, have died this year and last. But the Tathagata taught the
truth of life's impermanence for us fully, so you must not be
distressed by it.
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.
You have been explaining to people that one attains birth through the
Tathagata's working; it is in no way otherwise. What I have been
saying to all of you from many years past has not changed. Simply
achieve your birth, firmly avoiding all scholarly debate.
I recall hearing the late Master Honen say, "Persons of the
tradition attain birth in the
selves." Moreover, I remember him smile and say, as he watched humble
people of no intellectual pretensions coming to visit him, "Without
doubt their birth is settled." And I heard him say after a visit by a
man brilliant in letters and debating, "I really wonder about his
birth."
To this day these things come to mind.
Each of you should attain your birth without being misled by people
and without faltering in shinjin. However, the practicer in whom
shinjin has not become settled will continue to drift, even without
being misled by anyone, for he does not abide among the truly settled.
Please relay what I have written here to the others.
===
The simple determinant of SHINJIN for Master Shinran is those who "DO
NOT DOUBT", even if they are "ignorant and foolish and lacking in
wisdom".
It's obvious that anyone who is still "ignorant and foolish and
lacking in wisdom" is not living in any sort of state of non-dual
consciousness. So to make such a state of non-dual consciousness the
bar or the definition for settled SHINJIN would exclude countless
plain people and foolish BONBUS who are clearly INCLUDED by Master
Shinran and Master Honen - and, most importantly, by Amida Buddha's
Primal Vow.
As we read the rest of this letter we get a very clear example of just
what SHINJIN is and is not, from the perspective of Master Shinran and
his own teacher Master Honen. We're shown how simple, unlettered
people come to Master Honen, with no intellectual pretensions, with an
open heart and mind. They listen to the simple Dharma message and
accept it with gratitude because their karma is ripe. Right then and
there, they become people of SHINJIN...because (as Master Honen
declares) "without a doubt their birth is SETTLED".
Now, let's just use plain common sense. If this narrative account of
Master Shinran is to be believed, is there any possible way that these
simple peasants could have or would have come to the advanced state of
non-dual consciousness that is characteristic of beings who have spent
years, and even lifetimes, on the path of self-power?
Of course not.
There's nothing "non-dual" about these simple peasants' experience.
But even though they are still very much bound by dualistic reality,
they HAVE come to diamond-like faith in the person and work of Amida
Buddha, simply by listening deeply to Master Honen's Dharma teaching.
Because they have received the faith-mind of Amida Buddha, these
unlettered peasants KNOW that they are grasped by Amida Buddha and
will never be abandoned.
Because they have received the faith-mind of Amida Buddha, they are
grateful beyond words, as anyone is grateful who truly hears this
Dharma and is touched deep within.
And so, even though they are still the same simple, uneducated, easily
distracted and ignorant people they were the day before, everything
is different. Their SHINJIN is settled. They know the reality of
salvation in the present, anticipate it's full unfolding at the end of
their lives, when they will awaken in the
final transformation to Buddhahood.
Why is this so important - the FACT that shinjin is not held forth as
any sort of non-dual experience, but rather an experience that can be
apprehended by an BONBU still stuck in dualism like a fly stuck on
flypaper?
It's important - critically important - because while some of us may
have a lot of non-dual experiences, both before and after we become
people of SHINJIN, many of us will have very few such experiences - or
maybe none at all. And that doesn't disqualify ANYONE from partaking
of the inconceivable benefits of Amida's Primal Vow.
It can't be said too often: True Shin Buddhism isn't just for the best
of us, but for the rest of us as well. It's for the evil person FIRST,
and THEN also for the good person. It's for the poor mundane fool who
couldn't have a non-dual experience if you gift wrapped it for him,
and not just for the mystically inclined.
Any attempt, by Shigaraki or anyone else, to make some sort of high
bar that Master Shinran does not make, closes this singular Dharma
gate that Amida Buddha has opened wide to one and all. That is a
tragic error, and entirely contrary to the Dharma. Why? Because
Amida's Vow is the Primal Vow - the Universal Vow - the Vow that
embraces ALL and rejects none.
If you had to have some sort of non-dual experience to be a person of
settled SHINJIN, then Amida Buddha would no doubt have to reject a lot
of plain people who've gone to the Pure Land and become Buddhas
already - even though they had no non-dual experience whatsoever.
So, once again, we are presented with two competing visions of
SHINJIN: There is Master Shinran's vision, which requires nothing more
than simple faith that is Amida's gift to us - and then there is
Shigaraki's vision, which requires some sort of non-dual experience or
other. This is an experience that most people of SHINJIN don't have
right away, when all doubts are settled - and some might never have,
even though they are people of SHINJIN.
Which vision speaks to you, deep in your heart? Which do you bear
witness to...as Dharma TRUTH?
Shigaraki also declares that "Shin Buddhism should be understood from
the standpoint of the nondualism of Mahayana Buddhism."
Shigaraki's idea of understanding Shinjin is the kind of understanding
sought after by the academic or the scholar. But here's the most
important question: Is that kind of understanding central, or even
particularly relevant, to the understanding that Master Shinran and
our Dharma masters strove to instill in the minds and hearts of their
listeners?
Clearly, the answer to that question is NO. Understanding the
philosophical and intellectual underpinnings of Mahayana Buddhism is
clearly not a pre-requisite, nor even a co-requisite to coming to
settled SHINJIN - which, for our Dharma masters, is the kind of
understanding that really matters most.
Many of the followers of our Dharma masters were illiterate peasants
of medieval
"painfully ignorant". They were not men like Master Honen, or Master
Shinran. They were consumed 24/7 with the difficult business of making
ends meet in a hostile, dangerous world. They did not have the luxury
of TIME to study in the monastic environment, nor were they the object
of any sort of educational outreach from the Buddhist establishment of
the day. Indeed, they were called ICCHANTIKA - meaning people without
the seed of Buddhahood - hopeless cases for whom the Tripe Gem would
be useless.
Yet with all their limitations, including their lack of understanding
of Mahayana Buddhism - those very same men and women had it within
them to become people of deep and settled SHINJIN. That's why they
could bear witness to the person and work of Amida Buddha, and the
power of the Primal Vow. That was the source of their natural
gratitude and devotion.
So while Shigaraki is certainly entitled to his own opinions - he's
definitely not entitled to his own facts. And the life and witness of
these simple, often illiterate people who knew nothing of Mahayana
Buddhism - but did know the reality of Amida's salvation in their
lives - is a fact that is beyond dispute.
But we also have the direct words of our Dharma masters to assure us
that intellectual understanding of Mahayana Buddhism is neither a
pre-requisite nor a co-requisite for becoming a person of settled
Shinjin.
Just days before he died, Master Shinran's own teacher Master Honen,
one of the greatest scholars of Mahayana Buddhism, distilled his views
into his famous "One Sheet Document". In it, he declared that
regardless of how much Dharma knowledge a person thinks he has, when
it comes to this Dharma, he should approach it like an uneducated nun.
Master Shinran told his followers to avoid all scholarly debates and
arguments, and simply hold fast to the faith-mind given to them by
Amida Buddha.
And Master Rennyo declared that a scholar who was not a person of
SHINJIN could never teach the Dharma properly or effectively to
another - but an illiterate who was a person of SHINJIN could, if only
someone would read the texts on his behalf so he could expound them.
So once again, Shigaraki's thinking doesn't conform to the thinking of
our Dharma masters. More than that, it sets up yet another barrier -
the barrier of having a certain sort of education - that is counter to
the intention of Amida Buddha in His declaration and manifesting of
the Primal Vow - the UNIVERSAL Vow - the Vow that opens wide the door
to liberation for the illiterate just as much as for the scholar.
Question #3: IS SHIN BUDDHISM A RELIGION OF POWER OR A RELIGION OF PATH?
In asking this question, Shigaraki creates an "either-or" academic
religious framework that is neither accurate, nor useful. He defines
"religion of power" as a religion that is concerned with supernatural
powers and deity figures...such as Shinto with its KAMI (deities). And
he defines "religion of path" as a religion that is concerned with
gradual transformation and ennobling of character. Then he concludes
that Shin Buddhism is the latter, and not the former.
There's a term for this in computer science - GIGO...which means
"garbage in, garbage out". If you put in the wrong data, or ask the
wrong question, or start from an incorrect understanding, you can't
come up with the right answers, whether you use a computer or a human
being to do the processing.
So let's start by putting in the right data: The fact is that Buddhism
concerns itself with both path AND power. Anyone who denies that is
being reductionist in his thinking - and ignoring the Dharma truth we
have been give by Shakyamuni Buddha Himself.
PATH is the journey that all beings must walk, transmigrating for
countless lives, until each has arrived at the ultimate state of
Buddhahood, in one way or another. POWER is what enables beings to
undertake and ultimately complete this journey. And - it must be said
- authentic Buddhism is necessarily MOST concerned with the
possibility - or the certainty - of actually being able to reach the
end point of the journey. In other words, Buddhism is ultimately about
the path which ends in becoming a Buddha, and nothing less.
The question then becomes: What power is available to enable us to
complete the journey?
Any serious student of Master Shinran knows are two kinds of power
available: the power of our own efforts, known as self-power...and the
power that comes from some source outside of ourselves, known as
other-power. All the other schools of Buddha-dharma rely on one or
more forms of self-power. Only Shin Buddhism relies exclusively and
entirely on Other-power.
Our Dharma masters make so many statements of this most basic truth
that I could fill a book with them. But I'll just quote one or two
brief snippets from Master Shinran, offered by him right at the
beginning of the Kyo-Gyo-Shin-Sho.
Here is Master Shinran quoting the Larger Sutra:
===
Boundless is the majestic power of the Buddha of immeasurable life.
This Buddha is praised by every one of the Buddha-tathagatas
throughout the worlds in the ten quarters, whose number, incalculable
and limitless, is beyond conception.
===
Master Shinran quotes from the Larger Sutra again:
===
The power of the Buddha's Primal Vow is such
That those who, hearing the Name, aspire for birth
All reach that land-
Their attainment of non-retrogression coming about of itself.
===
Is Master Shinran reticent about discussing POWER? Does he deny that
POWER is essential for those called to respond to his Dharma message?
Or does he declare, rather, that the power of Amida Buddha is as
necessary as it is boundless - and that it is this very power which
causes us to reach the
non-retrogression which comes about of it's own accord?
So - once again we are presented with two divergent views of Dharma
truth. Shigaraki rejects the idea of the enabling of OTHER-POWER for
people on the Shin Buddhist path, while Master Shinran declares that
the enabling of OTHER-POWER is essential in order for us to complete
the journey to Buddhahood.
Once again, each person must decide for him or herself who and what to
believe -what is true and (conversely) what is false, when it comes to
the Dharma of Shin Buddhism.
I have concluded that when it comes to the Dharma of Shin Buddhism,
Master Shinran's is the TRUE teaching, and that Shigaraki's is one of
many false teachings that have arisen in the Shin Sangha since it
began. What is most important - and the reason I wrote this essay - is
that everyone sees clearly that Shigaraki's assertions are in no way
congruent with Master Shinran's Dharma message to the world. Once you
see that, it is up to you to decide who you want to receive as a
Dharma teacher in your life: Professor Shigaraki, or Master Shinran.
I choose Master Shinran.
Gassho,
Paul Roberts
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Back from Jiko-ji temple - Antwerp (pictures)
Here are some pictures from the spring meeting in Jiko-ji temple (1-3 May 2009) Antwerp, where I could attend due to a grant offered by Eko Haus der Japanischen culture to which I am deeply thankful.
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| Spring meeting Jiko-ji temple Antwerp (1-3 May 2010) |
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
About Amida Buddha and His Pure Land
I try to explain here again in easy terms who is Amida Buddha and how we should understand the Pure Land.
First of all, what is a Buddha or more exactly what a Buddha is not?
A Buddha is not somebody like us, although at some point in His history He was. In a well known dialogue a brahman called Dona asks Shakyamuni Buddha 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.
“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 and limited by various kinds of delusions, so we are mistaken if 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. Especially some Christians accuse Buddhism that its Founder is just a human or even some Buddhists say that Buddha was a human being in order to show that we don’t promote idol or gods worshiping.
Both methods of speaking about a Buddha are false, because although the physical appearance of a Buddha may be human, the state that which He attains and in which He dwels is supreme in the whole universe.
The ego’s permanent run, led by his desires and karma is followed by suffering, birth and death and 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, to the Absolute (or call it as you like). He goes beyound 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.
A Buddha has Infinite Wisdom and Limitless Compassion(1), helping the sentient beings to break free from birth and death.
Through Buddhism the Ultimate Reality, the Liberation or Nirvana is accesible 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 the Buddha nature and the potentiality to become a Buddha. 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 a good news, but unfortunately it doesn’t keep us warm too much, because those who really come to liberate themselves from delusions and attain this state of a Buddha are extremely few and in our times, as Shinran said, they are completely non existent.
Therefore, only the Path of faith in Amida remains the most accessible method.
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 have the same essence or nature, often called the Dharma body of ultimate reality or Dharmakaya.
Further, every Buddha has multiple transcendent manifestations, visible only to those well trained in Samadhi or profound concentrated states of mind. This manifestations can take various forms to help unenlightened beings.
Various Buddhas create spheres or fields of personal influences, known as “pure lands” where the beings who entrust in them and create special links with them, can be born after physical death. In order to better understand how things are with these pure lands or spheres of influence, please try to remember how is it that in the presence of some people you suddenly feel better or worse or sometimes more excited or tired. Every man has something like his own sphere of influence – which is the natural manifestation of his own 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 to feel horny 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 positive states of mind.
When we are in the presence of a killer and we 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
Various Buddhas have different bodies of recompense, due to the vows they made when they engaged on the Path. Lets say 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 Enlighetnement 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 than 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, was long time ago, in another era than which we are now living, a monk named Dharmakara. He made the aspiration to become a Buddha, but what makes Him so different from other Buddhas, ist hat He made a special Vow which promises salvation (Buddhahood) not only for those capable of some hard practices and virtues, but to all 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 His Pure Land, this faith being manifested in the saying of His Holy Name.
Faith (shinjin) is not something complicated, but a simple entrusting in Amida, that is to consider His Primal Vow to be true and efficient.
In the moment Dharmakara became Amida Buddha, the vows and His Pure Land became real and effective in the salvation of sentient beings. Thus we may say that sambhogakaya of Amida Buddha is His Pure Land.
This is, in short, the story of Amida, said by Shakyamuni (the historical Buddha) to His disciples and which we, the true Jodo Shinshu followers, consider it real and trustful.
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 a part of these teachings taught by Shakyamuni.
a similar article - Some doctrinal explanations on the nature of Amida Buddha
_________________________________________________
Notes:
1. Amida comes from the sanscrit terms Amitabha and Amitayus, meaning Infinite Life and Infinite Light, which represent His Wisdom and Compassion.
photo: the statue of Amida Buddha from the altar of Tariki Dojo Craiova.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Words of Rennyo useful for meat eaters
Here is a passage from one of Rennyo Shonin’s letters, which is very useful for those of you who are incapable of abstaining from meat or who work in jobs that are directly or indirectly related with killing sentient beings:
“First, realizing the settled mind in our tradition does not mean that we put a stop to our mind’s evil or to the rising of delusions and attachments. Simply carry on your trade or position of service, hunt and fish. For when we realize deeply that Amida Tathagata ‘s Primal Vow promises to save such worthless beings as ourselves, confused morning and evening by evil karma when we single heartedly rely on the Compassionate Vow of the one Buddha Amida, and when sincere faith is awakened in us with the realization that Amida saves us – then, without fail, we partake of the Tathagata’s saving work. “
It is clear to me when I read this letter that Amida Buddha saves us all without taking into account if we are vegetarians or not, or even hunters and fishermen.
As you may know, the category of hunters and fishermen was considered to be the lowest of people, or “the worthless people”, lacking the seed of Buddhahood, without any hope to attain Nirvana.
“Position of service” might also refer to military service, which often leads to killing. “Trading” in Rennyo’s letter might refer to the trading of meat. All these evil activities are not an obstacle to our birth in the
People engage in all these activities because their mind is evil and full of delusions and attachments, greed for meat and other possessions --- “confused morning and evening” .
Because we are such beings, “worthless beings”, we are saved by Amida. In this confusing world we are fighting for survival every day and we always injure others, even without knowing it. There is nothing good in us which can save ourselves and others.
We need only to realize that we are worthless beings and that especially for us, Amida made His Vow. In that moment we receive “sincere faith” (shinjin) and partake of the Tathagata’s saving work, without fail.
Shinjin is the “settled mind in our tradition” which “does not mean that we put a stop to our mind’s evil or to the rising of delusions and attachments”. So, shinjin has nothing to do with our capacities or lack of any capacity. Not because we have compassion for sentient beings are we born in the
This letter of Rennyo is extremely important. It must not be understood in the sense that it encourages meat eating or other evil activities, from which if you can, you should try to abstain, but it shows the unconditional salvation of Amida Buddha who considers all beings to be his sick children in desperate need of help.
Jodo Shinshu doesn't take into account the so called good potential that is latent in human beings, in fact it doesn't believe at all in our good potential. It doesn't deny the importance of Buddhist virtues, but it says clearly that in this decadent age those virtues are unattainable in their true spirit. So, it doesn't lose its precious time with speaking and explaining Buddhist virtues and Buddhist virtuous practices, but applies the direct and most eficient medicine - faith in Amida Buddha and quick escape from our own eternal misery in samsara.
Jodo Shinshu is the religion of a Mother saving her children from themselves. She loves them all, no matter how evil they are and continuously call them.
------
This article may be read in connection with this one
Comments on the 13th chapter of Tannisho - influence of past karma
Friday, April 10, 2009
Don't worry about copyright
Dear friends,
Recently someone asked me if he can use the articles I published on this blog for a free Dharma magazine he has in mind to create. I said, "of course you can, do it".
I am also using this occasion to tell to all the readers of this blog, that I don't mind anybody using, transmitting, copying, sharing any articles written here. The same I say about all the books I published at DharmaLion. If you wish to copy any book printed by me and share it online, I don't mind. A copyright statement is written here on the website or on the books, but I am not a bad guy and don't complain if you share all I write and print without asking money for it. I have nothing against internet pirates, too :)) In fact, I think they are all good guys, sharing the Dharma for those who can't afford it.
Of course I need money for myself and my Dharma activities and I hope many rich guys will buy from me :))) especially in this hard period, but I will never complain or say something against someone who distributes something written or printed by me if he doesn't modify the content of the text.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Announcement - 30% discount for books printed by me
Dear friends,
This is an announcement for those who wish to support my Dharma activities in Romania especially in this hard period of economic crisis.
I am making a discount of 30% of the total price to those who buy a minimum of 5 copies of any book printed by me. And the shipment is included!
you can order the books here at http://www.dharmalionpub.com/NEWBOOKS.html
(donations can also be done on the same page or in the special section of this blog...)
Yours in Namo Amida Butsu
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Comentary on the Postscript of Tannisho (part2) – our shinjin and shinjin of the great Masters is the same
“As the late Master once related, in Master Honen's day, among his many disciples there were few who were of the same shinjin as Honen, and because of this, Shinran became involved in a debate with some fellow practicers. It happened in this way.
Shinran remarked, "My shinjin and the Master's are one."
Seikan-bo, Nembutsu-bo, and others among his fellow practicers strongly argued, "How can your shinjin be the same as the Master's?"
Shinran responded, "The Master possesses vast wisdom and learning, so I would be mistaken if I claimed to be the same in those respects, but in shinjin that is the cause of birth, there is no difference whatever. The Master's shinjin and mine are one and the same."
The others remained skeptical, however, asking how that could be. So finally they all decided that the argument should be brought before Honen to determine which side was right.
When they presented the details of the matter, Master Honen said, "My shinjin has been given by Amida; so has that of Zenshin-bo [Shinran]. Therefore they are one and the same. A person with a different shinjin will surely not go to the
My comments:
I often felt so little and insignificant in comparison with the great Buddhist Masters of the past and discouraged that I will never attain what they attained, no matter how much I work to improve myself. Buddhism seemed to me like a challenge in which some were better and more successful than others.
Images of calm Buddhists, sitting in good postures, speaking wise words are so often to be seen in Buddhist magazines and in Westerners opinions about Buddhism. Everybody wishes to be like great Masters of the past and some people often try to copy their words and actions, forgetting that they are not them, and their words and deeds do not arise from the same mind like the Masters.
Into my opinion, most of today Buddhists are juts monkeys which imitate the words and behavior of virtuous practitioners of the past, but lack their wisdom and compassion.
It’s a lot more easier to speak about emptiness by quoting for example, Nagarjuna’s writings on this topic, but to really dwell in the sunyata from which the true compassion arise, remains impossible for almost all Buddhist practitioners of today.
So, we can’t say that somebody has the same wisdom like Nagarjuna, only because he read his writings and is able to explain them to others.
In the same way, Master Honen was very well versed in all the Mahayana canon which it is said he read many times until he finally came to simply entrust in Amida Buddha. Very few could match his knowledge, if maybe nobody really did so.
Many of us can’t even have the same knowledge of sutras and the ordinary wisdom of a simple monk who passed the examinations at a University, so how much more can we compare ourselves with Honen or Nagarjuna! And what Buddhist monk of our days, can say he has the same wisdom like Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, Shan-tao or Honen!
Indeed, it would be a sign of self pride to consider oneself to match these great practitioners.
However, through this story related in Tannisho we clearly see that there is no problem with us lacking the wisdom and learning of the sages from the past. What a wonderful news indeed.
Imagine all those people who challenged Shinran, waiting for Master Honen’s answer, and their shock when he said to them:
"My shinjin has been given by Amida; so has that of Zenshin-bo [Shinran]. Therefore they are one and the same. A person with a different shinjin will surely not go to the
“What!??” – I am sure they said this in their minds while Shinran heard the exact answer he was expecting to receive.
He was respectful to his Master and was aware how much knowledge of Buddhist scriptures and wisdom he posses, but in the same time he knew that Amida makes no difference in His saving activity, asking no special quality from those He saves. The message of the Primal Vow was clear to him: those who entrust in Amida, say His Name and wish to be born in His Pure Land, will go there. Nothing more is needed, no mentioning of special knowledge or wisdom can be found in the Primal Vow.
Just entrust in Amida and let Him take you to His Pure Land where you yourself will become a Buddha.
This simple faith which was itself caused by Amida to appear in our hearts is the only one that will make us be born in the
How wonderful it is! What a relief I feel when I realize that I don’t need to compare myself anymore with Buddhist Masters of the past and virtuous sages, falling in the discouragement that I will not be capable to attain the same realization like them, thus spending in vain this rare chance of being born as a human being!
I am now made capable to become a Buddha and finish once and for all with this perpetual misery and suffering. And for this I need nothing more than to entrust in Amida!
Do you, the reader of this blog really understand what a relief I feel and what chance we ordinary people have? We can’t be sages, we can’t even maintain a calm mind during a single day, we can’t follow precepts, we don’t know all the sutras and commentaries, and yet we will become Buddhas only by entrusting in Amida! What else do you want in this life? Why have you become a Buddhist if you don’t want to become a Buddha and finish your endless suffering and misery as well as the misery and suffering of others that you harmed or those you love? Why should you spend your life in vain, looking for a wisdom which you will never find because you are incapable, filling your head with wise Buddhist quotes about emptiness, Buddha nature, speaking about virtues that you will never have, etc when you can finish all your misery here and now by entrusting in Amida Buddha?
Just entrust now and at the end of your life you will become a Buddha in the
This promise of Amida Buddha is the only thing you need to know in the whole Buddhism. This simple faith, and not your knowledge or lack of knowledge, will make you become a Buddha.
It is a pity that Nagarjuna, the great sage, considered to be the second Buddha after Shakyamuni is known by many only by his complicated explanations on emptiness, while few know that he was also an Amida devotee, saying in his “Twelve Adorations”:
“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
Surrounded by innumerable children of the Buddhas.”
“I prostrate myself to the ground and worship Amida, the Holy One.” – this is how he chose to end every verse in his “Twelve Adorations” (Junirai), finishing this hymn by aspiring to be born in the
So, he himself had a simple faith in Amida and through this simple faith he was born in the
Also, Vasubandhu, the great exponent of Yogocara teachings which explain all plains of existence in terms of consciousness and taught the meditation about the relationship between personal conscience and the universe, he entrusted in Amida Buddha by saying:
“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.”
This is all you need, too, and not the complicated Yogacara teachings he taught in other treatises.
Master Shan-tao, the one who successfully practiced contemplation techniques and visualizations in accordance with the Contemplation Sutra, had the same simple faith in Amida Buddha.
Master Honen, who knew by heart the many Mahayana sutras and kept the monk’s precepts all his life, said that the true Buddhist teaching he preached “is nothing but saying 'Namo Amida Butsu' with a conviction that by saying it one will certainly attain birth in the Pure Land……If your faith is based on other ground than this, you may not be received by the Compassion of the two Buddhas and may be left outside the Primal Vow.”
How close connected these words are with the ones recorded in Tannisho:
“A person with a different shinjin will surely not go to the
So, as you see, all these great Masters never considered their wisdom or knowledge of Buddhist scriptures to be the cause of their birth in the
“Those who accept the Nembutsu in faith, however well versed in the lifetime teachings of the Buddha, should consider themselves as illiterate, stupid persons, and without pretensions to wisdom, should single-heartedly recite the Nembutsu with ordinary devotees of Buddhism of little learning, whether men or women.”
By receiving faith in Amida Buddha we are all equally assured of birth in the Pure Land and attainment of Buddhahood, no matter we are wise or stupid, have many knowledge or we know only the words of the Primal Vow, we observe precepts or not.
Only because of Amida we become Buddhas. The cause of our Buddhahood is in Amida’s hands, not in ours. This is the ultimate teaching of Shakyamuni, the very reason for His appearance in this world and the goal of Shinran’s life.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Comentary on the postscript of Tannisho (part1)
Please read here the Postscript of Tannisho
Comments:
Yuien-bo begins this postscript by restating the reasons for writing Tannisho, which is to clear the doubts of his fellow practitioners and fight against divergences from the true teaching left to him by Shinran Shonin. Every one of the assertions discussed by him in the Tannisho appeared because people were not having the same shinjin (faith) like Shinran. The matter of having the same shinjin like Shinran was repeatedly said to be of utmost importance. This shinjin, which is the same shinjin of Master Honen, is always received from Amida, but it comes only after listening the true teaching. Without listening and accepting the true teaching, we can’t receive shinjin from Amida.
Yuien-bo said in the preface:
“For how is entrance into the single gate of easy practice possible unless we happily come to rely on a true teacher whom conditions bring us to encounter?” So, for listening the true teaching we need a true teacher and that teacher is Shinran Shonin. He is the one who clarified for us, all we need to know about Amida Buddha’s salvation. In doing this most important task he set aside the provisional and accommodated teachings of Shakyamuni’s lifetime, who were useful for a limited number of people, and showed His real intent of coming to this world.
In one of his letters, Shinran classified the Buddhist teachings according to “two forms of relevance: first, limited relevance; second, universal relevance.”
Then he said: “The
Shinran didn’t said that the rest of Buddhist practices and methods are bad, but if we take into account the true capacities of beings, faith in Amida Buddha is the only one accessible to all, because it requires nothing from the practitioner.
All the other methods presented by Shakyamuni, with the exception of exclusive faith in Amida Buddha, are good in themselves, but not all people are capable to practice and attain realization through them. This is why they are of limited relevance while the method of attaining Buddhahood through faith in Amida Buddha is of universal relevance.
When we meet with Jodo Shinshu teaching, we see that Shinran, or Rennyo Shonin didn’t talk about many Buddhist teachings or practices that are emphasized in a lot of Mahayana sutras or other schools. For example, they didn’t mentioned precepts, which are so emphasized in other schools or in sutras different than the Larger Sutra. Why they did so? Its simple – because teachings on precepts are not useful for such beings as ourselves, incapable to put them into practice or attain Buddhahood through them. They also didn’t recommended meditation or contemplation methods, not even the methods presented in the Contemplation Sutra and the reason is the same. On the contrary, Honen, Shinran and Rennyo took the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha to be of utmost importance. Shinran considered the Larger Sutra on Amida Buddha to be the main reason for Shakyamuni’s appearance in this world because in this sutra He told the story of Amida Buddha and His Primal Vow.
From all the Buddhist teachings, Shinran considered the words of the Primal Vow to be the most important in the whole Buddhism and nembutsu of faith to be the most important practice.
If we consider ourselves to be disciples of Shinran, we should follow his intent which is to abandon the reliance on other practices and teachings of Shakyamuni that do not accord with the words of the Primal Vow and the indiscriminative salvation of Amida. Yuien-bo told us to do so: “that we abandon the accommodated and take up the real, set aside the provisional and adopt the true is the Master's fundamental intent.” This is because the method of total reliance on Amida Buddha is of universal relevance, truly capable to save all beings, no matter their capacities.
He warns us that “in the scriptures in general, the true and real and the accommodated and provisional are mixed” and that we “must under no circumstances misread the sacred writings.” On the contrary, we should “read the sacred writings that accord with the late Master's thought and that he himself used to read”.
Shinran Shonin, like his Master Honen and like Rennyo too, was able to distinguish between the various practices and teachings presented by Shakyamuni and chose only the Larger Sutra which contains the Primal Vow and the nembutsu of faith (shinjin nembutsu). What he chose is enough for us to be born in the Pure Land of Amida and become Buddhas.
For us, Jodo Shinshu followers, is important to have the same shinjin like Shinran and Honen, and we can’t receive this if we follow other teachings and practices.
- --to be continued---
Sunday, January 25, 2009
No working is true working – comments on the 10th chapter of Tannisho
“Concerning the nembutsu, no working is true working.
For it is beyond description, explanation, and conceptual understanding.
Thus the Master stated.”
Tannisho, chapter 10
This chapter can be read in connection with the comments on the eight chapter - here.
“No working” refers to the fact that NOT through ourselves are we born in the
This practice has nothing in common to some special state of calm or concentration which we think we have or develop during recitation.
Without the infinite merits of Amida incarnated in His Name, Namo Amida Butsu (nembutsu) would be empty and inefficient. Also, if the recitation of the Name is not done on the basis of faith (shinjin), it has no effect. Faith is the acceptance of the Infinite Power of Amida – the only power capable to make us become Buddhas. When you have faith (shinjin) you are connected to this Power and to the merits of Amida, and the Name you recite is the expression of this connection. Name and faith are one and both come from Amida; they are the manifestation in you of the salvation Power of Amida. Only Amida Buddha is the one who truly works in your salvation through faith and nembutsu and not you, this is why it is said that “no working is true working” – that is, NOT through yourself are you saved.
When you recite Namo Amida Butsu with faith, you say: “I take refuge in Amida/Homage to Amida Buddha”, and not “I take refuge in myself/homage to myself” or “how good is my recitation and what a concentrated state of mind I have, so how much more I deserve to be born in the Pure Land”. The first means we don’t think to nembutsu as being our own working.
Also, our minds are limited, so the understanding of an unenlightened person is restricted to its mental categories, incapable to realize in detail the action of a Buddha. By listening to the words of Shakyamuni Buddha we hear about Amida Buddha and his Primal Vow, we accept it in faith or not, but until we ourselves become Buddhas we can’t understand everything about the salvation working of Amida. We hear that Amida Buddha saves us if we entrust in Him and recite His Name, but we can’t know in detail the mechanism of this salvation. Any description remain just a description, any conceptual understanding is just a conceptual understanding.
The salvation of Amida Buddha, manifested in the promise of His Primal Vow and placed in our hearts through faith and nembutsu is inconceivable and beyond understanding for our limited minds, but effective and real.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Donations can't influence birth in the Pure Land - comentary on the 18th chapter of Tannisho
“--On the assertion that the size of we become as Buddhas depends on the amount of our donations to the sangha.—“
This is totally absurd and nonsensical. To begin with, is it not impossible to determine the size of a Buddha? Although the height of Amida, the Master of the teaching in the
It is stated [in sutras] that in saying the nembutsu, one upholds a transformed Buddha. Concerning this, it is written [in scriptures] that with a great nembutsu one sees a great Buddha and with a small nembutsu one sees a small Buddha. Perhaps the above assertion has been wrongly linked to this idea.
Further, it may be possible to say that making offerings is the practice of the paramita of charity. But however precious a treasure one may offer before the Buddha or give to a teacher, it is meaningless if one lacks shinjin. And even though one may not make a donation of even a single sheet of paper or half a penny to the sangha, if one yields one's heart to Other Power and one's shinjin is deep, one is in accord with the essential intent of the Vow.
Is it not after all that those people seek to intimidate their fellow practicers, using the Buddha's teaching as a pretext and being moved by mundane desires?”
Tannisho, chapter 18th
My comments:
When I first read this chapter and its first sentence I smiled. How could someone possibly imagine that the more money he gives to the sangha, the greater his size will be when he becomes a Buddha in the
I didn’t imagine that such a wrong understanding could possibly be born in the heads of the people during Yuien-bo’s times. But, if I consider this matter more carefully, I realize that even in our days there have been many false teachers and gurus who took advantages on their followers, lying and cheating them with many promises in order to get their money or who abused them physically and mentally in many ways. Human mind is not so strong and smart as it seems and nobody knows when in a moment of weakness someone else will profit on us.
My opinion is that we can easily be safe from these kind of false statements and false teachers who just want our money or various mundane advantages from us, by seeing the funny and strange aspect of these statements and of course, by knowing the teaching ourselves. We should study ourselves the sacred texts and always compare what we read there with the bubble talk of such and such teacher or priest.
First of all, it is a matter of common sense that the state of Buddhahood is not the result of money. How can money determine something about our future birth in the
Amida is described in many ways in the sutras and sometimes he is indeed portrayed as having huge bodily manifestations. These ways of describing him refers to his Sambhogakaya form or the “fulfilled body of compassionate means”. This form or any forms that are taken by Amida Buddha are the effects in terms of cause and effect of his Vows and they are the manifestations of his Enlightenment in order to help and guide sentient beings. Also Amida Buddha has, as every Buddha has, an ultimate nature or “dharma nature”, which “has no form, long or short, square or round, and no color, blue, white, or black”.
When we are born in the
Also, a nembutsu practitioner may have some visions of Amida Buddha during his present life or he may not have any visions. These visions may be different from person to person, depending on many circumstances, but having visions is not at all a requirement for birth in the
Maybe some people, hearing that one may have various visions, they somehow relate this with giving donations, so they might think that by giving large amounts of money, they deserve to see a large Buddha or to become a large Buddha themselves in the Pure Land. It is strange how an unenlightened mind with no shinjin and who doesn’t understand that every true attainment comes from Amida, can make such strange connections and misinterpret the teaching.
Also, making offerings is indeed useful in order to help teachers and Shinshu centers to propagate the Dharma, but this is only to express gratitude. We can’t use offerings in order to add something to the working of Amida and become Buddhas in the
Donations and attaining Buddhahood in the
Donation is a worldly cause, while shinjin is the ultimate outer worldly cause – it is the cause planted in us by Amida Buddha’s transference of merit. The first can influence only this life, but has no effect in terms of ultimate freedom. Giving or not giving money to the Buddha’s image, teachers or Shinshu centers has no importance. Only shinjin is the true cause for our complete freedom.
Those who say otherwise are only “using the Buddha's teaching as a pretext” and are “moved by mundane desires”.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Year's end greetings
It is recorded in the Thus I have heard from Rennyo Shonin:
“….many people went to see the Shonin. The Shonin asked, "What brought so many people here?"
said, "I suppose they wish to express their gratitude for the inspiring sermons the other day (i.e., at the Hoonko service) and also to convey the year's end greetings and appreciation to you before you go to Tonda tomorrow."
The Shonin said, "The year's end greetings are totally useless. Tell them to gain shinjin and make this a token of appreciation for the year's end, will you?"
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The ten benefits in this life of a nembutsu follower (explanations and a few questions & answers)
Shinran Shonin speaks about the ten benefits a nembutsu follower receives in this present life. I already explained them in a recent discussion on true shinbuddhism yahoo group, when trying to answer to one of the member’s questions and I thought it will be better to present them here in a more reviewed form.
These ten benefits are:
1. Protected by unseen divine beings (myoshu goji)
This means that those who have shinjin are protected by various unseen and powerful beings. The sense of this protection is:
“maras and nonbuddhists present no obstruction” (Tannisho)
or ,
“The four great deva-kings together
Protect us constantly, day and night,
And let no evil spirits come near”.
(wasan)
No evil spirits can do us harm – actually I found that this was very important for some people I met, because many are afraid of sorcery, black magic or evil spirits. Although some modern guys don’t like to talk about this topic, evil spirits truly exists, and because of our deluded minds we can be influenced by them. But the good news is that because we received shinjin from Amida, we are protected from their harmful intents.
It is also said by Shinran in his wasans that Nanda, Upananda, and the other great nagas, the countless naga-gods, …. Yama, the king of the dead, the great king of maras, gods of the heavens and earth, the four great deva-kings, etc, also protects us.
There are many such passages in Shinran’s Kyogyoshinsho and other writings.
2. Possessed of the supreme virtue (shitoku gusoku)
It means that by entrusting in Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow we receive His merits and virtues which become like ours, and which make us attain birth in the
“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 said 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.”
(1) 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 Buddhas – this means to enter the stage of non-retrogression (see the 10th benefit)
(2) The directing of virtue for our return to this world, means that as soon as we become Buddhas in the
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 merits 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, Paul 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 received shinjin, as Paul said, you also received 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 became assured of birth in the
But this doesn’t mean that you are free of any suffering in this life as if you did only pure deeds yourself in the three kind of actions, by karma of thought, karma of speech and karma of body or action. You can’t always experience happiness in this world because your mind still remains unenlightened until you die and you are born in the
You ask questions like why you are not happy in this world because you have shinjin, but the answer is that you are not happy in this world 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
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, but He can be happy here because His mind is a Buddha Mind, not an unenlightened mind like yours.
However, this unenlightened mind of yours is assured of birth in the
3. Having evil turned into good (tenaku jyozen)
It means that in the middle of our everyday life of suffering we can transform every bad event into an opportunity to understand life as it is and the Dharma. It doesn’t mean that we will no longer have bad events or lack of material things in our lives, but we can understand these unfortunate events as being the effects of our karma and we can use them in order to become more aware that this is samsara, the world of suffering and we need even more to entrust in Amida to escape it once and for all. Bad events in our lives can be thus transformed through the light of the Dharma into useful ones – useful for our understanding.
4. Protected by all Buddhas (shobutsu gonen)
This 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
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 Buddhas 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.”
Also protection can be understood in the sense that shinjin can’t be lost once we receive it from Amida and we cannot be obstructed by non-buddhists. How many Christians tried to tell me that I will go to hell because of being a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist! Thus they tried to give me fear but with no success because my faith (shinjin) is not my creation, but the gift of Amida. This is why shinjin is called “diamond like shinjin” – because it is not my creation but the gift of Amida. It is strong like the diamond because it is what Amida planted in me, so nobody can take it from me or destroy it.
We may also say the Protection of the Buddhas means that since the moment you received shinjin, you are safely going into the direction of Nirvana. You can interpret the protection of the Buddhas in this sense, too. You definitely entered into the incomparable powerful stream that goes to the ocean of the
Also, the Protection of the Buddhas might mean that all Buddhas bear witness that you are safely carried to the
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 (et al) 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 roots cut of 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 it continues to have its remaining effects – that is you continue to experience the effects of your past deeds or the deeds of this life. So, we should not make any confusion and think that after we receive shinjin we should always be happy or always experience happy circumstances.
5. Praised by all Buddhas (shobutsu shyosan).
All Buddhas praise us because we entrust in Amida. They look to us as people who will become themselves Buddhas. It is wonderful that we have come to believe in a teaching so hard to be accepted in faith, this is why all the Buddhas praise us.
In the Larger Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha
“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.”
These passage clearly shows what being praised by all Buddhas means. There are also many more passages like these quoted in Shinran’s writings.
6. Protected by the Buddha's spiritual light (shinko jogo)
Here we see that the protection is a spiritual one. I relate it with what I said at the fourth benefit. Also it means that Amida is always illuminating us, making us understand more (than those who do not accept His light - don’t have shinjin) our limitations and our life’s events as they are explained by the Dharma or Buddhist teaching.
Amida’s Light makes us profoundly realize our limitations and how reliable the Primal Vow of Amida is. These twofold awareness never disappears from us because we are embraced in Amida’s spiritual Light.
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)
In the moment we receive shinjin we feel relief, like escaping a great weight and problem. We know that we will become Buddhas no matter how we are now. 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 which you trust 100% assured 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 is.
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 teach the Dharma to others in order to help them receive shinjin from Amida.
Also, sharing Dharma texts or helping our dojos or temples, supporting our teachers and fellow practitioners are acts of repaying the benevolence of Amida Tathagata.
9. Always practicing the Great Compassion (jyogyo daihi)
This doesn’t mean that we act like Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in this very life, because if we relate this passage with other passages in Shinran’s teaching, we see that it is not possible for beings who still have blind passions to behave like Buddhas. If we are already Buddhas and have Great Compassion in this life then it means that we no longer need the Primal Vow. So, what is the benefit of always practicing Great Compasion in this life?
I think that although we are not acting like Buddhas in this life, but by receiving shinjin we become part of the working of Amida or a link in Amida’s Great Compassion chain and we can benefit others constantly in many ways, only by being in this Golden Chain of Amida’s Compassion. We can understand others limitations and realize everybody is accepted as they are, including ourselves, and especially benefit them by helping them to create connections with the Dharma of Amida.
If somebody is spreading the true teaching about Amida and transmits the message of the Primal Vow to others, then he is indeed practicing Great Compassion in the sense that he acts as a messenger of this Great Compassion.
In his Kyogyoshinsho, chapter 3, 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 interruption 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."
This clearly shows that practicing Great Compassion in this life means to encourage others to say the nembutsu of faith in Amida Buddha.
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 in the
This benefit is the wonderful news that people like us, full of blind passions are saved as they are – assured of birth in the
At the end of these explanations I wish to present you another three very important questions related with the benefits in this life, and my answers. 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
Answer:
The feeling of safety of a person of shinjin is that he feels assured he goes directly to the
But he knows also that the remaining part of this life is the life of an ordinary unenlightened being, so its normal that as long as he is not a Buddha, he can still suffer. I repeat, he still suffers because he remains an unenlightened being until his death.
To receive the merits of Amida is like entering in 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 received the merits of Amida in this life through shinjin and 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.
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 your saying the only way out of suffering for a Shin Buddhist is death.”
Answer:
The only way out of suffering for a Shin 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 (
Question:
”From what I understand in your post- I created all that happens in this life and that can’t be changed. I just gri and bear it until I die, go to the
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 to 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
Friday, December 5, 2008
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 smart or interesting kind of Buddhist, but to become a Buddha.
The Buddhist path is not a method of relaxation or a tablet for headache, something like “how can we become happier and calmer people” or a recipe for momentary happiness, but a road to Buddhahood or complete Freedom for us and 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 Buddhism. If we don’t want or don’t feel the urgency of 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 and the other one is the Dharmic vision.
The first represents what is considered normal in various times, containing limited explanations of the world and without being interested on 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 than immediate utility and the need for Freedom is especially emphasized.
By reading, listening 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 when you receive what we may call the “Dharmic vision” or “Dharma eye”. Then, many of your mental constructions you considered to be solid and unbreakable, will break down and the world will start to empty itself of the false colors projected on it and 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.
About this I wrote in the article “Entering the Jodo Shinshu path”.
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 who knows what special kind of person in order to have the aspiration to become a Buddha, but to be successful in attaining Buddhahood you will need efforts and qualities infinitely great than your ordinary capacities.
So, in the moment when 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 Buddha.
This message is not a sophisticated or a hard to understand one, but the only disadvantage it has is that few nice and full of themselves Buddhists are truly capable to recognize their limitations and incapacity to become a Buddha. In other words, who is ready to recognize himself as powerless?
Just it is very important to understand that Jodo Shinshu doesn’t require from 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 with being a good electrician, business man or anything you are in your private life. These are two different things.
Walking path to Freedom from birth and death is not a hobby or an interesting cultural topic, but the only real activity in our lives. It means to escape from the endless sufferings of birth and death. If this is important to you, then you are indeed a disciple of the Buddha.
---read this article (Entering the Jodo Shinshu path)---
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Back from Eko-ji
I returned from Eko-ji temple in Dusseldorf last night and now I have to make a little more journey until I finally relax at home.
This meeting was one where I couldn't become bored and this was due to the teacher Eko Haus der japanischen kultur invited - Noriaki Matsuo Sensei - who I think was the best teacher ever came to Eko Haus since I attend this kind of meetings.
He gave a lecture on Shoshinge and as far as I understood from the passages translated by Marc and Chisho Frank(second picture), his commentaries were excellent and with no trace of that kind of sophisticated scholarship I don't like. Also I didn't find any distorsion of the teaching in his lecture, but only good explanations in accordance with the words of Shinran. This Sensei is rather young and unknown to the European public and I hope Eko Haus will continue to invite him at future meetings.
All the participants engaged in useful Dharma discussions on many topics related with Shoshinge, which into my opinion, made this meeting a true nembutsu meeting, one of the few that actually take place in the international sangha.
I was indeed satisfied with everything happened there, not only with the lecture and talks with old friends, but also because of the Dharma discussions I had with new members like David Cwila (last photo).
After the Hoonko ceremony I could give books to visitors who attended it and others that were present in the Eko Haus. Among these gifts were the two books of Eiken Kobai Sensei printed by me at Dharma Lion. In total I gave 18 books to visitors and members, including THUS I HAVE HEARD FROM RENNYO SHONIN.
Finally, I had a beautiful surprise from my German friends who invited me to be an official member of their sangha. I consider it to be a beautiful symbol of unity and a recognition of our friendship.
I give my thanks to all the people who made this meeting possible, and those who attended it, but especially to Aoyama Sensei(third picture) - the abot of Eko-ji temple and president of Eko Haus and to those who helped me to understand the lecture and discussions which were only in German: Marc Nottelman and Chisho Frank.
May the European Sangha grow and stay united in the true Jodo Shinshu teaching of our Masters!
Namo Amida Butsu
ps:
1)those who wish to see all the pictures I took, please enter here
Some pictures are almost identical so that European sanghas can chose which is the best to use for their magazines or websites.
Announcement:
In a few days I will able to answer my letters and post a new article here
Monday, November 24, 2008
Entering the Jodo Shinshu path
---read this article first (Aspiration to become a Buddha - the most important matter)---
I know that I repeat myself, but I wish to emphasize one basic thing about the teaching of my school, so that everybody and especially newcomers, can understand.
Entering the Jodo Shinshu path is like becoming a member of Alchoolics 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
Thus, the Jodo Shinshu sangha is like an “idiot’s club” or alcoholics anonymous, in comparison with the nice and good Buddhists, who are always calm and ready to become Enlightened and the same with Shakyamuni.
If you enter this blog and 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 right place. But if you 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 blog 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..
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Spiritual friendship
It is recorded in the Samyuutta Nikaya, that one day, Ananda said to the Buddha:
“Venerable, I thought a lot and reached to the conclusion that spiritual friendship is half of the spiritual life!”
Buddha answered: “Don’t say like this, Ananda. Spiritual friendship is everything in the spiritual life!”
This passage made me to reflect more on the role of the sangha as part of the Three Treasures.
In the Sangha, with the help of our nembutsu friends who have the same shinjin like Shinran, we hear about the Dharma of Amida Buddha and we entrust to it (receive shinjin), thus becoming capable of attaining Buddhahood in the Pure Land.
We need to be part of a true Sangha, and a true sangha is the one who is concentrated only on the Dharma, without adding or distorting it. A true Sangha is the community of lay and ordained practitioners who accepts the Dharma as the medicine given to us by Shakyamuni and Shinran, who cling to their words as the only true words in the whole world, being aware that the only way to escape birth and death lies only in accepting in faith the words of the Masters.
Those who distort the Dharma and think they have something to add to the Dharma, replacing the words of Shakyamuni and the Masters with their own words and opinions, thinking the Dharma needs to be modified in order to accommodate to the fleeting ideas of our modern world or modern philosophies, are not true spiritual friends and do not represent the Sangha. Being a member of a false sangha will not lead you to any realization, but membership in a true Sangha will be of immense benefit. In fact, to be member of a true Sangha is everything, because only in the sangha one can hear the Dharma and receive shinjin from Amida.
The precious Jodo Shinshu Dharma will flourish or decay and disappear only because of the Sangha.
Be careful with whom you consider to be your spiritual friends....In a burning house, become friends with the firemen and those who know the exit, not with those who, unaware of the fire, are spending their time
philosophizing about this or that.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Reactions against Kobai Sensei's statement and my answers (part2)
This long post is for those of you who have enough patience to read :)) and are interested in the nowadays wrong understanding of Amida Buddha being a symbol, myth or a fictional character.
It is a second collection of fragments from my correspondence with many people (I keep their names anonymous) from Europe or USA who wrote to me (read first reactions here) after I presented and supported the clear statement of Kobai Sensei made at the 15th European Shinshu Conference. I will add more correspondence in time, as I receive new letters on this topic and answer to them. I just hope that people will stop arguing on this mater and just accept what Shakyamuni and Shinran preached in the sacred texts. I am tired of debates, and I hate debates, but sometimes I really have no other option than to stand up and fight against the wrong views that are prevalent in our international sangha which to my sadness, it often becomes a dangerous place where everything is accepted and labeled as Jodo Shinshu. Unfortunately, my attitude is often mistaken as being impolite and no matter how hard I try to explain to people that I am just doing my duty as a priest, a guardian and transmitter of the teaching we find in the sacred texts, many of them seem not to understand this. Well, although it saddens me, I have no other option than to go on without thinking too much about my image in the eyes of others.
Other articles related with this topic are:
1.Kobai Sensei's statement (video) - Amida is a true and real Buddha, not a fictional character
2.Reactions against Kobai Sensei's statement and my answers
3Amida as a Sambhogakaya Buddha
4Some discussions on the nature of Amida Buddha
You may also find all articles related with the true understanding (as we find in the sacred texts) of Amida Buddha here.
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Anonymous:
“But especially scholars use the term "myth" in another sense: as a neutral word for the "talking about the numinal" [The Japanese word "shinwa" f.e. means God/deity/the numinal (shin)- talk (wa)]. In this sense the word is very useful for two reasons:
The first reason is that if people of different religious confession come together to talk about their relgious experiences, they can use this term as framework and bridge between their ideas. For example, if Christians and Buddhists talk about how they deal with suffering, Christians will say: by looking at the cruelsome suffering of Christ and his ressurrection, and Buddhists will f.e. say: by contemplation on the univerality of suffering within the cyclic existence. For Christian scholar of religious study is the cross and resurrection of Christ in the same way the mythological symbol for suffering as the cycle of existence is for the Buddhist scholar. “
Answer:
My friend, I don’t know what the word “myth” might mean in academic circles and do not really understand its usefulness there, but I know that using this word when preaching the Dharma is not at all a good upaya (suitable method) in explaining the reality of Amida Buddha. Religion has to address to all kind of people in order to awake faith in them, and it is normal for ordinary people to take this word “myth” in the sense that Amida is not truly real or 100% real (in his transcendental form or Sambhogakaya). Also I always see that these scholars who relate to Amida as to a myth are the same people who deny the reality, in terms of causes and effect, of the story of Dharmakara becoming Amida Buddha in the Larger Sutra, and go so far as to deny the authenticity of this sutra, things that Shinran or Rennyo never did. As I always stated, these scholars who deny the authenticity of the
And these terms are always related with one another in the minds of scholars who use them, like for example, Nobuo Haneda who says very clear that Amida is “a fictional character like Hamlet” .
They don’t use the word “myth” as you explained in your examples, related with suffering, but they always relate this word with what they say it is the not so real story of Dharmakara becoming Amida, or the
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Anonymous:
“But this has nothing to do with the perception of reality the respective scholar has ("myth" is not the opposite of reality!). For a Shin Buddhist the Universal Vow is more real than even the keyboard on which I am typing now these lines, because the keyboard could just be one of my illusions, a fever fantasy created by Mara, but not the Universal Vow!”
Answer:
I doubt these scholars really have the understanding of Amida as being true and real and of the Primal Vow being true and real, when they doubt the authenticity of the Larger Sutra in which the story of Dharmakara making the Primal Vow and becoming Amida is taught by Shakyamuni. I, for example, can’t believe in this sutra if this sutra was not actually taught by Shakyamuni but imagined or created by some wise monks many centuries later, for whatever the reason. I believe in Amida because Shakyamuni talked about Amida – it is because a Buddha talked about Amida, I entrust in Amida.
As Shinran said in Tannisho:
“If Amida's Primal Vow is true, Shakyamuni's teaching cannot be false.” – so by Shakyamuni’s mouth and words we come to believe in the Primal Vow and Amida!
Also Shinran said in the Shoshinge:
“The reason for the Buddha's appearance in the world
Is solely to expound the Primal Vow of Amida, wide and deep as the ocean.
All beings in the evil age with five defilements
Should believe in the truth of the Buddha's words.”
“Myth” or “symbol” used in the explanation of the reality of Amida Buddha clearly takes the mind of the listener to the idea of something not 100% real, and opens subtle gates to many misunderstandings. These words will always make us think to something created or imagined by the human mind in order to explain something which is beyond our comprehension. And if something is in some way created or imagined by human beings, then this is not true and real, but the product of the human mind.
Why should we use such words as myth or symbol in relation with Amida Buddha and the story in the sutras of Dharmakara becoming Amida, and complicate our minds ?
Using these words in explaining the nature of Amida Buddha is dangerous and surely leading to misunderstandings.
We can’t use neutral terms when we speak about Amida in Dharma talks. Why should we do that? People have to feel they have a relation with Amida Buddha in his Sambhogakaya form, feel embraced and accepted by a true and real Buddha and words like myth or symbol are not at all helpful in this. Such language was never used by our Masters, so why should we use them in explaining the Dharma?
I will never agree with the use of such words in relation with Amida in the international sangha, because I know what lies beneath these words and where these words are leading the mind of the listeners. Amida has to be perceived exactly as it was described in the sutras and sacred texts, that is in accordance with the doctrine of the Three Buddha bodies, etc
All those scholars who use words like myth, symbol or fictional character, can’t accept 100% the sutras and the sacred texts, and they are not intellectually comfortable with Amida Buddha as a transcendent (Sambhogakaya) Buddha. They are indeed false teachers because they spread their misunderstandings among others and don’t help them in receiving simple faith from Amida. Because only by listening the true teaching we can receive shinjin from Amida.
The situation is too much complicated than you explain it and this complications didn’t appear if we would just explain the teaching as it is in the sacred texts and don’t try to change it or accommodate it with our own ideas or understanding of this or that concept.
Why not keep simple our Jodo Shinshu teaching because it was meant to be simple and easy to understand.
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Anonymous:
“The second reason why many scholars, eypecially the deeply religious one, like using the word "myth", could be called relgious respect. Particularily we Buddhist should be aware of our limited human mind. A myokonin once said: "Between me and an ant is only one degree, but between Amida and me there are 52". If there were an ant crowling on my sleeve and asking me (it if could perceive me at all): What are you doing now?", do you think I could answer: "I am writing an e-mail now"? An ant has no idea of "writing" and "e-mail" and so on. I would answer (if I could at all) something like: "I am setting a scent mark." Buddha Shakyamuni was in the same situation, when he talked about the
............
“The sutra f.e. says that Amida attained buddhahood 10 kalpas ago, but indeed Amida is the eternal Buddha, who is Buddha since endless times (Look: Jodo Wasan 55). This is really beyond our reason.”
Answer:
When Shinran speaks about Amida as being “a Buddha more ancient than kalpas countless as particles”, he refers to the Dharmakaya or ultimate nature of Amida Buddha. But he never said we should entrust in the ultimate nature of Amida, which we cannot understand, but in Amida as the fulfillment of his Primal Vow, which is Sambhogakaya.
And in many parts of his writings, including the Shoshinge, he writes again the same teaching about Dharmakara becoming Amida as presented in the Larger Sutra, a sutra which these scholars who say Amida is a myth do not feel comfortable with it and say it was not actually preached by Shakyamuni.
Bodhisattva Dharmakara, in his causal stage,
Was in the presence of Lokeshvararaja, the Enlightened One.
He saw the pure lands of many Buddhas, observed how they had been established,
And examined everything, good and bad, about the humans and gods inhabiting them.
He then brought forth the unsurpassed and most excellent Vows..
He also said:
Amida, full of compassion for those lost in the great night of ignorance -
The wheel of light of dharma-body being boundless -
Took the form of the Buddha of Unhindered Light
And appeared in the land of peace.
This and other many quotes in the writing of Shinran clearly shows that he always related to Amida and adviced others to relate to him as to a Buddha in transcendental form, that is as the fulfillment of the practices and Vows of Dharmakara.
He also said:
“Amida, who attained Buddhahood in the infinite past,
Full of compassion for foolish beings of the five defilements,
Took the form of Sakyamuni Buddha
And appeared in
So, Shakyamuni was actually the manifestation of Amida. But if the
I repeat, those people who say Amida is a myth, symbol or fictional character are the same people who don't believe that the sutras were actually preached by Shakyamuni. Just ask them or read their writings and you will see.
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Anonymous:
“-Therefore some people speak about the "myth of Amida" because they deeply feel that Amida is beyond the range of human language.”
Answer:
Exactly because Amida is beyond the range of human language, we should not use language and terms in describing Amida that was not used by Shakyamuni in the sutras or Shinran himself!!
People who use terms like myth or symbol in describing Amida are in fact thinking that they can somehow explain Amida and put Amida in the framework of their intelectual ideas created by their limited minds . They don’t just listen and accept with humbleness the teaching as it was presented in the sutras and words of Shinran, but try to accommodate it with their minds. And they are labeling their ideas as being Jodo Shinshu. This is wrong and dangerous as I showed in many parts of this letter.
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Anonymous:
“Amida is also beyond what we call history: not, because he is not real, but because everything which is part of historical sciences does not reach to the era of Dharamkara and even our perception of what an era and time is, may be wrong in this dimension.”
Answer:
Our history is just an extremely little part of the cosmic history and we should not think that some things never happened because it was not happened in the history we know on this earth. In Buddhism it is always talked about “the beginningless past" and endless future. In this infinite interval of time, Buddhas will always appear. But what some scholars are doing is to accommodate the infinite dimensions to our limited visions, - exactly like in your example with the ant. These scholars are just unenlightened ants who wish to change something which they can’t understand, and more than this, they wish to change the medicine (Dharma about Amida) given to us, sick people by the doctor (Shakyamuni and Shinran) , as if they are themselves doctors. I find this very dangerous and not a good method in presenting the Dharma, and I will always be against any attempt to change the teaching on the basis of such and such personal opinion.
I am just a simple priest who wishes to be only a transmitter of the Dharma as I received it from the Masters and pass it to others. I will never let my ego to modify the teaching on the basis of my personal views. I can’t label as Jodo Shinshu something which was not actually taught by Shakyamuni and the Masters of our tradition.
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Anonymous:
“In your last mails you used often the word "right and wrong views". It is true: there are rÃght and wrong views, and if I look at other people I am often very saddened. Most people on the world will never come into contact to the teaching of Buddha Amida, and the few one who did misunderstand it or even don't take it for serious. This applies even to the most of the Japanese Shin Buddhists. But what can I do: I am not a Buddha, I cannot see into their mind and how I should agitate that they will develop best. I even don't know whether my own understandnig of the teaching is absolutely correct. Even if I had some extraordinate teachers, how should I know that their understandnig is correct?"
Answer:
My friend, there is something we can do and what we should do, without the need to see in the minds of others. We have the intellectual capacity to read and study seriously the sacred texts and to understand them. By understanding with the head the CONTENT of the teaching in the sacred texts, we can receive shinjin in the HEART from Amida. If your understanding is in accord with what Shinran and Rennyo themselves taught, then you know that your understanding is true. Further, we should teach and transmit to others only what is presented in the sacred texts.
Also when we listen to other teachers presenting the teaching, we should compare their words with the words and explanations of Shinran and Rennyo and the sacred texts. If their words are in accord with these sacred texts, then what they say is true, if their words are not in accord with these sacred texts and words of our Masters, then their words are not true and they are false teachers.
My friend, Yuien-bo didn’t just stay aside and do nothing when he met with wrong understandings of his time, but took action. He had courage in refuting the false views on the basis of the words of his Master Shinran. This is exactly what we should do today in confronting the modern misunderstandings. If there was indeed no possibility for us to understand anything, then Yuien-bo would not write the Tannisho or Shinran and Rennyo didn’t write anything. We are intelligent human beings and we can understand what is written in the works of our Masters and we can compare them with what some scholars are saying about Amida.
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Anonymous:
“What I mean is: we should be cautious in judging the faith of others and not overestimate our own understanding.”
Answer:
We can judge and compare the words of others in relation with the sacred texts. We have the right to do this because some claim to be Jodo Shinshu teachers and they are preaching to us. And we can very well say that someone who don’t understand Amida as it was simply presented by Shakyamuni or Shinran, don’t have shinjin and the experience of salvation. Nobody who distorts the teaching can ever receive shinjin or be able to help others.
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Anonymous:
“For example the idea that Buddha Amida is a fictional character is a clear misunderstanding, and - if taken in this way - the claim , that the story of Amida is a "mythos", or Amida is not "historically real" can also be typical wrong views.”
Answer:
As I previously said, the using of words like myth, symbol or fictional character are always related with the denial of the story of Amida and the authenticity of the Pure Land sutras – just read how X in my discussions with him on the shindo group said he can’t accept the story of Amida and that he and also others like Rev Unno and Rev. Bloom deny the fact that the Pure Land sutras were actually preached by Shakyamuni. All these people are acting like they understand everything related with Shakyamuni and the transmission of Mahayana sutras.
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Anonymous:
“Just imagine someone who strongly believes that Amida is "only" a mythos (in meaning 1) and that "religious imagination" as believing in a "story" like this is a good means to oppress the mortal fear. Suppose he continues his dharma studies only for purpose of interesting discussion or scientific achievments. If he really comes to die, then there will presumably the point of ultimate despair, in which he understands that Amida is not only a story. Then his nembutsu is ripe. - But if he meets a very strict Shin Buddhist at the beginning, who rebukes his "wrong views" and critizises him severely, may be he will feel discouraged and give up his studies in the Shin Buddhist teaching. When it comes to die, everything is forgotten, what he has learned about the teaching, and he dies without the nembutsu.”
Answer:
I can’t know exactly all the condition that may appear in the personal history of such and such person, but I have never seen to Rennyo, Shinran or Yuien-bo the attitude of letting a wrong understanding to prevail in their lifetimes because who knows, maybe somebody can somehow achieve something or even shinjin at the end of his life, like in the example you gave. We can imagine a lot of examples and specific situation, but we can’t, for no reasons, because nobody of our Masters did, to let some misunderstanding spread.
And I repeat, those false ideas about Amida are not talked only in academic levels, but in the temples, Dharma talks, introductions into Jodo Shinshu and many websites, and all these false ideas are labeled as being Jodo Shinshu. We just can’t stay aside and imagine various ideal situations of a misunderstanding turned into a good understanding by chance.
In the personal example of Shinran and Rennyo we see how they actually worked hard and wrote a lot of letters only to correct errouneous views. We should do the same. I will do the same, because I am priest ordained by Hongwanji, and I am loyal to all the Masters recognized by Hongwanji. I am in the same school with Master Rennyo who was never resting in matters of presenting the same teaching of Shinran in clear terms and with no such complications as some modern scholars use.
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Anonymous:
“I think we should be very aware that we live in mappo, and not only in mappo, but perhaps in the end of mappo. 99 percent of the people will not come into contact with the dharma in their life, 99 percent of people who do are not interested, and 99 percent of the few ones who are interested are interested for the wrong reasons. Therefore let's do our best and don't be harsh to the weak people.”
Answer:
I am not harsh with anybody. I repeatedly said that I do not attack somebody in his private life but only at the levels of ideas and opinions. I do not relate myself to the weaknesses of anybody, but to the ideas they present as being Jodo Shinshu. And I do this for the sake of the many people who have hard lives and difficulties and are feeling hopeless about their end of suffering. It is a great sorrow for me to think these people might never meet the actual teaching of Shinran and thus receive shinjin from Amida, but meet the various bubble of the many so called teachers of Jodo Shinshu.
And also those people who present wrong understandings are not weak, but have a lot of publicity on the internet and in Buddhist magazines and their books and articles are read by so many people as representing Jodo Shinshu teaching.
And nobody takes attitude, not even those who received the priest ordination and promised in the front of the Founder and Go Monshu sama to “help others receive shinjin”! This is truly sad. And if somebody tries to challenge those false teachers and ask them to relate in their expositions only to the words of the sutras and sacred texts, like I do and Kobai Sensei does, then he is considered to be an extremist and fundamentalist!
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Anonymous:
“Nevertheless let us always be very humble and modest. It is true that throughout the history of Jodo Shinshu the critism against wrong understandings of the teaching is one of the main topics. But it neeeds a lot of experience really to say what it is a right and wrong interpretation of the dharma. One must learn the dharma for decades, and cultivate not only the listening to the dharma, but also to the people. Therefore all great teachers, you have mentionend, began to write, when they were over forty and developed their i-anjin theories usually very late, in their last years.”
Answer:
I understand the need to stay humble. And I also interpret the need to stay humble as always relating in our talks and writings and Dharma teaching activities only to the words of Shinran and Shakyamuni. This is humbleness and modesty – to always present and explain the words of the Masters, not our own interpretations. As long as we think we are only transmitters, we are humble.
Also I don’t think it needs a lot of experience to read the story of Dharmakara becoming Amida and to realize that Amida is not a fictional character, symbol or myth. We can read the words and understand them if we are sincere and humble seekers, wishing just to understand what Shakyamuni’s teaching about Amida is. Our Jodo Shinshu teaching is meant to be simple to understand and its message is clear, so one doesn’t need many decades to understand its essentials, and one essential thing in this teaching is that we entrust in Amida Buddha who is a true and real Buddha, not a fictional character. These kind of things we can understand and we can and have the right to go against views that say something else.
Life is very short and fragile, we even can die in a few days or hours. We have to struggle and read the Dharma texts and listen to the Dharma (reading is also listening) like this is the last day of our life. I can’t wait for decades until I am able to say that those who present Amida as a myth, symbol or fictional character (which are all terms related with one another in the minds of those who sustain such views) are false teachers and are presenting wrong views which were never taught by Shakyamuni and Shinran. Especially I am a priest and now my duty is to help others receive shinjin and I can’t do that if I don’t teach them the words of the Masters and show to them the wrong ideas that are prevalent in our days.
This is my duty. If I needed to wait a few decades until I can do this duty well, then I should close the gate of the dojo and close my blog and talk to nobody. But I can’t do that. So I will continue my own studies which are studies only of the sacred texts in Jodo Shinshu canon, asking advice when there is something I don’t understand, from truly wonderful teachers of our times like Inagaki Sensei, Kobai Sensei and George Gatenby Sensei and in the same time, continue my preaching activities. There is no time to wait. We need to act now.
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Anonymous:
“We should also have deep respect for the scholars and their achievements (even if we not totally agree with their theories), because everything we know about the dharma we have received through their translations (or - if we are translators byself- through the tradition of translation).”
Answer:
I have respect for every human being and also for them, but this doesn’t mean that all the scholars are saying is true and in accord with the words of the Masters. Why is this tendency among some members of the international sangha, to think that if I disagree with some scholars and say they are spreading false ideas, it means that I don’t respect them? But lets be precise – not all the scholars who translated the sacred texts into English are false teachers. I know nobody in the Hongwanji translation committee to assert such views like Amida being a fictional character. I also enjoy Inagaki Sensei’s translations and he doesn’t speak about Amida in terms of myth, symbol or fictional character.
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Anonymous:
“You are saying that Shinran never used words like "myth", "symbol" etc., but did he use words like "true and real". This is a translation, but what words are in the background? And supposed the translation is the best possible, what connotations are translated and what connotations are lost? If you interpret texts, the connections you discover by reading the Japanese original are different to those you can find by only reading a translation. This is due to the fact, that the translation here is not only the translation between the same type of languages (German to English, or English to Romanian), it is a translation between two totally different linguistic universes. “
Answer:
My friend, Shinran used many words in which he CLEARLY talked about Amida Buddha as being a true Buddha on which we can rely. He also accepted and presented in his writings, like in Shoshinge, the story of Amida which we can find in the Larger Sutra. This can’t be denied. What words can be in the background of this?? He repeated the story of Amida and he entrusted in it. He spoke about Amida as a Sambhogakaya Buddha, which is not at all a myth or fictional character! It is clear for everybody who reads his words or the sutras with the story of Amida, and wishing sincerely to understand what Amida is, that Amida is a Buddha one can rely on, a real personal manifestation in terms of causes and effects of the ultimate Dharmakaya.
We don’t have here a problem of language! Why should we complicate our minds, inventing many theories and thinking to many complications when this Jodo Shinshu teaching is meant to be a simple path of entrusting to Amida Buddha!
Do we really want to escape this burning house and be born in the
There are many situations when we see that our masters wanted us to keep the teaching simple and not make it complicate. We can never really draw the conclusion from Honen’s “One sheet document”, or from Rennyo Letters or from Tannisho that Amida is a fictional character or a myth. The idea of Amida being a fictional character or symbol is in itself impossible to accept in the context of this simple, devotional and faith oriented school. There is no point in continuing the discussion on this theme, just if we wish to complicate ourselves.
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Anonymous:
“It is wise, if Christian churches demand of their priests that they have to learn old
Answer:
We don’t need to learn old Chinese to receive the simple message of Jodo Shinshu. The translations we also have here in English are good enough so that we can simply entrust in Amida Buddha and be born in his
But the minds of some scholars will always remain complicated and they will always find something to make it even more complicated for others to understand.
I believe that I will be born in the
I don’t know if I have enough time to study Japanese. I always have in the background of my study the thought of impermanence. All my Buddhist activities, be it study or translating or teaching, are based on the thought of impermanence. I am always happy that I am alive just one more month to help another one receive the simple message about Amida.
Shinjin and salvation is received only with the knees on the temple’s floor, with the eyes and ears in complete concentration to absorb the essentials of the teaching. This is a religious path, not a scientific path. Here we are talking about people’s salvation from suffering, and we can’t play with people’s salvation. Jodo Shinshu is not an academical object of study, like somebody studies chemistry, for example.
I am a priest in the front line, that is, in a country where Jodo Shinshu is at its very beginning. There are already people who are listening to the teaching and others will come also. I can’t leave all the people I have here and go to
My opinion is that few of those who follow academical studies are truly aware of impermanence and most of them, don’t live like me in a dojo and a country where Jodo Shinshu is at its very beginning.
There were others among my teachers who did academical studies, like Inagaki Sensei and Kobai Sensei. I think I can continue very well my Dharma work here and my studies while keeping close contacts with them and ask guidance from them. I don’t need to go to
But in time I will surely send a member of my sangha to
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Anonymous:
“stay away from these hectic discussions! Develop awareness for the details!”
Answer:
I will never stay away and do nothing when I see divergences from the words of Shinran or the sutras, no matter those who support such divergences are scholars or not. Kobai Sensei, who has the academical rank of shikyo, is also very active in fighting with the same divergences like me. Why does he says the same words like me? He is a scholar and he fights the same “fight” like me, so I am not the only one and as you see, I have a great supporter. Also George Gatenby Sensei in
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Anonymous:
“F.e. you claimed. that there is a difference between some scholars who use the word "myth" and Shinran. Then you must first find out what the scholars mean by their term. And then you must find words in Kamakura Japanese which Shinran could have used expressing a similar idea. What is Shinran saying about them? Is there a contradiction between the modern scholars and Shinran? etc.”
Answer:
As I said, life is short. I clearly never seen, and my teachers to whom I am in correspondence, never seen a description of Amida in the sacred texts who can be similar with words like myth, symbol or fictional character. These are all modern human inventions, nothing else. And I repeat what I said in my previous letter: these scholars who are talking about Amida in terms of myth, symbol or fictional character are the same who don’t accept the Three Pure Land sutras as being actually taught by Shakyamuni and who don’t accept the story of Dharmakara becoming Amida.
I will never think there is something good in the bubble of these scholars when they don’t even recognize the
This is inacceptable to me and I clearly have nothing in common with somebody who doesn’t accept the authenticity of the
So, for me, this topic is closed. I don’t need to complicate my mind by going to Japan and study all the bubble of many scholars, while leaving alone my people in Romania, and do nothing for Jodo Shinshu here for many years in which who knows what might happened.
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Anonymous:
“Maybe you will answer: I am a practioner and do not want to become a scholar. - This is okay, but then you must accept that you have not the right to write polemics against them. In this case, it is also okay if you say: "For me Amida is not a 'myth' for this and that reason." (As I already mentioned, I totally agree with this oppinion, if the term "myth" is just taken in an ordinary sense.) But you cannot claim it as the official doctrine of Shinran and the Honganji, because it is simply not true (insofar there are other understandigs of this term and they are even used by respected "theologists" of the Honganji.)”
Answer:
On the contrary, I have the right to write polemics, as Kobai Sensei who is a scholar, also does, against those ideas of Amida being interpreted as a myth, symbol or fictional character. And I have the right to do so because I am a Jodo Shinshu follower. In Rennyo’s time he encouraged even some lay followers to speak about the teaching and even praised their simple understanding – attention, he praised simple understanding! – while sometimes he criticized the wrong understanding of some priests. He encouraged simple people’s understanding even if they were not scholars. Also I don’t think that only the scholars have the right to speak about what is good or wrong understanding in Jodo Shinshu. I have this right too. Although I have only tokudo ordination, I was appointed by Hongwanji as representative of Jodo Shinshu in
Nobody can truly act as a messenger or missionary in a country or in any place if he says only words like “my opinion is this, but you can think or speak whatever you wish and say this is Jodo Shinshu”!A missionary with a full sense of his mission has to be very serious and have an uncompromising attitude in what is true and false teaching. He has to present the teaching exactly as it is written in the sacred texts and on the basis of the sacred texts he can say “this is wrong understanding, or this is good understanding”. It is exactly what we have to do in
And I repeat again, the word myth in every sense it is used (ordinary or not) is not useful in describing Amida Buddha and more than this, it is a danger. And all the scholars who use this term are the ones who don’t recognize
I will continue to criticize such views and say these views are not Hongwanji’s views, because as far as I know, Hongwanji’s official doctrine is expressed only in the texts from the Jodo Shinshu canon. Hongwanji also recognizes the
Then, maybe I will set my robes and my kesa in fire, and close myself in my temple.
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Anonymous:
“Just be as gentle as the water, that changes the side of this earth, just by flowing along gently. Amida Buddha needs no warriors, he does it all by himself or better already has done it all. To teach what Shinran Shonin and Rennyo Shonin had to say, is our duty, whether or not the people follow or gain Shinjin is not up to us. It´s Amida, who grands it to the people, it´s a gift, that is not coming from us or through our effort. I believe strongly in remaining as calm as possible in any matter, it is not easy all the time of course, but one can always try and leave the things to Oya-Samma.”
Answer:
My friend, if we just remain calm and do nothing, don’t react clearly by saying “this is not the teaching of Shinran”, when misunderstandings arrive, then I think we don’t do our duty as priests or representatives of Jodo Shinshu.
In the working of Amida, the teacher is one of the five conditions for birth in the
If we just let things happen and say Amida does everything and we do nothing to prevent the spreading of the wrong understandings then how can people who come to the temples and dojos receive shinjin? Only when one listens the true teaching from a true teacher, then he can receive shinjin from Amida.
The working of Amida is spread through men and women of shinjin and with clear and right understanding of the teaching, and not through people of false views.
If by being gentle we mean “there is enough room or space in the sangha, for people who spread ideas that Amida is a fictional character”, then we are not gentle but foolish. And people with wrong understandings will use our foolishness and lack of strong reaction to destroy the Dharma. Shinran himself was not always “gentle”, you know the case with Zenran, and that case was not the only one. Master Rennyo also one time closed a temple because people there were losing time. And he was very strong in his attitudes during his entire life of reconstructing the sangha.
Sometimes here I refused people with wrong understanding and mixing practices from giving them the Three Refuges and recognizing them in my sangha. I also refused to recommend them for kikyoshiki because I don’t think their place is within the Jodo Shinshu sangha.
I also firmly believe that the place of those who spread wrong understandings is outside the sangha, because the sangha is not a place where everything can be said, but where only the true Dharma is taught. As Master Zuiken said: “Keep your mouth shut and let the Buddha Dharma speak”. Not everybodie's ideas, but the Dharma!
I am very sad that my clear statements and repeated statements (because I always react when I see somebody saying something false) are not understood in their real sense. But I prefer to stay like this, firm, clear and insisting on the difference between true and false, always relating to the sacred texts.
Of course, I never relate to the personal life or private life of those with whom I oppose, but in rest I will say everything I think that has to be said, especially that their place is not in the sangha as teachers.
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Anonymous:
"Namo Amida Butsu" what else is there to be explain?”
Answer:
Ok, then from now on, when somebody comes to your dojo or center, just tell them Namo Amida Butsu and if they ask you something don’t talk to them, just say Namo Amida Butsu. :)))
And if these so called “modern scholars” erase all their personal views from all the websites and all Buddhist magazines, I will also shut up and say only Namo Amida Butsu. :)))
Also I think, if there were no deviations from Shinran’s teaching, Yuien bo also would shut up or say only Namo Amida Butsu.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Comments of the 17th chapter of Tannisho - birth in the borderland of the Pure Land
“On the assertion that a person born in the borderland will in the end fall into hell.
In what authoritative passage do we find such a statement? It is deplorable that this is being maintained by people who pretend to be scholars. How are they reading the sutras, treaties, and other sacred writings? I was taught that practicers who lack shinjin are born in the borderland because of their doubt concerning the Primal Vow, and that, after the evil of doubt has been expiated, they realize enlightenment in the fulfilled land.
Since practicers of shinjin are few, many are guided to the transformed land. To declare, despite this, that birth there will ultimately end in vain would be to accuse Shakyamuni of lying.”
Tannisho, Chapter 17th
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My comments:
Everything related with the Pure Land is the creation of Amida Buddha. It comes from his Enlightened activity and is the manifestation of it.
All the manifestations of Amida Buddha, especially his true Pure Land and the borderland of his Pure Land , are real and effective in helping sentient beings to achieve supreme Buddhahood.
Amida Buddha realized that it is easier for unenlightened sentient beings to have aspiration for birth in his perfect Pure Land upon hearing about its existence. So he created this place and made it in such a way so that both people who completely entrust in him and also those who cannot completely entrust, be born there and escape once and for all from samsara. Just there is a difference between these two categories of people. Those who completely entrust in Amida Buddha and let go of any clinging to any form of reliance on their personal power become themselves Buddhas in the very moment when they are born in the Pure Land, while those who entrust in Amida but still cling to some kind of personal power do not become immediately Buddhas when they are born in the Pure Land. People in this last category are in fact born in the so called borderland of the Pure Land . They do not attain the state of Buddhahood, but they are free once and for all from the suffering of birth and death in Samsara. They are safe, but still they are not liberated. In the same time, being in the special environment of this borderland of the Pure Land they have the opportunity to overcome their doubts and entrust completely in Amida Buddha.
Master Shan-tao said: “those born in the fulfilled Pure Land are extremely few; those born in the transformed Pure Land are many.”
This is because there are very few who completely renounce the reliance on their personal power and calculations and entrust 100% to Amida’s Power. It is also taught in this chapter: “Since practicers of shinjin are few, many are guided to the transformed land.” Transformed land and borderland are the same. Also there are many other names for the borderland, like “the realm of indolence and pride”, a term used by Shinran in his wasans: “…People devote themselves to saying the nembutsu in self-power;
Hence they remain in the borderland or the realm of indolence and pride…” or “the city of doubt”, “the womb-palace”, etc. This borderland of the Pure Land is also described like a luxurious prison “made of seven precious materials” where people who doubt the Power of Amida Buddha and recite nembutsu while relying on self power or are aspiring to be born in Amida’s Pure Land by relying on their personal merits and virtues are like princes who, because they committed offenses against the king, are imprisoned in a golden palace where they enjoy all pleasures but they are not able to see the king.
This comparison appears in the Larger Sutra:
“The Buddha said to Maitreya, "Consider the case of the noble cakravartin-king who possesses a prison embellished with the seven precious substances. It is adorned in manifold ways, furnished with a canopied bed, and hung with many silken banners. If young princes commit offenses against the king, they are imprisoned there….."
The Buddha said to Maitreya, "These sentient beings are precisely like that. Because they doubt the Buddha's wisdom, they are born in a womb-palace... If these sentient beings become aware of their past offenses and deeply repent, they desire to leave that place...”
To doubt the Buddha’s wisdom means to doubt that Amida created the perfect method for saving you and believing that there is still something you need to do or add to his enlightened activity in order to be born in his Pure Land . To doubt also means to doubt the Primal Vow of Amida in which is described the method and cause of direct birth into the fulfilled Pure Land – the total entrusting in Amida.
Amida Buddha has 48 Vows, among which the Eighteenth is called the Primal Vow. This Vow contains the direct cause of attaining complete Buddhahood in the moment of our birth in the Pure Land . Becoming a true Buddha, capable of benefiting sentient beings in the exact moment of attaining birth in the Pure Land is the consequence of receiving shinjin or complete faith in Amida Buddha during this present life, while to rely on Amida but entertaining doubts means to be born in the borderland of the Pure Land.
To deeply repent, means to realize how foolish the idea of adding something to the working of Amida is. Unfortunately, people who doubt Amida Buddha’s Power in the present life will have to expiate their doubts by realizing their stupidity in the borderland or this womb like palace. So they will have the change of heart we talked about when commenting the last chapter, and receive shinjin in the place called borderland of the Pure Land .
Then, in this chapter of Tannisho it is said, “after the evil of doubt has been expiated, they realize enlightenment in the fulfilled land.”
As we clearly saw in this chapter and in the quote I chose from the many passages one can find in the sutras about birth in the borderland, this place is not one from which one can fall back into the lower realms or the hells, but a place within the Pure Land where people who relied on Amida Buddha during their present life but couldn’t escape their doubts and were still clinging to their self power will stay until they overcome their doubts and completely entrust to Amida Buddha. It is like an emigrant who was received in the country of Amida but he is still kept at the border region, not being allowed to enter the main continent and meet the president. In fact, there are his own doubts who obstruct him to enter the main continent and his own clinging to himself, while the Power of Amida is the one who made him being born in that border region.
Only the Enlightened Power of Amida Buddha is the one who makes possible even birth in the borderland of the Pure Land , not to mention the birth in the true Pure Land itself. Amida Buddha has such an Infinite Compasion and such good methods of saving sentient beings so that he succeeds to offer salvation from samsara even to people who doubt and don’t rely completely on his Power. He brings sentient beings safely out of samsara, both those who entrust completely and those who still have an incomplete trust, while the latter will stay for a while in the borderland until they overcome their doubts. It is not the fault of Amida or some kind of punishment that some are born in the borderland, just they are kept in that region by their own doubts. They are the ones who are keeping themselves out of the main continent of the Pure Land , while Amida carried them out of samsara once and for all.
It is very important to understand that the Pure Land in both his aspects, the border land and the true Pure Land , is not a realm within samsara, but a creation of the enlightened activity of Amida which is situated beyond the reach of birth and death. There is no retrogression or falling back from the borderland of the Pure Land into hell or any other samsaric realms because this place has nothing to do with samsara.
One who entered the borderland of the Pure Land is already in the safe embrace of Amida Buddha, just he doesn’t completely entrusts in him. His journey in samsara is definitely over and there is not a single word in the sutras and the sacred texts saying a different thing.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Comments on the 16th chapter of Tannisho – changing of the heart
Read the 16th chapter of Tannisho here, before reading my comments.
What is the “change of heart” in Jodo Shinshu? If somebody who is not accustomed to the teaching of Other Power, hears about this expression, he will probably think it means the definitive decision not to do any wrong act in the three ways of action, mentally, verbally and physically. Like from this day on, I take the decision to always have pure thoughts, speak only good and useful words and do only virtuous actions with my body.
Well, this is not at all what Shinran had in mind when he used the expression “change of heart” and it was not because he encouraged his fellow travelers on the path to intentionally do evil deeds, but because of a simple and easy to understand reason – we can’t change our impure heart and evil tendencies and become good. As I said in my comments of the previous chapter of Tannisho, Jodo Shinshu path starts with the profound sense of failure, with accepting the impossibility to become pure in mind, in words and in one’s deeds and the absurdity for us of attaining Buddhahood in this life, like Shakyamuni did.
So, what is the “changing of heart” in Jodo Shinshu?
It is said in this chapter:
“People who have in ordinary life been ignorant of the true essence of the Primal Vow, which is Other Power, come to realize, through receiving Amida's wisdom, that they cannot attain birth with the thoughts and feelings they have harbored up to then, so they abandon their former heart and mind and entrust themselves to the Primal Vow. This is what is meant by "change of heart."
There is a time before this “changing of heart” and a time after. The time before is the time when we thought we can attain Buddhahood in this life by our own efforts or that we can be born in the various Buddha lands or in the Pure Land of Amida by becoming ourselves worthy of being born there. It is the time when we thought we can, no matter what we understand by these words in our spiritual life.
On the contrary, the moment we experience the changing of heart is the moment when we profoundly realize that we can not. It is the moment when we become aware (it is a moment of awakening) that we failed for ever and we have no chance of attaining something in our spiritual life, especially the true Liberation from suffering of birth and death or the state of Buddhahood. It is both a moment of complete realization of failure and a complete entrusting in the Primal Vow of Amida, in his salvation Power. From this moment on we rely exclusively on Amida Buddha to cause our birth in the
In exactly the moment when you have this change of heart, you are assured of birth in the
The statement that the change of heart or the complete entrusting in Amida Buddha while acknowledging our spiritual incapacity, occurs only once, means that in that very moment when we have this change of heart, we become assured of birth in the
But those who speak about the need to have many changes of heart are confusing the terms and are not speaking about the same change of heart that Shinran spoke about.
In fact, they think this change of heart is some kind of a moral change of heart or a change in the three types of karma, related with thoughts, words and deeds, like a purification of these three, when the change of heart in Jodo Shinshu is just a changing of reliance from one’s own limited power to the infinite power of Amida.
They are in fact people who although “claim with their lips that they entrust themselves to the power of the Vow”, yet they “harbor in their hearts the thought that, even though the Vow to save the evil is said to be beyond conceptual understanding, after all it saves the good person in particular; “
So, they are in fact “doubting the power of the Vow, they lack the mind of entrusting themselves to Other Power, and are destined for birth in the borderland.”
Only because they have this misunderstanding, they speak about the need to have a change of heart every time a person who entrusts in Amida, does or thinks something wrong. Their reliance on Amida’s infinite power is not complete or it doesn’t exist at all, and their so called “change of heart” is only a change at their personality level, like a personal purification, and as we know, any change in the ignorant personality of unenlightened beings is subject to impermanence. Every state of mind and even the so called good states of mind or virtuous states of mind one is trying to have, can change and perish, because nothing which relies on the personal power of an unenlightened person can last for long.
That is why Shinran said in this chapter:
“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 gentleness and forbearance, would not Amida's Vow that grasps and never abandons us be rendered meaningless?”
But to switch the reliance from oneself to Amida Buddha means to enter for ever in the powerful karmic stream of this Buddha with no possibility of failure in attaining Buddhahood in his
Birth into Amida Buddha’s
“Our not calculating is called jinen. It is itself Other Power.”
In relation with using the term jinen in this chapter, I selected some other easy to understand explanations of Shinran of the same term:
“Ji means "of itself" - not through the practicer's calculation. It signifies being made so.
Nen means "to be made so" - it is not through the practicer's calculation; it is through the working of the Tathagata's Vow.
.......................
Jinen signifies being made so from the very beginning. Amida's Vow is, from the very beginning, designed to bring each of us to entrust ourselves to it - saying "Namo-amida-butsu" - and to receive us into the
(Shinran- “Hymns of the Dharma Ages – on Jinen Honi”)
Jinen is the natural and spontaneous working of the Vow and of the salvation of Amida and it means it has nothing to do with us. There is nothing good or essential we can add to Amida’s working.
Everything comes naturally and spontaneously from Amida – our entrusting to him and the saying of nembutsu. Even if some gentleheartedness and forbearance appear in our evil hearts, this is also due to the spontaneous working of Amida Buddha in us.
Nothing good or virtuous can come from an unenlightened mind, especially our birth in the
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Settlement of Birth
Amida’s name contains all things:
His Trikaya nature,
My bombu nature.
My taking refuge in Him,
His vows and practice on my behalf.
His perfect enlightenment,
My birth in the Pure Land.
That Amida truly abides
As Trikaya Buddha
Is not to be wondered at.
What is truly more wonderful?
NamoAmidaButsu
Is the living Buddha on my lips!
Like waves make sense of water!
Like chimes intone the wind!
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other poems by Tokujo Jason Ranek you can read here and here
Friday, October 3, 2008
Why do we need discipline in a dojo or temple?
Somebody who knows that I insist very much on discipline, recently asked me why do we need discipline in a dojo or temple.
I think the answer is very simple: Because we are crazy.
Being unenlightened persons, everybody has his or her level of sickness and madness. We have some rules of behavior in the dojo, because we must not allow our madness to enter it and influence the others.
At the dojo we don’t speak about our personal ideas or fantasies, we don’t express our everyday personalities, but concentrate on the single goal of listening the Dharma in order to receive shinjin and be born in the
It is not good to enter in a temple where people are fighting about their personal lives. That is not a suitable atmosphere in which we can concentrate on the Dharma.
Everybody’s life is difficult and everybody has his/her own problems. We never know what truly happens in somebody’s heart. This is why we should always try not to disturb anybody with our own personality, ideas and judgments. We should all concentrate on the Dharma and help each other to do the same. We should create an atmosphere in which everybody, no matter their difficulties and differences, can easily concentrate on the Dharma.
We should not follow personal goals in coming to the dojo or temple. This means that we come to the dojo not in order to express our selves, our opinion on such and such worldly matter, to have a chat or who knows what, but to listen to the Dharma.
We also don’t come to the dojo to make friends, find a wife or husband or to eat cookies.
We should come to the dojo or temple like to the hospital where the best medicine is given to all. We should take the medicine to ourselves and help others take it, without interfering or disturbing no one and of course, without changing the medicine.
This is the essence of discipline in the dojo or temple.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Comments on the 15th chapter of Tannisho - attainment of Buddhahood in this life is impossible
I am taking a break now from discussions on the nature of Amida Buddha and the various wrong understandings related to this topic and I invite you to concentrate again on another chapter of Tannisho. As I repeatedly said, we should always turn our minds and hearts to the words of the sacred texts and try to understand them clearly.
As my nembutsu friend, Paul Roberts said recently:
“The only practice (in Jodo Shinshu), is listening... listening deeply...listening with one's whole being. Such listening begins (but does not end) with hearing the CONTENT of the Dharma message…….
…….if the content is not established in the HEAD, then SHINJIN cannot arise in the HEART."
This is exactly what I am trying to do here on my blog and what I do at my dojo in
So let us hear and understand together this 15th chapter of Tannisho:
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“On the assertion that one attains enlightenment even while maintaining this bodily existence full of blind passions.
This statement is completely absurd. The attainment of Buddhahood with this very body is the essence of the Shingon esoteric teaching; it is the realization achieved through the three kinds of mystic acts. The purification of the six sense organs is the One Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sutra; it is the virtue acquired through the four practices of repose. These are both ways of difficult practice to be followed by those of superior capacity; they lead to the enlightenment realized through fulfilling contemplative practice.
Attaining enlightenment in the coming life is the essence of the
Since it is extremely difficult to free oneself from blind passions and the hindrances of karmic evil in this life; even the virtuous monks who practice the Shingon and Tendai 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.
Do those who speak of realizing enlightenment while in this bodily existence manifest various accommodated bodies, possess the Buddha's thirty-two features and eighty marks, and preach the dharma to benefit beings like Shakyamuni? It is this that is meant by realizing enlightenment in this life. It is stated in a hymn:
When the time comes
For shinjin, indestructible as diamond, to become settled,
Amida grasps and protects us with compassion and light,
So that we may part forever from birth-and-death.
This means that at the moment shinjin becomes settled, we are grasped, never to be abandoned, and therefore we will not transmigrate further in the six courses. Only then do we part forever from birth-and-death. Should such awareness be confusedly termed "attaining enlightenment"? It is regrettable that such misunderstanding should arise.
The late Master said,
According to the true essence of the
from http://www.shinranworks.com/relatedworks/tannisho2.htm#15
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This chapter of Tannisho presents two very important features of Jodo Shinshu teaching, which differentiates it from other Buddhist practices based on self power:
- Perfect Enlightenement and Buddhahood cannot be attained in this very life, but only in the moment of birth in the Pure land
- Birth in the
This chapter begins with a powerful and clear statement, that is, to attain Enlightenment while still living in this very body is absurd. Shinran said this possibility is not just hard to obtain, but truly impossible. More than this, it is “completely absurd”!
This is indeed a great difference between our Jodo Shinshu school and other Buddhist schools, especially the esoteric Buddhism, like Shingon or the Tibetan schools, or the Tendai school which relies on the Lotus Sutra and teaches the same possibility of attaining Buddhahood in this life and with this very body.
The three kinds of mystic acts (sanmitsu) means to achieve the gestures of Buddha with the hands (mûdra) to recite the words of Buddha by formulating the prayers, (shingon - or mantra in Sanskrit), to carry out the heart of Buddha while returning calms the spirit and by purifying it of its thoughts in the concentration (Samadhi).
The purification of the six sense organs implies the purification of the consciousnesses which are generated when our senses encounter their objects. These consciousnesses are: 1) consciousness of sight, 2) consciousness of hearing, 3) consciousness of smell, 4) consciousness of taste, 5) consciousness of touch and 6) consciousness of mind. The consciousness of mind integrates the perceptions of the five senses in concrete images and takes decisions concerning the exterior world.
But in Mahayana Buddhism another two Consciousnesses which influences our present life are described. These are: 7) impure (mind) consciousness and 8) the alaya consciousness.
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 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 which contains what I usually call, the habitual karma of a person who has been like a drug addicted for eons, the bad seeds of our evil karmic tendencies and dependencies of incalculable lives spent in ignorance, greed, hate and other blind passions, influences at the same time the workings of the other seven consciousnesses. It is extremely hard to destroy or to purify this alaya deposit from which the seeds of our evil karma can always manifest in the form of various obstacles and hindrances in our practice. Shinran Shonin, being profoundly aware of the overwhelming influence of our illusions, blind passions and habitual evil karma of the past, he states that it is “completely absurd” for an ordinary person like us, living in this last age of the Dharma, to think that he can somehow attain Buddhahood through his own power while living in this present body.
While in other Buddhist schools, especially those mentioned by Shinran, the first step is to recognize the possibility of every sentient being to attain Buddhahood in this life, our Jodo Shinshu teaching 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
“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.”
On the Jodo Shinshu path we don’t take into consideration the four practices of repose, the purification of the six senses or of the negative thoughts, and while we try “not to take poison because we have the antidote” (to intentionally do evil deeds in order to be born in the Pure Land), we don’t consider precepts to be the cause for any personal attainment, because we do not recognize any genuine personal attainment in ourselves. As Shinran said, the so called good acts of an unenlightened person are “always mixed with the poison of ego”, so these cannot be called true pure acts.
To show to us and others what silly can be our endless talks about the possibility of attaining Buddhahood in this very life, Shinran addresses to the so called “good Buddhists” with the words:
“Do those who speak of realizing enlightenment while in this bodily existence manifest various accommodated bodies, possess the Buddha's thirty-two features and eighty marks, and preach the dharma to benefit beings like Shakyamuni? It is this that is meant by realizing enlightenment in this life.”
Do you, the reader of these lines, can say that you are like a Buddha from this description? And if you are not a Buddha in this very moment, what certainty do you have that you will live enough to become like this? Now and not tomorrow it is the right moment to ask yourself this question and see yourself as you truly are and what real capacities do you have. As life in samsara is always fragile and insecure, you never know in what state of mind will death find you or if you will have another chance of being born as a human being.
Even practitioners who are supposed to have more merits than us, like “the virtuous monks who practice the Shingon and Tendai”, but also many other Masters in Tibetan Buddhism, for example, “pray for enlightenment in the next life”. Practices related with Amida Buddha or Amitabha, are present in many schools of Mahayana Buddhism, even if they are not 100% an expression of complete faith and total negation of self power, like in Jodo Shinshu This shows that many sincere practitioners realize partially or totally their limited capacities.
But after all, the most important thing in this chapter and in all the Jodo Shinshu teaching is that, in comparison with the perfect Enlightenment of a Buddha, our so called advancement on the path is too fragile, always subject to retrogression, and doesn’t worth anything because nobody among us can say that “while in this bodily existence” he can “manifest various accommodated bodies, possess the Buddha's thirty-two features and eighty marks, and preach the dharma to benefit beings like Shakyamuni”.
If there has been a religious figure in this last age of the Dharma about which can be said he is Enlightened or very much close to Enlightenment, then he or she was not and is not an ignorant person like you and me who attained something in this life, but a Bodhisattva who manifested the appearance of ignorance, effort and then the attainment of various levels of spirituality in order to encourage others to just follow the path and don’t give up, or maintain a connection with the Dharma, because not all people were or are ready to fully entrust in Amida's Primal Vow. But truly, there hasn't been a single unenlightened being in this Dharma ending age, who made efforts and attained Buddhahood by his own powers, in this very life.
The previous quote applies not only to those who think they can attain Buddhahood in this life, but also to those followers of the Pure Land teaching who, under the influences of ideas borrowed from other Buddhist teachings, or trying to adapt the simple and faith oriented Jodo Shinshu path to the Zen teaching or other Buddhist teachings on emptiness, misunderstand the receiving of shinjin or faith in Amida Buddha with the actual attainment of birth in the Pure Land. These are the “
These kind of misunderstandings are easily corrected by the following explanations:
“At the moment shinjin becomes settled, we are grasped, never to be abandoned, and therefore we will not transmigrate further in the six courses. Only then do we part forever from birth-and-death.”
But, as Shinran asks,
“Should such awareness be confusedly termed "attaining enlightenment"? It is regrettable that such misunderstanding should arise.”
So we see that to interpret the settlement of shinjin (faith in Amida Buddha) to mean attainment of Enlightenment is a misunderstanding. On the contrary, the moment of shinjin is the moment when we let ourselves to be embraced or grasped, never to be abandoned by Amida Buddha. In the moment we entrust in Amida to cause our birth in the
It is like a child being carried by his mother safely to the other shore of the river, but the child remains just an ignorant child, although he entrusts in his mother and let himself being carried by her. To receive shinjin and being assured of birth in the
“To rid yourself of blind passions is to become a Buddha, and for one who is already a Buddha, the Vow that arose from the five kalpas of profound thought would be to no purpose.”
Attainment of birth in the true
Shinran’s statements are very clear:
“Attaining Enlightenment in the coming life is the essence of the
“According to the true essence of the
ps: you may also read this article which contains corrections of the idea that "Pure Land is here and now"
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Reactions against Kobai Sensei's statement and my answers
There was a recent heated debate in a European Shinshu yahoo group which started from the video recording of Kobai Sensei’s statement I posted on my blog here.
I am presenting you now some parts from this debate, while leaving anonymous the names of the people to whom I was addressing. The sentences in “….” represent the others opinions. I hope that by showing some fragments from this debate, the reader can understand better how deep the misunderstanding and complacency in not correcting the errors are in our international sangha, and be aware of the danger themselves might be caught in when studying the Dharma.
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”Words like 'those who don't believe it the same way as I/we/they etc. do, have not real Shinjin and no experience of salvation' is actually strong meat and an expression of a certain 'I know it all, you don't' attitude which I find - especially within a Buddhist context - completely unacceptable. “
Kobai Sensei didn’t say that those who don’t believe his opinions don’t have shinjin! In all his Dharma work, (and my Dharma activity also) he does nothing else than presenting the Jodo Shinshu teaching as it is expressed in the sutras and the texts of the Masters of our tradition.
To be a priest and a teacher means to express the exact teaching of the sutras and sacred texts, not our own opinions and ideas which are always changing as the various theories of such and such scholar will always change.
The sutras and the sacred texts of our Masters are the only source of the teaching and the only way in which we can verify if someone’s ideas represent or not the Jodo Shinshu teaching. When we, the traditionalists say “such and such thing is not Jodo Shinshu”, we do this only by relating it and comparing it to the writings of Shinran and other Masters recognized by our school.
Christians and other religions have their sacred texts also by which they can legitimate their ideas. We also have the writings of Shinran, the sutras and the Jodo Shinshu canon.
I see no problem in legitimating our words by relating them with the sacred texts.
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“Usually I don't see any reason at all for discussing this because I can't prove my view and the other one can't do it either and if there's no interest in actually having a serious discussion about it with trying to understand the different position on its own terms, it is
futile. But I often see that someone of the 'it's exactly as it is written' faction is always eager to press the button for opening pandoras box about all kinds of 'consequences' you might suffer if you have 'the wrong view'.”
The only thing we should prove when we present the Jodo Shinshu teaching is that our opinions and ideas, our words are in accord with the words of Shinran, Rennyo and the sutras. Nothing else.
And also scholars of the “its not exactly as it is written” are always pushing the button and spread their ideas everywhere on many websites and in many conferences and they label their opinions as Jodo Shinshu.
I and some of my friends, also had a lot of bad experiences with the so called nice guys with different opinions. We are not the bad guys and you are the good ones or the polite ones. Kobai Sensei and myself received many letters, not so polite, from various people telling him or me to depart and take distance from Paul Roberts whose voice is also against the same divergences.
So let us, the few people who are against what we consider “modern divergences” raise our voices and speak. You and your friends who look to Amida as a fictional character are not the only voices in Jodo Shinshu. This should be known. And many, priests and lay, agree with us, just don’t have the same courage to raise their voices so clear and firm.
I know many who support me in doing what I do, encouraging me, etc
As I said, our references is the sacred texts, while your references can’t be found in the sacred texts. When we say something, like “those who consider Amida as a fictional character don’t have shinjin” we rely on the many explanations and presentations in the sutras, those of Nagarjuna, Shinran, the experiences of master Shan tao, etc who prove that Amida is a true and real Buddha in transcendental form or Sambhogakaya (read here some doctrinal explanations on Amida in accord with Mahayana general doctrine, Shinran and other Masters).
How can one rely on a fictional character? How can I rely for my attainment of Buddhahood on a fictional character, a human invention? How can the transference of merit from Amida to sentient beings be true and real, causing us to be born in the
How can the idea of Amida being a fictional character be taken as true in Jodo Shinshu Buddhism? How can faith or entrusting to a fictional character be effective? How can entrusting to a fictional character or symbol can be called shinjin? Why should we change the Mahayana doctrine of Trikaya or Three Buddha bodies, just because some intellectuals don’t agree with it ? How can an unenlightened person really understand with his limited mind the Trikaya doctrine and a Buddha in a transcendent form? How can an unenlightened person prove that a Buddha is a fictional character?
My opinion is to leave the Dharma as it is. We can have various methods of explaining the Dharma according to different personalities, but we can’t change the Dharma which is what should be taught. The dharma is as it is, it was given to us, sick people, unenlightened people, as a medicine by the Buddhas and Shinran Shonin. How can a sick person change the medicine? How can an unenlightened person change the Dharma given by the Buddhas and by Shakyamuni in the Three
We the traditional guys just call for humility and realization of the limitations of human mind and the mind of unenlightened people.
And as Inagaki Sensei also said, many Mahayana sutras were transmitted through Samadhi from Shakyamuni to others, until these sutras were finally put in written form. How can a smart scholar can verify Samadhi transmission? Are you modern smart guys good enough for any kind of Samadhi? I recognize that I am not, so I let Dharma speak through the mouths of Buddha and Masters and keep my mouth shut. When I open it I do it only to transmit what they taught, not my personal ideas.
I have never heard a Tibetan practitioner, and I know a lot, who doubts that his sacred texts were not actually preached and transmitted by the Buddhas, because they don’t think they are so smart and evoluated as to check the Buddhas and transmissions. They just follow the way and that’s it.
And we still wonder why Jodo Shinshu has so little followers in the West, while Tibetans have a lot! This teaching and school which is a devotional and faith oriented school, with a message taught to be simple to understand by many, is so much complicated in our days by so many smart guys whose egos are so big as to change the Dharma.
They say that by changing it more westerners will come to Jodo Shinshu, but on the contrary, we have the smallest number of adherents in the West and one of the reasons is that when one enters Jodo Shinshu he faces so many ideas and divergences as he can’t know which is the original teaching.
What I consider to be my task and mission is this – to show to people the original teaching about Amida, not my personal opinions or the opinions of some unenlightened and sophisticated smart scholars. This is not an ego centered attitude, but on the contrary! I don’t rely on myself or on the changing ideas and opinions of a changing and unenlightened mind, but on the sutras and sacred texts which were taught by infinite superior guys than me – Shakyamuni, Shinran, Shan tao, Nagarjuna, etc
Those who change the Dharma to accommodate with their own ideas and opinions, should be careful about their ego and stay humble!
If you or your friends don’t like the way this simple teaching was presented by Shakyamuni in the sutras or by the Masters of our school, its ok to make your own school, where you can present your own ideas about Buddhism. I have nothing against it, on the contrary, I have nothing against Buddhists of other schools saying different things than Shinran or our Masters. But I don’t think it is impolite to say somebody is wrong and not in accord with the sacred texts that are the basis of Jodo Shinshu and what Jodo Shinshu really is. I and neither my friends, like Kobai Sensei or Paul, are making any reference to the private lives of others.
By saying somebody is not a true teacher of Jodo Shinshu, I make reference only to his/her ideas in relation with the texts that are the foundation of Jodo Shinshu. It is like saying somebody is not a liberal because he supports socialist ideas.
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Part 2
A priest in the group related to some of my words and made the following statements. Between --…..-- are the quotations from my affirmations to which he was related and between “….” are his affirmations.
--And I don’t think, like Kobai Sensei also don’t think, that somebody who doesn’t receive the same teaching Shinran preached, can receive shinjin.—
“ Please be careful. To see "Shinjin" in this way is the kind of self power and calculation we should avoid. If Shinjin is what it is, it is free of any conditions, not even bound to a certain religion. “
Shinjin is entrusting in Amida Buddha to be born in the
What I said is not at all self power, because I do not relate to myself, but to the words and guidance of my infinite superior friends, like Shakyamuni, Shinran and the Masters.
And it is written in a lot of texts, and you know it, that by hearing the teaching one receives shinjin through Amida’s power. Listening the teaching is extremely important, but to what teaching do we hear and listen – do we listen to the teaching of Shinran and our Masters or do we listen to the noise of our own minds? That is the question we should ask ourselves if we want this school to prosper in shinjin.
Master Rennyo said:
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.
Yuien-bo said in Tannisho:
For how is entrance into the single gate of easy practice possible unless we happily come to rely on a true teacher whom conditions bring us to encounter?
Let there be not the slightest distortion of the teaching of Other Power with words of an understanding based on personal views.
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--- As I said once, for me Jodo Shinshu it is not just an object of study, but a way of escaping a great fire and a great sickness. It is like accepting the cure for cancer or AIDS.----
“It is hard to explain the experience of fire as long as you are burning yourself.”
I am not trying to explain the fire, but the way out of the “house of fire” as Shinran said. And this way out of the fire, lie in front of us and it was explained by some guys infinite more prepared than us – Shakyamuni, Shinran, etc
In the quote you are using from my words, I wanted to show how important the Dharma is for me, as the only true medicine, a medicine which should be left as it was prescribed by the doctors. The sick and unenlightened patients should not change or modify the medicine.
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“ If I am confronted with what I perhaps realise as wrong view, it is my challenge -- to find out how I can go along with it. It is a chance for me to reflect the teaching again and I can leave the "other one" to Amidas compassion.”
Sensei, you are a priest and a teacher and if you resume to just reflect yourself and shut up, and don’t explain to others, like Rennyo or Yuien-bo did so many times when encountering wrong understandings, then you are not acting in accordance with your mission which is: “help others receive shinjin”.
Yuien-bo wrote the Tannisho especially to go against wrong understandings of his time – it is a lament against divergences from true shinjin, this is how this book is called. He said:
Here, then, I set down in small part the words spoken by the late Shinran Shonin that remain deep in my mind, solely to disperse the doubts of fellow practicers. Thus, it seems likely that among people of the wholehearted, single practice now also, there are those not one in SHINJIN with Shinran.
Although all of the above are repetitions of the same words, I record them here. While the dew of life barely clings to this withered leaf of grass that I am, I can lend an ear to the uncertainties of the people who accompany me along the way and relate to them what Master Shinran said.
But I lament that after my eyes close, there will almost certainly be confusion concerning the teaching.
This is what a priest and a teacher should do. Just look to the sadness of Yuien-bo when encountering wrong understandings. He wrote a book, he took action, he didn’t retired in self-reflection only!
I myself will never retire in self reflection, but speak loud and clear.
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“I think it is mainly a semantic problem, or more concrete a problem of our daily language. Shinran says the final Buddha has no form, if he has got form he is not the final Buddha (in explaining Jinen) Relying to Amida, "his" embracing compassion is no fiction, but also can not be grasped or calculated by us.”
Especially because it cannot be grasped by us I always say we should relate to the sacred texts when we talk about Amida and not say he is a fictional character. A fictional character is not just a semantic problem, but a very clear word expressing that Amida is a human invention – something invented by humans in order to express a higher principle. On the contrary, Amida is a Buddha and it has indeed no form in his ultimate nature, or lets say, "beyond form", but it also has form and Name, which are real in the eyes of the practitioner.
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“So please let us be like drops of water in the endless sea of Dharma, the endless sea of Nenbutsu, let us be patient and wait until we experience the often quoted moment when the wave realises it is water. Than it becomes clear that we are -- a fiction. “
Nice words… it is nice to speak about the
The sangha is the place where the Dharma is taught, understood and accepted as it was taught by the Buddhas and Masters, in order that ourselves become Buddhas. These are The Thre Jewels. Practically speaking, and leaving aside beautiful words and poetry, if we distort the Dharma by our own ideas, we cannot become Buddhas.
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In the end of this long post where I presented you some fragments from a recent heated debate, I wish again to emphasize that when Shinran Shonin speaks about Amida in ultimate terms he never denies Amida’s reality in terms of a transcendental Buddha or Sambhogakaya. He speaks about Amida in ultimate terms but he also speaks about him in terms of cause and effect which the story of Dharmakara in the
Sambhogakaya refers to the process through which Dharmakara Bodhisattva became Amida Buddha as a result of his Vows and practice – a practice which led the Vows to perfect fulfillment. Shinran didn’t deny the story in the sutras of Dharmakara becoming Amida, he also said that Shakyamuni is the manifestation of Amida in human form. Otherwise, if Amida was a fictional character and not a true Buddha as a result of Dharmakara practices and Vows, it cannot be any salvation, no shinjin, no birth in the
We limited sentient beings cannot rely on Dharmakaya or ultimate Buddha nature in order to become Buddhas, this is why we have Dharmakara Bodhisattva who made Vows and brought them to fulfillment and he became Amida in sambhogakaya form. And this process by which Dharmakara became Amida is true and real in terms of causes and effects, not just a fictional story. We rely on the Primal Vow made by Dharmakara Bodhisattva who became Amida, we don’t rely directly to our Buddha nature. To understand ultimate nature is not shinjin. To have shinjin is to rely on the promise of Dharmakara Bodhisattva who became Amida Buddha, thus fulfilling his Vows and promises.
We don’t say Amida as fulfillment of Dharmakara practices and Vows is fictional or just a symbol, but a true and real Buddha, exactly like Shakyamuni was. And Shakyamuni was indeed the manifestation of Amida – this is what Shinran said very clear so that every ordinary and stupid human being can understand and have a simple faith.
Readers who wish to understand better the Trikaya doctrine of three Buddha bodies please read here. Also, please read carefully the entire category Amida Buddha on this blog where everything about what Amida is, it is explained together with the rejection of false teachings about Amida that are spread in our days by some too smart guys.
If you have questions or difficulties you can always talk with me privately on e-mail.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Sincere letter to a nice and virtuous Buddhist practitioner
Dear X,
I often have moments when I feel as if I am swimming in the mud. Everything seems to be contrary to my wishes and aspirations, every person I meet, like an obstacle, even a Buddhist friend. I often have the feeling of being sick and tired.
I have never been a social person, not even in my childhood when I played most of the time alone. I've always hated big gatherings and crowded places. I have never liked human beings too much, and I've always found the company of animals more pleasant than the company of humans. I even feel that I can kill a human being in order to defend the life of an animal who I might consider my friend.
I am not writing this letter to you for other reasons, than to share my unenlightened way of feeling things. I know that these are not the feelings of a “good Buddhist” or “what should a Buddhist feel”, but this is me at the present moment, this is my illusory personality.
I know very well that I can’t fix it or transform it into an enlightened personality through my own powers. So, since I became aware of it, I do nothing else than take refuge in Amida and become more and more grateful to Him for accepting me as I am and finishing once and for all, the crazy journey in samsara of this stupid man.
I take Buddhism and especially the Jodo Shinshu path very personally. For me it is not an object of study, but a way of escaping a great fire and a great sickness. It is like accepting the cure for cancer or AIDS. To me, Jodo Shinshu is a matter of life and death, it is the difference between burning in a big fire and escaping it.
To know what one might become in a future life, if he let himself in the power of his karma and tendencies is not a big deal. One should just observe his mind and see with sincerity his real thoughts and feelings, especially those thoughts and feelings one doesn’t have the courage to recognize to himself and others. Just take away the crust of “what a nice person I am” and look deeply into your own personality and mind. What do you really see there?
Please, you smart and “good Buddhist” fellow, stop talking to me with words like “there is no self”, or “nirvana is samsara”, or “your inner nature is that of a Buddha” and so on…. I really read about these things, but they are not useful to me. Just leave me alone with your bubble talk about purity and profound Buddhist quotes on peace of mind! I am tired about nice Buddhist talks. I am not a nice person, I am not a nice priest, I am not pure at heart, I can’t develop Bodhi mind through myself, I can’t follow precepts, I don’t drink but I am the same like alcoholics when it comes to my sick mind, I don’t eat meat, but I am the same like hunters and predators.
I can’t meditate, I can’t understand ultimate reality and “Nirvana is Samsara” kind of things, I can’t send loving kindness to anybody, not even to myself. I have been a drug addicted for eons(1) and you, a nice Buddhist guy, are telling me that I can really heal myself in this life or that I can trust in myself and continue this process of healing in my future lives. Sorry, but I don’t believe you. You are speaking over and over again about the ideal, but you don’t take into account the capacities of the person to whom you are speaking.
I also don’t care how virtuous you are and how nice your discourse about what should be done and what should be discarded is. But how can you speak about health and healthy states of mind to a terminally ill person on his death bed, that is about Nirvana and virtues to a person who lacks the seeds for Buddhahood, to someone who is guilty of the five gravest offenses and can die in every moment? Just please go out to your everyday meditation sessions or visualizations, and your peace of mind, to your “everything is possible” attitude, to your prajna, and please leave me alone with my friend, Shinran, because he is the only one who can really understand me. I am tired to listen to your discourses about ultimate nature, I just want to hear Shinran Shonin speaking to me about my Mother – Amida Buddha, who accepts me exactly as I am, telling me that for being born in his Pure Land I need nothing, really nothing. Just to entrust to Her and everything is ok. My Compassionate Mother will take care of my attainment of Buddhahood, like every mother takes care of her own child. You don’t believe me? You think that my Buddhist path is for inferior beings? I don’t care and yes indeed, I am an inferior being. So, it logically follows that your supermen kind of Buddhism is not for me.
Josho
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Notes:
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
KOBAI SENSEI'S STATEMENT (VIDEO)- AMIDA IS A TRUE AND REAL BUDDHA, NOT A FICTIONAL CHARACTER
I added a subtitle to this video, because Eiken Sensei doesn't speak English very well and I wanted to be sure that everybody understand his statement. You can both watch the video and also read the transcript.
Here is the transcript:
"Josho Adrian: "Thank you for your paper. You talked about shinjin, about having or not having shinjin. I have a different question. Some people in our school are teaching that Amida is a symbol, a metaphor, a myth or a fictional character. Is that true, and if it is not true, can these people who say that Amida is a myth, a symbol or a fictional character have the same shinjin like Shinran? This is my question.
Kobai Sensei: Somebody say Amida is a symbol and myth
Josho Adrian: A myth … a myth or a fictional character… fictional character like in a movie … fictional character, like it was only a story, only a fictional story
Kobai Sensei: Fictional
Josho Adrian: Fictional, and not a true, a real Buddha.
Kobai Sensei: I think …. that person opinion, I think they or he don’t have shinjin. I think by having shinjin we understand Amida and the Jodo(
Josho Adrian: As a Real Buddha, not a fictional character, not a symbol, but a real Buddha.
Kobai Sensei: I think
Rev Sato – chairman: Difficulties…
His question you know and his answer is those who say Amida is a fictional, myth, only a story, those people don’t have shinjin.
Rev Sato: That is his answer
Kobai Sensei: They don’t have the experience of salvation.
Rev Sato – chairman: They don’t have any experience of salvation
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This is the statement of Eiken Kobai Sensei, one of the most important Jodo Shinshu teachers of our times. It is a statement that I support and share from all my heart and spread it here in my country, in my dojo and in every temple or dojo I will open in the future.
After Kobai Sensei made that clear statement at the 15th European Shinshu Conference, almost everybody was astonished and some, the chairman also, tried to reduce the impact of his statement, by saying that “there is room also for different interpretations, etc”, but into my opinion, there is no room for any other interpretations at all. In our school should be room and space only for the teaching we can find in the words of the sutras and the commentaries of Master Shinran and Rennyo. And in these sacred writings Amida is described as a real Buddha, manifesting a form and a Name in order to save ordinary sentient beings. We have the explanations of the The Three Buddha bodies in the Trikaya doctrine and other explanations of our Masters and I think that we should not deviate from these explanations and invent our own opinions and ideas.
Who are we to modify the teachings left to us by our Masters? Do we think we are like them? The teaching is a medicine made by Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Masters and is given to sick people like us to take it exactly as it was prescribed. How can a sick person, an unenlightened person, be better than a doctor or an Enlightened One, and modify the medicine?
Are all these false modern teachers and people who support such false views as Amida being a fictional character, already Enlightened? Are they Buddhas, Bodhisattvas or the same with Shinran and Rennyo?
On what authority can they modify the sacred teaching, the medicine given to us by the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and our Masters? My opinion is that we should be more concentrated on learning the sacred words of our teaching, humbly letting ourselves to be guided by them and stop changing them to accommodate with our changing minds.
Those who say that Amida is a symbol, a myth, a metaphor or a fictional character don’t have the experience of salvation and are not teaching the true Jodo Shinshu teaching, but their own ideas and opinions. How can one rely and entrust to a symbol or a fictional character and achieve something by it? Only to the real and living Amida Buddha (in his transcendental or sambhogakaya form) can we entrust and be sure of our birth in the Pure Land.
I urge again my fellow practitioners and nembutsu friends to entrust only in the words of the sutras and commentaries of our Masters, Shinran and Rennyo and not in the intellectual bubble of people who lack shinjin and are more interested in spreading their own ideas than the actual teaching.
Those people are false teachers and may their false opinions never enter my country, but disappear like dust in the wind.
Namo Amida Butsu
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More against the false understanding of Amida Buddha as a fictional character or only a symbol, you can read here. Please read carefully all the explanations.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Pictures from the 15th European Shinshu Conference and video recording of kikyoshiki ceremony
Dear friends,
Here you can see some of the pictures I took from the 15TH European Shinshu Conference and the video recording of kikyoshiki ceremony.
A recording with Kobai Sensei's important statement from the Conference will come soon!
Monday, September 1, 2008
Peace of shinjin
Dear friends,
I just came back from the 15th European Shinshu Conference. I feel very tired after so many hours by train and the very busy days of the meeting. So, for the moment, I am just sharing with you my Dharma talk with the promise that important posts will soon come, and a special one about Kobai Sensei and his very important statement(video recording). I will also post a video recording of the kikioshiki ceremony and many pictures. Keep in touch!
Peace of shinjin
“At most, man can do only one thing
in his life
And that is to acquire shinjin.”
Master Zuiken
The world “peace” is on everybody’s lips, whether they are priests, lay, politicians, V.I.P.s, etc, but is there a real possibility to be peace in the world? Into my opinion, there isn’t. It has never been, it is not, and there will never be complete peace in the world. And why is that? The answer is simple – because this world, our world, is inhabited by humans, and not by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. As long as there are still ignorant beings full of attachments and blind passions, there will be no real and long lasting peace in the world.
And how can outside peace exists without inner peace?
We may change the outside conditions many times, but if we do not cut the evil from its root, it will always come to the surface of our minds and create conflicts with others.
So, we can logically conclude that we can talk about peace in the world only in connection with changing the mind or spiritual evolution. If we change our minds and make them peaceful, the environment and the whole world will become peaceful. There are a lot of beautiful Buddhist quotes on the topic of peace, love, etc, but I am not going to present them here. I am sure you all know some of them. All “good” Buddhists like to repeat them, discuss about them, make Conferences about them, etc.
But into my opinion, for most of the people, even for the “good” Buddhists, these words about peace and love, remain just empty words and have no practical effects in terms of inner peace and world peace. Thus, my conclusion is very simple: human beings and ignorant beings in general, no matter they are from the lower realms or the higher realms, are not capable to achieve inner peace and because of this, they are incapable to preserve outer peace or world peace. Even in the heaven realms there are still war and conflicts. It is of no importance for the world peace if one or two practitioners attain high realizations. They can’t change the world only by themselves.
Shinran even said that those people who show the appearance of attaining Buddhahood are in fact, already Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who manifest themselves in human form, in order to encourage people to follow the Path. I don’t believe there are ordinary people like you and me who really attain Buddhahood and complete peace of mind during their life time in our Dharma ending age. So, there is this question: what an unenlightened person can still do for himself and others?
Master Zuiken said:
“At most, man can do only one thing
in his life
And that is to acquire shinjin.”
These words need no further elaborate comments. I am sure that all of you understood them clearly. They show the only path a bombu can follow. But these words don’t speak about peace of mind, or peace in the world, they only speak of simple entrusting in Amida Buddha. They are not words addressed to sages or virtuous people, because there are no such persons in the world anymore. When Shakyamuni presented the teaching about Amida, he was thinking especially to this age when there will be no people, monks or lay, capable of attaining Buddhahood, when peace in the world will no longer exist both in the mind of people or in the outside world.
In this Dharma ending age the only thing we can do is to take refuge in Amida, in the Dharma about Amida, in our sangha who rely on Amida. In this Dharma ending age we recognize our inability to change ourselves and the world with the state of mind we have now – the unenlightened state of mind. So, we say like Shinran in Tannisho:
"Concerning compassion, there is a difference between the Path of Sages and the
Compassion in the Path of Sages is to pity, commiserate with, and care for beings. It is extremely difficult, however, to accomplish the saving of others just as one wishes.
Compassion in the
However much love and pity we may feel in our present lives, it is hard to save others as we wish; hence, such compassion remains unfulfilled. Only the saying of the nembutsu, then, is the mind of great compassion that is thoroughgoing.”
Here, “to save others” stands for creating complete peace in the world. We may pity, commiserate with and feel sad about suffering in the world and absence of peace, but we ourselves are not in peace, so it is impossible to save others and establish peace in the world as we wish. The peace of mind a person of shinjin attains in this life is only the assurance that he is saved by Amida and established by him in the stage of non-retrogression, but this is not the peace which comes from personal virtues and absence of ignorance and blind passions. Our karma produced by our ego centered personalities continue to act until the end of our lives when we are born in the
But we may also say that the first step in the activity of saving others starts from this life, because in this very life we entrust in Amida and enter in the powerful stream of his healing energy. Although we may say that our Bodhisattva career begins when we die and we attain Buddhahood in the
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
So, this is my peace, both in life and in death. I don’t believe an ordinary person can achieve more peace in this life, than the peace of shinjin. Only the peace of shinjin can help us to benefit ourselves and all beings in this Dharma ending age.
The Primal Vow is the only medicine.
Namo Amida Butsu
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Attending the 15th European Jodo Shinshu Conference
I packed my things and the books I always carry with me, among them, “The Collected Works of Shinran”,”The Three Pure Land Sutras” translated by Inagaki Sensei, Zuiken’s Shinshu Dharmapada, Eiken Kobai Sensei’s books, my audio recordings after some traditional texts, etc. I never go anywhere without some Dharma books and a note book to write my impressions.
The Romanian delegation to this Conference is composed of 4 people: me and three other members of Tariki Dojo Craiova, who will receive kikyoshiki on the occasion of this Conference.
They are the second wave of Romanian Jodo Shinshu Buddhists who receive this rite and Buddhist names from Go-Monshu-sama Koshin Ohtani, the Patriarch of our tradition, since I founded Tariki Dojo, in 2004.
There are still some other members here in
I am just waiting to meet some old nembutsu friends, like Chisho Frank, Sasaki Sensei, Jotoku Sensei, Jerome Ducor Sensei, and others I have never met face to face but inspired me through correspondence, like Jason from Norway and the very important, Eiken Kobai Sensei.
I deeply regret that Paul Roberts can’t attend this Conference, but I hope that he will become an every time presence at future Conferences.
I hope these kind of Conferences become more and more places of hearing the true Dharma and receiving shinjin, and less a gathering of sophisticated scholars who talk only for themselves while the beginners are sleeping and snoring :))
Sometimes it is indeed funny to find myself sleeping, but other times I feel great pain and thoughts of retreating in the mountains or closing myself in my dojo, without talking with anybody, often come to my mind when I hear some well spread wrong understandings that I can’t imagine it exists in people’s minds.
I go to this Conference with a dual mind, so to speak: joyful to meet my true nembutsu friends and teachers and fearful of what I and new comers might hear there. While I myself know that I am truly settled in shinjin, I am especially worried about the new comers. Lets hope the papers and presentations, as well as the discussions, will be faithful to Shinran Shonin’s teaching.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Comments on the 14th chapter of Tannisho
"On the assertion: You should believe that the grave karmic evil binding you to birth-and-death for eight billion kalpas is eradicated through a single utterance of the Name.
It is asserted [based on the Contemplation Sutra] that there are persons of the ten transgressions and five grave offences who, although they have passed their lives without saying the nembutsu, at the time of death, urged by the instruction of a good teacher, come to say it for the first time. In one utterance eight billion kalpas of karmic evil are eradicated, or in ten utterances, ten times eight billion kalpas of grave karmic evil are eradicated, and thus they attain birth. It appears that one utterance and ten utterances are taught in order to make us know the gravity of the ten transgressions and five grave offences. Those who assert the above, however speak only of the benefit of eradicating evil. This falls far short of the teaching that we have accepted. For by virtue of being shone upon by Amida's light, we receive diamondlike shinjin when the one thought-moment of entrusting arises within us; hence, already in that instant Amida takes us into the stage of the truly settled, and when our lives end, all our blind passions and obstructions of evil being transformed, we are brought to realize insight into the nonorigination of all existence. Thus the nembutsu that we say throughout a lifetime with the thought, "If it were not for this compassionate Vow, how could such wretched evildoers as ourselves gain emancipation from birth-and-death?" should be recognized as entirely the expression of our gratitude for the benevolence and our thankfulness for the virtuous working of the Tathagata's great compassion.
To believe that each time you say the Name your karmic evil is eradicated is nothing but to strive to attain birth by eliminating your karmic evil through your own efforts. In that case, you can attain birth only by being diligent in the nembutsu to the very point of death, for every single thought you have throughout the course of you life is a fetter binding you to birth-and-death. But since our karmic recompense restricts us, we may, meeting with various unforeseen accidents or being tormented by the pain of sickness, reach the end of our lives without dwelling in rightmindedness; in such circumstances, saying the Name is difficult. How then is the karmic evil committed in that final interval to be eradicated? If it is not eliminated, is not birth unattainable?
If we entrust ourselves to Amida's Vow that grasps and never abandons us, then even though unforeseen circumstances, we commit an evil act and die without saying the nembutsu at the very end, we will immediately realize birth in the Pure Land.
Moreover, even if we do say the Name at the point of death, it will be nothing other than our expression of gratitude for Amida's benevolence, entrusting ourselves to the Buddha more and more as the very time of enlightenment draws near.
The desire to eradicate one's karmic evil through saying the Name arises from the heart of self-power; it is the basic intent of people who pray to be in a state of rightmindedness when their lives end. It therefore reveals an absence of shinjin that is Other Power."
Tannisho - chapter 14th- http://www.shinranworks.com/relatedworks/tannisho2.htm#14
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This chapter deals with the same problem we discussed earlier when I commented some previous chapters – who is the force behind the Name that makes its recitation effective? Is it our own power or the Power of Amida Buddha? If the recitation of Amida’s Name depended on our own power, then it means that it is effective only because of us. It would mean that it is our creation. But the Name of Amida was created by Amida, and it works only because it contains the merits and virtues of Amida, his enlightened supreme force and energy. If you concentrate on yourself when you recite nembutsu, then the nembutsu looses its efficacy, (which rests on Amida), because it becomes a tool of your own power. And because your own power is limited, in the same way, the nembutsu recited in self power becomes so much limited that it can have some results only if you recite it continuously and in the correct state of mind during your entire life, in every second and minute, because in every second and minute you may die and if you don’t recite it in that very second, you cannot be born in the true Pure Land. But how can an unenlightened ordinary being be so careful about nembutsu recitation? As Shinran said, “But since our karmic recompense restricts us, we may, meeting with various unforeseen accidents or being tormented by the pain of sickness, reach the end of our lives without dwelling in right mindedness; in such circumstances, saying the Name is difficult. How then is the karmic evil committed in that final interval to be eradicated? If it is not eliminated, is not birth unattainable?”
On the contrary, when you say the Name in accordance with its real nature, that is with faith in the Power of Amida Buddha, which is the real power that makes the Name effective, then you are embraced by this Power just as you are, without the necessity that you dwell in the right mindedness in every second of your life. Your personal peace of mind doesn’t matter, your so called “virtues” or “purity” doesn’t count, you just need to entrust yourself to Amida Buddha, letting yourself to be carried to the Pure Land by his saving Power.
To recite the Name doesn’t mean that you recite it while relying on yourself to purify your negative karma or accumulate positive karma. To think that you can use the nembutsu in order to purify yourself, like if the best you recite it, the more you become pure and cleaned of negative karma, it is to use the nembutsu as it would be your own creation and would depend on you. But saying the Name means to entrust in Amida. The nembutsu is nothing else but to express faith in Amida’s Compassion expressed in his Primal Vow and not in our own self and unenlightened capacities – “If it were not for this compassionate Vow, how could such wretched evildoers as ourselves gain emancipation from birth-and-death?”.
To recite the Name means exactly not to trust in your own power, but in the power of Amida. One have to understand fully that nembutsu means to rely absolutely on Amida and that only in this way, because the Name works due to Amida (“virtuous working of the Tathagata's great compassion”), the recitation of this Name is effective in leading you to the Pure Land.
Expression of faith and gratitude are always linked with nembutsu. Why is that? If you really feel that you need to escape the suffering of birth and death, if to attain Buddhahood becomes extremely important for you, and if you deeply realize how incapable you are in doing this, then the wonderful news that Amida Buddha especially leads to Nirvana beings like you, will surely give rise to joy and gratitude in your heart. If someone helps you from drowning or death by fire, you will surely feel natural joy of escaping, so how much more when you are assured of escaping birth and death forever! Faith (shinjin) is the cause of birth in the Pure Land , but gratitude naturally accompanies faith, especially in that moment when you entrust to Amida Buddha for the first time. One always feels joy at the first kiss, so in the same way, one always feels natural gratitude at the first awakening of faith.
And now to come back to the main goal of this chapter… To think that you can somehow improve the nembutsu by reciting it in every second or minute of your life or in the right mindedness, will purify your karma, means that you do not entrust to Amida, but on your own capacities. It also means that you are preoccupied with your karma, and not leave it to Amida’s care as Master Rennyo said:
“You should ask yourself over and over again whether you have attained shinjin or not, instead of questioning whether you still have karmic evils or not. It is up to Amida to save you after he has destroyed your karmic evils or to save you while leaving them as they stand. You should not inquire into this problem. Remember that shinjin is of paramount importance.”
When the Contemplation Sutra mentions those persons who did the ten transgressions and the five grave offences, it is only to make us know the gravity of these actions whose effects hinder us from ever attaining freedom by ourselves and to show us that only the nembutsu of faith in Amida Buddha can destroy them. But it doesn’t mean at all that those transgressions and offences are annihilated because of our own power and skills in nembutsu recitation. That nembutsu mentioned in the Contemplation Sutra which can destroy the karmic evil of eigh billion kalpas or ten times eight billion kalpas is the nembutsu of faith in Amida, which works only because of the Power of Amida, and is not the nembutsu of self power which relies on ourselves. The Contemplation Sutra mentions one utterance and ten utterances in order to show us how easy it is for the nembutsu which relies on the power of Amida to destroy such billion kalpas of evil karma. It is like saying: “you don’t need to do any hard practices, the nembutsu of Amida’s Power is effective even if you recite it one time or ten times”. And such expressions like “billion kalpas” are usually used in the sutras to stand for infinite, so it is in fact reffering to all the evil karma you made from the infinite past. One utterance and ten utterances are in fact, one or ten, and every number from one to ten. In reality, it shows that the number of recitations are not important, as long as you recite the nembutsu while relying on Amida’s Power.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Immediate Buddhahood for ordinary people, without passing through bardo
I know that in Tibetan Buddhism, there are methods for attaining complete Buddhahood faster 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 Enlightenement in the bardo, the intermediate state between death and the next birth, in accordance with the Bardo Thodol. Through its methods, the Vajrayana Buddhism promises, if well practiced, Enlightenment in 16 lives maximum, or in one, two, three lives, or even in the bardo, if one is not capable to attain 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 moment of death. 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 have to pass through bardo when they die, the Jodo Shinshu practitioners 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 transform them into Buddhas in the very moment of their death and birth in his Pure Land.
This is extraordinary! 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 delusion becomes ten times stronger when you are in the bardo. Lets say you may overcome these difficulties, but what if you don’t?There is still enough room for errors.
But there is no possibility for failure to become a Buddha in the
So, as you see, the method of complete entrusting to Amida Buddha, which what recitation of his Name means, is the safest, easiest and the fastest method to fulfill the aspiration to liberate ourselves and others (Bodhi Mind). No visualizations are required, and not the slightest special capacity, no personal merits. It is the only method through which ordinary people, full of 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 unbelievable. But it is nevertheless a method preached by Shakyamuni in the
We may safely assume it is the easiest method for ordinary people, among all Buddhist methods, even faster than Vajrayana methods, leading to the same goal – to become a fully Enlightened Buddha, always active in saving sentient beings. And it is also the safest among all methods, because there is no possibility to fall back into samsara. The Jodo Shinshu follower is assured of attaining Buddhahood in the
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(1) 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 understand by "easy". Jodo Shinshu really requires nothing from the practitioner - no merits, no virtues, no special capacities, no nothing - to attain Buddhahood. Faith in Amida Buddha is indeed the only method for ordinary people with no special capacities.