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The first of these, "knowledge," is based on what is usually called objectivity, the "knowing" of an object which stands outside of oneself and which, upon analyzing, we can understand. This is the scientific approach, in which we are all trained to view objects standing in relation to ourselves. In scientific knowledge, the subject-which is myself- is not the focus of attention. Even in psychology the mind is viewed as an object to be analyzed quite apart from the whole mind-heart-body of which the mind is but one aspect. Indeed, scientific knowledge so objectifies the world around us, including ourselves, that in this kind of "knowing," we become an "it."
The other two kinds of "knowing " are quite different. One is a common-sense "knowing" that emerges from our daily experience, a "knowing" that we expect everyone to have. It is a wisdom based not on scientific analysis but on human experience. There is a Japanese proverb that says, "Those who lose really win. Those who fail are victorious. " This kind of wisdom infers it's not good to win just to be winning. When we lose, we sometimes become winners. This is a worldly wisdom , based on "give and take. " In the context of daily human affairs, this kind of wisdom takes into account the feelings. It is a wisdom born of many experiences in life, a wisdom not immediately graspable by children. It is not fully subjective, for this wisdom born of experience is always in relation to the object as well.
It is the third, quite different kind of wisdom that is what we mean when we talk about Buddhist wisdom, the wisdom that, in Shinran's view, is the dynamic through which shinjin is established. This is a "knowing" that stands in sharp contrast to the "knowing" of science and the "knowing" of common-sense. The focus is "deeply" rooted in the subject, a "depth" referring to the dimension of our human potential for evil, a potential unlimited in our life. This existential depth is expressed in Japanese by bonno, another word which it would be well to transpose as is into the English vocabulary.
In his perception of bonno as the profound depths of the self, Shinran is not speaking from a scientific nor from a common-sense point of view. Neither is his a psychological perception. Rather, he speaks from the dimension of Buddhist wisdom, which is acutely aware of this aspect of existence. The important difference in the emphasis of Buddhist wisdom is that it is neither subjective nor objective. The total self, freed from any split of subject-object differentiation, is involved.
in Chapter Two of Tannisho, the slim volume that is the great religious classic written by Shinran's follower Yuienbo, Shinran is quoted as saying "Hell is my only home." This is a statement of the workings of Buddhist wisdom, the wisdom of "deep" heart and mind, with "deep" here referring to existential depth. This wisdom does not simply look outwardly to see things objectively. In "Hell is my only home," Shinran looks inward to the limitless inner depths of his bonno in order to come to truly know himself. When he says "hell is my only home," he is talking about the deep mind that undergirds the existential reality of the way we all live. His shinjin, which we too can experience, is based on this kind of wisdom , an awakening in which one comes to know totally what one is.
For example, the world in which we live is the world in which we die- This is reality. Yet, in the everyday world we seldom see this essential condition in which our subconscious depths are rooted. In Buddhism, it is not in spite of our constantly "falling into hell" but because of this condition that we are surrounded, sustained, embraced in the boundless compassion of Amida Buddha. Buddhism does not have the reward or punishment judgmentalism of the Christian religion. In Buddhism, the end of life does not necessarily mean going to hell or to Pure Land. In fact, our "falling into hell" is crucial to 2n appreciation of the Buddhist world of awakening in this life, here and now, at this very moment. This critical awareness, developed and taught by Shinran at a profound existential level, is succinctly expressed in his "Hell is my only home."
Shinran's twenty years of monastic practice on Mt. Hiei were mainly at Yogawa, the place where Genshin, an eleventh century religious teacher and writer, has also once studied and practiced. Genshin's writings made such a strong impression on Shinran that in the Kyo-Gyo-Shin-Sho he named Genshin as one of the seven patriarchs through whom he traces the spiritual lineage of the nembutsu teaching, back to Sakyamuni Buddha.
Genshin's major work was Ojoyoshu-Essentials for Birth, the story of a man falling into hell. It has been compared to that later western work, Dante's Inferno. As Dante did, Genshin gives a vivid description of the various levels of hell. For Genshin however, the phrase "bound for hell" expresses symbolically the experience of one who has awakened to the realization of continuously creating karmic evil, and who perceives the bottomless depths of his own potential for evil. In the sutras, the statement : "hell is at the bottom of this great earth" symbolizes the hell we create in the depths of our conscious and unconscious minds. It is this reality which Genshin depicts in his classic work.
Genshin's masterpiece portrays a man who, in his extreme suffering, pleads forgiveness of a demon whose recurrent answer is, "To plead with me is no use. I can't do a thing about it now. Why didn't you state your situation truly while you were still a human being?" This theme of question and reply, "There's no use asking me now," and "you created your own hell while you were still alive," runs throughout the work. The first part is a detailed description of hell in which, according to Genshin, there are eight levels. One works from the first level and descends down into the eighth level-which he describes as the hell of unlimited suffering.
The first level is the one resulting from committing the slightest evil, such as the killing of fish or chickens. In this life, according to Genshin, we kill animals and then, when we die, the devils in hell come after us and chop us up until a cool wind comes across and makes us whole again. This process happens over and over. The depth of this first stage of hell is described as being 1000 yojanas (one yojana being the distance of about nine miles or as far as an ox can travel between sunrise and sunset).
From this, the various levels descend to the eighth hell of unlimited suffering, that of persons who have killed their mother and father or, as Genshin phrased it, "taken life away from father and mother." Among those who fall into this hell are those who vainly live on the donations from people. Here, Genshin is talking about himself and through this he tries to clarify the direction into which he sees himself as falling. The depth of this eighth level is described as falling headfirst for 2,000 years to arrive completely into this unlimited suffering which, to Genshin, is his own karmic state. This use of the term "falling" into hell does not refer to a physical fall, but rather to an awareness of the absolute depth of the hell we are all falling into the unlimited depths of our unconscious or deep mind. Thus what Genshin was writing about was the awakening to one 's own limitless falling into hell as being the very condition essential for birth in the Buddha Land.
This extraordinary Buddhist view is likewise concisely expressed by Shinran in Tannisho, Chapter Three (Taitetsu Unno translation) : "Even the good person attains birth in the Buddha Land, how much more so the evil person. But the people of the world constantly say, `Even the evil person attains birth how much more so the good person.' Although this appears to be sound at first glance, it goes against the will of the Primal Vow of Other Power. The reason is that since the person of self-power, being conscious of doing good, lacks the thought of entrusting himself completely to OtherPower, he is not the focus of the Primal Vow of Amida. But when he turns over self-power and entrusts himself to Other Power, he attains birth in the land of true fulfillment."
Shinran then goes on to say, "The Primal Vow was established out of deep compassion for us who cannot become freed from the bondage of birth-and-death through any religious practice, due to the abundance of blind passion. Since its basic intention is to effect the enlightenment of such an evil one, the evil person who entrusts himself to Other Power is truly the one who attains birth in the Buddha Land. Therefore, even the good person attains birth, how much more the evil person ! "
In the Buddhist world of awakening, those who have the confidence to fall into hell-that is, to see the existential reality of their bonno-are thus able to experience the very joy that they are going to the "Pure Land,"that spiritual realm of reality itself from which the workings of compassion are manifested. Again, translation is acutely important. "Pure Land" does not have any connotation of geographical place or location. It is a spiritual realm, the world of the Buddha, which manifests the great wisdom and compassion of Amida (prajna and karuna).
Those who do not really see hell interwoven into their lives do not really see the Pure Land. In other words, those who do not see hell in the depths of their own minds are really falling into it. Genshin had this full consciousness of his own evil, and Shinran likewise. So too did an old man in my village temple who used to say, "Do-sun! Do-sun!" over and over, an exhortation reminding himself and all those inside and outside the temple of this existential reality.
Do-sun is not translatable. It is one of those onomato poetic Japanese words whose sounds convey the meaning. I wonder. Is there a like word in English whose sound and meaning are that of falling into hell?
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