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Even when one views this in the natural way of common sense, there is apparent here a process that works through from the starting point of the Three Treasures to the culmination of cittaprasada. In Shinran's writings and teachings, we find this same basic approach. The starting point for Shinran is to encounter and believe in the teaching, and to encounter and believe in the person who transmits that teaching. Both what is said, and who says it, must become credible and totally dependable.
At Buddhist Study Center's summer session, every morning we chanted Shoshinge, Shinran's Hymn of True Faith, which is a concise, simplified summary of his teachings. The first of its two parts brings out the essence of Sakyamuni Buddha's teachings as expressed in the Larger Pure Land Sutra. Towards the end of this section there is a line which says, "Believe in the teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha. " The latter half of Shoshinge is a summary of Shin's seven patriarchs (including Vasubandhu) from India, China, and Japan. The hymn gives the essence of their teachings, with the refrain : "Believe only in the teachings of these seven patriarchs." In saying this, Shinran is not referring to the "true faith" that is the awakening gained in cittaprasada but to the threshold of belief that, as Vasubandhu made clear, is the starting point for the process that leads to cittaprasada.
What is important is that one begin at the starting point of the process-listening to the teachings-in order to ultimately experience shinjin and oneself become part of its true meaning. To take off at this starting point, to encounter the nembutsu teaching in one's life, means that one meets the per son who manifests the teaching in his or her own life. Such an encounter can come through direct listening to that teacher, or through "listening" by hearing or reading the teacher's written words. In Tannisho, Yuienbo describes such a good teacher as a person "with whom our spiritual destinies are bound." In Japanese, the word for this is zenchishiki, "a good friend of the way," a word which connotes a spiritual guide and gives the importance of the personal dimension in Shinran's teachings.
Rennyo Shonin, a direct descendant of Shinran, was a great Shin Buddhist teacher and leader of the fifteenth century. His experience of frustration in trying to transmit the teachings to those who literally "did not like the Buddha" led him to develop the concept of "past good"-shukuzen-as being a cause-and-condition without which he felt he could not sway even his wife to turn to the teachings. This condition is one of the doctrinal points which has led to much discussion among Shin Buddhist scholars over the years.
"Past good" does not mean past good but rather various conditions created for us by parents, teachers, good friends who have made it possible for us to listen to the teachings and take them into our lives. We ourselves, by ourselves, do not create good but rather one bumbling path after another. Shukuzen is different from Shinran's term,shukugo-past karma. Past karma means to be able to see where one is now in relation to the past. Past good implies that in one's past there exists some kind of condition that results in the effect of one's being able to listen and take in the teachings.
Shukuzen was the first of the five conditions Rennyo proposed as leading to birth in the Buddha Land. The second was that one encounter a spiritual teacher, a "good friend of the way." A third condition is komyo-the Buddha's Light, a symbolic expression for the teachings. The fourth is myogo, the Buddha's Name, nembutsu. The fifth is shinjin.
To me this first condition of shukuzen is not a problem of any great importance. I feel rather that in such an expression Rennyo sought to contrast those people with this condition, and those without. He defined those with "past good" as those who have been able to truly hear the teachings. Out of his personal experience, in his description of this as a cause-and-condition, he was primarily lamenting for those who cannot listen or who, if they do listen, cannot experience shinjin. Conversely, for him, "past good" expressed a joy for those who can and do listen to the teachings and take them into their lives. It must be emphasized that his awareness of this came from insight gained in his trying to transmit the teachings and to interpret essential steps in the process leading to shinjin.
The important issue here is that there must be a starting point, that of stepping onto and moving along the path of the Buddha's teachings. To quote Alan Watts, the American writer on Zen, the truth is something that is there. You might stumble on it, but this is rare. A good teacher leads you to what by chance you might miss or mistake.
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