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NAMU AMIDA BUTSU
I entrust myself to
Amida Buddha
Thank you, Amida Buddha, for your unconditional care,
For looking upon me as your own son,
And showing me the way out of calculation and self-judgement
Into the light of Diamondlike Faith and Assurance of Buddhahood.
You hold back nothing from me that I need:
Even in the deepest darkness of my blind passions
You are there, leading me onward and forward,
Out of the desert of delusion and ignorance
Into the everlasting blessedness of Nirvana at this life's end.
Thank you for your great gift each and every day:
For by it, when I ultimately go to your Pure Land
And I too become Buddha through your Vow Power
I will then foreverafter help others as you have helped me,
To see Your Light of truly Boundless Wisdom and Compassion
As revealed in the great Sutra of Your Limitless Life.
May I honor and bless you forever, Amida my savior!
Namu Amida Butsu
--Richard St. Clair (Shaku Egen)
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SMALLER SUTRA ON AMIDA BUDDHA |
LARGER SUTRA ON
AMIDA BUDDHA
|
SUTRA ON
THE CONTEMPLATION OF BUDDHA AMITAYUS
|
Jodo
Shinshu Buddhism, or
Shin Buddhism, is based
upon the teachings and writings of Shinran Shonin
(1173-1262) and
Rennyo Shonin (1415-1499). "Shonin" is a Japanese term that means
"sage" or
"master." "Jodo Shinshu" means literally "True Pure Land Sect."
Master Shinran wrote as follows:
How joyous I am, Gutoku Shinran, disciple of Sakyamuni! Rare is it
to come upon the sacred scriptures from the westward land of India and
the commentaries of the masters of China and Japan, but now I have been
able to encounter them. Rare is it to hear them, but already I have
been able to hear. Reverently entrusting myself to the teaching,
practice and realization that are the true essence of the Pure Land
way, I am especially aware of the profundity of [Amida] Tathagata's
benevolence. Here I rejoice in what I have heard and extol what I have
attained.
Master Shinran expounded the "
Then who is Amida Buddha? Amida
Buddha is a "samboghakaya" buddha or "transcendental" buddha, who was
revealed to the world in three great Mahayana sutras expounded by
the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, who lived and taught in India ca.
563-483 BCE.
Amida Buddha began as a mortal, a king, who sought enlightenment under
the
then-living Buddha of his world, named Buddha Lokeshvararaja, whom we
read about in the Larger Pure Land Sutra (The Larger Sutra on the
Buddha of Eternal Life).
This king relinquished
his rule and began to earnestly study the Buddha Dharma, and he took
the Dharma
name of Dharmakara. After many years of difficult practices he became a
bodhisattva. (A bodhisattva is a person on the brink
of buddhahood who brings the Dharma to suffering beings in advance
of his own enlightenment.) His name, Dharmakara, means
"Dharma-storehouse."
Bodhisattva Dharmakara asked Buddha Lokeshvararaja to show him all the
billions of buddha-lands of the cosmos. When he was granted this
request, Bodhisattva Dharmakara determined to create a
Pure Land of his own, containing all the virtues of the other buddhas'
buddha-lands
but
without any of the evils in those buddha-lands. He then became moved to
make 48 Vows detailing the attributes of his
Pure Land which
he intended and vowed to create.
The outstanding vow of these is presented in the Larger Pure
Land Sutra as Vow 18, otherwise called the Primal Vow, which reads as
follows:
"If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the
ten quarters who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me,
desire to be born in my land, and call my Name, even ten times, should
not be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment. Excluded,
however, are those who commit the five gravest offences and abuse the
right Dharma."
Other Buddhas vow to save all beings but through their performing
various difficult
practices that only talented people can successfully perform and only
through very many lives. Bodhisattva Dharmakara wished to create a
special
buddha-land where ALL beings
can IMMEDIATELY be saved and become fully enlightened buddhas, whether
male or female, young or old, good or evil,
educated or illiterate.
According to the Larger
Sutra, Dharmakara vowed that he would not allow
himself to be enlightened until this Buddha land (the Pure Land) and
all its powers
were thus created. After
five kalpas (many billions of years) of deep contemplation, Bodhisattva
Dharmakara fulfilled all of his 48 Vows and as a result he became the
Buddha known as Amida and his Pure Land came into being.
In Amida's buddha-land
(what we call the Pure Land or Sukhavati), the sincere petitioner who
takes
singleminded refuge in Amida Buddha - including
the most evil
reprobates - are saved and will, after death, be reborn and attain
enlightenment (Buddhahood) without the
confusing and conflicting pains and distractions of mortal existence
and bypassing what would, without Amida's saving grace, be countless
rebirths in the lower realms of suffering.
The other
47 vows of Dharmakara Bodhisattva, now Amida Buddha, are about the
special features of his
Pure Land and the powers of Amida Buddha
once Dharmakara attained buddhahood through the fulfillment of all 48
vows.
The Primal Vow offers salvation to any person
in any circumstances. In this age of Declining Dharma, or Mappo* in
Japanese, the
Buddha Shakyamuni (the World-Honored One) explained in the Larger Pure
Land Sutra the way of salvation through faith in Amida Buddha. As
Master Shinran said in his SHOSHINGE (Poem of Nembutsu-Faith),
Why did the World-honored One come into this world?
To expound the ocean of Amida's Primal Vow;
In this evil world of five defilements
We should believe the Buddha's true words.
Thus Amida Buddha must be considered the
greatest of all buddhas because He extends salvation from the world of
suffering
to all - whether good or evil, young or old, male or female - who
simply take refuge in Him and attain that state of settled
faith
known as SHINJIN or "the mind of faith." Amida Buddha's work of saving
suffering
beings will not be completed until ALL BEINGS are Buddhas. This is why
Amida
goes by two names, AMITABHA (Limitless Light = Infinite Wisdom) and
AMITAYUS (Limitless Life = Boundless Compassion).
Now we come to the crux of the matter:
True Shin Buddhism
teaches that there is
no calling greater than attaining SHINJIN, and moreover, that attaining
SHINJIN
is the sole objective of the Nembutsu path, reciting "Namu Amida Butsu"
(I take
refuge in Amida Buddha) singlemindedly and with simple gratitude for
the benevolent
salvation that we receive in this life with the promise of Buddhahood
at the
end of this life when we go to the Pure Land (jodo) of Amida Buddha.
By "attaining SHINJIN" is meant receiving the blessed
gift of SHINJIN
from Amida Buddha through His transferred merit to all beings who take
singleminded
refuge in Him. The transferred merit is through the OTHER POWER (Jp.
"tariki") of Amida.
It is through SHINJIN
that we are guaranteed Birth in Amida's Pure Land when this life comes
to an end. Once born in Amida's Pure Land, we attain buddhahood, we
become buddhas ourselves.
No self-power or
calculation by the aspirant is necessary to attaining SHINJIN. In fact,
self-power (Jp.
"jiriki") and calculation only
get in the way of Amida's saving Other Power. To receive Amida's
gift
of SHINJIN one
must acknowledge completely that one is incapable of
achieving buddhahood through one's
own self-power, and then one must take singleminded refuge in Amida
Buddha.
SHINJIN therefore is attained by placing one's
ENTIRE KARMIC DESTINY in the
care of Amida Buddha. It is as simple as that. But people are filled
with doubts, delusions, and
obscurations that make it hard to believe attaining SHINJIN can be so
easy. This is where it
is important to have a good teacher; further, one's karmic connection
to
Amida Buddha
must be ripening to the point where one can accept this teaching in
complete faith.
The NEMBUTSU, which is
pronounced "Namu Amida Butsu" in Japanese, is simply an expression of
faith and an expression of gratitude to Amida Buddha. It is not a
"practice" in the sense that it accomplishes any spiritual goal. It,
itself, does not cause birth in Amida's Pure Land. It is simply an
outflowing of thankfulness to Amida for His gift of salvation through
His blessed gift of SHINJIN.
The Nembutsu, for its practicers, is not a
practice or a good act.
Since it is not performed out of
one's own designs, it is not a practice.
Since it is not good done through
one's own calculation, it is not a good act.
Because it arises wholly from Other
Power and is free of self-power,
for the practicer, it is not a
practice or a good act.
[Tannisho, Part One, Section 8]
and he went
on to say,
The Collected Works of Shinran include
poems, letters, and his monumental treatise, KyoGyoShinSho
("Teaching, Practice,
Faith, and Attainment of the Pure Land Way"). For a summary of some of
Master Shinran's core
teachings,
see the Tannisho,
a short book composed by his follower Yuienbo
with key quotes directly from Master Shinran. Tannisho represents Jodo
Shinshu
Buddhism in terms of refuting specific deviations from Master Shinran's
teaching
which arose after his death in 1262.
The of deviations from Master Shinran's
teachings is still a problem today, expressed in terms of doubt - and
often resolute DISBELIEF - about
the reality of
Amida Buddha and His Pure Land. Master Shinran was completely clear and
unambiguous about the true reality of Amida and His Pure Land, for he
devoted an entire chapter (Chapter 5) of his KyoGyoShinSho to "TRUE BUDDHA AND
LAND."
Such doubt and
disbelief is simply an expression of ego and
ignorance.
Unfortunately it has been expressed by some of the leading Shin
scholars, and even
leading Shin ministers, of
our time and represents a threat to the vitality of the greater Sangha
of True Shin Buddhism
as set forth
originally by Master Shinran and later revived by Master Rennyo.
In order for a Shin Buddhist
to be a true teacher of the path of Nembutsu-faith, one must be a
person of settled SHINJIN. Unless one has himself or herself already
attained SHINJIN, he/she cannot understand
the process of awakening to Amida's Primal Vow. And attaining SHINJIN
depends upon singleminded belief and refuge in the REAL AND TRUE BUDDHA
AMIDA.
It is as though a
person who has
intellectually studied music wanted to teach someone how to
play a musical
instrument. Without the experience of actually knowing how to
play the instrument, it would be impossible
to teach someone else how to play it. The same is true of SHINJIN. It
is an experience that cannot be attained or described intellectually,
no matter how
many books
on Buddhism one might read.
Master Rennyo wrote about the importance of understanding this
attainment of faith as follows:
From today, ... seriously start to inquire into the meaning of the
Great Faith of the Other-Power and obtain the determination
of rebirth into the Land of Recompense. To receive this
Faith of our sect, nothing need to be done but simply place
deep reliance on Amida Tathagata single-heartedly.
Note Master Rennyo's exhortation to "seriously...inquire into the
meaning of the
Great Faith of Other-Power." Master Rennyo clearly and
straightforwardly advocates understanding the
meaning of this faith in Other Power. A mere simple recitation of the
Nembutsu
without understanding its meaning is pointless.
In order to "obtain the determination of rebirth",
that is, SHINJIN, "into the Land of Recompense," that is, the PURE LAND
OF AMIDA,
one needs to understand that Amida Buddha made his great Primal Vow
which embraces
and does not forsake anyone, young or old, male or female, good or
evil, who takes
singleminded refuge in His Other Power.
And, in accord with the teachings of Master Shinran and Master Rennyo,
one must believe, as these masters believed, in the reality of the true
and real Amida Buddha
and His true and real Pure Land, otherwise birth will not be possible.
Further, this belief
can only come about through LISTENING DEEPLY to the Dharma of Amida
Buddha to determine for oneself that the true teaching of Jodo Shinshu
is indeed true. Having a teacher of settled SHINJIN is very important
to helping one overcome their doubts, delusions, and obscurations.
However, the Path of
Nembutsu Faith - Jodo Shinshu Buddhism - cannot be forced upon anyone.
As Master Shinran, who spread Faith in Amida Buddha to countless
aspirants and led them to settled SHINJIN, said, as recorded in the
Tannisho:
If Amida's Primal Vow is true,
Shakyamuni's teaching cannot be false.
If the Buddha's teaching is true,
Shan-tao's commentaries cannot be false.
If Shan-tao's commentaries are true
can Honen's words be lies?
If Honen's words are true, then
surely what I say cannot be empty.
Such, in the end, is how this foolish
person [namely Shinran] entrusts himself [to the Vow].
Beyond this, whether you take up the
nembutsu
or whether you abandon it is for each
of you to determine.
Master Shinran traced the
tradition of Pure Land Buddhism from the the Three Pure Land Sutras
(link above)
which were expounded by Shakyamuni Buddha 2500 years ago, through the
seven masters whom
he called
the Seven Patriarchs of Jodo Shinshu over a period of a thousand years
from Master Nagarjuna to his own mentor, Master Honen.
Equally interesting are
the more informal
quotations of Master Rennyo in the "Goichidaiki
Kikigaki", a
compilation of thoughts and statements by and about Master Rennyo
collected during and after his lifetime. The compilation is considered
to be
the work of his son Jitsugo (b. 1492) and contains a total of 314
statements in
two volumes.
An anonymous treatise
called "On
the Attainment of Faith"
or Anjin Ketsujo Sho,
dating
from perhaps 13-14th century
Permission is
hereby granted to clone, translate and/or publish this website into any
language, no additional permission is required.
For comments or
inquiries, E-mail
to