Against the view that the Pure Land
Sutras are not Shakyamuni’s teaching, but a later invention
by Rev. Josho Adrian Cirlea
Common sense dictates that the time when a Buddhist sutra was put into
written form was not automatically the time of its creation. During
Shakyamuni Buddha’s life and later, upon his physical death, his
discourses (sutras) were transmitted orally and sometimes by his
closest disciples through special states of mind called samadhi for
hundreds of years before they were put into written form. The Pali
Canon was, in fact, preserved in the artificial language of Pali (which
neither the Buddha nor anyone else ever spoke) while the Mahayana
sutras were initially preserved in Sanskrit (a language which
Shakyamuni, a highly educated person, may have spoken).
Some make the claim that the Pali Canon of the Theravada school is the
oldest and thus the most reliable collection of sutras. Positing that
all the discourses or sutras originated from Shakyamuni, then the fact
that some were put into written form earlier than the others is not
proof of their exclusive authenticity or superior content. The Mahayana
and Pure Land sutras did exist and were transmitted in the same
timeframe with the sutras of the Pali Canon.
We understand that some monks recognized only the Pali Canon as valid
because they were supposedly the first of the Buddha’s discourses to be
written down, while others considered the Mahayana and Pure Land sutras
as being genuine as well. Each group put into written form their own
basket (pitaka) of recognized
sutras, some earlier and some later. But no one can prove by
documentary evidence that his school’s basket of sutras were actually
preached by Shakyamuni while the others’ were not.
By the same token, no one can prove that Shakyamuni did not impart some
sutras only to a group of special disciples which were open and more
prepared to receive them than others and who, in turn, transmitted such
sutras to their own chosen disciples in an uninterrupted succession,
until one day they decided it was time to give them a written form.
No one can check and investigate the Buddha’s mind or the minds of his
closest disciples and their actions by means of documentary evidence.
If we read about the Buddhist councils who first compiled orally the
discourses of the Buddha, soon after his physical death, we see that
the monks who attended such councils could all recite by heart dozens
of those discourses and that all were accomplished Masters. Other
sutras, the Mahayana and Pure Land sutras, were transmitted by samadhi and were not written down
until some time after the Pali Canon.
Also, we know from the first passages of the Sutra on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life
(Larger Sutra), that among the
assembly gathered on the Vulture Peak, where Shakyamuni delivered it,
there were “twelve thousand monks […] all great sages who had already
attained supernatural powers.” This aspect is extremely important
because it is an indication about who the monks were who heard that
sutra and later transmitted it to further generations. They were monks
who HAD “attained supernatural powers,” and it follows that these monks
used their mind power to accurately transmit this sutra by samadhi to further generations.
Among these monks we read the names of Venerable Mahakasyapa, Venerable
Sariputra, Venerable Mahamaudgalyayana and Ananda. “All of these were
Elders”, says the sutra. But monks with supernatural powers were not
the only listeners. Great transcendental Bodhisattvas like
Samantabhadra, Manjusri and Maitreya, the future Buddha, were present
too, and they all rejoiced at hearing the Amida Dharma, which can only
mean they had faith in it and later helped in its promotion. More than
this, Shinran presents the testimony of his own Master, Honen Shonin
(Genku), who revealed to him that in a previous life he was present
too, on Vulture Peak, when the Larger
Sutra was preached:
“Genku
himself said,
‘Formerly, I was among the assembly
on Vulture Peak;
I practiced austerities with other
sravakas
And guided beings to the Buddhist
path.”
This stands as proof for us, Shakyamuni’s disciples of modern times,
that the event described in the Larger Sutra is a real one. As we know,
Shinran never regarded Honen as an ordinary person, but rather as a
returner from the Pure Land , thus Shinran took Honen’s revelation very
seriously. We should have no reason for doing otherwise.
It is questioinable as to why many modern scholars believe they can
judge with their limited minds and methods who all those great beings
on the Vulture Peak and their further work of spreading this sutra
were. Nobody today can probe the minds of Shakyamuni or his closest
disciples who dedicated themselves to the proper transmission of the
Pure Land sutras, or to anyone else until the Pure Land sutras were
finally put into written form .
More than this, we clearly see that the transcendent Power of
Shakyamuni Buddha lies within the transmission of the Larger Sutra to
the future generations, even after all other sutras would have been
disappeared:
“In the future, the Buddhist scriptures and teachings will perish. But,
out of pity and compassion, I will especially preserve this sutra and
maintain it in the world for a hundred years more. Those beings who
encounter it will attain deliverance.”
Here, the words “I will especially preserve this sutra” are extremely
important, because Shakyamuni himself vowed to help its transmission
and to never let it disappear. Such a promise is beyond the capacity of
unenlightened people to comprehend, but nevertheless it IS a true
promise upon which we can depend, because it was made by a fully
Enlightened Buddha.
The truth is that we, Buddhist disciples of these times, far removed
from the physical presence of Shakyamuni, have only two choices:
we CAN either accept in faith the Pure Land sutras as being genuine, as
did all the Patriarchs and Masters of our school including Shinran, or
we can discard them.
Shakyamuni himself said at the end of the Larger Sutra on the Buddha of
Immeasurable Life (the Larger Sutra): “Most difficult of all
difficulties is to hear this sutra and accept it in faith. Nothing is
more difficult than this.”
As we clearly see from Shinran’s written work, he relied on Amida and
his Primal Vow only because this was, in his opinion, the teaching of
Shakyamuni recorded in the Larger Sutra. He and all the Patriarchs and
Masters of our school never doubted that this sutra was the genuine
preaching of Shakyamuni. The reason why they had trust in this sutra
and other Pure Land sutras was particularly because Shakyamuni himself
delivered them.
Furthermore, Shinran considered the Larger Sutra, in which the Primal
Vow was revealed, to be the main reason for Shakyamuni’s appearance in
this world. He could never have said this if he considered it a later
invention of some Buddhist monks, as so called modernist scholars
argue. It is clear from his writings that Shinran accepted the Pure
Land sutras as genuine teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha.
Shinran stated in his 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 of the
five defilements
Should believe in the truth of the
Buddha's words.”
The words of the Buddha are superior to the teachings of humans, even
if those humans might be great Bodhisattvas. How much more
reliable must they necessarily be than the contradictory words of
deluded teachers in this Age of Dharma Decline?
“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 Gaya.”
From this verse in the Jodo Wasan
we see that, in Shinran’s view, Shakyamuni Buddha was in reality a
manifestation of Amida Buddha. This is an even stronger indication that
the path of birth in the Pure Land, presented in the Larger Sutra, is true and
completely reliable. This sutra is not only Shakyamuni’s teaching, but
Amida’s direct exposition through the mouth of Shakyamuni.
Therefore, it is clear that those who do not accept the Larger Sutra to be an authentic
discourse of Shakyamuni are caught in the delusion of divergences from
the True Teaching. These divergences threaten to destroy the
foundation of the entire Jodo Shinshu path to salvation for all. In
propagating their divergences, they actually are accusing Shinran and
all the Patriarchs and Masters of the True Pure Land school to be liars
or ignorant.
If we carefully and honestly study Shinran's own words, we see that he
faithfully accepted the Larger Sutra and all the Pure Land sutras
without ever doubting they were actually taught by Shakyamuni. He could
never have imagined that they might be a later invention of some monks.
As Shinran writes in his Kyogyoshinsho
(The True Teaching, Chapter I, excerpts):
“The
teaching of the Pure Land way is found in the Larger Sutra of
the Buddha of Immeasurable Life [….]
It reveals that Shakyamuni appeared in this world and expounded the
teachings of the way to Enlightenment, seeking to save the multitudes
of living beings by blessing them with the benefit that is true and
real. Assuredly this sutra is the true teaching for which the Tathagata
appeared in the world. It is the [….] It reveals that Shakyamuni
appeared in this world and expounded the teachings of the way to
Enlightenment, rare and most excellent. It is the conclusive and
ultimate exposition of the One Vehicle. It is the right teaching,
praised by all the Buddhas throughout the ten quarters. To teach
[Amida] Tathagata’s Primal Vow is the true intent of this sutra; the
Name of the Buddha is its essence.”
Because this sutra is indeed praised by all Buddhas, as Shinran clearly
stated, all Buddhas have done and are doing everything in their power
to transmit it to future generations. What honest reader can dispute
that this sutra is clearly presented to the world as the genuine
teaching of Shakyamuni?
Furthermore, the Buddhas would never praise the ordinary work of any
monks, or even a great Bodhisattva, in such an extraordinary way. They
all know, as we all know, Primal Vow and nembutsu of faith are
presented and contained in this sutra alone.
The modernist view is that this sutra is not authentic, that is, it was
not actually taught by Shakyamuni. If that were so, then the
Primal Vow and nembutsu of faith would have no value when it comes to
the salvation of us foolish beings in our Age of Dharma Decline.
There would be no reason for us to put our total faith and reliance
upon the Vow.
It would also mean that the the writings and teachings of all the Pure
Land masters down through the ages who relied on all the Pure Land
sutras would not be reliable either.
Shinran quotes Wang Jih-hsiu in Part III of his Kyogyoshinsho:
“The
Sutra of Immeasurable Life is truly the shortest path to attainment of
birth, the superlative means to liberation from suffering. All people
should embrace its teaching.”
In Gutoku’s Notes, Shinran
declares:
“The true and real teaching of the easy practice, the Primal Vow of the
Pure Land way…is the teaching of the Larger
Sutra of Immeasurable Life.”
Why do some modern scholars spread false views that Amida Buddha is a
fictional character, a myth, a metaphor, symbol, etc.? Why do those
same scholars spread false views that the birth in the Pure Land is not
something to be attained after death? It is because they do not accept
that the Pure Land sutras actually came from Shakyamuni Buddha.
If the sutras are mere human inventions, then Amida and his Pure Land
are human inventions too, and to rely on such inventions in order to
escape birth and death would be futile. But their teaching is
false – a divergence from the True Teaching.
The basic principle for all of the Buddha-Dharma is that any teaching
by a being who is not a Buddha which contradicts Shakyamuni's direct
testimony can never be described as true and authentic Buddha-Dharma.
An important Dharma principle holds that “what one Buddha teaches, all
Buddhas give witness to,” which happens especially in the case of
Amida’s Dharma through which all beings, without discrimination, are
saved (brought to Buddhahood). In the Smaller
Amida Sutra, quoted by Shinran in his Kyogyoshinsho, it is said:
“Well
does Shakyamuni, in this evil age of the five defilements – in this
evil world, among evil sentient beings, evil views, evil passions, and
in a time when evil acts and lack of faith prevail – teach and praise
the Name of Amida, encouraging sentient beings: ‘If one says the Name,
one unfailingly attains birth’.”
Shinran explains and then quotes again from the Smaller Amida Sutra:
“Further,
the Buddhas throughout the ten quarters, fearing that sentient beings
might not accept the teaching of the one Buddha, Shakyamuni, all
together with the same intent […], preach these true and sincere words:
‘Sentient beings, each of you should
accept what Shakyamuni has taught, has praised, has given witness to!’”
So, those who deny the Pure Land sutras as being the true exposition of
Shakyamuni Buddha also deny the true teaching about Amida and his
Primal Vow, which means they regard all Buddhas as liars and their
testimony to be fictitious.
This denial is called “Slander of the Dharma” by Shinran. In his view,
slander of the Dharma is the most evil of the five great evil karmic
acts – worse than fratricide or matricide - because it plants doubts in
people’s hearts and closes the gate of birth in the Pure Land.
Furthermore, it denies and contradicts the testimony and understanding
of all the seven Patriarchs who experienced in their own life the
authenticity of the teaching contained in these sutras.
In Kyogyoshinsho Shinran
writes at length on slandering the Dharma:
In
the Mahayana sutras, the master of the being difficult to save is
expounded. The Larger Sutra
states:
Excluded are those who commit the
five grave offenses and those who slander the right dharma.
And [the Sutra of the
Tathagata of Immeasurable Life
states]:
Excluded are those who commit evil
acts that condemn them to Avici hell and those who slander the right
dharma or the sages.
The Contemplation Sutra
teaches the attainment of birth of those
who commit the five grave offenses, but not of those who slander the
dharma, and in the Nirvana Sutra
, the beings and the sicknesses difficult
to cure are taught. How are these true teachings to be understood?
Answer:
The Commentary on the Treatise states:
Question: The Sutra of
Immeasurable Life states,
Those who aspire for birth are all
brought to attainment. Excluded are those who commit the five grave
offenses and those who slander the right dharma.
The Sutra of Contemplation on
the Buddha of Immeasurable Life
states,
Those who have committed the five
grave offenses and the ten transgressions, and who are possessed of
various evils also attain birth.
How
are these two sutra passages to be reconciled?
Answer: The first sutra speaks of
committing two kinds of serious evil act: the five grave offenses and
the slander of the right dharma. Because of committing both these two
kinds of evil act, a person is unable to attain birth. The other sutra
speaks only of committing the evil of the ten transgressions and five
grave offenses; nothing is said of slandering the right dharma. Because
a person has not slandered the right dharma, he attains birth.
Question: Suppose a person has
committed the five grave offenses but has not slandered the right
dharma. In the sutra, it is granted that such a person can attain
birth. Further, suppose there is a person who has only slandered the
right dharma but is free of the five grave offenses and other evil
acts; if he aspires for birth, will he attain it or not?
Answer: Although he has only
slandered the right dharma and has not committed other evil acts, he
will definitely be unable to attain birth. How is this known? A sutra
states that the person who has committed the five grave offenses falls
into great Avici hell and fully undergoes their recompense for one
kalpa. The person who slanders the right dharma falls into great Avici
hell, and when that kalpa has run out, he passes on into the great
Avici hell of another quarter. In this way he passes through a hundred
thousand great Avici hells one after another. The Buddha does not
indicate any time when it is possible for him to emerge. This is
because slandering the right dharma is an evil act of extreme gravity.
Further, the right dharma is the
Buddha-dharma. Such a foolish person has already slandered it; how can
it be reasonable to think that he would aspire to be born in the
Buddha-land? Suppose the person aspires for birth merely because he
craves to be born into happiness; this is like seeking ice that is not
water or fire without smoke. How can it be deemed reasonable that he
attain it?
Question: What are the
characteristics of slandering the right dharma?
Answer: Saying there is no Buddha, no
Buddha-dharma, no bodhisattva, no bodhisattva-dharma. Deciding
on such views, whether through understanding thus in one's own mind or
receiving the ideas from others, is called slandering the right dharma.
Question: Taking such views only
concerns the person himself. What pain and suffering does his act
inflict on other sentient beings, that it should exceed the evil of the
five grave offenses in seriousness?
Answer: If there were no Buddhas and
bodhisattvas to expound the mundane and supramundane good paths and to
teach and guide sentient beings, how could we know of the existence of
benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity? Such
mundane good would all be cut off, and the sages of the supramundane
would all perish. You know only the gravity of the five grave offenses,
and not that they arise from the absence of the right dharma.
Thus,
the person who slanders the right dharma is involved in the gravest
karmic evil.
Shinran clearly entrusted himself and relied on the testimony and
teaching given by the Pure Land Patriarchs from India, China and Japan
who, like him, also accepted this sutra on faith:
“Here
I, Gutoku [Shinran], of outlying islands, relying on the treatises from
India and the western regions and looking to the explanations of the
teachers of China and Japan, reverently entrust myself to the teaching,
practice and realization that are the true essence of the Pure Land
way.”
None of the seven patriarchs including his own Master, Honen, ever
regarded the Pure Land Sutras as being the creation of some monk’s
imagination. On the contrary, they all based their explanations on
these sutras.
In his Discourse on the Ten Stages,
Nagarjuna, the first Indian Patriarch of our school, said, referring to
Bodhisattva Dharmakara, who later became Amida Buddha:
“When
he was seeking the Path to Buddhahood, he performed
many marvellous practices
as described in various sutras.
So I prostrate myself and worship
him.”
It is clear beyond any doubt that Nagarjuna fully accepted the account
from the Larger Sutra of
Bodhisattva Dharmakara who practiced for many kalpas until he became
Amida Buddha. His explanations from the same sutra, his recognition of
the innumerable Buddhas in the universe, and his hymns of adoration
toward Amida demonstrate that he accepted the words of Shakyamuni in
the sutras as authentic and true.
Vasubandhu, the second Indian Patriarch, wrote in his Discourse on the
Pure Land:
Depending
on the sutra’s exposition
Of the manifestation of true merit,
I compose verses of aspiration in a
condensed form,
Thereby conforming to the Buddha
Dharma.
Because he was always conforming to the Buddha Dharma, rather than
denying it, he was able to successfully visualize Amida and his Pure
Land and was always filled with sincere devotion to this Buddha.
Master T’an-luan especially emphasized three key Vows which are to be
found in the Larger Sutra:
the 18th Vow, which enables the faithful to be born in the Pure Land
through nembutsu, the 11th Vow which brings about Nirvana and the 22nd
Vow, which makes those born in the Pure Land to act like Bodhisattva
Samantabhadra in saving unenlightened sentient beings.
He also made very important references in his writings to the Contemplation Sutra: For example,
at the end of his Commentary on Vasubandhu’s Discourse on the Pure
Land, he explains why recitation of the Name ten times at the death of
an evildoer is capable of extinguishing his grave karmic evils and
assure his birth in the Pure Land of Amida.
Master Tao-ch’o, the fourth (Chinese) Patriarch, was especially devoted
to the Contemplation Sutra on
which he lectured about two hundred times, but he also talked about the
Larger Sutra, on the basis of
which he considered the Pure Land as a land of recompense manifested
from Amida’s Vows.
Master Shan-tao, the fifth (Chinese) Patriarch, practiced according to
the Contemplation Sutra and
also had wonderful visions of Amida Buddha and his Pure Land which were
described by him in his Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. How
could he have had such results if the sutras were only some monk’s
imagination, rather than the discourse of Shakyamun Buddha?
Shan-tao is also said to have copied the Smaller Amida Sutra hundreds
of times and to have made more than three hundred paintings of the Pure
Land. He considered the Pure Land to be the land of Amida as a
Sambhogakaya Buddha. He clearly explained that beings can attain birth
in the Pure Land because of the Power of Amida’s Primal Vow. He
encouraged followers to recite the Contemplation
Sutra, the Smaller Sutra
and the Larger Sutra, all of
which he considered to be the true teaching of Shakyamuni.
In his Parable of the Two Rivers and the White Path, Master Shan-tao
clearly explained that the voice from the eastern bank of the river who
encourages the traveller to walk the narrow path to the Pure Land
represents Shakyamuni’s teaching while the voice from the western bank
is Amida’s Call. Thus, there is no doubt that Master Shan-tao entrusted
himself to Amida due to Shakyamuni’s encouragement and teaching that
can be found in the Pure Land sutras.
Master Genshin, the sixth (Japanese) Patriarch, wrote A Collection of Essential Passages
Concerning Birth (Ojoyoshu)
in which he quoted 952 passages from various sutras, including the
three Pure Land sutras, and from many commentaries. He is also said to
have recited the Smaller Amida Sutra
ten thousand times.
Master Honen, the seventh (Japanese) Patriarch and teacher of Shinran,
an eyewitness of the preaching of the Larger
Sutra on Vulture Peak, as shown above, clearly stated in many
places in his writings that his entire teaching was based on the sacred
scriptures and that he was only a transmitter of the Dharma, not a
creator of his own ideas and teachings. He said in one of his
letters:
“I am
not telling you this by my own initiative. I just state exactly what
the sacred scriptures describe, as if holding the text up to a mirror.
Please look over the scriptures.”
Honen also said:
“There
is not one word of falsehood in the words uttered by Shakyamuni Buddha.
Simply revere and believe them. Also know that if you doubt his
teaching, it would be harmful and would be karmically unfortunate.
Please have implicit faith in his teaching.”
We clearly see from the above explanations and passages, as well as
from other texts not quoted here due to lack of space, that Shinran was
not alone in viewing the Pure Land sutras and the teaching about Amida
as coming from Shakyamuni Buddha. There is not a single passage in his
writings or those of the seven Patriarchs of the Jodo Shinshu school’s
texts and commentaries which might contain the idea that the Pure Land
sutras were a later invention.
Their works are filled with quotes and passages from the Pure Land
sutras, which they always considered to be the channel through which
Amida Dharma entered our world. Everything that the patriarchs of Jodo
Shinshu Buddhism wrote was proved with words from the Pure Land sutras
to such an extent that if we were to quote them properly, we should in
fact, quote their entire works – that is, thousands of words and
explanations which are based on the Pure Land sutras delivered by
Shakyamuni.
Truly, nobody is so wise and spiritually evolved as to probe the
Buddha’s mind and the transmission of the most important teaching of
his life. Unfortunately, our Jodo Shinshu teaching is so artificially
complicated nowadays by many scholars and false teachers whose intent
is manifestly to change the Dharma about Amida and even say that this
Dharma is not the genuine teaching of Shakyamuni.
Truly, we must ask why such people are accepted and recognized as
priests, scholars and teachers in our school and why they are promoted
on so many official websites and magazines.
Some of these people argue that even if the Pure Land sutras were not
delivered directly by Shakyamuni, this doesn’t make them less valuable
because they preserve the spirit of his compassionate teachings. So, in
other words, the Pure Land sutras which, in their opinion, were
invented by some monks a few hundred years after Shakyamuni, can be
considered as if it were his, in their spirit. But this is just a
rhetorical tactic in order to assume a free hand to reinterpret their
content in a symbolical or metaphorical way.
By deleting from the follower’s minds the truth that Shakyamuni
preached the three Pure Land Sutras, today’s false teachers are, in
fact, creating a new foundation for their own interpretations. If the
Pure Land sutras are something else than Shakyamuni’s own discourses,
then everything which is contained in them can be interpreted in any
way by anybody because the texts do not have the authority of a Buddha.
Once the authority of the texts is undermined and denied, the gate of
false teachings and modern divergences is opened. At that point, these
false teachers explain and interpret Amida and his Pure Land in ways
completely different from Shakyamuni’s original intent.
Another argument heard these days is that Shinran lived in the 13th
century and could not know the developments of science of later times.
But how can a true Shinshu follower think that solely by living in our
time, Shinran would embrace the views of such scientists simply because
of materialistic ideas that are prevalent today?
And how could Shinran, if he were to live in our times, accept the
theories that Amida and his Pure Land are fictional? It is clear he
would not, because, if he studied the writings of modernists, he would
clearly see that their divergent views were not actually preached by
Shakyamuni: he would see that they also say Amida is a fictional
character, a symbol, a metaphor, and that His Pure Land not a real
place to be attained after death where we attain supreme Buddhahood.
How far the modernists are from the humble statement of Shinran
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 [Shinran] entrusts himself to
the Vow.”
Shinran simply started his argument by stating that Amida’s Primal Vow
is true. This is the beginning of a genuine spiritual life in Jodo
Shinshu and cannot be negated. It is the basis of his faith and life.
Without the Primal Vow being true, there is no Amida Dharma. Anyone who
is in accord with the intention of the Primal Vow is a true teacher,
and the mission of a true teacher is to expound the Primal Vow.
This is the lineage of the True Pure Land path with Amida’s Primal Vow
as its origin, and a 21st century Shinran would doubtless be as devoted
to the truth of Shakyamuni Buddha’s authorship of the three Pure Land
sutras as he was in the 13th century.
There are many people of the same shinjin as Shinran’s today – who are
fully aware of both the blessings and the limitations of our scientific
knowledge – who recognize that all the transcendental teachings of
Shakyamuni Buddha, such as karma, rebirth, the existence of other
Buddhas and Buddha-lands, are true – even though not subject to
scientific verification.
Furthermore, it is not only people of shinjin who think this way, but
also sincere practicers in other schools of Dharma. Theravadan
Buddhists, Tibetan Buddhists, and many other Buddhists reject the
materialistic undermining of the Dharma, and Shin Buddhists should
reject it as well.
The intention of the Primal Vow is to call us all to entrust our karmic
destiny entirely to the living Buddha Amida, who actually showed
himself to the thousands gathered on Vulture Peak when Shakyamuni gave
the sermon we know as the Larger
Sutra. This is the entire basis of Shinran's own life,
both as a disciple of Shakyamuni and as a teacher of others.
Anyone who is a true teacher will expound the Dharma message just as
Master Shinran did. A true teacher will not rip the Primal Vow
out of context, as these modernist false teachers do. A true
teacher will talk about the Vow, and the Vow maker, and the fulfillment
of the Vow that occurred when the Vow maker created His own Pure Land,
and took residence there as the greatest of all of the countless
Buddhas.
That is what true teachers of the True teaching have always done – and
that is what they do today. Anyone who substitutes his own
personal views, or the personal views of another, is introducing false
teachings and divergences into the Sangha, and should not be given any
opportunity to teach and preach, and thus confuse others.
What proves the truth of the Primal Vow, and the Vow maker Amida, and
the good news about the possibility of being born in the Pure Land and
immediately becoming a Buddha? The very words of Shakyamuni
Buddha recorded for our supreme benefit in the Larger Sutra, and the other Pure
Land sutras.
Thus, if someone denies that these sutras were actually taught by
Shakyamuni, he or she automatically denies the authenticity of the Jodo
Shinshu Dharma, and the reality of Amida, his Pure Land, the Primal
Vow, shinjin and nembutsu.
If Shakyamuni, as a fully Enlightened Buddha, did not actually preach
the Pure Land sutras, then nothing in Jodo Shinshu can be trusted
anymore, because there is no Buddha to testify to the reality of their
existence, whether it be Amida Buddha, the Pure Land, the Primal Vow,
the reality of shinjin, or the efficacy of saying the Nembutsu. Such is
the tragic consequence of the modern views which deny the authenticity
of Shakyamuni’s teachings in the three Pure Land sutras.
Shinran clearly said that he was able to meet with the Primal Vow of
Amida only because of the testimony of Shakyamuni Buddha and the seven
Patriarchs who based their teachings upon the teachings of Shakyamuni
in the three Pure Land sutras. Shinran was able to come to settled
faith (shinjin) and entrust himself to the Primal Vow only because he
regarded their words to be true. This was the way that he, as “a
foolish person” (his words), entrusted himself to the Vow, and this is
the way we too should also have faith in it.
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