Shin Aphorism (1)
Zuiken's Sayings
Translated by Zuio H. Inagaki
From the Horai magazine Oct. 2000

"What is true?"

May people say that the world is like a dream. Indeed, this is an illusory world. There is one thing that is not a dream. It is the Buddha's words. The Buddha's words are not an illusion. Because they originate from the Buddha's Wisdom, they are always illuminating us. The nembutsu followers only trust Buddha's words, accept them in faith, and pay no attention to other things. A wasan says:

If you follow the Buddha's teaching and words,
You are not misled by miscellaneous thoughts.
　　　　　　　　(Hymns on the Patriarchs 79)

The Buddha's words are the Buddha's Wisdom. Another wasan says:
The Buddha's words are inconceivable,
Transcending both good and evil, pure and impure.
　　　　　　　　(Hymns on the Three Periods 89)

Also:

To entrust oneself to the inconceivable Wisdom of the Buddha
Is the cause of birth in the Land of Recompense.
　　　　　　　　(Hymns on the Three Periods 48)

The devotees who trust and follow the Buddha's words, the Buddha's intention, the Buddha's Vows, and the Buddha's Wisdom are unshakable. They are not deluded in the world of delusion, wide awake in the world of dream.

On the mandala produced in honor of Prince Shotoku it is written: "The world is delusory; only the Buddha is true."

It is stated in the Tannisho: "Everything in the world is vain, deceptive and untrue; only the nembutsu is true."

The strength of those who have deeply entrusted themselves in the Buddha's words is manifested as  Joyful Faith, the vast and inconceivable Mind of Joy.

Go to Index to Shin Aphorism; return to Index.

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