"SHINRAN AND
JODOSHINSHU"
by Hisao Inagaki
The Inaugural Lecture
for the Numata Chair at Leiden University,
The Netherlands on April 7, 1992
(Revised in July, 1998)
1
Buddhism spread to the north-east beyond the borders of its homeland
India, and reached China in the early centuries A.D. and from there Korea
and Japan. The form of Buddhism which was introduced into those countries
and enjoyed popularity was predominantly Mahayana, the Great Vehicle. Like
other Pure Land schools, Shinran's Jodoshinshu belongs to Mahayana and
shares the fundamental standpoint with various Mahayana systems, including
Zen and Tibetan esotericism which have become popular in the west.
Jodoshinshu means 'the true essence of
the Pure Land teaching'; originally
it is not the name of the sect. Shinran had
no intention of founding a
new sect, but simply sought to reveal the
essence of Pure Land teaching
which had been transmitted and developed
by the seven eminent masters in
India, China and Japan. He compiled a collection
of quotations from their
works and those from Pure Land sutras and
discourses, and thus formed a
comprehensive system of the teaching of salvation,
which has become known
as Jodoshinshu, the True Pure Land sect,
or Shinshu, the True sect. This
branch of Pure Land Buddhism has come to
be widely known by the name of
'Shin' ever since D.T. Suzuki first used
this appellation. Although celebrated
as the leading exponent of Zen, Suzuki in
fact made a great contribution
to the introduction of Shin to the west by
writing articles and translating
the first four chapters of Shinran's magnum opus, Kyogyoshinsho.
From now on, I will use this abbreviation
for Jodoshinshu.
2
All doctrinal and practical systems of
Pure Land Buddhism center on a
specific Buddha, called Amida, who is believed
to be dwelling in the western
paradise known as the Land of Utmost Bliss
(Sukhavati) or, more
popularly, the Pure Land. 'Amida' is the
Japanese reading of the Chinese
'O-mi-t'o,' which represents the Sanskrit
'Amita', meaning 'immeasurable'
or 'infinite'. 'Amita' is interpreted as
standing for 'amita-abha' (infinite
light) and 'amita-ayus' (infinite life).
Amida, therefore, is better known
in the west as Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite
Light, and also Amitayus,
the Buddha of Infinite Life.
Amida is the most popular Buddha in Japan, perhaps more popular than
the founder of Buddhism, Shakyamuni. Being a transcendent Buddha beyond
time and space, Amida saves those who have sincere faith in him and call
his Name. He embraces such devotees in his Light and welcomes them to his
Land of Utmost Bliss. His saving activity is assisted by Bodhisattvas,
headed by Kannon (Kuan-yin, Avalokiteshvara) and Seishi (Shih-chih, Mahasthamaprapta).
Statues of Amida flanked by those two Bodhisattvas are seen at many temples
in Japan.
There are three basic scriptures of Indian and Central Asian origin which give full accounts of the history of Amida Buddha, his saving activity, glorious manifestations of the Pure Land and its essential nature, and so forth. They also describe how we can be born in the Pure Land and attain Enlightenment there.
3
Before we look into the contents of the three Pure Land sutras, there
are a couple of basic principles in Buddhism, which need to be clarified.
First is the theory of karma, which means 'action.' The law of karma is
generally accepted in Hindu thought and is fully explained in Buddhism.
According to this law, one's existence has continued from the beginningless
past up to the present and, impelled by karma, will continue on and on
into the indefinite future. One's life, therefore, does not end with death,
but will be followed by another in a different form. According to the quality
and quantity of our moral acts, our future destiny is determined. Simply
stated, what we are is the result of what we have done in the past, and
what we do now will create what we will be. And so, in Buddhism no creator
god is conceived; our karma, including our thoughts and words, is responsible
for our states of existence.
Secondly, such continuation of one's existence, called Samsara, is considered
painful. Even though one attains a higher state of existence in the heavens,
it does not last forever. It will be eventually followed by miseries in
a lower state. Buddhism teaches us the way of emancipation from cycles
of birth and death in Samsara. Such a state of emancipation is called Nirvana.
Thirdly, Buddhism does not simply encourage morally good acts. The quality of acts is important. However hard we may do good, if our acts are based on self-attachment, they produce only limited effect, short of attaining Nirvana. Truly good acts should, therefore, be free of self-attachment, and can only be successfully performed through intensive meditation.
Fourth is the Mahayana principle of dependent
origination (pratitya-samutpada)
and that of emptiness (shunyata). Briefly stated, all existing things
are mutually related, and so are devoid of
substantiality of their own.
Based on this realization, the Bodhisattva
seeks to cultivate pure merits
without being attached to anything, to say
nothing of his own self.
The last is that the pure merits obtained by selfless acts of love and
compassion can be manifested as glorious bodies of the Buddhas and their
Pure Lands. Such merit can also be shared by other beings. Those who partake
of the pure merits of the Buddhas can quickly attain emancipation.
4
All living beings are potential Buddhas. Mahayana emphasizes that everyone
has the Buddha-nature. One who believes in his Buddha-nature and seeks
to realize it is a Bodhisattva. At the outset of the Bodhisattva's career,
he makes vows, resolving to realize the highest wisdom (bodhi) and
deliver all sentient beings from suffering.
It is conceived in Mahayana
that there are innumerable Bodhisattvas in
the universe who are practicing
the way to Buddhahood and also innumerable
Buddhas who have already completed
the Bodhisattva-course.
According to the Larger Sukhavativyuha Sutra (abbreviated to Larger
Sutra), the longest and the most important of the
three canonical
scriptures, Amida was formerly a king. He
met a Buddha and was deeply impressed
by his personality. He renounced the world
and became a Bodhisattva, a
seeker of the Way, called 'Dharmakara' ('Store
of Dharma or Truth'). He
resolved to attain Buddhahood and save all
suffering beings. At his request,
the Buddha showed and explained to him all
the glorious manifestations
of the twenty-one billion Buddha-lands. Having
seen them, Dharmakara meditated
for five aeons (kalpas) on the Buddha-land
he would establish and the way
of saving beings from suffering. When the
plan of his Buddha-land and his
method of salvation became clear, he expressed
them in his forty-eight
Vows.
The Larger Sutra explains that Dharmakara's career as a Bodhisattva
lasted for many aeons over innumerable lives.
Vows alone do not automatically
become reality; in order to realize the vows,
one must do all kinds of
meritorious deeds and also cultivate wisdom.
When his wisdom reached the
highest level and his virtues and merits
were developed to the fullest
extent, he became a Buddha, called 'Amida'.
His supreme and boundless merits
were then manifested as his majestic illuminating
body and glorious Pure
Land, as promised in his Vows.
Of all the Vows, the Eighteenth is most important for Pure Land Buddhists
because it promises the salvation of those who maintain sincere Faith and
call Amida's Name. This Vow provides a channel of contact between Amida
and man. The devotee can partake of Amida's merit by repeating his Name,
with which he will be able to be born in the Pure Land.
The Buddhas and their spheres of activity are beyond our ordinary sense-perceptions
and concepts, but they can be visualized by specially trained minds. The
second of the three Pure Land sutras, commonly known by the title 'the
Contemplation Sutra', presents a method by which one can visualize
Amida and his Pure Land with one's spiritual
eye. Simply stated, there
are thirteen steps of visualization, beginning
with concentration on the
setting sun. First, one faces west, gazes
at the setting sun and imprints
its image on the mind until one clearly sees
it whether one's eyes are
open or closed. When this is accomplished,
one goes on to the next step,
which is the meditation on water. One forms
an image that the entire western
quarter is flooded with water; in the next
step, one visualizes that the
water becomes frozen, and then the whole
expanse of ice turns into lapis-lazuli.
Since the earth of the Pure Land is made
of lapis-lazuli, one who has seen
it can now construct images of other aspects
of the Pure Land and proceed
to visualization of Amida himself. The Contemplation Sutra states
that successful visualization of Amida and
his Pure Land extinguishes one's
evil karma and ensures birth in the Pure
Land after death.
5
Throughout the history of the development
of Pure Land Buddhism in India,
China and Japan, recitation of the sacred
Name of Amida has been the essential
practice for attaining birth in the Pure
Land. This practice, known as
'nien-fo' in Chinese, 'buddha-anusmriti' in Sanskrit and
'nembutsu' in Japanese, consists in repeating the
six-character
formula: na-mo-o-mi-t'o-fo in Chinese or namu amida butsu in Japanese. This formula literally means 'Adoration to Amida Buddha' or 'I take refuge in Amida Buddha.' In the Contemplation Sutra, after the thirteen visualizations, nine grades of aspirants are distinguished according to their moral and religious accomplishments and the gravity of transgressions they have committed. To the lower grades of those who have committed grave offenses, the Buddha recommends recitation of Amida's Name. According to the law of karma, those evildoers would be destined to hell, but their evil karma is cancelled by the merit of the Nembutsu which they repeat, and so they can be born in the Pure Land.
The Nembutsu is also exclusively recommended
in the Amida Sutra,
the shortest of the three Pure Land scriptures,
where it is stated that
by repeating the Name of Amida Buddha with
singleness of heart for one
to seven days, one can attain birth in the
Pure Land. More importantly,
in the 18th Vow, which promises salvation
of all beings, the Nembutsu is
presented, along with deep faith, as the
essential practice leading to
birth in the Pure Land.
As compared with the meditative practice centering on visualization of
Amida and his Pure Land, the recitative Nembutsu is an easy practice which
anyone can perform at any time and anywhere. Its easiness, however, does
not means that the Nembutsu is of poorer quality or earns smaller merit.
All the Pure Land masters in the past, beginning with Nagarjuna of India,
down to Shan-tao of China and Honen of Japan, placed great importance on
the Nembutsu recitation. Shan-tao (613-681) of T'ang Dynasty China, who
was credited with organizing and propagating the Pure Land teaching, succeeded in
visualizing the Pure Land and, based on his experience, wrote an extensive
commentary on the Contemplation Sutra and other works explaining
the method of meditation and its doctrinal
background. His system of practice,
however, centers on recitation of the Nembutsu,
while other practices,
including meditation on Amida, serve as an
aid. Shan-tao's teacher, Tao-ch'o
(562-645), is said to have chanted the Nembutsu
as many as seventy thousand
times a day. Shan-tao himself was dedicated
to constant practice of the
Nembutsu. His Nembutsu teaching spread far
and wide, and was inherited
by Honen (1133-1212) of Japan, who founded
the Jodo sect based on the teaching
that the exclusive practice of the Nembutsu
alone is the sufficient cause
for birth in the Pure Land. Honen's disciples,
while following the Nembutsu
practice, developed theories clarifying the
doctrinal bases of the master's
teaching. Shinran was one of them.
In Japan, before Honen founded the Jodo
sect, the Nembutsu was already widespread
even among the nobility, owing largely to
the efforts of Genshin (942-1017) and other
masters as well as such Nembutsu sages as
Koya (903-972). Genshin is particularly well-known
as the author of the Ojoyoshu ("Collection of Essential Passages Concerning Birth
in the Pure Land"). He
describes in it details of sufferings in
the evil realms of Samsara and
those of the pleasure and happiness in Amida's
Pure Land, and encourages
us to seek birth there. Genshin also formed
a society to practice the Nembutsu
together on a fixed day of the month. The
Regent Fujiwara Michinaga (966-1027)
was one of those who died while holding one
end of five-colored strings,
of which the other end was tied to the hands
of a statue of Amida. According
to the Contemplation Sutra and Genshin's work, those who die mindful
of Amida while reciting the Nembutsu will
be welcomed by him with hosts
of sages and escorted to the Pure Land. The
five-colored strings were believed
to ensure Amida's coming to welcome a dying
person.
6
When we say Pure Land Buddhism, we do not merely mean Japanese Pure Land
schools. In other parts of Asia, such as Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, and
also in the areas of Europe and America where Chinese, Japanese and
Vietnamese communities exist, various forms of Pure Land faith and
practice are maintained, often under the guidance of native Buddhist priests.
In Japan, Jodo and Shin have been the most popular forms of Buddhism.
According to the government survey in 1987, the number of the temples of
Pure Land Buddhism was 30,368, and that of its followers was 20,446,912,
which was nearly a quarter of the total population of Buddhists in Japan.
This figure compares more than favorably with Zen, which has only
9,481,011 followers. Although there is no way of knowing the exact number
of the followers, the above figure gives us an idea of the extent of influence
which Pure Land Buddhism still has in Japan.
If you begin your tour of Japan in Tokyo,
you will not miss Kamakura on the way to
Kyoto. Kamakura is a historically important
place as the seat of shogunate government
for 140 years and is also one of the centers
of Zen Buddhism since the Kamakura period.
By far the most popular tourist attraction
is the huge sitting Buddha, 15 meters in
height. This Buddha is Amida. He is sitting
in meditation with his fingers formed in
the Amida mudra. Erected in 1250, he has
seen many vicissitudes of the world with
compassionate eyes. He welcomes visitors
from abroad as if wishing to say that Japan
is the land of Amida Buddha.
When you get off the bullet train at Kyoto Station and walk a short distance
to the north, you will find a majestic temple on your left. It is the head
temple of one of the two largest Shin schools, called the Higashi or East
Honganji. About ten minutes' walk to the west, you come to another temple
of a similar scale, which is the Nishi or West Honganji. According to the
survey in 1990, the number of temples belonging to Nishi Honganji is 10,369,
and that of the priests is 27,238. The educational institutions are scattered
throughout the country. Nine universities and junior colleges, including
Ryukoku University where I used to teach, belong to Nishi Honganji, and
the total number of junior and senior high schools is thirty-five. Besides
those, Nishi Honganji has ninety-seven temples in the United States, fifty-nine
in South America, and eighteen in Canada. In Europe there are two temples
affiliated to this school, one in Antwerpen and one in Geneva, and a third
has been built in Dusseldorf. There are also dojo, or Nembutsu centers,
in various countries throughout the world.
7
Shinran, the founder of Shin, was born
in Kyoto in 1173. Bereft of his
parents when very young, he entered the priesthood
at the age of nine.
It was a turbulent age with the civil war
between the two powerful clans,
Minamoto and Taira, which ended in the defeat
of the Taira clan and the
establishment of the shogunate government
in Kamakura in 1192 by Minamoto
Yoritomo.
Shinran went to Mt. Hiei, the center of Tendai Buddhism, where he studied
and practiced the Tendai teaching for twenty years. But failing to attain
Enlightenment, he went down to Kyoto to seek a way of suitable salvation.
At that time, Honen, who was forty years older than Shinran, was teaching
the Nembutsu to men and women of all walks of life. Shinran went to see
him and found the way of salvation in the Nembutsu.
When Honen's Nembutsu teaching invited the jealousy and criticism from the traditional sects and was finally persecuted, he and his leading disciples were exiled. Shinran was banished to Northern Japan in 1207, and later married there. After he was pardoned, he went to stay in Hitachi Province, north-east of Tokyo, where he taught Amida's law of salvation to local people, while he began to write the Kyogyoshinsho, the most comprehensive
text of the Shin sect. After he passed sixty
years of age, he returned
to Kyoto and dedicated the rest of his life
to literary activity until
his death at ninety.
Shinran led a normal family life with a wife, a son and five daughters
(according to another tradition, two sons and five daughters). According
to the monastic precepts, Buddhist monks ought not to marry, because practicing
the Buddhist Way in search of the transcendent Truth was considered incompatible
with married life. When Shinran was exiled, he was stripped of priesthood
and given a criminal's name, Fujii Yoshizane. After that he was conscious
of himself as being neither a priest nor a layman. Under the circumstances,
he must have felt it natural to marry when he found a suitable wife, Eshin-ni.
Through his entry into a matrimonial life he showed that Amida could save
ordinary men and women.
8
Of all the Pure Land schools which arose in Japan after Honen, Shin has
attained the most impressive institutional development. In its doctrinal
aspect, too, Shin has offered wider perspectives in the re-interpretation
of the Pure Land teachings. Shinran himself did not intend to found a new
school, but as he states in the Kyogyoshinsho and other works, he
merely followed the teachings of the Buddha
and the Seven Patriarchs and
sought to reveal their true meanings. His
re-interpretation of the Pure
Land teaching may seem to be based on his
own personal judgement, but has
actually served to clarify, through his insight
and experience, the teachings
developed and transmitted by Pure Land masters
of the past.
Re-interpretation, by the way, is an indispensable element for any religious or philosophical advancement. In order for any religious theory and practice to keep its vitality, it needs to be interpreted and re-interpreted from new viewpoints based on deeper insights, personal experiences, and so forth. Re-interpretation is like digging up the earth to find new energy resources. The Dharma, or the Law, which the Buddha realized some twenty-five centuries ago, is like the earth. At first he taught a rather primitive way of digging and drilling and a method of processing the raw materials obtained. The term 'dharma,' which I have just translated as 'law,' had been widely used in India since early days. The Buddha used the same term for the truth he discovered and for his theory and practice leading to its realization, but he did not use it with the same connotation as in the Hindu tradition. He gave it new dimensions of meaning and invested it with the connotations which were to be fully revealed a few centuries later, when Mahayana arose in India. From the Mahayana viewpoint, the Buddha's Dharma is meant to be re-interpreted over and over again with insightful wisdom and observations as historical, geographical and social circumstances change.
Re-interpretation in Buddhism, it must be emphasized, is closely linked
with meditation. Mere intellectual re-interpretation does not go very
far. From the beginning of its history, Buddhism has derived its spirituality
and transcendent metaphysics from the experience of meditation. This applies
to the Mahayana as a whole and to Pure Land Buddhism as well. As we have
seen from the Contemplation Sutra, one can visualize the transcendent
Buddha Amida and his Pure Land if one successfully
practices according
to the prescribed method. Whenever metaphysical
speculations or theoretical
analyses grow too complicated and threaten
the life of spirituality, we
can revert to meditation to remedy this tendency.
But meditation is not
always effective. In ages far removed from
the time of the Buddha, good
teachers of meditation are very rare. Even
if you found one, it would be
difficult to follow the prescribed method
for a long time. Meditation on
Amida and his Pure Land is easier than Zen,
because we have objects of
concentration and also we can count on Amida's
spiritual power (adhisthana),
which helps to accomplish the meditation.
Honen failed to attain salvation through the Tendai practices which he
followed on Mt. Hiei for many years, and Shinran, too, practiced the same
kind of meditation for twenty years, but without success. Honen found the
way of salvation in the Nembutsu teaching expounded by Shan-tao of T'ang
China, and then gave up all other Buddhist practices. Honen's conversion
to the Nembutsu was accompanied by a deep awareness of his inability to
save himself by his own power. He realized that Amida's power was working
behind the Nembutsu. Based on this realization he re-interpreted the whole
teachings of the Buddha, and placed the Nembutsu above all other practices.
9
Shinran is often compared to Martin Luther
(1483-1546), and described
as a renovator of Buddhism in much the same
way as Luther is in Christianity.
Shinran, however, did not stand up in open
defiance of the ecclesiastical
authority, nor did he intend to start a new
movement. Like Honen and other
Pure Land masters, Shinran's immediate concern
was his own salvation, which
was to be fully realized in the Pure Land.
In this respect, his approach
may be described as 'self-centered' and 'other-worldly'.
But we note that
his self-centeredness does not mean selfishness
and that the other-worldliness
is not an escapism or pessimism. For, through
the acceptance of Amida's
Compassion, he found close karmic relationships
with other sentient beings,
and also realized that, after transcending
this world, i.e., going to the
Pure Land, he would be able to come back
and save other beings as he wished.
Shinran's deep self-reflection and his
insight into Amida's law of salvation
have brought about a complete reversal of
the common-sense view and of
ordinary Buddhist concepts. In the most popular
Shin text, Tannisho
("Notes Lamenting Divergent Views"), Shinran is quoted
as saying:
"Even a good person is born in the Pure
Land; how much more easily
an evil person! People of the world, however,
usually say, "Even an
evil person is born in the Pure Land, how
much more easily a good person!"
At first sight, this view seems reasonable,
but it is contrary to the intention
of the Primary Vow of the Other-Power. (chapter
3)
The Buddha teaches that we can attain higher
spiritual states by moral good and cultivation
of wisdom through meditation. If we are unable
to do any good, we will be destined to lower
states of existence where we must receive
suffering as the retribution of our wrongdoing.
Although Shinran was actually capable of
morally good acts, his reflective eye penetrated
to the huge mass of evil karma in his unconscious
realm, and so he recognized all acts as rooted
in evil karma. He realized that he was hopelessly
evil and not possessed of any stock of merit
to count on for attaining salvation by his
own power. The Tannisho quotes his saying as follows:
"Since I am incapable of any practice
whatsoever, hell would definitely
be my dwelling." (chapter 2)
Shinran was, however, not despondent or desperate.
Nor did he feel alienated
from Amida's salvation. His realization of
utter powerlessness is sure
proof that he has been saved by Amida. On
receiving through Faith Amida's
boundless merit, wisdom and power, he was
able to give himself up to Amida,
along with his clinging to his limited power
and stock of merit.
Shinran's re-interpretation of the Buddhist teachings comes from his
experience of complete reliance upon Amida's Power, which is called 'the
Other-Power'. He divided Buddhism into two: the Other-Power teaching and
the teachings of self-power. Shin is entirely based on the Other-Power,
but the other Buddhist ways are based on one's own efforts. For Shan-tao
and Honen, the Nembutsu was the practice to be performed by one's utmost
efforts. For Shinran, all that is required is Amida's saving activity which
is to be received with sincerity of heart and deep faith; this faith is
also Amida's free gift.
10
Shin Buddhism has produced many wonderful
persons, called "myokonin".
According to their biographies, those known
as myokonin are usually
men and women of little education, who have
attained deep understanding
of the Other-Power teaching. They are not
simply devout practicers of the
Nembutsu. Having realized the Other-Power
and experienced oneness with
Amida, they fully live up to his all-embracing
Compassion. While keenly
aware of their absolute powerlessness, they
are always grateful to Amida,
and their daily life is full of spontaneous
expressions of joy and selfless
love.
Asahara Saichi (1851-1933) became interested
in Buddhism in his late
teens. After five or six years' serious pursuit
of the Way, which mainly
consisted of hearing sermons and thinking
deeply on the law of salvation
in relation to his own self, he gave it up.
Ten years later his Buddhist
aspiration arose again. While working as
a ship's carpenter, he did not
miss any opportunity to hear sermons. Seeking
to understand the Other-Power
salvation, he tried and tried again until,
after he was 50, finally Faith
was awakened in him. He changed his job and
became a maker of wooden clogs.
His overflowing joy in Faith found its expression
in poems. Without any
knowledge of Chinese characters, he wrote
the poems on scraps of wood in
Japanese syllabary while making clogs, and
in the evening he copied them
into notebooks. Out of a large number of
poems, here are some examples
showing his deep experience of Faith:
ロ Namuamidabutsu and Amida
Are one and not two.
Namuamidabutsu is myself,
And Amida is my Parent;
Here is the oneness of Namuamidabutsu.
How happy I am for this favor!
Namuamidabutsu.
ロ "O Saichi, where is your Land of Bliss?"
"My Land of Bliss is right here."
ロ How grateful I am --
your voice is Namuamidabutsu!
I, Saichi, have been saved by it.
You and I are one in Namuamidabutsu!
ロ The Buddha's Name casually found on my lips
--
It is indeed a wonderful Buddha!
It is our Parent Amida's call to us.
I, Saichi, am caught up in it!
ロ This Faith is wonderful Faith;
The Buddha hears the Buddha's voice!
There is no room for me, Saichi, to meddle.
How grateful I am for his benevolence!
Namuamidabutsu, Namuamidabutsu.
For Saichi and other people of true Faith,
the Nembutsu and Faith are
inseparable. The Nembutsu is not a practice
to be performed with diligence,
but is the joyful, spontaneous expression
of Faith. Namuamidabutsu
symbolizes the oneness of Amida and the devotee,
for 'namu' indicates
his Faith, and 'amidabutsu' is Amida's universal and absolute saving
power.
Ashikaga Genza (1842-1930), another myokonin, lived in the spirit
of Amida's boundless Compassion, which was
manifested in his acts of selfless
love. One day he saw his persimmon tree in
the garden tied round with thorny
branches.
"Who did this?" he asked.
His son said, "I did. To protect persimmons from being stolen by
children."
Genza said, "What will you do if someone
gets hurt?" So saying,
he removed thorny branches and, instead,
stood a ladder against the tree.
The son protested, "Why, you make it easy for them to steal our
persimmons."
Genza said, "Let them take what they
want. We'll still have plenty
more to eat."
On another occasion at dusk, a man was feeding his horse with beans in
Genza's field. Genza saw this and cried, "Young man, beans on that
spot are no good. Step further in, and you will find better beans for your
horse." Hearing this, the man with the horse ran away.
Shoma (1799-1871) from Shikoku Island was
a poor, illiterate man, hired
for odd jobs or making straw ropes and sandals
for a living, but had wonderful
understanding of Amida's Compassion.
Someone asked him, "What is it like
to have absolute Faith in Amida?"
Shoma lay down comfortably in front of the
family shrine.
When he went to a temple with his friend,
he lay on his side relaxed
in the Buddha hall. The friend reprimanded
him, "You are impolite.
Behave yourself."
Shoma replied, "This is our Parent's
home. Don't be too ceremonious.
Are you a son-in-law?"
Once he went on pilgrimage to the Honganji in Kyoto with his friends.
On the homeward voyage, their boat was caught in a storm. All the passengers
were frightened, but Shoma alone was sleeping peacefully on deck. When
awakened by his friends, he exclaimed, "Haven't we come to the Pure
Land yet?"
Many episodes and sayings of myokonin like those show that Shin
followers who have attained the Other-Power
Faith are like Zen adepts who
have realized satori. They are completely
free in their thinking and doing,
and yet full of kindheartedness, gratitude
and deep insight. They have
transcended the boundaries of good and evil,
and even those of this world
and the Pure Land, but are not aloof in their
attitudes towards their fellow-beings.
They are understanding, ready to help others,
and eager to lead them along
the same Pure Land Way.
11
As we have seen above, Shin covers many
aspects of human activity as
well as the area beyond our day-to-day experience.
Before anything else,
Shin is the way of salvation through Amida's
Power originating from his
Vows. Salvation in Shin has three implications:
First, in the present life,
we are enabled to attain unity with Amida,
the Transcendent Buddha, and
are freed from the bondage of karma; when
our salvation is achieved through
our endowment with Faith, we are filled with
joy and gratitude to Amida.
Second, after death we will be born in
the Pure Land, which is the Transcendent
Realm beyond Samsara and is essentially the
same as Nirvana. The Pure Land
being the sphere of pure karmic energy, those
born there can partake of
it, enjoy life of utmost bliss, and perform
activities as Bodhisattvas.
Third, in the Pure Land we will attain
Nirvana and realize Enlightenment.
This means that we will become Buddhas.
These three kinds of salvation can be conceived
in temporal order, from
the present to the future, but more importantly,
the ultimate realization
of Buddhahood is latent in the 'Here and
Now' experience of Faith. Saichi
says in one of his poems:
O Saichi, who is the Buddha?
He is no other than myself.
Who is the founder of Shin Buddhism?
He is no other than myself.
What is the canonical text?
It is no other than myself.
For Shinran, Faith is not only a free gift
by Amida, but is essentially
Amida himself, as he says in a hymn:
One who rejoices in Faith, it is taught,
Is equal to the Buddha;
The Great Faith is Buddha-nature:
Buddha-nature is the Buddha. (Jodo Wasan 94)
This means that Faith is everything. When one receives Faith, one is assured of birth in the Pure Land and attainment of Enlightenment. This is not simply Shinran's theoretical re-interpretation of the Pure Land teaching. Through Faith Shinran realized oneness with Amida, and Saichi and many other Shin followers share the same experience. Again, Faith is joy; it is joyful acceptance of Amida's saving Power. Amida approaches us in the form of Namuamidabutsu, and when this is received in our hearts,
it becomes Faith. In other words, the Sacred
Name is all that Amida is,
and Faith, too, is Amida himself.
Return to Nembutsu-Index; Index.