Essentials
of Faith Alone
by
Seikaku
When persons aspire to free themselves from birth-and-death and
attain
enlightenment, there are two routes open to them: the gate of the Path
of Sages and the gate of the Pure Land.
First is the Path of Sages
which consists of
performing practices and accumulating merit while living in this Saha
world, striving to attain enlightenment in this present life. People
who practice the Shingon teaching aspire to rise to the stage of great
enlightenment with their present bodies, all followers who endeavor in
the Tendai school seek to attain the enlightenment known as "the stage
of purifying the six sense organs" in this life. Although such indeed
is the final objective of the teaching of the Path of Sages, since the
world has reached the age of the corrupt dharma and entered the period
of defilement, not even a single person among millions can attain
enlightenment in this present life.
Hence, those who endeavor in the
gate of the Path of Sages in the present age become weary and withdraw
in their attempt to attain enlightenment of becoming Buddha with this
present body. In remote anticipation of the birth in this world of
Maitreya, the Compassionate One, they look to the dawning sky
5,670,000,000 years in the future, or awaiting the appearance of even
later Buddhas, they become lost in clouds of the night of countless
transmigrations through innumerable kalpas.
Or they merely yearn for
the sacred sites of Vulture Peak or Potalaka Mountain where
Avalokitesvara dwells, or for the small reward of another birth as
heavenly or human beings. Although any spiritual relationship with the
Buddhist teaching is admirable, immediate enlightenment seems
completely beyond hope. What is longed for remains within the three
worlds, and what is hoped for is still life within transmigration. Why
should they undertake much practice and cultivate understanding,
seeking such a small reward? Truly, is it not the result of the
dharma
being too profound and our understanding too shallow, having become so
far removed from the Great Sage, Sakyamuni?
Second is the gate of the Pure Land,
in which, directing the merit of
practice in the present life, one aspires to be born in the next life
in the Pure Land to fulfill the bodhisattva practices and become a
Buddha. This gate meets the needs of people of these latter days; it is
truly a marvelous path. But this gate is itself divided into two: birth
through various practices and birth through the nembutsu.
"Birth through various practices"
means to aspire to be born in the
Pure Land through observing filial piety toward one's parents, serving
one's teacher and elders, maintaining the five precepts or eight
precepts, and practicing charity and patience, and also through such
practices as the Three Mystic Acts (Shingon) or the meditation exercise
of the One Vehicle (Tendai). One may attain birth through these
practices, for all are, without exception, none other than practices
for birth into the Pure Land. But in all of them one aspires for birth
by applying oneself relentlessly to practices, so they are called
"birth through self-power." If
the practices are done inadequately, it
is impossible to achieve birth. They do not accord with Amida's Primal
Vow; they are not illuminated by the radiance of Amida's grasp.
"Birth through the nembutsu" is
to aspire for birth through saying the
Name of Amida. Because this is in accordance with the Buddha's Primal
Vow, it is called the act of true
settlement; since one is pulled
solely by the power of Amida's Vow, it is called birth through Other
Power.
If one asks why utterance of the Name is in accord with the
Buddha's Primal Vow, we must recall the Vow's origin. In the distant
past, before Amida Tathagata became a Buddha, he was called Bhiksu
Dharmakara. At that time there was a Buddha named Lokesvararaja Buddha.
When Bhiksu Dharmakara had already awakened the thought of
enlightenment, he desired to dwell in a land of purity and benefit
sentient beings, and going before the Buddha he said: "Already I have
awakened the thought of enlightenment and desire to establish a
Buddha-land of purity. May the Buddha, for my sake, teach fully the
innumerable, wondrous practices for adorning the Pure Land."
Then
Lokesvararaja Buddha taught completely the good and bad of the human
and heavenly beings in the pure lands of twenty-one billion Buddhas, as
well as the coarse and the wondrous aspects of each of the lands, fully
revealing each one of them. Bhiksu Dharmakara listened and looked upon
them, and discerning the bad he took up the good, casting out the
coarse he aspired for the wonderful. He, for example, discerned and
rejected lands which contained the three evil paths, but he requested
and selected in the first Vow a world in which these three paths did
not exist. We should understand that all the other Vows were
established in this manner.
Thus [Dharmakara] chose the surpassing qualities from
among the pure lands of twenty-one billion Buddhas and established the
world of perfect bliss. It is as though cherry blossoms were made to
bloom on the branches of willow trees, or those renowned sights, Kiyomi
Beach and Futami Bay, were placed together. This selection was not made
out of a brief consideration; it was the result of contemplation over
the span of five kalpas.
Thus, Dharmakara vowed to create a land most
wondrous and adorned with purity, and he further contemplated: "The
creating of this land is to guide all sentient beings. Though the land
be exquisite, if it is difficult for beings to be born there, it would
go against the intent of the great compassion and the great vow. In
seeking to determine the special cause for birth into the land of
bliss, none among all the various practices is easily performed. If I
were to select filial piety toward one's parents, those who lack piety
could not be born; if I were to adopt the recitation of Mahayana
sutras, the illiterate would have no hope; if I determined charity and
observance of precepts to be the causal act, followers who are stingy
and greedy or who break precepts would be dropped; if I made patience
or effort the act resulting in birth, those given to anger or sloth
would be completely abandoned. The other practices are all likewise.
Hence, in order that all foolish beings, both good and evil, may
equally be born and that they may all aspire for the land of bliss, I
shall make simply the utterance of the three characters of the Name,
A-mi-da, the special cause for birth therein."
Thus he completed five kalpas of profound contemplation and first of
all established the Seventeenth Vow that all Buddhas shall say and
praise the Name. It is important to have a thorough understanding of
this in regards to the Vow. Because he sought to guide sentient beings
everywhere with his Name, he vowed that his Name be praised as the
first step. If it were not so, since the Buddha has no desire for
acclaim, what need would there be to be praised by all the Buddhas?
Thus it is stated:
The sacred name of the Tathagata is exceedingly
distinct and clear;
Throughout the worlds in the ten quarters it
prevails.
Solely those who say the Name all attain birth;
Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta come themselves
to welcome them.
Next he established the Eighteenth Vow, the Vow of birth through the
nembutsu, in which he declared that he would guide even people of ten
utterances. When we carefully reflect upon it, this Vow is truly vast
and profound. Because the Name is composed of but three characters, it
is easy to keep even for one as foolish as Sakyamuni's disciple
Panthaka, and in its utterance, it makes no difference whether one is
walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, nor is discrimination made
regarding time, place, or circumstance, nor is distinction made between
householder and monk, man and woman, old an young, good and bad. Who,
then, is left out? Thus it is stated:
[Amida] Buddha, in the causal stage, made the
universal Vow:
When beings hear my Name and think on me, I will
come to welcome each of them,
Not discriminating at all between the poor and the
rich and wellborn,
Not discriminating between the inferior and the
highly gifted;
Not choosing the learned and those upholding pure
precepts,
Nor rejecting those who break precepts and whose
evil karma is profound.
When beings just turn about at heart and often say
the nembutsu,
It is as if bits of rubble were turned into gold.
This is birth through the nembutsu.
Bodhisattva Nagarjuna states in
his Commentary on the Ten Bodhisattva
Stages:
"In practicing the Buddha-way there is a path of
difficult practice and a path of easy practice. The path of difficult
practice is like going overland on foot; the easy path is like
receiving a favorable wind upon the sea-lanes. The difficult path
consists in seeking to attain the stage of nonretrogression within the
world of the five defilements; the easy path consists of being born in
the Pure Land by virtue of simply entrusting oneself to the Buddha."
The difficult path is the gate of the Path of Sages; the easy path is
the gate of the Pure Land. Thinking to myself, it seems that those who
enter the Pure Land gate and yet endeavor in various practices for
birth are like those who ride on a boat on the sea-lanes, but not
receiving favorable wind, push oars and expend their strength, going
against the tides and forcing through the waves.
In this gate of birth through the nembutsu, moreover, two practices are
distinguished: single practice
and sundry practice.
Single practice is
to perform simply the one practice of the nembutsu, awakening the
aspiration for the land of bliss and the faith of entrusting to the
Primal Vow, never mixing any other practices whatsoever with it. To say
the Name of Amida only and think wholeheartedly on this one Buddha,
never upholding other formulas or thinking on other Buddhas and
bodhisattvas, is called single practice.
Sundry practice, while taking
the nembutsu as primary, places other practices alongside it and
includes other forms of good acts.
Of these two, single practice is to
be considered superior. The reason is as follows. If one already
aspires wholeheartedly for the land of bliss, why include other things
besides contemplating on the master of that land? Life is like a flash
of lightning, or a dewdrop at daybreak, and the body like the plantain
tree or a bubble - yet one seeks in a mere lifetime of religious
practice to depart immediately from one's long abode in the five
courses. How can one leisurely combine diverse practices? For securing
spiritual bonds with the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, one must await the
morn when one can make offerings to the Buddhas as one wishes; for the
essential principles of the Mahayana and Hinayana scriptures, one must
await the eve when all the teachings will be illuminated.
Aside from
aspiring for the one land and thinking on the one Buddha, there is no
other necessity. People who enter the gate of the nembutsu but
combine
it with other practices are attached to their former practices and have
difficulty abandoning them. Those who hold to the One Vehicle or
practice the Three Mystic Acts do not change their aspiration to attain
birth in the Pure Land by directing the merits of such practices,
wondering what can be wrong with pursuing them together with the
nembutsu. Without endeavoring in the nembutsu of easy practice that
accords with the Primal Vow, meaningless is it to follow various
practices rejected by the Primal Vow.
Thus Master Shan-tao declared:
"Among those who abandon the single practice and incline toward the
sundry, not one in a thousand can be born; among those of single
practice, a hundred in a hundred, a thousand in a thousand, can be
born."
It is said:
The land of bliss is the realm of nirvana, the
uncreated;
I fear it is hard to be born there by doing sundry
good acts according to our diverse conditions.
Hence, the Tathagata selected the essential dharma,
Instructing beings to say Amida's Name with
singleness, again singleness.
That which is rejected as "various good acts done according to one's
conditions" is the attachment to one's own former practice. In serving
as a retainer, for example, one should serve one's lord, depend on him,
and wholeheartedly be loyal to him. However, suppose a person, while
evidently serving his lord, in addition harbors designs concerning an
unfamiliar, distant person and, arranging to have him meet his lord,
seeks to be well spoken of by him. Compared with serving directly,
which is superior and which inferior is clearly known. Being of two
minds and being of one mind are as vastly different as heaven and earth.
Concerning this, someone asks: "Suppose there is a person who practices
the nembutsu, reciting it ten thousand times each day, and aside from
that does nothing but play all day and sleep all night; and another
person who says it ten thousand times and afterwards reads sutras and
recites the names of other Buddhas: which is superior? In the Lotus
Sutra is the phrase, 'by virtue of this sutra one is born in the land
of peace.' Can reading this sutra be the same as playing and
frolicking? In the Yakushi Sutra is found the guidance of eight
bodhisattvas. Thinking on Yakushi Buddha is surely not like useless
sleep. I still cannot understand praising one as single practice and
rejecting the other as sundry practice."
In considering this matter over again now, single practice is still
superior. The reason is that we are essentially foolish beings of this
defiled world who experience obstacles in everything. Amida, observing
this, taught the path of easy practice. One who plays and frolics all
day is a person of great distraction and confusion. One who sleeps the
whole night is a person of great lethargy. All are consequences of
blind passions, difficult to sunder and difficult to control. When
playing has ended, say the nembutsu; when awakening from sleep, recall
the Primal Vow. This does not violate the performance of single
practice.
To recite the nembutsu ten thousand times and afterward hold
in mind other sutras and other Buddhas seems splendid upon first
hearing, but who determined that the nembutsu should be limited to ten
thousand times? If you are a person of diligence, then recite all day.
If you take up the nenju-beads, then utter the Name of Amida. If you
face an object of worship, then choose the image of Amida. Directly
await Amida's coming; why depend on the eight bodhisattvas to direct
your way? You should rely solely on the guidance of the Primal Vow.
Do
not struggle to undertake the exercises of the One Vehicle (Tendai). In
the capacities of nembutsu practicers there are the superior, the
ordinary, and the inferior. Those of superior nature constantly say the
nembutsu both night and day; in what interval, then, can they turn
their attention to other Buddhas? You should reflect on this deeply and
not become entangled in distracting doubts.
Next, in saying the nembutsu, you
should possess the three minds. With
the simple saying of the Name, who cannot obtain the virtue of one or
ten utterances? Nevertheless, those who attain birth are exceedingly
rare, the reason being that people do not have the three minds. The
Contemplation Sutra states: "The person with the three minds will be
born without fail in that land." Shan-tao says in his commentary: "If
one possesses these three minds, one will unfailingly attain birth. If
one of these minds is lacking, then birth is not attained." This means
that if a person lacks one of the three minds, he cannot be born.
Although there are many who say the Name of Amida in this world, rare
are those who actually attain birth. Know that this is because they do
not possess the three minds.
Concerning these three minds: first is
the mind of sincerity; this is
the true and real heart and mind. In entering the Buddha path, one must
first of all have a sincere mind; if the mind is not sincere, it is
impossible to advance. Amida Buddha in the past accomplished the
bodhisattva practices and established the Pure Land; in doing this he
awakened the sincere mind. Hence, if you desire to be born in that
land, you must also awaken a sincere mind. As to this true and real
heart and mind, one must abandon that which is untrue and unreal and
manifest that which is true and real. Indeed, although we are without
profound aspiration for the Pure Land, on meeting others we talk as
though we have deep aspirations. While being deeply attached within to
fame and gain in this life, our outward show is a rejection of this
world. While on the surface we act as though we have a good heart and
are noble, we have within an evil heart and a self-indulgent heart.
This is called a heart and mind which is empty and transitory, opposite
of the true and real heart and mind. You should turn away from this and
firmly grasp the true and real heart and mind.
A person who erroneously grasps this, saying that if all things are not
as they seem to be they might as well be empty and transitory, exposes
to others even what should be matters of reserve and shame, and,
contrarily, invites the faults of self-indulgence and shamelessness.
Concerning the true and real heart and mind, in seeking the Pure Land,
rejecting this defiled world, and entrusting to the Buddha's Vow, one
must have such a heart and mind. It does not necessarily mean to openly
manifest shame or to make a show of one's faults. You should deeply
reflect on this in all circumstances and on all occasions. Shan-tao's
commentary states: "Do not express outwardly signs of wisdom, goodness,
or diligence, while inwardly possessing falsity."
Second is deep mind, the mind of trust.
You should first know the
features of the mind of trust. The mind of trust is to have deep faith
in people's words without doubting them. For example, suppose that a
man whom one deeply trusts and of whom one has no cause for suspicion
whatever tells you about a place which he knows well at firsthand,
saying that there is a mountain here, a river there. You believe deeply
what he says, and after you have accepted these words, you meet other
people who say it is all false. There is no mountain and no river.
Nevertheless, since what you heard was said by a person whom you cannot
think would speak a mere fabrication, a hundred thousand people might
tell you differently but you would not accept it. Rather, you deeply
trust what you heard first. This is called trust. Now, believing in
what Sakyamuni taught, entrusting yourself to Amida's Vow, and being
without any doubt should be like this.
There are two aspects concerning this mind of trust: the first is to
believe oneself to be a foolish being of defiled karma, subject to
birth-and-death, from incalculable kalpas past constantly sinking and
constantly turning, without any condition that could lead to
liberation. The second is to believe deeply and decisively that, since
one does not doubt that Amida's Forty-eight Vows grasp sentient beings,
one rides on the power of that Vow and will without fail attain birth.
People often say: "Not that I don't believe in Buddha's Vow, but when I
reflect on myself, I see that my karmic hindrances have accumulated
greatly and that the appearance of a good heart is rare. My mind is
ever distracted and single-mindedness is impossible to achieve. I am
forever negligent and lack diligence. Although the Buddha's Vow is said
to be profound, how can the Buddha possibly receive me? Such thoughts
appear truly sensible; arrogance is not aroused and self-conceit
nonexistent. Yet there is the crime of doubting the inconceivable power
of the Buddha. Does one know what power the Buddha possesses, when one
says that because of one's karmic evil it is impossible to be saved?
Even those wrongdoers who commit the five grave offenses, because of
ten utterances, attain birth in an instant; even more so those who
never go so far as to commit the five grave offenses, and in merit far
surpass that of ten utterances.
If karmic evil is deep, all the more aspire for the land of bliss. It
is said: "Nor rejecting those who break precepts and whose evil karma
is profound." If your good is slight, think even more on Amida. It is
said: "[With but] three or five utterances, the Buddha comes to welcome
us." Do not meaninglessly despise yourself, weaken your heart, and
doubt the Buddha's wisdom, which surpasses conceptual understanding.
Suppose that there is a man at the bottom of a tall cliff unable to
climb it, but there is a strong man on the cliff above who lowers a
rope and, thinking to have the man at the bottom take hold of it, tells
him he will draw him up to the top. However, the man at the bottom
holds his arms back and refuses to take the rope, doubting the strength
of the man pulling and fearing that the rope is weak. Thus it is
altogether impossible for him to climb to the top. If he unhesitatingly
followed the man's words, stretched out his hands and grasped the rope,
he would be able to climb at once. It is difficult for people who doubt
the Buddha's power and who do not entrust themselves to the power of
the Vow to climb the cliff of enlightenment. One should simply put out
the hand of trust and take hold of the rope of the Vow.
The Buddha's power is without limits;
even the person deeply burdened
with karmic evil is never too heavy. The Buddha's wisdom is
without
bounds; even those whose minds are distracted and self-indulgent are
never rejected. The mind of trust alone is essential. There is no need
to consider anything else. When trust
has become settled, the three
minds are naturally possessed. When the entrusting to the Primal
Vow is
true and sincere, there is no heart empty and transitory. When there is
no doubt in the anticipation of one's birth in the Pure Land, there
arises the thought of directing merit toward it. Hence, although the
three minds seem to differ from each other, they are all included in
the mind of trust.
Third is the mind aspiring to be born
in the Pure Land through
directing merit. The term is self-explanatory; therefore, I need
not
explain it in detail. It is to turn over the merit of the three modes
of action of the past and present and to aspire to be born in the land
of bliss.
Next, the text of the Primal Vow reads: "If sentient beings say my Name
even ten times but do not attain birth, may I not attain the supreme
enlightenment." Concerning these ten nen,
some people have doubts and
state: "The person who has one thought (nen) of rejoicing in the Lotus
Sutra reaches deeply to the ultimate truth which is neither
accommodated nor real. Why are the 'ten nen' of the Vow understood to
be utterances of the Name?"
To answer this question: in describing the
nature of the people of the lowest grade in the lowest rank, the
Contemplation Sutra states,
"Upon reaching the moment of death, a
person guilty of the five grave offenses and the ten transgressions and
burdened with all kinds of evil follows, for the first time, the
encouragement of a true teacher, barely says the Name ten times and is
born at once in the Pure Land." This does not at all mean quiet
contemplation or deep reflection; it is simply saying the Name with the
lips. The sutra states: "If you cannot think..." This has the meaning
of not thinking deeply. It also states: "Say the Name of the Buddha of
immeasurable life." This encourages us simply to say the Buddha Name.
The sutra states: "When you say Namu-muryoju-butsu (literally, "Namu
Buddha of immeasurable life") ten times, because you say the Buddha's
Name, with each utterance the evil karma of eight billion kalpas of
birth-and-death is eliminated." The words "ten times" mean simply
saying the Name ten times. You should understand the text of the Primal
Vow in this way. Master Shan-tao profoundly realized this import and
restated the Primal Vow: "If, when I attain Buddhahood, the sentient
beings of the ten quarters say my Name as few as ten times and yet are
not born, may I not attain supreme enlightenment." The words "ten
times" signify reciting with the lips.
1. Next, some people also say,
"The nembutsu at the moment of death
contains a profound virtue. Extinguishing the five grave offenses in
ten utterances is the power of the nembutsu at the moment of death. The
nembutsu of ordinary times lacks such power."
Reflecting upon this: True, the nembutsu at the time of death is
particularly excellent in virtue. However, it is necessary to
understand this fully. When people are about to die, a hundred
sufferings assail them and right-mindedness is easily disturbed. At
such a time, how is it that thinking on the Buddha has great virtue? In
thinking about this, when one is gravely ill, nearing the end, and
one's life is in peril, it is easy for trust to arise naturally. In
actually observing the habits of people, we see that when they are
without troubles they do not put trust in doctors and diviners, but
when severely ill they have full trust in them. If they are told that
the disease will be cured with a certain treatment, people believe that
it will truly be cured; they will even swallow bitter medicine and
undergo painful treatment. When they are told that they will live
longer if they perform a certain ceremony, they spare no expense and
expend their energies in ceremonies and prayers. Thus, because their
attachment to life is deep, if they are told they can prolong it, they
have profound trust.
The nembutsu at the moment of death should be
understood in this manner. When you feel that the final moment of life
has come and that you will not live, the suffering of your next life
suddenly appears - the fiery car of hell approaches or tormenting
demons fill your eyes. Thinking of how to evade such suffering and
escape from such terror, you hear about the attainment of birth through
ten utterances from a true teacher; suddenly a profound, momentous mind
of trust arises in you and you have no doubt whatever. Because the
revulsion against suffering is strong and the desire for happiness
keen, one immediately awakens the mind of trust upon hearing that birth
into the land of bliss is imminent. It is like trusting a doctor or an
exorcist upon hearing them say that life will be lengthened. If one is
of this mind, even though it is not one's last moment - if the mind of
trust is established - the virtue of each utterance in ordinary times
is equal to the nembutsu at the moment of death.
2. Next, people often say:
"Even if I entrust myself to the power of
Amida's Vow and aspire to be born in the land of bliss, it is difficult
to know my defiled karma from past lives. How can I attain birth so
easily? There are a variety of karmic obstacles. 'Succeeding' karma
does not necessarily take effect during the life in which it was
created, but in lives to come it may bear fruit. Thus, although we have
received birth into human life now, we may possess the karma for the
evil paths without our knowing. If the power of such karma is strong
and brings about birth into the evil courses, will it not be difficult
to attain birth in the Pure Land?"
Although the sense of this is quite sound, such people are unable to
sever the net of doubt and create deluded views by themselves.
Karma,
more or less, may be compared to a scale. It tips towards the heavier
weight. If the power of my karma for birth in the evil courses were
strong, then I would not have been born into human life but would have
fallen first into the evil paths. This much is clear from having
already received birth into human life: though we may possess karma for
evil courses, that karma is weaker than the observance of the five
precepts which brought about our birth into human life. If this is so,
such karma cannot obstruct even the five precepts; how could it
obstruct the virtue of ten utterances? The
five precepts are acts of
defiled beings; the nembutsu is a virtue of undefilement. In the
five
precepts no help from the Buddha's Vow is found, but we are guided to
saying the nembutsu by Amida's Primal Vow. The virtue of the nembutsu,
moreover, is superior to even the ten precepts and surpasses all the
good of the three worlds. How much more does it surpass the scant good
of the five precepts? Evil karma does
not obstruct even the five
precepts, it can never be an obstacle to birth.
3. Next, people again say: "The
attainment of birth by ten utterances
by people guilty of the five grave offenses comes about through their
past good. It is difficult to possess such past good. How can we attain
birth?"
Here, too, it is because they are lost in the darkness of folly that
they vainly entertain such useless doubts. The reason is that those
full of past good will cultivate good in this life also and fear doing
evil acts. Those scant of past good will prefer evil acts in this life
and not perform good. We clearly know the good and bad of past karma
from the way this life is led. We lack a pure heart, however, so we
know that our past good is minimal. But though our karmic evil is
heavy, we do not commit the five grave offenses, and though our good
acts are few, we deeply entrust ourselves to the Primal Vow. Even the
ten utterances of someone guilty of the five grave offenses comes about
through that person's past good. How could it be, then, that the saying
of the Name throughout one's life is not also due to one's past good?
How can we think that the ten utterances of someone guilty of the five
grave offenses is due to past good, while our own saying of the Name
throughout a lifetime is through our past good which is shallow? A
little wisdom is an obstruction to enlightenment, so it is said; truly,
here is an example.
4. Next, some who follow the way of
the nembutsu say: "The essence of
the path to birth in the Pure Land is a trusting mind. Once this mind
of trust has become settled, it is not always necessary to recite the
nembutsu. The sutra teaches: 'say it even once'; hence, one utterance
is understood to be sufficient. When one seeks to accumulate many
utterances, it is, on the contrary, a failure to trust in the Buddha's
Vow." Thus they greatly mock and gravely slander those who recite the
nembutsu, saying that they are people who do not truly believe in the
nembutsu.
These people first of all abandon all Mahayana practices in the name of
"single practice of the nembutsu," and then, adhering to the doctrine
of "once-calling," they stop saying the nembutsu. This is the means the
demons have used to deceive the sentient beings of this latter age. In
such explanations there are both good and bad points. In principle the
statement that one utterance suffices as the act for birth in the Pure
Land is perfectly true; nevertheless, it is going too far to say that
the accumulation of a large number of utterances shows the lack of a
trusting mind. It does show, however, a lack of a trusting mind if one
believes that one utterance is insufficient and birth requires
accumulating a great number of utterances.
Though one utterance
suffices as the act for birth, some may think that it is important to
accumulate more and more merit while passing their days and nights, and
so, if they say the Name, they recite it day and night, and the merit
increases more and more and the cause for birth becomes even more
determined. Master Shan-tao stated that as long as one is alive, one
should constantly say the nembutsu. Are we to say such people lack
trust? To dismiss them with ridicule would be wrong. "One utterance"
actually appears in a passage of the sutra. Not to believe it is not to
believe the Buddha's word. Thus, one
should believe in the settling of
birth with one utterance, and further continue saying the Name without
negligence throughout one's life. This is the true meaning of the
teaching.
Although there are many important doctrines concerning the nembutsu,
they can be summarized in the preceding way. Some people who read this
will surely ridicule it. Nevertheless, both belief and slander will
become a cause for each one's birth in the Pure Land. With the pledges
of friendship in this life - brief as a dream - to guide us, we tie the
bonds for meeting before enlightenment in the coming life. If I am
behind, I will be guided by others; If I go first, I will guide others.
Becoming true friends through many lives, we bring each other to the
practice of the Buddha-way, and as true teachers in each life, we will
together sunder all delusion and attachment.
Honored Sakyamuni, the teacher,
Amida Buddha, compassionate mother,
Avalokitesvara, on the left,
Mahasthamaprapta, on the right,
The great ocean of immaculate beings,
The ocean of the three treasures,
Throughout the dharma-realm:
Singleheartedly I think on your witness;
Pity and comfort me, and hear my prayer.
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