Shinran Teaches: The Gates of Entrance and Emergence
A dharma friend named Woody asked me recently:
What about the vinaya pitaka? What about the 5 and 8 precepts? Is there no call to morality and goodness? Is there no room for these things in true entrusting?
In my last post to him, What Is the Purpose of the Dharma?, I explained why Dharma Master Shinran rejected mixed practices as well as a compulsive emphasis on moralizing. I closed by saying this:
But that (answer about not doing mixed practices) is not the end, of course. We’re merely clearing the brush laid before us by the 84,000 Paths of the Sages in our listening so far. Instead of “these things” you have been taught to depend on, we have been given something INCONCEIVABLY greater - Amida Buddha’s gift of INCONCEIVABLE SHINJIN - his own true entrusting. Without that gift, we would remain entirely naked, with no hope of birth ourselves. That is why SHINJIN is the very centerpiece of Master Shinran’s dharma. That is what makes him the singular Dharma Teacher for this age of Dharma Decline.
And that is what I will consider in my next post to you. That discussion is truly necessary in order to provide Shinran’s TRUE answer to your honest dharma questions. I invite you to join me, and Professor Eiken Kobai, and Reverend George Gatenby, and countless others as we sit at Shinran’s feet and continue listening deeply to what this Dharma Master has to say.
So - to understand something of the depth of INCONCEIVABLE SHINJIN, let’s listen deeply to the Dharma Master Shinran as he contemplates the power of Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow. Notice with me how left-brained Shinran is as he EXPLAINS. Shinran’s not just another fuzzy navel new age mystic - unlike many modernist Shin Buddhist teachers.
Shinran explains the historical reality of Bodhisattva Dharmakara who finally emerges as Amida Buddha - as described by Shakyamuni Buddha in the Larger Pure Land Sutra.
- First - as Bodhisattva Dharmakara - he fulfills the practice of “self-benefit”, by which he becomes the Buddha Amida over inconceivable ages of time.
- And then, as Amida Buddha, he fulfills the practice of “benefit of others”.
In all of this, Shinran insists that DHARMAKARA/AMIDA DOES ALL THE WORK. There is literally NOTHING left for us foolish beings (bonbu) to do. All we need to do is LISTEN DEEPLY to the dharma - laying aside our own prejudices and pre-existing belief matrices. Said another way, all we need to do is listen to Shinran on Shinran’s terms, rather than ours.
Here is the voice of Shinran:
Contemplating the power of Tathagata’s Primal Vow, one sees that no foolish being who encounters it passes by in vain. When a person single-heartedly practices the saying of the Name alone, it brings quickly to fullness and perfection [in that person] the great treasure ocean of true and real virtues.
Nothing else that you or I could do, in the 84,000 Paths of the Sages, or in the 95 non-Buddhist paths, can do what the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha can do - if only we are willing to encounter it.
But to do so, we must drop everything, and come as foolish beings. This is very hard, because of our EGOTISM. A noted Shin Buddhist teacher of the modernist school asked me some time back, “Is it necessary to be a KNOW-NOTHING to have SHINJIN (True Entrusting)?“.
The answer to his question is as simple as it is profound: We ARE know-nothings. That’s what being BONBU (foolish beings) is all about.
So - as BONBU - let’s continue to listen deeply to Shinran, who also calls himself a know-nothing - a “foolish bald-headed one”, and yet “a disciple of Shakyamuni“.
Let’s listen deeply in the same spirit, dropping (at least temporarily) our own wisdom, our own knowledge, our own understanding of life, the universe and everything - so we can see the Dharma THROUGH MASTER SHINRAN’S EYES.
Shinran continues by explaining how Bodhisattva Dharmakara practiced and what happened - over countless ages:
[Dharmakara] Bodhisattva, having practiced the five gates of entrance and emergence, has fulfilled the practice of both self-benefit and benefit of others. Through inconceivable billions of kalpas, he has gradually fulfilled the five gates.
How did Shinran KNOW this? Because Shakyamuni Buddha TAUGHT it in the Larger Pure Land Sutra. Let’s join Shinran as he listens deeply, with the bonbu ears of a humble student, to the only Buddha that has been on the planet in the past 2500 years:
Then, Ananda, after proclaiming and establishing those universal vows in the presence of the Buddha Lokeshvararaja before the multitude of beings, including the eight kinds of superhuman beings, such as devas and dragon-spirits, and also Mara and Brahma, the Bhiksu Dharmakara was solely intent on producing a glorious and exquisite land.
The Buddha-land which he sought to establish was vast in extent, unsurpassed and supremely wonderful, always present and subject neither to decay nor change. During inconceivable and innumerable kalpas, he cultivated the immeasurable meritorious practices of the Bodhisattva Path.
- He did not harbor any thought of greed, hatred or cruelty; nor did he allow any ideas of greed, hatred or cruelty to arise.
- He was unattached to any form, sound, smell, taste, touch or idea.
- Possessed of the power to persevere, he did not avoid undergoing various afflictions.
- Having little desire for his own sake, he knew contentment.
- Without any impure thought, enmity or stupidity, he dwelt continually in tranquil samadhi.
- His wisdom was unobstructed, and his mind free of falsehood and deceitfulness.
- With an expression of tenderness in his face and with kindness in his speech, he spoke to others in consonance with their inner thoughts.
- Courageous and diligent, strong-willed and untiring, he devoted himself solely to the pursuit of the pure Dharma, thereby benefiting a multitude of beings.
- He revered the Three Treasures, respected his teachers and elders, and thus adorned his practices with a great store of merits. By so doing, he enabled sentient beings to partake of it.
- He dwelt in the realization that all dharmas are empty, devoid of distinctive features, and not to be sought after, and that they neither act nor arise; he thus realized that all dharmas are like magical creations.
- He avoided all wrong speech that would bring harm upon himself or others or both.
- He engaged in right speech that would bring benefit to himself or others or both.
- He abandoned his kingdom and renounced the throne, leaving behind wealth and sensuous pleasures.
- Practicing the Six Paramitas himself, he taught others to do the same.
During innumerable kalpas, he accumulated merits and amassed virtues:
- Wherever he was born, an immeasurable stock of treasure spontaneously appeared as he wished.
- He taught countless sentient beings and guided them on the path of the highest, true Enlightenment.
- He was reborn as a rich man, a lay devotee, a member of the highest caste or of a noble family, a ksatriya king, a wheel-turning monarch, a king of one of the six heavens in the world of desire, or even higher, as a Brahma-king.
- He revered and worshipped all Buddhas by making the four kinds of offering to them. The merit he thus acquired was indescribably great.
- Fragrance issued from his mouth as from a blue lotus-flower, and every pore of his body emitted the scent of sandalwood, which permeated innumerable worlds.
- His appearance was majestic, and his physical characteristics and marks were truly wonderful.
- From his hands, inexhaustible treasures, clothes, food and drink, rare and exquisite flowers and incense, silken canopies, banners, and other ornaments were produced.
- In such manifestations he was unrivaled among all heavenly and human beings. He thus attained the command of all dharmas.
Are you listening deeply with the ears of a true disciple - with the ears of Shinran - to the CONTENT Shakyamuni Buddha is communicating as he describes Dharmakara’s progress over countless ages, transmigrating from birth to birth to fulfill the true Bodhisattva Path?
Let’s continue to LISTEN DEEPLY to Shinran as he explains more deeply “The Five Gates of Entrance and Emergence“. The first four are Gates of ENTRANCE into the Pure Land. The fifth is a Gate of EMERGENCE back into the six realms. He describes them now as as “The Five Gates of Mindfulness“:
What are the “five gates of mindfulness”?
- Worship,
- praise,
- aspiration,
- discernment,
- and directing virtue.
Listen deeply, because here Shinran is explaining the TRUE Teaching - which is so DIFFERENT from every other dharma gate within the Buddha-dharma.
How is it different? In every other dharma gate, WE are the ones who are supposed to cultivate “The Five Gates of Mindfulness”. WE are the ones who are supposed to practice to perfection, and thus create karmic merit, and climb the mountain of the Path of the Sages to Buddhahood.
But Shinran - radically honest man that he is - taught by an equally radically honest man named Honen - recognizes that self-power praxis is simply not something we are capable of doing. We are, in fact, BONBU - foolish beings full of BONNO - blind passions. Our practice is necessarily superficial, and cannot get down to the karmic roots of craving and aversion that afflict us ALL. This is the reality of your life, of my life, of ALL our lives in this age of MAPPO - the Age of Dharma Decline.
Now - as Shinran unfolds the Five Gates of Mindfulness - worship, praise, aspiration, discernment, and directing virtue - listen deeply with me again. Listen deeply as Shinran explains two ways in which Dharmakara/Amida has fulfilled and continues to fulfill each of the Five Gates on our behalf:
- Before he became a Buddha, as Bodhisattva Dharmakara he perfectly fulfilled each Gate of Mindfulness for his own self-benefit.
- As Amida Buddha, he fulfills each Gate of Mindfulness for our benefit.
The First Gate
Shinran speaks about The Gate of Worship:
How is worship accomplished?
- [As Bodhisattval Dharmakara] he performed worship with bodily acts.
- As Amida Buddha, the perfectly enlightened one, guiding all beings with skillful, compassionate means, he brings them to aspire to be born in the land of happiness.
This is called the first gate of entrance; further, it is called entering the gate of approach.
Listen deeply to Shinran’s thinking hereas he explains how worship - true worship - worship as perfect practice - is really accomplished:
- It’s not by anything you or I could do, but by what Bodhisattva Dharmakara did for his own progress towards Buddhahood.
- Now that he has attained Buddhahood, true worship is STILL accomplished entirely by him. This is what he does for all of us as Amida Buddha. It is Amida Buddha himself - working only as Amida Buddha can - who awakens our aspiration to be born in the Pure Land of Happiness.
The Dharma of Shakyamuni and Shinran depends upon the historical action of a real being - even if the history is outside the range of our limited ability to comprehend, much less verify.
- This is why those modernist Shin Buddhist teachers who declare that Amida Buddha is fictive, or mythic, or whatever - are so completely and entirely off the mark.
- That is why it is arrogance to claim to be a follower of Shakyamuni and Shinran - while at the same time denying everything that Shinran and Shakyamuni so clearly and directly assert.
- That is why it was necessary - in Honen’s day, and Shinran’s, and Yuien’s and Rennyo’s - to distinguish between True Teachers and Teaching - and false.
- That’s why it’s better - far better - infinitely better - to be a know-nothing who KNOWS he is a know-nothing, than a know-nothing who thinks - delusionally - that he is a know-something.
- And that’s a big part of what the Shin Ugly blog is all about, in a day of Dharma Decline where a sincere seeker just can’t find the True Teaching being taught in most of the Shin Buddhist temples anymore here in the USA - and, I am afraid - much of the English speaking world.
- That is why I join my own dharma mentors by encouraging ANYONE and EVERYONE who wishes to finally attain the end of suffering at last to do ONE thing: Return to the True Teaching of Shinran, our True teacher.
The Second Gate
Shinran continues to teach about the second gate - The Gate of Praise - using the exact same logical structure in his Dharma teaching. Once again, let’s bow our heads as true students, and listen deeply to the Dharma - on Shinran’s terms, rather than ours:
How is praise accomplished?
- [As Bodhisattval Dharmakara], he performed praise with verbal acts.
- [As Amida Buddha], he brings beings to say the Name in accord with the Name’s significance, and to practice in accord with reality, in correspondence with the Tathagata’s light, the embodiment of wisdom. This comes about through the Primal Vow in which the Tathagata of unhindered light selected and adopted the nembutsu.
This is called the second gate of entrance. It is attaining entry into the great assembly.
Once again, in the profound wisdom of Dharma Master Shinran, it is not our effort in performing the praxis of praise. Everything - all the work - all the effort - is on the side of Amida Buddha:
- First, as Dharmakara, he did the perfect praxis of praise of all the Buddhas in order to attain Buddhahood.
- Then as Amida Buddha, he causes praise to issue from the lips of those who say TRUE NEMBUTSU because they have been brought to the blessed state of SHINJIN - true entrusting.
The Third Gate
Once again, let’s be the BONBU - the foolish beings - that we TRULY are, and with that humility of heart listen deeply to our True Teacher Shinran as he explains The Gate of Aspiration:
How is aspiration accomplished?
- [As Bodhisattval Dharmakara], he aspired constantly in his mind.
- [As Amida Buddha], he brings beings to practice single-heartedly the saying of the Name and aspire to be born in the Pure Land. Attaining entry into the lotus-held world, they are led to practice samatha (concentration) in accord with reality.
This is called the third gate of entrance; further, it is called entering the grounds.
Once again, Dharma Master Shinran shows decisively how it is not OUR ability to concentrate or to aspire as perfect praxis. We’re BONBU - foolish beings - easily distracted by endless thoughts and feelings about anything and everything. When life throws us more lemons than we can handle, we just can’t make lemonade - whether we’re Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Crhistians, athiests, agnostics, our whatever. We’re all just plain people - and for all of us our lemonade machines can break down entirely under the crushing weight of suffering.
But that doesn’t present a barrier to ending suffering at last for those who entrust themselves utterly to Amida Buddha. Why? Because NOTHING - even our aspiration depends on US anymore - not even a little bit. EVERYTHING depends entirely entirely upon the OTHER POWER of Amida Buddha.
The Fourth Gate
Let’s continue to listen to the Dharma Master as he talks about the fourth gate of mindfulness - The Gate of Discernment:
How is discernment accomplished?
- [As Bodhisattval Dharmakara], he discerned with wisdom.
- [As Amida Buddha], he brings beings to contemplate that land with right-mindedness and practice vipasyana (insight meditation) in accord with reality. On reaching that land, they are led to enjoy the delights of the various tastes of dharma.
This is called the fourth gate of entrance; further, it is called entering the residence.
Here is yet another profound statement by Shinran describing how DIFFERENT the Path of the Foolish is from the 84,000 Paths of the Sages:
In the Paths of the Sages, in all three branches of the Buddha-dharma - whether in the Hinayana, the Mayayana or the Vajrayana - the poor BONBU is told to look deeply into the reality of things with INSIGHT - to practice Insight Meditation - Vipasyana.
Shinran tried that for 20 years - and failed - as we ALL must fail - in this Age of Dharma Decline. Being radically honest about his lack of capacity, he was led to his dharma master Honen.
- It was Honen who taught Shinran to give up trying to be a Buddhist.
- It was Honen who taught Shinran to simply leave EVERYTHING to Amida Buddha.
- It was Honen who taught Shinran that Amida Buddha would carry him all the way through his life without EVER letting go.
- And it was Honen who taught Shinran that Amida Buddha would bring him at the end of this life to birth in the Pure Land, where Shinran would become a True Buddha at last.
Honen taught Shinran - and then Shinran taught the world. I invite you to continue to LISTEN DEEPLY so that Shinran may teach you too - so that you too can come to the end of suffering at last.
LISTENING DEEPLY is the only thing we CAN do - and the only thing we MUST do - the only praxis for one who wants to to experience the Grace of Amida Buddha. As Shinran says, over and over again, it is Amida Buddha who has done and continues to do ALL the work related to our salvation. So let’s listen deeply as Shinran makes the following declaration in his role as Dharma Master:
Concerning the bodhisattva’s fulfillment of practice, know that he has fulfilled the virtues of the four kinds of entrance and thereby fulfilled the practice for self-benefit.
Can there possibly be ANY question that Dharma Master Shinran is describing HISTORY - the history of the Bodhisattva Dharmakara over endless ages, gradually fulfilling all the requirements of the Bodhisattva Path - benefitting himself in order to attain to the Reward Body of a True Buddha - and thus fulfill all his 48 Vows - all summed up in the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha?
No - there is NO question. THIS is exactly what Dharma Master Shinran is teaching. Whether we believe it or not - Master Shinran says is our business, and not his. His job - as a true Dharma Master - is to speak the truth clearly, plainly and boldly - and leave everything else in Amida Buddha’s hands.
The Fifth Gate
Let’s continue to listen, as the Dharma Master Shinran describes the fifth and final gate of mindfulness - The Gate of Emergence:
Fifth, he has fulfilled the virtues of emergence. Concerning the bodhisattva’s fifth gate of emergence, how is directing of virtue accomplished?
- [As Bodhisattval Dharmakara], he aspired in his heart, never abandoning any sentient being in suffering. He took the directing of virtue as foremost, and has fulfilled the mind of great compassion.
- Thus, [as Amida Buddha] he bestows virtues.
On being born in that land, one is able swiftly and rapidly to fulfill samatha (tranquil concentration meditation) and vipasyana (insight meditation) and gain the power of compassionate means; thereupon, one enters the gardens of birth-and-death and the forests of blind passions, and assuming various transformed bodies to guide sentient beings, freely sports there with the transcendent powers; attaining the state of teaching and guiding, one benefits beings.
This is called the fifth gate of emergence, which is entering the state of sporting in the gardens and forests.
Know that because of the directing of virtue through the power of the Primal Vow, he has fulfilled the practice of benefiting others.
Shinran - the buddhist burnout who was entirely UNABLE to do perfect praxis of either samatha meditation or vipasyana meditation, now directs us to listen deeply in order to understand how Amida’s creation and sustaining of his own Pure Land will allow us to do THERE AND THEN what we simply cannot do HERE AND NOW.
Once we have taken birth in the Pure Land, we WILL become True Buddhas at last:
- We WILL gain the power of compassionate means.
- We WILL be able to return at the speed of thought to the six realms of samsara - the gardens of birth-and-death and the forests of blind passions.
- We WILL be able to assume various transformed bodies to guide sentient beings.
- We WILL freely sport there with the transcendent powers - able at last to teach and guide suffering beings as we simply cannot do right now.
One last time, I invite you to put on BONBU ears - the ears of a know-nothing who KNOWS he is a know-nothing - as the Dharma Master Shinran speaks. Let’s LISTEN DEEPLY together:
The Buddha of unhindered light, when in the causal stage [as Bodhisattva Dharmakara], awakened this aspiration and established the universal Vow.
The Bodhisattva has already:
- attained the mind of wisdom,
- attained the mind of skillful means
- attained the unobstructed mind,
- fulfilled the wondrous, joyous, excellent, and true mind,
- and quickly realized supreme enlightenment.
The virtues of self-benefit and benefiting others have thus been fulfilled.
Vasubandhu taught this as “The Gates of Entrance and Emergence”.
When we listen deeply, we begin to realize that there truly is nothing left for us to do but entrust ourselves utterly, completely and entirely to Amida Buddha.
- As Bodhisattava Dharmakara, he did it ALL - in endless ages of perfect praxis - benefitting himself by the acquisition of infinite merit to become the greatest of ALL the Buddhas.
- And as Amida Buddha, he does it ALL - even right this very moment - using endless skillful means to bring the entire sentient buddha-verse - every being in all the Ten Quarters - to the end of suffering and Buddhahood at last.
Your karma has brought you - as well as me - to the place where you are hearing these words - the words of the TRUE Teaching - the words of the TRUE and REAL benefit.
You can choose to open your heart and your mind to accept them as given - on Shakyamuni’s and Shinran’s terms. Or, you can decide that you are a better, wiser person than they are - and choose to revise, change, dilute, re-interpret and explain them to suit your own personal views and pre-existing prejudices - your own matrix of delusions and obscurations.
The choice belongs to you - to me - and to all of us who encounter this Dharma. If you are not ready to listen deeply, then that is because your karma has not fully ripened. On the other hand, if you can feel the tug of Amida Buddha through the dharma teaching of Dharma Master Shinran, as well as the tug of your own delusions and obscurations that tell you the teaching simply couldn’t be LITERALLY true - I encourage yoo to bow your own head as I have bowed mine - and ask Amida Buddha to lead you into the fulness of LISTENING DEEPLY.
Shinran’s Dharma Teaching (which I have put in RED text) - - can be found in his Hymn of the Two Gateways of Entrance and Emergence.
NamuAmidaButsu!
NamuAmidaButsu!
NamuAmidaButsu!
Paul R.