Gratitude Even Through the Tears
LuanTaoChe: Dear Brother Paul,
Thank you for sharing your experience of Jessie in The Pure Land, as a full Buddha.
===
Dear LuanTaoChe -
We’ve never met, and probably never will, this side of death.
But it is clear that we share the same reality.
===
LuanTaoChe: Was she not in great need of compassion? If the answer is YES, then her ‘fate’ is defined by The Primal Vow, and she is both in The Land of Bliss and amongst us now as an enlightened being.
===
Yes, Jessie was in need of great compassion - without question.
And yes, her fate was defined by the Primal Vow, rather than her own merit - because she became a person of True Entrusting (SHINJIN).
And yes, she responded in one thought moment to the call of Amida Buddha thanks to Taitetsu Unno’s book - Shin Buddhism: Bits of Rubble Turn To Gold - which transmitted Shinran’s teaching to her listening ears and open heart.
And yes, she is now both in The Land of Bliss and amongst us now as an enligtened being.
===
LuanTaoChe: One cannot grasp this ‘Shinjin’….this True Entrusting… one is grasped BY it.
===
No, we cannot grasp this SHINJIN - this TRUE ENTRUSTING. We can only be grasped by it - even as she was grasped.
===
LuanTaoChe: There is no explanation for Namu Amida Butsu..only gratitude…even through the tears.
===
No, ultimately there is no “logical” explanation for Namu Amida Butsu (for abandoning ourselves to Amida’s Infinite Life - for taking refuge in Amida’s vow).
And yes, ultimately there is only gratitude - even through the tears.
===
LuanTaoChe: Thanks for sharing the Glorious Mystery of The Vow.
===
I join you in thanking all who have come before us, who shared faithfully and accurately the Final Teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha for plain people like us.
Had they not shared, how would we have heard?
Had they not been faithful and accurate, how would we have understood?
Had they not themselves been people of SHINJIN - of TRUE ENTRUSTING - how would we have come to be people of SHINJIN too - liberated by knowing that we too are grasped - never to be abandoned - no matter what?
===
NamuAmidaButsu,
LuanTaoChe
===
NamuAmidaButsu! With you and countless others, including my beloved Jessie - I have taken refuge in Amida Buddha and his primal Vow.
NamuAmidaButsu! With you and countless others I too am being carried on the easy path - the sure path - the path of simple entrusting - to full and final liberation at the end of this life - where we will meet, as Buddhas, at last.
NamuAmidaButsu -
Paul