Everything in the dharma teaching Shinran propagated for his entire life springs from something he heard about but never saw personally - something that occurred in one unequaled moment in space and time.
What moment was that? It was the moment when Shakyamuni Buddha shifted from one mode of being into another.
If you lack a strong background in Buddhist teaching, a bit of explanation is in order. (more…)
In Shin Buddhism, there is nothing else to do but LISTEN DEEPLY - which means listening with the left brain for the content, and with the right brain for the feeling - of what Shakyamuni Buddha is teaching.
There is no other practice.
Even saying Nembutsu is not a practice, as Master Shinran and Master Rennyo explain. True Nembutsu arises naturally as the expression of our gratitude. True Nembutsu is not something we do - it is something that is GIVEN - the gift of Amida Buddha in the hearts of those people who have been caused to hear because…
They have listened DEEPLY.
So let’s listen deeply, together, to Dharma Master Shinran as he begins to unfold the great mystery of the Pure Land Path to Buddhahood. (more…)
As 2005 draws to a close, a small band of Shin Buddhists, including clerics, scholars and laypeople, look forward to 2006 with a firm sense of great purpose.
That purpose is nothing less than to restore the dying Shin Sangha by propagating, once again, the True Teaching of Shinran Shonin.
Authentic propgation of the True Teaching was no small task in Master Shinran’s day. It was no small task in Master Rennyo’s day. And it is no small task in our day either. (more…)