My dharma friend Jason writes:
I must confess that I walked away confused from our last conversation. The whole issue of doubt in Shinran’s teaching continues to plague me.
I have moments of what one could call doubt on a semi-regular basis — much of it stemming, I think, from my own psychological makeup, family conditioning and pressures, as well a mind that’s been conditioned by Academia to doubt everything that comes my way.
So, since I am a person of Shinjin, must I still bear the “consequences of doubting,” as you said in our last conversation?
Or, as you wrote to me in a blog post, does it simply not matter what happens post-Shinjin? Honestly, this is a point on which I find Shinran ambiguous.
My heart tells me that I’ve been grasped, never to be abandoned — no matter what my mind coughs up.
As a serious person, Jason asks a profound question. Here is my best reply: (more…)