Unit 13: ‘Birth in the Pure Land Is Attainable Even with a Dark Mind’

Question: Do you think that ‘The unhindered light is the sun of wisdom dispersing the darkness of our ignorance’ and ‘Birth in the Pure Land is attainable even with a dark mind’ are conflicting statements?

Answer: ‘Birth in the Pure Land is attainable even with a dark mind’ and ‘the sun of wisdom dispersing the darkness of ignorance.’ When I talk about ‘the state of pitch-darkness,’ I am referring to the mentality of a human being.

In principle, once the darkness of ignorance has been removed, the long night of birth-and-death will be illumined. To believe that the mind of bombu will then become enlightened, however, is mistaken.

There can be no doubt that birth in the Pure Land is accomplished through ‘dispersing the darkness of our ignorance.’ Therefore, ‘the unhindered light is the sun of wisdom dispersing the darkness of our ignorance’ is the basic principle here. We, too, are simply relying on this one saying for birth in the Pure Land. Once ignorance is removed, all karmic defilements are exterminated. Then you will naturally be born in the Pure Land, where you cannot refuse it or fall into hell even if you wish to.

Some people are ignorant of this and say instead that ‘birth in the Pure Land is attained through saying the nembutsu,’ ‘birth in the Pure Land is attained through acquiring shinjin,’ and so on. In actual fact, apart from relying on Amida Buddha’s ‘unhindered light’ for ‘dispersing the darkness of our ignorance,’ there is no other path for attaining birth in the Pure Land. If you understand this point very well, your self-power mind of ‘doing something to seek for birth in the Pure Land’ will naturally disappear. Even so, some people still exercise their self-power, and so our Shonin said, ‘the unhindered light is the sun of wisdom dispersing the darkness of our ignorance.’

Because Jodo-shu says, ‘Birth in the Pure Land is not possible without saying the nembutsu’ and so on, therefore our Shonin says, ‘The unhindered light is the sun of wisdom dispersing the darkness of our ignorance.’ Again, in connection with the claims of the Tendai sect, the Huayan sect, the Shingon sect and the Zen school that it is not possible to disperse the darkness of ignorance without sitting in meditation, Jodo Shinshu says, ‘The unhindered light is the sun of wisdom dispersing the darkness of our ignorance’ to emphasize that there is no need for bombu to perform a practice that is beyond their capability. That is why it is said, ‘The unhindered light is the sun of wisdom dispersing the darkness of our ignorance.’

Then there is the mentality of bombu when listening to the Dharma talk, which is that no matter how much you listen to the Dharma talk, your mind will remain pitch-dark. ‘Ignorance’ and the mentality of bombu of being ‘pitch-dark’ carry different meanings. You cannot generalize regarding these two concepts.

Question: I thought that birth is attained when our mind is enlightened.

Answer: This is the mistake commonly made by fellow practicers when listening to the Dharma talk. They believe that by accepting shinjin reverently, their minds will be enlightened. But what is it that is enlightened? Until the time of death, how could ‘the persons who don’t know anything’ ever enlighten their minds?

Question: Does ‘just as I am’ (konomama) refer to the conditions of our mind which are incapable of being enlightened?

Answer: ‘Just as I am’ implies that, no matter what, birth in the Pure Land is simply unachievable. To assert, ‘If you say the nembutsu, birth in the Pure Land is achievable’, or ‘If you accept shinjin reverently, birth in the Pure Land is achievable’—these are just your claims.

The reality is that ‘no matter what, birth in the Pure Land is simply unachievable,’ but it is also that ‘no matter what, birth in the Pure Land is made achievable through the Primal Vow Power.’ Therefore, ‘no matter what, birth in the Pure Land is simply unachievable’ denotes ‘just as I am.’

If you are not satisfied with ‘just as I am,’ what in the end is it that you want to become in order to attain birth in the Pure Land? You may say, ‘Maybe after I have accepted shinjin reverently.’ But after you have accepted shinjin reverently, then what changes do you expect to see? Nothing changes, does it? The thought of ‘After accepting shinjin reverently, there will be a change’ is mistaken. To believe that one must change to be ‘joyfully’ born in the Pure Land, or that one must ‘say the nembutsu to be born in the Pure Land’—wherever there is a change to take place—is a false belief.

Even after you have accepted shinjin reverently, there will be times when joy arises and times when it does not. The same goes for saying the nembutsu. Even if you have accepted shinjin reverently, there will be times when ‘saying the nembutsu’ bubbles up and when it does not too. When you realize that ‘indeed, nothing changes,’ you will be able to accept ‘just as I am’ with reverence.

Question: What is the meaning of ‘birth in the Pure Land is certain, salvation is sure’ and ‘the thought of acquiring birth in the Pure Land’?

Answer: ‘The thought of acquiring birth in the Pure Land’ is an attribute of shinjin, and not the pith of shinjin. What is called ‘shinjin’ is the shinjin of ‘entrusting oneself to the Primal Vow-power.’ If you place too much emphasis on attaining birth, you will inadvertently fall prey to the doctrine of ‘wish to be born as the core,’ and so distort the three minds. Upon hearing the inconceivable power—the Primal Vow-power—of the majestic virtue of Namu Amida Butsu, one simply thinks, ‘Ah, it is truly inconceivable, truly hard to come by!’ This is shinjin. One should not be making ‘able or unable to attain birth in the Pure Land’ the heart of the matter.

O World-honored one, with the mind that is single,

I take refuge in the Tathagata of Unhindered Light

Filling the ten quarters,

And aspire to be born in the land of happiness.

(Bodhisattva Vasubandhu, Treatise on the Pure Land)

In these verses, ‘the mind that is single’ is the core, from which ‘aspire to be born in the land of happiness’ is derived. You cannot lump these two concepts together. Hearing the Primal Vow-power of the Tathagata, the ideas of whether one is ‘able to attain birth’ or ‘unable to attain birth’ would be just as well discarded. Of course you will attain birth! Nevertheless, humans just like to grasp the shadow and let go of the substance.

What is the heart of shinjin? What do you entrust to or believe in? This is where the problem lies. If you believe in ‘birth is attainable,’ that’s mi-anjin, or false faith, which is the doctrine of ‘wish to be born as the core’ or ‘take refuge and aspire to be born there.’ However, this is not the case at all. The anjin (settled mind) of Jodo Shinshu, taking into account the doctrine of the three minds, is the teaching of shingyo or ‘joyful faith.’

If you make ‘able or unable to attain birth’ the primary matter, ‘wish to be born there’ will become the core, which is out of the question. This ‘wish to be born’ arises from and is an attribute of joyful faith. If you attempt to discard it, it will naturally return. But it is confusing to speak of this aspiration as though it were the heart of shinjin.

Zuiken Sensei


Original essay in Chinese at / 中文原稿取自:
http://www.fjbk.cn/User8/6391/Show.asp?/_articleid/88457.html