Unit 28 Amida is Existent and Active!

The sermon of "Don’t worry!" is the definite command of the Tathagata. It encompasses the entirety of the great wisdom, the great compassion, the Primal Vow and the Name of the Tathagata, the Vow-Practice and the merits inclusive.

The "calling sound" of the Tathagata connotes the accomplishment of my path of salvation.

Before the inconceivable Primal Vow-Power and the Buddha-wisdom, the human nature of doubts and calculations is wiped out.

Knowledge, hearing, calculations, designs, thoughts, and qualms do not work, so they perish.

Perish just once, and then think what you like. 

Righteousness, sin, ideas, faith--

Forget all about these!

Stare at the open sky;

The clear moon is shining brightly.

It is a real sickness that you don’t see the one and only ‘rope’ (the calling of the inconceivable Primal Vow-Power of the Buddha-wisdom) lowered by the Tathagata, but instead engage yourself in "fulfilling peace of mind (anjin) for birth."

Do you want peace of mind (anjin)? Do you really wish to attain peace of mind (anjin)? I have never thought of thing like that.

What you think – whether or not you believe you have anjin, will not stop you from falling into hell.

Jodo Shinshu necessitates neither faith nor practice from the part of sentient beings.

Due to the fact that the Tathagata is living, our matter of the afterlife has become nothing of a problem.

Erase the teaching and faith of the Buddha and leave nothing behind.

Rejoice at ‘Ah, how good that you exterminate my human nature (doubts and calculations)!’

'Namu-Amida-Butsu is inconceivable!'

'The inconceivable Buddha-Wisdom is inconceivable!'

This is the only remaining sentiment.

From our side, it is alright to be foolish as Buddha is forever righteous and flawless.

No matter what sorts of things happen we don’t care a thing on our side.

While thinking of the Buddha we occasionally call to mind the words of someone that mean nothing for the Buddha-Dharma, gibberish like this should be left to rot in the field. If those words contain Buddha-dharma, then think it is nothing but the Buddha’s teaching to you in person. 

The perfect enlightenment of Amida Nyorai has nothing to do with that.

It is fine to count on and entrust yourself to the ‘teaching’.

It is not fine to make an effort to go with the 'teaching'.

'Burn away the sutras, kill off the dharma teachers.'

(These two sentences come from the exposition of ‘Poisoned Sayings of the Heart Sutra’. They were cited here to warn us not to be attached to the words of someone who has forgotten Amida Buddha.)

I will still gain deliverance if I do that, nothing (concerning my liberation) changes.

Note: Zuiken Sensei added a quote from Hakuin Zenji's Dokugo Shingyo - 'Acid Comments on the Heart Sutra':

'Plucking the twinning vines that reach towards the sky (that) entrap the myriad types of monks/practitioners. Hoping that all may find the path to liberation, which is as difficult as an eagle flying through the hole of a lotus root.'

I take refuge in the Tathagata of Unhindered Light shinning throughout the ten quarters!

Ah, how amazingly brilliant!

The command of Amida Buddha that pronounces 'don’t worry, I will cross you over' is the ‘heart’ of Amida Buddha, is the ‘illumination’ (the Unhindered Light).

'Is Amida Buddha existent at present?'

To ask a question and just ask like that, you will find the answer in itself.

When you ask like that, ‘my rebirth is no problem.’

The answer will be ‘existent’, 'at present'.

The Tathagata is existent at present signifies that the reality that the Primal Vow is active and real.

'Merits that are not cultivated in vain depend totally on the Primal Vow of Amida. From the vow arises the force (power), from the force (power) the vow is fulfilled. With the workings of the vow and the power, nothing is not accomplished. Thus this is called the ‘attainment’ of the vow.' (The Vow-Power that is not cultivated in vain)

 Master Tan Luan, Ojoronchu

'This Buddha, having attained Buddhahood, now dwells in the Pure Land. You should know that his weighty vows are not in vain. Sentient beings who call his Name will unfailingly attain birth.'

Master Shan-tao, Ojoraisan / Liturgy of Birth

In view of the fact that the Tathagata is living at present we have nothing to worry about.

In view of the fact that the Tathagata is living at present, the faith of the self-power and so forth are alright to be present or not. Either way, it is alright.

Question: What does Zuiken Sensei rely on and how does he attain peace of mind (anjin)?

Answer: I ask 'Is the Tathagata living presently?' 'If he is', this constitutes anjin. This is the ‘eye’ of the seven masters, the Kyogyoshinsho, the Gobunshu/Ofumi and the Wasans and teaching of the Shinshu, also for the rest of the sutras.

'To look like or turn into somebody or something' 'to become something', do not bother to look at the flowers of others. I cannot be like others.  Just put other people aside for the time being.

It is not the Buddha dharma of others, neither the Tathagata nor the Pure Land. It is the Pure Land and Tathagata of me alone.

 'Buddha' – the 'summoning sounds' of the inconceivable Buddha-Wisdom, just pay attention to this.  It is fine to have faith and realizes that ‘The Tathagata is living now’.

Oyasama is here, I have nothing to say.

It is barely the world of the Oyasama, the Tathagata, Namu-Amida-Butsu and the sounds of beckoning.

昭和 三十一年 二月一日

Zuiken Sensei