Prologue 2

Bombu are not worth comparing with even the wood used for boiling water, they are not worth anything. The Tathagata is the compassionate parent who proclaims that ‘I am’ his only child. Just right here you can find the key to shinjin and birth.

‘I’ll never let you fall into the depraved abode, I’ll definitely save you!’

Only the Oyasama (compassionate parent) will take care of us so much.

‘True mind penetrates deeply into one’s self.’ This means that one has come to ‘understand the Oyasama’.  ‘The diamond-like shinjin’ is the moment that you understand the mind of the Oyasama. Had you not become one of the parents how could you genuinely feel the heart of the Oyasama. Hence, it is through the words of Shinran Shonin that we come to understand the Oyasama and His mind. Without the personality of Shonin and his Dharma words, how could we know, let alone entrust in faith to the Tathagata’s words and His Primal Vow. The person who witnessed the way it is with us, why then would you harbour doubts? And why would you still remain sitting on the fence? 

Zuiken Sensei