Question: Are we talking about the “absolute pitch darkness” beyond both the awakened
(bright) and unawakened (dark) mind?
Answer: It is difficult to speak about the absolute pitch darkness. There was once
a monk named Deshan, who was baffled by the question of an old lady. The monk
said to the old lady, “You are incredible！I believe there must be a wise monk living nearby.” The old lady answered, “Yes
indeed, there is a monk named Master Lung-tan (Dragon Pool).” So Deshan the
monk went to visit Master Lung-tan.
That night, after Deshan the monk had finished his
conversation with the master, he bade him farewell. “I must take my leave now.”
The master lit the lantern and led Deshan out. “Ah, thank you so much!” On the
way out, Master Lung-tan suddenly blew out the lantern. They were thrown into total
darkness in that moment, without knowing what direction to take. It was a
complete darkness. This kind of “absolute pitch darkness” really does exist! Right
then, Deshan the monk exclaimed “Ah!” and was enlightened. Therefore, the
followers of Jodo Shinshu are fortunate to chance upon one such “absolute pitch
dark” situation in their lives.
Even so, if you do not encounter the “absolute
pitch darkness” until the moment of death, it is still not an absolute pitch
dark moment that you want to meet. As long as a person is still alive, he will
bear in mind the idea of “listening to the Buddha Dharma and trusting in the
Buddha-dharma for birth in the Pure Land.” At the point of death, however, one
will lose the power to listen and to trust, and even what one has heard in the
past will all be forgotten, so that one is plunged into truly absolute
pitch-darkness. During that time, the Dharma that one most frequently listens to
will become enlivened. “Aha! This is it!” In that moment, one’s eyes have
become blind, and when this happens it is of no avail. You simply cannot depend
on your ears to receive (hear) the Dharma. So, when a good teacher comes, the
only thing he can do is to hold on to the hands of the man on his deathbed, or
hold him in his arms. That alone will make him understand. In that moment, what
is appropriate to talk about—something you can say that is good—is “Namu-amida-butsu, Namu-amida-butsu.” The Contemplation Sutra and other sutras all give the same instruction,
and this is not to explain. Namu-amida-butsu, Namu-amida-butsu . . . Just this
one saying is good for everything.
Question: Will this “absolute pitch darkness” come to everyone?
Answer: Regardless of your having shinjin or not, the absolute pitch darkness will
still come upon you. No matter what sort of person you are, at the time of
death, the absolute pitch darkness will certainly emerge. So even now, at
present, you are in absolute pitch darkness.
Talking about “the absolute pitch darkness,” fellow-practicer
Kichibee say it very well that “in that moment, the mind of bombu is like
casting ashes in a strong wind.” My mind is just the same, like casting white
ashes in a strong wind. On a day when the wind is blowing strongly, try gathering
a handful of white ashes, then throw it into the air. In the twinkling of an
eye, all the ashes will be blown away, won’t they? If one does not come to
understand this point, he will become attached to the idea of “I have listened
to the Buddha-dharma,” turning “I have listened to the Buddha-dharma” into something
unchanging to fall back on, and thinking that he or she will become “illumined”
by it. Fellow-practicer Kichibee is not like that; he says that “the mind of
bombu is like casting ashes in a strong wind.”
This frame of mind is very good. Even so, for the
person who has never experienced this, no matter how much you talk to him or
her about it, it would not make any difference. If you say, “The mind of bombu
is like casting white ashes in a strong wind,” he would think, “Then, I will
need to make my dark mind illumined,” or “I have to train my transient mind to
become unmoving.” If people have such a mentality, it cannot be helped. When
you know your mind—and shinjin is like that—you won’t try to grasp it, will
you? The saying of fellow-practicer Kichibee carries a critical and weighty
message.
To think this way, and keep on thinking in such a
way, is to believe that “my own thoughts would never change.” This mentality is
just wrong.
And there is a poem which goes against such a frame
of mind. It is a poem by Honen Shonin:
The unmoving
mind
is your
original master
you should be
awakened to this at last!
This poem is talking about “the unmoving mind.”
The unmoving
mind
is your
original master
you should be
awakened to this at last!
“The unmoving mind” is the mind of Amida Buddha. Since
Amida s mind is unmoving, it is fine if our mind here is constantly changing, isn’t
it? From the standpoint of Amida Buddha, it is “unmoving”; from the standpoint of
bombu, it is “constantly changing.”
To make “the constantly moving mind” unmoving, to convert
the changing mind to the mind at peace (anjin) or more appositely joyful feeling, to make joyful feeling an objective is just not right. For
such people who make joyful feeling their objective, the saying of fellow-practicer
Kichibee is most appropriate:
The mind of bombu is like casting white ashes in a
strong wind.
It is enough to just remember these words; these
are very good words. Buddha-dharma cannot be explained using worldly knowledge.
But it is not possible to do without worldly knowledge either, because if you
do not know about worldly knowledge, you will be ridiculed as an idiot.
Question: In Buddhism, it is good to be an idiot. What you call “birth into the Pure
Land while remaining ignorant,” what does it mean to be “an idiot,” being “ignorant”?
Answer: “Being an idiot is good, quite good; in this way you can be born in the
Pure Land.” This is a reliable saying for all time.
Regarding the term “ignorance,” this means to not
rely on the wisdom of bombu, to not rely on “realization,” to not think about
“willing to understand.” Isn’t this the epitome of ignorance? “Not to
understand” means to be ignorant; it is “no matter how many times you listen,
you still cannot understand.” This is what you call “ignorance.” There are two
types of ignorance. The first is that, even though one has listened to the
Buddha-dharma, one does not comprehend the intention of the Buddha-dharma, for example,
“to show filial piety to one’s parents” and “to be kind to others.” Isn’t it
idiotic not to know about these things? What is it if not being idiotic? It is
always right and proper to be filial towards parents; these are the rules of
human conduct. It is idiotic to not know about such basic things.
The second type of ignorance is that of the idiots
who are born in the Pure Land. There are two kinds of idiot. The idiot who is
born in the Pure Land is the person who believes that it is impossible to
become a Buddha through human wisdom. Isn’t he idiotic? Isn’t it idiotic that
we don’t rely on human wisdom? The person who says, “I am an idiot” does not
rely on his wisdom in the slightest, so he is precisely such idiot.
This was a practical problem that happened in the
Shiga Prefecture, where there lived a retired school headmaster who had finally
become a rare practicer of shinjin. But before this—about twenty years ago—he
came to see me. He had been headmaster for several decades, and so was very
knowledgeable. As a result, he talked fluently and endlessly about his
understanding. So I replied to him,
“It is unbelievable that you have listened so much to
the Buddha-dharma. You know so much about the Buddha-dharma. This is truly
unbelievable!”
After listening to my praise, the schoolmaster laughed
for joy.
But my next words to him were ominous. “Regrettably,
you will be going to hell after this life is over,” I said.
At this, his formerly beaming face grew serious.
From that day onwards, he began to clean up his acts. So it was impossible
without giving him a blow and a shout to awaken him from his error. If a person
has not had a good teacher to give a blow and shout to awaken him from error,
he will become very arrogant and big-headed.
By Zuiken Sama
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