[1] Namu-amida-butsu
is vast and unbounded. Because this is the working of Amida, it is fine that we
are happy or unhappy at times. If you forget that Amida is working on us and
about His working, you will go to hell. If you think you are working on your
own even the slightest—from saying the nembutsu, faith (shinjin), and listening (chomon)
to the Buddha-dharma to worshipping Buddha at the temple—no matter what you do,
as long as you hold onto your self-centeredness that you are doing it all on
your own accord, you will definitely be going to hell!
On
the other hand, those who feel that Amida Buddha is entirely working on them
will go to the Pure Land. Some believe that Amida Buddha is working on them
while “they” also pull their own weight. Such a notion of cooperation is not
the right way to think—it is still self-power!
If
one thinks he is working on his own, such a person will definitely go to hell.
If the opposite mentality is the case, then one will naturally express a
grateful feeling for the Buddha: “Thank you, Buddha, I owe it all to you.” If a
person spontaneously expresses such thankful feelings despite any conditions,
involuntarily forgetting “himself”, he will go to the Pure Land. For people on
their deathbeds, “lose or win” is determined in seconds. When a person can take
three meals a day and go to the temple to listen to the Buddha-Dharma as if he
does all this on his own working, although you tell him, “This is not the time
for you to ‘come on stage’, please request the appearance of the Compassionate
Father,” he still keeps working on his own.
On
your deathbed, you are totally powerless; what you have left is absolute
powerlessness, absolute darkness, and absolute horror. Your own power is no
more. When you are powerless, “Well, Amida is waiting!” When you request the
appearance of Amida, you will immediately be taken to the Pure Land. It all
happens in an instant. This is what we call “the sudden within the sudden.”
Know that
because the One Vehicle of the Primal Vow [the vast Primal Vow-Power of the
Tathagata] is the ultimate sudden teaching, the teaching of sudden and
instantaneous attainment, the perfect fulfilled teaching, and the consummate
teaching, it is the absolute and incomparable teaching . . . [2]
Do
you hold this mindset? Once “I” arises, hell would decidedly be where you
belong! Amida Buddha emerges in a flash; when Amida Buddha makes his
appearance, you’ll be going to the Pure Land. At that time, you might think,
“Did I request the appearance of Amida and forget ‘myself’?” However, when you
think this, “you” naturally surfaces! Thus, nothing can work, regardless of
what you do. How then? The Other-Power of Buddha is just to resolve this
problem.
“The
radiance of enlightenment, in its brilliance, transcends all limits. . . .”
This sentence shows the astonishment of Shinran Shonin when he discovered that
ever since he was practicing the 19th and 20th vows of the Path of Sages, he
had always been “taking the lead”. In this life of impermanence, Shonin
realized that to exercise one’s own power to escape from birth-and-death is
absolutely impossible; hence he went to the abode of Honen Shonin to seek the
way.
Honen
Shonin said, “I know nothing. I simply rely exclusively on the one [Buddha]
Amida’s Primal Vow. Just say the nembutsu and be saved by Amida.” So it is
Amida who takes the lead. Shinran Shonin met Amida Buddha there. At that
moment, in his gratitude to Buddha, Shinran Shonin eventually resolved the
matter of life and death.
Therefore,
the problem concerns who will take the lead, you or Amida. This is not easy to
understand, is it? If Amida Buddha takes the lead, then you are born in the
Pure Land. However, if you take the lead, then hell will definitely be your
immediate abode. If you exercise your own power, you will go to hell; on the
other hand, you will go to the Pure Land when you allow Amida to work on you.
Because of that, some people might think, “Am I taking the lead, or is Amida
Buddha?” It is wrong when you think this way. This is why we say, “Do not look
around! Do not calculate!” This simply means just listen to what you are told
by the Buddha. But it is difficult to follow the words of Buddha.
The power of the
Vow is without limit;
Thus, even our
karmic evil, deep and heavy, is not oppressive. [3]
Are
we not satisfied with this one sentence?
The power of the
Vow is without limit;
Thus, even our
karmic evil, deep and heavy, is not oppressive. [3]
Once
“the power of the Vow . . . without limit” makes its appearance, this means,
“Thus, even our karmic evil, deep and heavy, is not oppressive”; “Regardless of
how much karmic evil you amass, it would not create an obstacle to birth in the
Pure Land”; and “Regardless of what kind of good you have done, the good that bombu do is unhelpful to birth in the
Pure Land.” Isn’t the limitless power of the Vow active? Isn’t this enough? It
will not do unless you yourself realize this point.
Giving
the Dharma is more or less like making the horse drink the water and so leading
it to the waterside. But one must drink the water by oneself. Speaking of this
may sound like self-power, but you must not do without yourself being
“awakened”. “Awakened” is the original syntax used in Zen; in Jodo Shinshu,
this term does not apply. Nevertheless, it bears no results simply not having
to be awakened. In the Hymns of the Pure Land Masters, it is said that “all
alike awakened to and entered the true Pure Land way” [4]. “[A]wakened to and
entered” means “to be awakened”. Though it is Jodo Shinshu, one mustn’t do
without making efforts to hear the teaching thoroughly.
As
for me, I don’t make things so difficult, just doing this is enough. [Clench your fist, thumb facing up, with the
rest of the fingers pointing to yourself. The thumb refers to the Tathagata
(Other-Power); the fingers refer to sentient beings (self-power).] This is
also a kind of “awakening”! No one delivers the Dharma in such a way, do they?
Speaking of self-power and Other-Power, this is it [observing his fist], nothing else. We must be awakened to this.
This is known to be Buddha-Dharma; Buddha-Dharma is such.
Of the five
inconceivabilities taught in the sutras,
The
inconceivability of the power of the Buddha-dharma is supreme;
The inconceivability
of the power of the Buddha-dharma
Refers to
Amida’s universal Vow. [5]
In
this hymn, the Compassionate Father appears. That which allows the
Compassionate Father to appear must be done. Therefore, thinking on this point,
“the radiance of enlightenment” in “the radiance of enlightenment, in its
brilliance, [transcending] all limits,” is exactly when Amida appears!
No clouds hang in the sky of my mind any longer;
I go to the Land of Bliss as Amida mindfully watches over me.
“No clouds hang in the sky of my mind any longer” because we rely on
the radiance of the Tathagata, His working, and the fact that the Tathagata is
living, that we can be born in the West. This is relying on Amida for birth.
Ah, Amida Buddha appears, just like when the moon or sun rises and the ten
quarters clear up!
No clouds hang in the sky of my mind any longer;
I go to the Land of Bliss as Amida mindfully watches over me.
Humans
(bombu) have calculations, that is,
they regard Amida as blind—fully blind, to be more precise. Though we say
“Amida knows my mind,” in fact our inner side thinks the opposite: “How could
He possibly know this?” People feel that they are concealed in clothes and
bodies; hence they wonder how Amida Buddha could know deep inside their minds.
Amida, however, really has this bombu
who can do nothing, just like the worms on the yams, in His fingertips.
Therefore, it is fine not to worry about this matter. The wisdom of bombu is the wisdom of ticks or fleas
only; the power of bombu is likened
to that of caterpillars. Amida Buddha has a pretty good idea of what we amount
to! This is “the light of compassion”, “unhindered light”, and “the embracing
light”. We rely on this “power of light” for birth.
Namu-amida-butsu
is the Vow-Power of “Namu-amida-butsu does not allow you to fall, and hence you
can be born there.” The Tathagata knows the cards in your hand thoroughly. He
sees through even the deepest depths of the mind’s abyss, its most distant
part; and only then does He proclaim, “I save you as you stand!”
The
promise that the Buddha makes for us is this: “I will not become a Buddha if I
do not save you.” How can Buddha go back from His word? Therefore we have so
far regarded Amida as blind. If Amida does not appear, we are assuredly going
to hell. But if you really regard Amida as blind, you will go to hell without
hesitation. You act as if you alone possess the discerning eyes, as if only you
have ears to listen, and that Amida’s existence has nothing to do with you.
Regarding Amida as blind, you will definitely go to hell.
When
you truly realize that “Amida knows that I am incapable of anything, that my
karmic evil is deep and heavy; actually Buddha saw through me from the very
beginning,” then you will naturally come to understand the meaning of “as it is.”
Ah, it is just like that! You must have awakened yourself to this point.
Without spending twenty or thirty years listening to Buddha-Dharma, hitting the
wall again and again, how on earth can you realize that “as it is” means that
“Amida saw through even the deepest part of me,” thereby savoring the taste of
“as it is”? This great Father, the Tathagata, [thumb] must appear. Once this happens, the taste of “as it is” will
be comprehended. Then you will be at peace.
As
for “pitch-darkness”, Buddha understands this “pitch-darkness” very well. And
He saves us just like that. And so it is said,
No clouds hang in the sky of my mind any longer;
I go to the Land of Bliss as Amida mindfully watches over me.
You
all just report whatever to Amida, things like what you are incapable of doing,
the mind which is filthy, evil, strong desires, etc. But even if you do not do
so, Amida still knows you. Hence, Amida knew you thoroughly before pronouncing,
“I save you as you stand”. This is the promise of Buddha. This is called Vow (seigan). Therefore, such feelings as
this will naturally be born out of sentient beings.
No clouds hang in the sky of my mind any longer;
I go to the Land of Bliss as Amida mindfully watches over me.
Amida
Buddha beholds sentient beings. It is through His “light of wisdom” and “light
of compassion” that He sees through us and thus is called “the radiance of
enlightenment, in its brilliance, [transcending] all limits.”
(Talk on Wasans at Myosho-ji Temple, Hikone, Shiga
Prefecture)
[1]
This talk is based on the following passage from the Hymns of the Pure Land (The Collected Works of Shinran, Vol. I,
326):
The radiance of
enlightenment, in its brilliance, transcends all limits;
Thus Amida is called
“Buddha of the Light of Purity.”
Once illuminated
by this light,
We are freed of
karmic defilements and attain emancipation.
[2]
Gutoku’s Notes (The Collected Works of
Shinran, Vol. I, 592)
[3]
Hymns of the Dharma Ages (The Collected
Works of Shinran, Vol. I, 408)
[4]
Hymns of the Pure Land Masters (The
Collected Works of Shinran, Vol. I, 389)
[5]
Hymns of the Pure Land Masters (The
Collected Works of Shinran, Vol. I, 369)
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