Essay 119

Birth through the Vow-Power,

NamoAmidaButsu—

How grateful

That the path exists!

My birth (to the Land of Bliss) has long been accomplished;

The Master of the path, Amida Tathagata,

Is calling to you.

How indebted!

For bonbu (foolish beings) to become Buddha is a tall order; because you are ignorant of this fact, you keep exerting self-power in one way or another. We have only to look up and entrust to the inconceivability of the Name and the Vow-Power. Saying that you know about it, remember it, and think on it—that design of the mind as well as its object are subject to change. Therefore, they are equally unreliable.

What is reliable is only the Primal Vow-power of the inconceivable Buddha-wisdom. And what diverts our attention to this again is ‘the Primal Vow-power of the great compassion.’ The Shoshinge is quoted as saying, ‘When a thought of mindfulness of Amida’s Primal Vow arises, at that instance we spontaneously enter the stage of non-retrogression.’ How indebted we are to the benevolence (of the Tatagatha)!