I take refuge in the Tathagata
of Unhindered Light filling the ten quarters—
Spend thirty years
To savor its taste.
In the process of acquiring knowledge of the Buddha-Dharma, we need to
have a plan or intention to live up to thousands of years and adopt the
following mentality to learn and practice the honorable Buddha-Dharma: ‘Must
learn,’ ‘must learn the Buddha-Dharma for the sake of the Buddha-Dharma,’ ‘for the
Buddha-Dharma’s sake, we must pass down the Buddha-Dharma to the next generation.’
In the face of the question of the ‘afterlife,’ we need to consider this
life—which is beyond predictions even for tonight—as compared to a dewdrop. Behold, ‘impermanence’
appears right in front of us and ‘death’ is at our side, so we had better listen
up at once! For the persons who hold such a view, the Buddha-Dharma will be theirs.
Shinran Shōnin says, ‘This is the art of walking our own practice while at the
same time teaching others’ (Zonkaku Shōnin, “Tract Extolling the Virtue of
Shinran Shōnin” [Tandokumon]).
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