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Copyright@ Adrian Gheorghe Cirlea (Josho Adrian Cirlea)
ATTENTION! Those who use passages from my books and articles on this website must mention the source, and provide a link to it.
Rev Oku Kyokai of Zuikoji temple in Osaka passed away last night at 85 years old. First time I met him in 2004 (I was 27 ) when I visited Japan for
the second time. He found about me on internet and invited me at his temple on
his expanse where he offered me accommodation for three weeks. He greeted me
warmly and kindly helped me to visit mount Koyasan as well as various religious
sites in the Kansai area. We held religious services together at his temple and
in the houses of people from his parish. I remember fondly how I recited
Nembutsu, Sambutsuge and Juseige in a tiny Japanese house for a big family with
parents, grandparents, children and a dog, all gathered together in front of
their obutsudan (home altar).
Dear
friends in the Dharma, During
my recent Nembutsu pilgrimage an older aspiration resurfaced with great power
in my mind – to have a big outdoor statue of Amida Buddha (Amitabha/Amituofo) of at least 4 meters high on
the land of Amidaji temple in Romania (see photos bellow), for the benefit of human and nonhuman
beings. As
you might know, there is great merit and great karmic connection for those who
see and show respect to Budha statues. Recently, I came across this sutra
passage, quoted by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who also approved and supported the
building of the Kadampa Stupa in my country, that I visited a few weeks ago, “Manjushri
asked Buddha, ‘One Gone Beyond, now you are the only object to whom sentient
beings can make offering. After you pass into the sorrowless state, what will
sentient beings do? How will they accumulate merit when they can’t see Buddha anymore?
Please advise us.’ Buddha
answered, ‘My four followers, there is not one single difference between making
offerings to me now and in the future, with devotion, making offerings to my
reflections. The merit is equal and the result is equal.’”
Homage to all
Dharma gates taught by Shakyamuni and to all
authentic lineages of transmission. Homage to Amida
Buddha whose Name is
praised by all Buddhas.
It all started with a short conversation with myself.
Buddhism has accustomed me to make quick decisions, so in about three minutes I
contemplated in my mind: "I want to visit the stupa at Tranișu, but will I
get along with the people there? What kind of Buddhists are they? How do they
view the Dharma? Will I like them or will they like me?" Then I answered
to myself: "None of these matters. A stupa is a stupa and it's very good
that it exists. I have to get there. Those who worked on that stupa did
something extraordinary and deserve my respect.” As I completed this reasoning,
I spontaneously visualized the stupa enveloped in light, which gave me
confidence that my decision to visit it was correct and that the place was auspicious.
Then I said to myself: "I will go there on foot"[1].
As
I mentioned in the article about the plan for the water system (click here if you want to read it), the local authorities managed to bring the main water pipes in the
village and placed secondary ones in front of each property in order to bring
water to the whole village. From this main and secondary water pipes each owner
has to pay for installing its own pipes and build its own water system through
which to bring the water inside his property and house. However,
I have decided to not wait anymore for the authorities to start the public water system in the village as they constantly delay it due to various
technical problems and I decided to create Amidaji’s own independent water
system from the well that is already available in the temple’s courtyard. Thus, I bought
many materials, pipes, sacks of cement, engines, etc, and paid 4 workers (two of them also built the Amidado Hall) who
repaired and deepened the well, so that it can access the underground water source.
They also built a concrete chamber in the ground near the well from where
various pipes go underground to a short area in the courtyard and through the walls of the bathroom.
They installed a new boiler (I hope this is how it’s called in English) of 100
liters that heats enough water to be used for many visitors, as well as a new
washing machine which visitors who stay in retreat can use as much as they need. A
shower and sink with permanent hot and cold water was also installed. As you can see in the first photo (upper left) now
its easier to draw water from the well through a pipe that leads to a small fountain near it.
Please carefully watch this video discussion and read my commentary on the third chapter of Tannisho – attainment of Buddhahood by the evil person (fragment from my book The Path of Acceptance - Commentary on Tannisho), that I present to you bellow,
“Even a good person attains birth in the Pure Land,
so it goes without saying that an evil person will.”
This statement
is to help us break our limited view of Buddhist practice based on the so
called power of the ego and escape its dangerous traps. Many people who hear
the message of the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha and the wonderful Jodo Shinshu
teaching about it, are struck by the simplicity and easiness of the attainment
of birth in the Pure Land. Although they seem to understand what it is all
about, in fact they cannot accept this teaching as it is. Even if they
hear that Amida especially saves (leads to birth in the Pure Land and to
Buddhahood) all people no matter their good or evil karma, their merits or lack
of any merit, they still cannot believe what they hear and think that somehow,
those with some merits and virtues are especially saved, or they are even more
saved than the others with no merits. When these
people hear that Amida made his Primal Vow with the intent of the “evil
person’s attainment of Buddhahood” they do not take this statement for what
it is, i.e. to immediately entrust in it and become happy about it, but they
think the contrary, that especially because “an evil person attains birth
[in the Pure Land], it goes without saying that a good person will.” This
line of thinking goes something along the lines “if evil people are saved, then
we who are not so bad as they, deserve all the more to be born in the Pure
Land.” Thus, instead of relying on Amida’s power, they still cling to their own
power and merits. So Master Shinran continues as follows:
The editorial policy of this website is to present only the orthodox teachings of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism. Before I link to any other website, I investigate that website to make sure that they share the same attitude. I reject any website that presents false or divergent teachings, or that links to other websites that present false or divergent teachings.