The meaning of “there are no precepts”

Question: “Why does Jodo Shinshu deny and discourage the observance of Buddhist precepts? Can I observe precepts and be a Shinshu follower? Why it is said in Jodo Shinshu that “there are no precepts”? 

Answer: In Jodo Shinshu we do not deny nor discourage anybody to try to observe precepts. We are not against precepts; we do not say that followers of this school should not try to observe precepts or lead a moral life. What we say is that we should not think that trying to observe precepts creates personal merits that can be used to have more chances to be born in the Pure Land. We are born in the Pure Land and become Buddhas only due to Amida’s Power, not to our own efforts in observing precepts or in doing such and such practices.

My advice is this: as a voluntary choice and not a requirement for birth in the Pure Land, try your best to live a moral life, which can include not to hurt anybody directly or indirectly, don’t steal, don’t engage in sexual misconduct, don’t make abortions, don’t lie, don’t drink intoxicants, don’t eat meat, etc., but never relate this to your attainment of Buddhahood which comes only through Amida Buddha’s Other Power. Your success or lack of success in voluntarily observing precepts has no connection with your Enlightenment, so be relaxed in this matter. This is the difference between Jodo Shinshu and other Buddhist schools. 

What a Jodo Shinshu follower does is to delete once and for all the words “personal merit” or “personal virtue” from his Buddhist vocabulary. These concepts may have some significance in other schools but in Jodo Shinshu they have no significance at all. 

 

Neither Shinran Shonin nor any patriarch of our school ever said, “kill, steal, lie, cheat on your wife, etc.”, but rather they intended to say: “even if you don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat on your wife, etc., it doesn’t mean that you are a good person capable of attaining Buddhahood by yourself.” This should be very well understood.

Also, even if it is said in the sacred texts that in the last age of the Dharma precepts do no longer exist, this doesn’t mean that we should kill and steal as we like. The expression, “there are no precepts” means that people living in the last age of the Dharma are no longer capable of using precepts in order to advance to Enlightenment. Thus, precepts are as good as non-existent for the last goal of Buddhist practice. I repeat, precepts are as good as non-existent for the last goal of Buddhist practice which means the attainment of Buddhahood. However, we can still read in the sutras and other Buddhist books about the precepts so we can’t say they have been deleted from our written or collective memory. We can read about them and see how the Buddhas wants us to behave, think and talk, so we should try to guide our lives by them as much as possible, but doing so no longer constitutes a means to advance on the path to Enlightenment. This is because our capacities to truly observe the precepts both in letter and spirit are as little as non-existent. Jodo Shinshu states that the minds and environment of beings living in this age distant from the physical presence of Shakyamuni are so much perverted that they cannot advance to Buddhahood by themselves using various methods of self-improving until one day purity, perfect wisdom and compassion are achieved.

So, what we say is that Jodo Shinshu doesn’t believe in the spiritual capacities of unenlightened beings. This is why we do not insist on precepts. Everything unenlightened beings do in the three ways of action[1] is poisoned by ignorance and egoism, so they can’t be called pure or good actions useful for attaining Buddhahood. Attachment to our so-called goodness is just another illusion among the many that we inherit from the distant past.

That being said, I ask you again, please do not misunderstand the teaching of our school:

-         Jodo Shinshu is not an encouragement to immorality, irresponsibility or laziness.

-         Followers of this school may try their best to lead a life based on non-harming Buddhist principles explained in the precepts.

-         Jodo Shinshu states that Enlightenment comes through Amida Buddha and is not gained by the actions of unenlightened beings

-         Jodo Shinshu believes that only Buddhas have true merits that can be shared with others.

In short, do your best in your everyday life to live according to the precepts but rely only on Amida for the attainment of Buddhahood. Also, if you fail in perfectly observing the precepts, and I am certain that you will fail, don’t ever feel that you are excluded from Amida’s salvation. Don’t transform your trying to observe precepts into an obstacle blocking the non-discriminating Compassion of Amida Buddha.

 

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[1] With mind, speech and body.