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"If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings of the ten quarters who sincerely entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and say my Name perhaps even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain the supreme Enlightenment."
Primal Vow of Amida Buddha
One who is
sincerely in love will say „I love you” often or seldom, and wish to be with
the person he loves. Similarly, a person who sincerely entrusts to Amida Buddha
will express his faith by saying the Name of Amida and wish to be born in His
Pure Land. It’s as simple as that.
Feelings of love are automaticaly expressed
with words of affection, just like faith in Amida will manifest as Namo Amida
Bu (Nembutsu). Thus, we can say that the
Nembutsu and wish to be born in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha are expressions
or manifestations of faith. One who has faith or „sincerely entrusts” to Amida will certainly say His Name and
desire to be with Him in His Pure Land. This is why Shinran Shonin said that
faith (shinjin) is the cause of birth in the Pure Land and subsequent
attainment of Nirvana:
"Through
the karmic power of the great Vow, the
person who has realized true and real shinjin naturally is in accord with the
cause of birth in the Pure Land and is drawn by the Buddha's karmic power;
hence the going is easy, and ascending to and attaining the supreme great
Nirvana is without limit."[1]
"Only
with the diamondlike shinjin
Can we, living in the evil world of the five defilements,
Completely abandon birth-and-death forever
And reach the Pure Land of naturalness".[2]
Can we, living in the evil world of the five defilements,
Completely abandon birth-and-death forever
And reach the Pure Land of naturalness".[2]
"The
cause of highest, perfect Enlightenment (bodhi) is faith. Although the causes
of Enlightenment (bodhi) are innumerable, if faith is presented as one, it
contains all the rest.”[3]
According to the
teaching of our school, genuine faith (shinjin) in Amida Buddha contains the
following elements:
5) To accept the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha without any doubt and be sure of your birth in the Pure Land
8) To not mix nembutsu and devotion towards Amida Buddha with other faiths and practices from inside or outside of the Buddha Dharma
The above elements are part of the mind/heart
of faith (please click on each of them for a more detailed explanation!). They
come naturally to a person of faith. Anything else, like having a focused and
undistracted mind in your daily life, being a virtuous or non-virtuous person,
having special or mystical experiences is irrelevant and NOT important in
relation with faith of the Primal Vow.
[1] Shinran Shonin, Notes on the Inscriptions on Sacred Scrolls, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin
Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p. 496-497
[2] Shinran Shonin, Hymns of the Pure Land (Jodo Wasan), The Collected Works of
Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha,
Kyoto, 1997, p. 381
[3] Shinran quoted Shakyamuni Buddha from Nirvana Sutra, in his Kyogyoshinsho, chapter IV.
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