Shinran Shonin said:
“Amida’s
Seventeenth Vow declares that the Buddha will not enter into perfect
Enlightenment if those who say the Name are not praised by all the countless Buddhas throughout the worlds in the
ten quarters. The passage declaring the fulfillment of the Vow states: ‚such
people are praised by all the Buddhas and rejoice.’’’[1]
Those who entrust
to Amida are regarded by Shakyamuni as His true companions:
"Those
who realize shinjin, which is Other Power,
'Revere the Dharma and greatly rejoice in it,
And therefore are my true companions'.
'Revere the Dharma and greatly rejoice in it,
And therefore are my true companions'.
Such is the praise of the World Honored One,
the
Master of the teaching".[2]
"Sakyamuni
rejoices in persons of shinjin, saying, 'They are my true companions'”.[3]
They are wonderful
people, as well as true disciples of Shakyamuni, Amida and all Buddhas:
„Persons
of shinjin are the true disciples of the Buddha; they are the ones who abide in
right-mindedness. Since they have been grasped never to be abandoned, they are
said to have attained the diamondlike mind. They are called 'the best among the
best', 'excellent persons', 'wondrous, excellent persons', 'the very finest
persons', 'rare persons'."[4]
"Practitioners
of the Nembutsu are 'excellent people' among human beings, 'wonderful,
excellent people' among human beings, 'the very best people' among human
beings,
'rare
people' among human beings, and 'the most excellent people' among human
beings."[5]
[1] Shinran Shonin, Lamp for the Latter-Ages, letter 4, The
Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu
Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.529
[2] Shinran Shonin, Hymns of the Dharma Ages, The Collected Works of Shinran,
Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.412
[3] Shinran Shonin, Lamp for the
Latter-Ages, letter 2, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism
Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.526
[4] Shinran Shonin, Lamp for the Latter-Ages, letter 2, The Collected Works of Shinran,
Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.526
[5] Shinran Shonin quoted Master Shantao in his Kyogyoshinsho, chapter III,
Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching,
Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata
Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 131-132
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