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| Amida Buddha image from Amidaji temple |
You
should NEVER, EVER, say Amida Buddha is the same with the god of monotheists or with any god and
religious figure of a non-Buddhist religion! Don’t use words such as “entrust
to Amida Buddha or God”, “be in harmony with Amida Buddha or God”, “communicate
with Amida Buddha or God”, etc, like this would be the same! It is NOT the same!
Religions are NOT the same, and NO religion outside Buddha Dharma can ever lead
you to perfect Enlightenment. Having faith in Amida Buddha and having faith in
god do not lead to the same result. Faith in any god, including the so-called “god”
of monotheist religions will NEVER lead you to Enlightenment.
Don’t
be a politically correct Buddhist in these matters because you will do no good
to your fellow practitioners or beginners, but lead them to more confusion.
It is exactly because I wanted to clear away the confusion people make nowadays
on this topic, that I wrote these articles (and many others!) which I ask you
to READ CAREFULLY:
(especially read the second part – “Admonition
against breaking the Refuge Vows” where I give a lot of quotes from the sacred
texts):
Pure Land Buddhist priests and teachers must be very strict and clear about the distinction
between Buddhas/Buddha Dharma and non-Buddhist religious figures and teachings.
At Amidaji temple we are always very strict, clear, and straightforward on this matter.
Also,
don’t fool yourself into thinking that any “god” of any religion is in fact a
Buddha who took the form of that god. This is spiritual bullshit! No manifestation
of a Buddha will ever teach things that are contrary to Buddha Dharma, nor
support a religion who teaches the existence of a supreme creator god, blood
sacrifice, denial of karma, rebirth, etc. If
any god would be indeed a manifestation of a Buddha then that god would teach ONLY
Buddhist doctrines. No manifestation of a Buddha will ever teach things that
run contrary to the Buddha Dharma, and as you know, there are elements in other religions that go against Buddhist doctrines!
Perhaps
there may be times when in order to help non-Buddhist beings for reasons that
go beyond our capacity to understand, some Buddhas would momentarily take the
form of a non-Buddhist god or spirit worshiped in a certain religion (I don't know if or how a Buddha does that, but let's say for the sake of discussion, that He does it ). Buddhas, and especially
Amida Buddha, are always helping and trying to influence all beings in various
known and hidden ways, no matter what religion or evil spirits these beings
follow now, trying to attract them towards the true teaching and faith. However,
this does NOT mean that a Buddha is really the same with that god whose form He copies momentarily to
offer specific help or guidance, nor does it mean that the religion centered on
that god or spirit is an enlightened religion or the same with Buddha Dharma.
It also does NOT mean that He encourages or approves the teachings of that
religion! There are unenlightened gods and spirits out there in the various universes of samsara, some better or worse than others ( the Buddhist texts
speak about them), and these gods and spirits do indeed create religions
centered on them which are definitely not the same as the Buddha Dharma. So,
in the end, the goal of any Buddha, even if He would momentarily take the form
of an unenlightened god/spirit, would be to make people abandon the wrong non-Buddhist teachings and religions and embrace the true teaching, which is the
Buddha Dharma.
*
Also (and this is another wrong view that I hear nowadays), some deluded people say that
Jesus was a Bodhisattva or a former Buddhist monk! Dear friends, don’t let
yourself driven into confusion! If Jesus was indeed a Buddhist monk, then he was
a very bad monk because he ended up accepting the wrong view of an eternal
creator god. How can a person teaching such a wrong view can be a Bodhisattva? Such an idea is idiotic. I don’t deny some good things he
taught and did; however, the Compassion of an Enlightened Bodhisattva does not include good deeds only, but true teaching as well, and as we see in the first
article mentioned above (There is NO supreme creator god in the Buddha Dharma), to teach wrong views is never
a quality of a genuine Bodhisattva or Buddha. If you portray Jesus as a
Buddhist Bodhisattva or monk you do a disservice to both him and Christianity
as well as to Buddhism.
*
I
urge my Dharma friends and students to listen deeply to what I said here, in this spontaneous instruction, and
abandon the useless and complicated discussions of "gods who may be manifestations of a Buddha". It’s a tricky business to engage in such a topic.
Even
if Master Rennyo said in some of his letters that kami of Shintoism may be manifestations of Buddhas or even Amida Buddha,
he did that in a certain context and NOT with the idea in mind that ANY kami or god would be a manifestation! Perhaps some are, or perhaps only momentarily
a Buddha or Amida himself took the form of some of these kami, but then, they should not be associated anymore with specific Shintoist beliefs which have nothing in common with Buddhist doctrines. Anyway, you probably know that in Shintoism even
the ordinary people may become kami after death. Yes, it's a Shintoist belief that ordinary dead people are also kami! So tell me, how can any unenlightened dead person be a Buddha manifestation? Of course, this would be impossible, and I am sure it was not Rennyo's intent to make that connection.
I
repeat, such discussions are very tricky and may lead to confusion, so it's better to avoid them especially now when we are doing Buddhist missionary work in non-Buddhist countries.
*
I hope my message will not be misunderstood. I don’t say that we, as Buddhists, should be aggressive or slander other religions.
However, this does not mean that we should stop saying the truth that ONLY the
Buddha Dharma is true and real, leading to perfect Enlightenment and that ONLY
Amida Buddha and the Buddhas are worthy of our refuge, faith, and devotion. Truth
does not mean slander. Truth must be said so that beings may clearly see the Path to
freedom from birth and death.
Namo
Amida Bu
UPDATE:
Here are
some passages from the sutras which show how we should regard all Buddhas and the
Emancipation attained on the Buddhist Path. Please read and accept the words of
the sacred texts:
“The Buddha is the father of the
world; all living beings are my sons, ALL is my domain, and I alone am able to
save and protect them.”
Lotus
Sutra
“Rare is the World-Honored One, hard is it to meet Him, Perfect in infinite merit, able to save all. Great teacher of gods and men, He has compassion for the world. All the living in the universe everywhere receive His aid, the Lord Buddha is the Holy Lord, king among gods. Now the Buddha has become the eye of all living beings, the resort of all the world, Savior of all, Father of all the living, who has compassion for and does good [to all]”.
Lotus Sutra, chapter 7 parable of the magic city)
“Know Kasyapa! The Tathagata is also like this; He appears in the world like the rising of [that] great cloud. Universally He extends His great call over the world of gods, men and asuras (demigods), just as that great cloud everywhere covers the three-thousand-great thousand fold region. In the great assembly He sounds forth these words: ‘I am the Tathagata, the Worshipful, the All Wise, the Perfectly Enlightened in Conduct, the Well departed, the Understander of the World, the Peerless Leader, the Controller, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-honored One. Those who have not yet been saved I cause to be saved; those who have not yet been set free to be set free; those who have not yet been comforted to be comforted; those who have not yet obtained Nirvana to obtain Nirvana. I know the present world and the world to come as they really are. I am the All Knowing, the All Seeing, the Knower of the Way, the Opener of the Way, the Preacher of the Way. Come to me, ALL you gods, men, and asuras (demigods), to hear the Law”
(Lotus Sutra, chapter 5 The Parable of the Herbs)
“I am one who has transcended all, a knower of all, Unsullied among all things, renouncing all, by craving’s ceasing freed. Having known this all for myself, to whom should I point as teacher? I have no teacher, and one like me exists nowhere in all the world, with all its gods, because I have no person for my counterpart. I am the Accomplished One in the world.
I am the Teacher Supreme. I alone am the fully Enlightened One, whose fires are quenched and extinguished. To set in motion the Wheel of the Dharma in a world that has become blind I go to beat the drum of the deathless.”
I am the Teacher Supreme. I alone am the fully Enlightened One, whose fires are quenched and extinguished. To set in motion the Wheel of the Dharma in a world that has become blind I go to beat the drum of the deathless.”
(Majjhima Nikaya, 26)
“The Blessed Ones spiritual powers: having been one, He becomes many; having been many He becomes one; He appears and vanishes; He goes unhindered through a wall, though an enclosure, through a mountain, as though through space; He dives in and out of the earth as though it were water; He walks on water without sinking as though it were earth; seated cross-legged, He travels in space like a bird; with His hand He touches and strokes the moon and sun so powerful and mighty; He wields bodily mastery even as far as the Brahma-world.”
Majjhima Nikaya)
“The Buddha’s
admonition is indeed profound and appropriate, and His wisdom clearly surveys
things in the eight directions, above and below, penetrating all in the past,
present, and future. His benevolence covers the whole world and the extent of
His merit is majestic and glorious. His light penetrates to the utmost ends of
space and guides people to Nirvana. He reveals the sutras, destroys wrong
views, and subdues demons. Thus His influence extends boundlessly in the ten
directions. The Buddha is the King of the Dharma; His virtue surpasses that of
all the sages. He is the teacher of all devas (gods) and humans and enables them
to enter the Way according to their wishes. Having been able to meet you, O
Buddha, and also to hear the Name of Amitayus (Amida), we have all attained joy
and illumination.”[1]
Bodhisattva
Maitreya to Shakyamuni Buddha in the Larger Sutra
There
is nothing to be known beyond what Buddha knows and the Buddhist Path can offer
to you as it is said in the Queen Srimala Sutra:
“The Tathagata, having
shattered and defeated the four maras (demons) by the incomparable victory of a
Buddha, gained the Dharmakaya which is superior to all the worlds and which
cannot conceivably be witnessed by any sentient being. Having been made Lord of
the Doctrine unhindered in all stages of the knowable, He rightly saw that
there is no duty or stage beyond this to be left over or to be understood. Having
properly entered the supreme and incomparable stage, which is fearless and
endowed with the ten powers, and having clearly seen all the knowable with
unhindered knowledge, He uttered the Lion’s roar with the knowing, ‘There is nothing
to be known beyond this”.
The
Lion’s Roar of Queen Srimala Sutra
“At that very
instant, the Buddha appeared before them displaying His incomparable body which
illuminated pure light all around them. Queen Srimala and her assembly humbly
prostrated themselves at His feet, and began praising the Buddha’s qualities: ‘Oh
Bhagavan, your bodily form and glory is incomparable. We now worship you, the
Lord of our world who is unequaled and unparalleled. Inconceivable is the
Buddha’s form and wisdom. Oh Lord your Buddha Nature (Tathagatagarbha) does not
die, and for this reason we take refuge in you. For you have purified mind,
body, and speech by removing all defilements. You have already arrived at the
stage without loss. Thus we worship you, the King of Dharma. You know all that
there is to know, O Lord, for everything is contained within your wisdom Body.
Thus we worship you.
We worship you, who are beyond limit. We worship you, who cannot be compared. We worship you, who’s Dharma is endless. We worship you, who cannot be explained by worldly understanding.”
We worship you, who are beyond limit. We worship you, who cannot be compared. We worship you, who’s Dharma is endless. We worship you, who cannot be explained by worldly understanding.”
The
Lion’s Roar of Queen Srimala Sutra
[1] The Three Pure
Land Sutras - A Study and Translation from Chinese by Hisao
Inagaki in collaboration with Harold Stewart, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and Numata
Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p.51-52
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