1.Like
the sun who sends its rays everywhere, Amida is calling all beings to entrust
to Him; nevertheless some people close the windows of their minds and hearts
while others keep them open. But even if you open your window, the rays of
light belong to the sun, and not to yourself. It is the same with faith.
2.It is because of
Amida that one entrusts to Amida. The echo of Amida's Call in one's heart (faith)
is due to the power of the One who calls (Amida).
Some people become open to this Call while others don't.
Your openness depends on how karmically mature you are in relation to this
Call, which is why in our school we are asked to listen again and again to Amida
Dharma until we finally become open to it.
One day, when we are open enough we will finally entrust
ourselves to Amida. But this apparition of faith comes from Amida, just like
the light which shines in a room after we open the window comes from the rays
sent by the sun. The light which illuminates the room of our minds (faith)
after we opened the window comes from the rays sent by Amida. Opening the
window does not create light (faith). Light is not the product of the window,
nor the creation of the one who opens the window. Light comes only from the
sun.
3.Faith (shinjin) and
Nembutsu are the echoes manifested in us of the powerful Call of Amida. When
one is in the mountains and shouts in a loud voice, you can automatically hear
the echo. If you do not shout, no
echo can be heard. In the same way, if Amida wouldn’t compassionately
call to us, there would be no faith and no Nembutsu as an expression of faith.
4. A mother calls
her child and the child answers immediately. The answer of the child is due to
the mother’s call, not to the power of the child. In the same way, faith is not
our own creation, but the natural answer to the call of Amida Buddha, the
Compassionate Parent of all beings. Because of Amida, we entrust in Amida and
say Nembutsu. Only because the mother always sends unconditional love to her
child, the child can trust and rely on her. The faith of the child is in fact,
the love of the mother which manifests in him. The mother is the one who
actually feeds and makes the child grow. A child is nothing without a mother.
The power of her love makes him grow, not his own power. In the same way, due
to Amida’s love and His beneficial influence,we will one day come to entrust to
Him and say His Name.
5.Therefore, let
us not use faith to increase our pride, but rather to be humble and grateful to
Amida for having worked on each one of us since the beginningless past, trying
in different ways to draw us to Him and to save us from the suffering of
repeated births and deaths.
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