The
Nembutsu of faith and gratitude is the only answer when comparing my limited
capacities with the Buddhist precepts and the example of virtuous Masters of
the past.
It is extremely important to never change anything from the Dharma, not even as small as a particle of dust. The Dharma is perfect even if our ego doesn’t find it agreeable and there is already a way out of samsara especially made for such wretched people like us – the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha, so we don’t need to change anything to be accepted.
Are
you a person who cheats his wife? Humbly accept this as sexual misconduct and
try your best to change, or at least don’t pretend you are exempt from being
faithful to your wife because you are a man, as Shakyamuni’s teaching is very clear on this – both men and women should be faithful to each other. Then be
grateful that Amida’s Way of salvation is available for you, no matter how
successful you are in your moral endeavors.
Are you a homosexual? Also humbly accept this as sexual misconduct and don’t try to change society to accord with your behavior, don’t try to change the natural marriage between man and woman when Shakyamuni himself only gave teachings to couples made of men and women. You too are saved as you are by Amida Buddha, so you don’t need to treat the Buddhist teaching as servant to your sexual desires.
Are you a prostitute? Humbly accept this too, as sexual misconduct and follow the advice of Honen Shonin which is similar with my above instructions:
"Your guilt in living such a life is surely great and the penalties seem incalculable. If you can find another means of livelihood, give this up at once. But if you can’t, or if you are not yet ready to sacrifice your very life for the true way, begin just as you are and call on the sacred Name (Namo Amida Butsu). It is for just such deluded folk as you that Amida Buddha made that wonderfully comprehensive Primal Vow (hongan). So put your full trust in it without the smallest reservation. If you rely upon the Primal Vow and repeat the Nembutsu, your Ojo (birth in the Pure Land) is absolutely certain."[1]
Are
you an alcoholic or drug addict? Don’t find excuses but try your best to change
while knowing that even if you fail you are accepted by Amida Buddha. What you do
is breaking the precept related with intoxicants, but don’t worry, your salvation
is also assured.
Whatever
you do wrong and not in agreement with the Buddhist precepts (check the Amida Dharma book, fascicle 14 for a
list of moral guides), treat in the same way – humbly accept it as wrong and
try your best to change. No matter if you are successful or not (you will
probably fail many times or all the times), gratefully entrust yourself to
Amida’s indiscriminative salvation and say His Name in faith. YES, you the most
despicable sinner are saved as you are by Amida Buddha so there is NO need to
change the Dharma to please your ego.
If you don’t do as instructed above, then you might exclude yourself from the salvation. Why do I say this? Because Jodo Shinshu is the teaching who saves the evil beings first, which means that you have to accept yourself as being evil and ignorant in order to make use of Amida’s helping hand. Only those who are ready to humbly accept the Dharma as it is, with faith and devotion, can reach a point when they can hear and entrust to the Dharma Gate of the Primal Vow. Those who are used to pick and chose what they like and reject what they don’t like, that is, those who approach the Dharma with a possessing mind, will never be able to receive the teaching on Amida Buddha which requires faith and devotion as well as a deep acknowledgment of their sinful nature.
One
who does not accept a single fragment of the Dharma is accusing Shakyamuni of lying or
thinks that He is not capable to teach 100% true Dharma and that the teaching
of the Enlightened One can be changed or adapted by unenlightened beings who "know better" what to do with it or where it is wrong or not. Such an arrogant attitude
will inevitably lead to a closed mind and doubts about other important
teachings taught by Him like for example, the Amida Dharma. A mind used with
doubting Shakyamuni on certain teachings is prone to doubt Him on other
teachings, too. A doubtful mind is poison no matter which aspect of the Dharma
you doubt, so instead of doubting one should humbly accept that the Dharma is infinitely
more profound than one’s own mind and if there is something he doesn’t like or
doesn’t understand now then it is due to his own limitations and NOT because of
Shakyamuni Buddha’s fault.
Also, when you approach the Dharma do it NOT with the goal of finding something to support your present way of life which can be partially or totally mistaken, but with the humble attitude of receiving the most precious medicine. Don’t use the temple to institutionalize your wrong behavior, but as a place of listening the Dharma and being helped by the Dharma.
I
hope this teaching instruction will not be misused by those lacking devotion and
honesty.
Namo
Amida Bu
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