Monday, February 1, 2021

The six paramitas (perfections) in the Jodo Shinshu context

Shaku Shingan: “You may have heard of how at O-higan in North America, it is often taught that we "must" attain the six perfections (paramitas).” 

My answer: I know that some link Ohigan with the six paramitas (perfections). This is not good because we are not a self-power school.
 
The word “Ohigan” means “the other shore”. We also celebrate Ohigan at Amidaji but the meaning we attach to it is to remember the importance of birth in the Pure Land. This is what “going to the other shore” means.
 
The six paramitas were taught in the context of self-power practices so we can simply ignore this term. However, if we wish to use it then we must reinterpret it in the context of Other Power faith.
On the path of self-power a bodhisattva in aspiration aims by his practice to develop the six perfections (paramitas), also called “the six types of practices by means of which a bodhisattva attains Buddhahood”. These perfections (paramitas) are:
 
1.Charity and generosity (dana) 2. discipline and proper behaviour (sila) 3. perseverance (ksanti) 4. diligence 5. meditation (dhyana) and 6. higher wisdom (prajna).
 
If you read (reinterpret) the six paramitas with the eyes of faith in Amida Buddha you realize that a person of shinjin (faith) naturaly has the six paramitas of Amida centered Power. This is an expression that I myself invented, but what I am about to say now is not wrong from the perspective of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist teaching.
 
One who entrusts to Amida Buddha is naturally inclined to be generous in sharing the Amida Dharma with other people. Even when he is not actively participating in missionary activities he or she is a living example of faith which can influence others and help them create karmic connections with Amida. This is the first paramita of Amida centered Power – charity/generosity (dana)
 
One who entrusts to Amida Buddha is naturally observing the eight precepts of faith as taught at Amidaji. He never denies or encourages others to deny the existence of Amida Buddha and His Pure Land, nor the authenticity of the Larger Sutra. He knows the importance of the wish to be born in the Pure Land for the attainment of Enlightenment and encourages all beings to have this aspiration. He always considers himself to be a person of karmic limitations and knows that the only way of salvation from Samsara is through Amida’s Power. He never doubts or causes others to doubt the Primal Vow and birth in the Pure Land. He never denies or encourages others to deny that birth in the Pure Land takes place after death. He never abandons the Nembutsu nor encourages others to abandon it. He never mixes nor encourage others to mix Nembutsu and devotion towards Amida Buddha with other faiths and practices from inside or outside of the Buddha Dharma. This is the second paramita of Amida centered Power - discipline and proper behaviour (sila).

One who entrusts to Amida Buddha has natural perseverance in the sense that he will never be interrupted in his faith[1]. He is also diligent in the sense that he will naturally think to Amida Buddha and say His Name in faith. Of course, being an ordinary person of great karmic limitations he cannot think to Amida every second of his life but he will never forget Amida. No matter how much he is caught in everyday activities he always knows that he is saved and assured of birth in the Pure Land after death. Even if he is a lazy person or a busy person he will still think to Amida Buddha and say His Name. This are the 3rd (perseverance) and 4th (diligence) paramitas of Amida centered-Power.
 
One who entrusts to Amida Buddha will naturally receive the merits and virtues of all the meditation practices as all are included in the Name of Amida. As Shinran and Master Ch’ing-wen said:
 
„The excellent Name, perfectly embodying all practices, eliminates obstacles and dispels doubt. This is the teaching and practice for our latter age; devote yourself solely to it. It is eye and limb in this defiled world; do not fail to endeavour in it. Accepting and living the supreme, universal Vow, then, abandon the defiled and aspire for the pure[2]. Reverently embracing the Tathagata’s teaching, respond in gratitude to His benevolence and be thankful for His compassion.”[3]
 
"The ultimate teachings of the One Vehicle all point to the Land of Bliss as the last refuge. The Name of Amida’s Buddhahood is most distinguished as the embodiment of the perfect
virtues of myriad practices."[4]
This is the 5th paramita of Amida centered-Power (meditation).
 
One who entrusts to Amida Buddha receives the wisdom of faith (shinjin) which is the twofold profound conviction:
1) to know that we are people of deep karmic limitations, incapable of attaining Buddhahood through our own power;
2) to know that only Amida Buddha can save us through His Vow Power (Other Power), without asking anything from us.
 
Shinran Shonin always equated shinjin (faith) with wisdom:
 
"Entrust is a command to allow oneself to be carried by the power of the Primal Vow. It further connotes wisdom. Wisdom is to know that Amida brings one to ride on the power of the Vow. It is to know that, being carried by the power of the Vow, one will be born in the Pure Land of bliss."[5]
 
"Shinjin is wisdom. This wisdom is the wisdom attained because we are grasped by the Light of Other Power".[6]
 
This is the 6th paramita of Amida centered Power - higher wisdom (prajna). It is the wisdom of knowing one’s limitation and of accepting Amida’s helping hand.
 
So, you either reinterpret the six paramitas in this way, or you simply abandon this concept.




[1] Faith (shinjin) once received can never be lost.
[2] Abandon the defiled and aspire for the pure” means to decide to put an end to samsaric existence by aspiring for birth in the Pure Land.
[3] Passages on the Pure Land Way - The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.295
[4] Shinran quotes Master Ch’ing-wen in Kyogyoshinsho, chapter II. Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 51
[5] Notes on the Inscription of Sacred Scrolls - The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.506
[6] Lamp for the Latter-Ages, letter 14 - The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.544

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