“I am very sorry indeed to hear about Shonyobo’s illness. Having heard that she is ill, in fact seriously so, I should like to go and see her, and make sure whether she is going right on with the practice of the Nembutsu up to the very end; but especially so when I remember how often she used to call upon me to ask questions about the way of salvation. So as soon as word reached me, I at once wanted to go and see her. But I had just before that decided upon the special Nembutsu practice (Nembutsu retreat) for some days, and not to go out of my chamber for anything whatsoever. Now circumstances have so changed, that I am tempted to reverse my decision and go at once to see her. But on further reflection I have come to feel that, after all, it does not matter one way or the other about such interchanges of courtesy in this world, for the fact is that we are in danger anyway of becoming foolishly attached to these earthly bodies of ours. No matter who it is, no one stays forever here in this fleshly body. The only difference is that either I myself or someone else must be left behind and the other go first. Then if we think of the interval of time that will separate us, that too is uncertain. And even though they may call it long, at the longest it is only like a short dream. So no matter how many times I think it over, the more I am convinced that the thing to do is to think only of our meeting in the land of Amida Buddha where, as we sit upon our lotus flowers, the cares of this world will have all clear away, and we shall converse together about the scenes and events of our past lives.
We shall then take
counsel together as to how we may help each other in promoting the salvation of
human beings down through the long future. This is the same as I have always
told her from the beginning, that she should take firm hold upon the Buddha’s
Primal Vow, not allowing one thought of doubt to enter her heart. And even
though she can only repeat the Nembutsu but once, to remember that, however
sinful she feels herself to be, she shall, by the power of the Buddha’s Vow,
without question be born into the Pure Land. So tell her to apply herself with
undivided mind to the repetition of the sacred Name.
Our birth into the
Pure Land is not in the least related to our goodness, or badness, but solely
depends upon Amida Buddha's Power. It matters not how high one's rank may be;
in these latter evil days, birth into the Pure Land by one's own power is extremely
difficult. As it is all by the Buddha's power, however sinful, foolish or
unclean we may be, everything hangs solely upon our trusting in the Power of
His Primal Vow…. There are indeed, I am very sorry to say, those who persist in
saying that it is quite impossible to attain birth into the Pure Land. But
however learned or noble in rank such persons may be, tell her not to pay any
attention to what they say. They may indeed be excellent in their own way of
thinking, but they have not yet reached Enlightenment; and so we may say that
the words of people who are trying to save themselves by their own efforts are
very great hindrances to those seeking Ojo (birth into the Pure Land). Let us
not therefore adopt the methods of the unenlightened, but entrust ourselves to
the Buddha’s Vow and that only. The good father Zendo (Shantao) used to say,
that we should not tolerate a single thought of doubt, on account of the
opposition offered by those of another religious school to the Pure Land
doctrine …
It is better not
to call in people of a different faith, but whoever they are, whether nuns or
other ladies, tell her to have them always at her side repeating the Nembutsu.
She should with one heart and mind lay aside all the religious counsel of the
unenlightened, and trust only in the wise counsel of the Buddha.
The fact is that
in my own case, the decision I made to shut myself up in my chamber for the
Nembutsu practice is by no means intended for myself alone. And since I have
heard of her illness, I shall direct all my prayers without exception toward
the one object of promoting her birth in the Pure Land. So tell her that I am
praying for her that her deepest desire for birth in the Pure Land be
fulfilled. How can it be otherwise than that this will be helpful to her, if
indeed my own purpose in it be genuine? Believe me, it will certainly be
effective. That she has listened with such attention to my words, shows a karma
relationship extending beyond the limits of the present world, and is deeply
rooted in a pre-existent state. Now from what I hear, whether she precedes me
into the other world or I unexpectedly precede her, there is no doubt whatever
that we shall meet again at last in the same Pure Buddha land. It matters not
whether we meet again in this world, which is but a fleeting dream. So let her
not worry about that at all, but lay aside all such thoughts, and give every
attention to the deepening and strengthening of her faith, and to the practice
of the Nembutsu, and wait for the time when we shall meet in that Land … If she
is now very weak, I am afraid that what I have said may be too long for her to
take in fully, and in that case, please just tell her the substance of what I
have written. The news of her illness has stirred within me a strange sense of
sorrow, which has impelled me to write”.
They say that she kept thinking of this letter as she went on repeating the Nembutsu up to the very last, till her longing for birth in the Pure Land was finally realized.”[1]
My commentary:
Master Honen was not acting without compassion for Shonyobo when he decided to not interrupt his Nembutsu retreat to see her for the last time. Any teacher needs a period of Dharma seclusion to recharge his spiritual batteries and focus on his mission with even greater determination. Thus, his retreat was not an ego centered activity, but a period of sitting alone with Amida Buddha in order to better help others: “the decision I made to shut myself up in my chamber for the Nembutsu practice is by no means intended for myself alone”. This is why he considered that personal attachment or courtesy is no good reason for meeting and interrupting what his practice:
“But on further
reflection I have come to feel that, after all, it does not matter one way or
the other about such interchanges of courtesy in this world, for the fact is
that we are in danger anyway of becoming foolishly attached to these earthly
bodies of ours.”
“It matters not whether we meet again in this world, which is but a fleeting dream. So let her not worry about that at all, but lay aside all such thoughts, and give every attention to the deepening and strengthening of her faith and to the practice of the Nembutsu, and wait for the time when we shall meet in that Land”.
“Then if we think of the interval of time that will separate us, that too is uncertain. And even though they may call it long, at the longest it is only like a short dream. So no matter how many times I think it over, the more I am convinced that the thing to do is to think only of our meeting in the land of Amida Buddha”.
The final advice Honen gave to her was a wonderful presentation of the essential points of the true Pure Land teaching. Every one of us is on the death bed like Shonyobo because we can all die anytime, so we should take Honen’s teaching to heart and entrust exclusively to Amida Buddha to secure our birth into the Pure Land. We must rely on Amida alone and don’t think that our badness or so-called goodness can play any role in our salvation. We should understand that we are accepted as we are by Amida with all our uncleanliness and impurity of mind, just as Honen said:
“Our birth into the Pure Land is not in the least related to our goodness, or badness, but solely depends upon Amida Buddha's Power. It matters not how high one's rank may be; in these latter evil days, birth into the Pure Land by one's own power is extremely difficult. As it is all by the Buddha's power, however sinful, foolish or unclean we may be, everything hangs solely upon our trusting in the Power of His Primal Vow”.
As for those who follow self-power practices and belong to other schools that do not believe in the Primal Vow, we should not take their sayings into consideration no matter how smart or spiritually advanced they think they are. Followers of the Pure Land Path should not mix various teachings and practices but rely on the requirements of the Primal Vow alone: exclusive faith in Amida, exclusive saying of His Name and exclusive wish to be born in His land. As Honen said:
“The words of
people who are trying to save themselves by their own efforts are very great
hindrances to those seeking Ojo (birth into the Pure Land)”.
Thus he advised Shonyobo and us, disciples of later times “not to pay any attention to what they say.” More than this, such people who cling to their self-power are unenlightened while Amida who made the Primal Vow is perfectly Enlightened:
“Let us not
therefore adopt the methods of the unenlightened, but entrust ourselves to the
Buddha’s Vow and that only. The good father Zendo (Shantao) used to say, that
we should not tolerate a single thought of doubt, on account of the opposition
offered by those of another religious school to the Pure Land doctrine”
When we have the most important guru and Master in the whole universe – Amida Buddha himself, why listen to the opinions of this or that unenlightened teacher who is obsessed with his own power and does not realize his own spiritual limitations? As long as Amida Buddha said – if you entrust to me, say my Name and wish to be born in my land, you will go there, then that is all we need. We should not let ourselves fall into doubts and confusion by the words of those who lack faith in the Primal Vow of Amida.
Shonyobo who was on her death bed and us who can die anytime should search for the company of those who say the Nembutsu of faith and be deaf and blind to the words of unbelievers:
“It is better not to call in people of a different faith, but whoever they are, whether nuns or other ladies, tell her to have them always at her side repeating the Nembutsu. She should with one heart and mind lay aside all the religious counsel of the unenlightened, and trust only in the wise counsel of the Buddha”.
The concept of prayer is introduced in this letter:
“I shall direct all my prayers without exception toward the one object (Amida Buddha) of promoting her birth in the Pure Land. So tell her that I am praying for her that her deepest desire for birth in the Pure Land be fulfilled”.
Honen Shonin shows us that it is ok to pray for our dear ones to become open to Amida and be guided by Him. Of course Amida Buddha is already doing His best and has been trying to save beings for eons, always having each one of us in front of Him constantly, but there is no doctrinal mistake if we pray for others and wish that they be free of obstacles or entrust to Amida. Shinran Shonin also mentioned prayer, this time in relation with those in error but of course, prayer can be used for everyone[2]:
“While holding the Nembutsu in your heart and saying it always, please pray for the present life and also the next life of those who slander it. […] If you simply pray for the people in society who are in error and desire to lead them into Amida’s Vow, it will be a response out of gratitude for the Buddha’s benevolence”.[3]
I think that Honen Shonin was convinced that Shonyobo had faith which is another reason that he did not feel there is a need to go personally to her death bed. He mentioned what Rennyo Shonin later called “good from the past” and the connection with a good teacher which are two of the five conditions[4] for birth in the Pure Land:
“That she has listened with such attention to my words, shows a karma relationship extending beyond the limits of the present world, and is deeply rooted in a pre-existent state”.
The "stored good from the past" represents our good karma from past lives and this life which manifests itself as an opening or receptive state of mind towards the message of the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha. A lot of people hear the teaching about the Primal Vow but few are opened to it. This openness is very important and is the manifestation of the good stored from the past. Also, if you listen again and again to the teaching in this life, thus becoming immersed with all your being in the Dharma, this listening will become a “stored good” which will make you open to the call of the Primal Vow.
Shonyobo was surely open to this Call and she already solved all her doubts by constantly asking Honen Shonin about the essentials of the teaching: “I remember how often she used to call upon me to ask questions about the way of salvation”.
The final Dharma letter sent by her beloved teacher only added a final encouragement and a confirmation to what she already knew. Thus she entered into the Pure Land while holding her teacher’s last words in her heart and saying the Nembutsu of faith.
“They say that she kept thinking of this letter as she went on repeating the Nembutsu up to the very last, till her longing for birth in the Pure Land was finally realized”.
We will meet Shoshinbo in the Pure Land where she and other teachers or lay followers that went before us enjoy their Enlightenment and talk among themselves about how to help sentient beings entrust to Amida.
Namo
Amida Bu
[1] Honen the Buddhist Saint - His Life and Teachings, volume III, compiled by imperial order, translation by Rev Ryugaku Ishizuka and Rev Harper Havelock Coates, The Society for the Publication of Sacred Books of the World, Kyoto, 1949
[2] Nembutsu itself is not a prayer
but the expression of simple faith in Amida.
[3] Shinran Shonin, A
Collection of Letters – letter 8, The
Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo
Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.570
[4]According to Master Rennyo , there are five conditions that someone must meet in order to be born in the Pure Land: 1) stored good from the past, 2) a good spiritual teacher, 3) Amida’s light, 4) the entrusting heart (shinjin)
[5] the saying of Amida Buddha's Name (Nembutsu). See my explanations in Fascicle
9 of Amida Dharma book.
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