“If we only put our
trust in Amida’s Primal Vow, there is no doubt whatever about our future
destiny, but what are we to do with the present world?’
‘Well, the thing to do is to make the Nembutsu practice the chief thing in life, and to lay aside everything that you think may interfere with it. If you cannot stay in one spot and do it, then do it when you are walking. If you cannot do it as a priest, then do it as a layman. If you cannot do it alone, then do it in the company of others. If you cannot do it and at the same time provide yourself with food and clothing, then accept the help of others and go on doing it. Or if you cannot get others to help you, then look after yourself but keep on doing it. Your wife and children and domestics are for this very purpose, of helping you to practice it, and if they prove an obstacle, you ought not to have any. Friends and property are good, if they too prove helpful, but if they prove a hindrance they should be given up. In short, there is nothing that may not help us to Ojo, so long as it helps us to go on the even tenor of our way through life undisturbed.’”[1]
Commentary:
The goal of Buddhism is not to attain happiness here and now which is actually impossible as samsara itself is the karmic effect of our own blind passions and ignorance. However, this doesn’t mean that we should neglect our basic needs. Amida devotees also eat, drink, seek shelter, comfort and good company, they get married, have children, property, etc. There is no problem with this. What Honen Shonin advised us is to use all the aspects of our life as support for the Nembutsu Path. The Primal Vow of Amida does not require asceticism, but only the Nembutsu of faith, so try to arrange your personal life in such a way that you be able to walk the Path of Nembutsu.
Honen’s advice refers not only to the saying of Nembutsu, but also to all the aspects included in the religious life of a Nembutsu follower, like listening and studying the Dharma texts related with the Primal Vow and teaching or helping others to say this Nembutsu of faith. It’s good to create the proper conditions in our life so that we can do all these without any internal or external obstruction. All obstructions are both external and internal as everything that interferes with the needs of our bodies will automatically affect our inner state of mind. If one is thirsty and hungry or cannot live without sex and the person he loves, he will be disturbed in mind and might not be able to focus on listening the Amida Dharma or teach others the way to salvation. If that is the case, then eat, drink, make sex and get married. This is why Shinran himself got married. On the contrary, if one feels that married life and children are an obstacle for his Nembutsu practice then he should not marry, don’t have children and live in seclusion.
Recently I advised a lady Nembutsu follower to divorce her husband because he forbade her to say Nembutsu and forced her to attend Christian church services and sacraments. I think that we should not make any concession to others in matters related with our birth in the Pure Land. We should never give up saying the Nembutsu because our family, friends or co-workers do not agree with it. We should never allow anybody to put obstacles of any kind on our Path to the Pure Land. If anybody becomes an obstruction to our religious life, we better walk away knowing that we can truly help and save them after we attain Buddhahood in the Pure Land.
Instead of being obsessed with purity and judge ourselves too harsh, we should be practical and acknowledge that we are ordinary beings with needs and attachments. Thus, we should know our limitations and have a strategy for a religious life that does not require superhuman efforts, especially that we follow a Path made for people of lower spiritual capacities. For example, I know somebody who constantly makes plans for long Nembutsu retreats but he can’t live without modern comfort and his wife. What focus on liturgies and Dharma teaching can that person have in a retreat if he constantly mises her! So, I advised him to stop dreaming about retreats and instead come to the temple from time to time and say Nembutsu at home while enjoying his lovely wife and comfort. I mention that she has nothing against him being a Buddhist, so he can say Nembutsu as much as he wants at his personal altar.
Again, be honest about yourself and your limitations and arrange your life so as to be able to say the Nembutsu of faith, study the Amida Dharma and possibly help others entrust to Amida.Treat the Nembutsu Path as the center of your life and anything else as means to help you focus on it.
[1] Honen the Buddhist Saint -
His Life and Teachings, volume V, 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, p. 737
0 comentarii:
Post a Comment