Nembutsu is the same no matter who says it

 

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Selected passages from Honen Shonin 

with commentary

“When someone once said to Honen that his repetition of the Nembutsu must be very acceptable to the Buddha, he asked ‘Why?’

‘Because you are a wise man, and know in detail what merit there is in the repetition of the sacred Name, clearly understanding the meaning of the Buddha’s Primal Vow.’

At this Honen replied: ‘You have not yet really come to believe in the Primal Vow at all. As to calling upon the sacred Name of the Primal Vow of the Buddha Amida, it makes no difference whether the man be a wood-cutter, a gatherer of grass or greens, or a drawer of water or the like, whether he be utterly unlettered in Buddhism or other religions. It makes no difference, I say, so long as he calls upon the sacred Name. If he believes his Ojo (birth in the Pure Land) is certain and keeps repeating the Nembutsu, he is the very best kind of believer. If it is possible by wisdom to get free from the bondage of life and death, why indeed should I, Genku (Honen), have given up the Holy Path (Shodo-mon) and devoted myself exclusively to this Pure Land doctrine (Jodo-mon)? The self-discipline of the so-called Holy Path consists in the effort to escape birth and death by the cultivation of one’s wisdom whereas that of the Pure Land consists in coming back to what the world calls foolishness, and thus attain birth into the Land of Bliss.’”[1] 

Commentary: 
The only wisdom we can have on the Jodo Shinshu Path is to realize we are foolish people without a chance to escape samsara through our own power and that only Amida is able to lead us to perfect Enlightenment in His Pure Land. 

Long time ago there was a scholar who disagreed with my attempt to present the teaching about Amida in simple terms and he said that we should not make Jodo Shinshu look like it is only for idiots. “But we are all idiots”, I said, “including you and me”! As long as we are not Buddhas yet, we are all idiots and foolish because only a Buddha has infinite wisdom and knows everything. Although praised by many as very wise and knowledgeable in many sutras and treatises, Honen always considered himself a foolish person: 

„I am nothing but the foolish Honen, weighed down by the ten evils, and I say that the only way for me to attain Ojo (birth in the Pure Land) is by calling upon the sacred Name.”[2] 

He also said: 

„An incapable man like me can only put His entire trust in the Great Vow”.[3] 

The reason why Nembutsu is the same no matter who says it, is because its effectiveness depends entirely on Amida’s Power and not on something that can be found within ourselves. If we could add anything to the holy Name of Amida or if we could improve it by our personal qualities, then it would matter who says it, but as the Name is filled with the myriad qualities of Amida, we should simply say it in faith without thinking to anything else.

 

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[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, p. 401
[2] 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, p. 396-397
[3] 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, p. 396