Honen Shonin said:
“It is impossible to predict the length of our lives, and although we may live a long time, the past is in the end like a phantom dream.
Therefore, remember
that together we will enter the same Buddha-land of Amida Buddha. Upon the
lotus flower we will dispel memories of sadness in this defiled world of
suffering, we will reminiscence about our past karmic connections, and we will
vow to save and lead people to Enlightenment in the future. I shared the
importance of this with you when we first met.
Believe deeply in the
Primal Vow[1] of Amida Buddha; do
not doubt even for a moment that you will attain birth in the Pure Land; and
believe that with ten recitations of Namo Amida Butsu you will definitely
achieve birth in the Pure Land through the power of the Primal Vow, however
much negative karma you may have. Please focus on reciting Nembutsu.
Birth in the Pure Land
will never depend upon our goodness or lack thereof. It is possible solely through
the power of the Primal Vow. No matter how brilliant and admirable we may be,
it is extremely difficult during this age of the Decline of the Dharma (Dharma
ending age) to be born immediately into the Pure Land through one’s own
efforts. Because the power of the Primal Vow is the crucial factor, there is no
reason that even one who is non-virtuous, simple and incompetent cannot attain
birth in the Pure Land. The essential condition is whether we believe in the
Primal Vow of Amida Buddha”. [2]
Master Honen is very clear on the cause for our birth in the
Pure Land, Enlightenment and the capacity to save all beings - faith in the
Power of the Primal Vow: “believe deeply
in the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha”.
Faith in the Primal Vow means that you believe you will go to the Pure Land (“do not doubt even for a moment that you will attain birth in the Pure Land”) if you entrust to Amida to take you there. Then you express this faith by saying His Name in a relaxed way, without worry about the number of recitations - “believe that with ten recitations of Namo Amida Butsu you will definitely achieve birth in the Pure Land through the power of the Primal Vow”.
Shinran Shonin was also in agreement with his Master Honen:
"'Entrusting' is to be free of doubt, believing deeply and without any double-mindedness that the Tathagata's Primal Vow is true and real."[3]
Both him and Honen Shonin believed deeply that birth in the Pure Land depends exclusively on the Power of Amida’s Primal Vow, and not on our so-called goodness. The Power of the Primal Vow is the Power of the One who made that Vow – Amida Buddha. This is mentioned in the texts of our Masters under various titles: Power Other than self, Other Power (Tariki), etc, and is contrasted with self-power. Honen Shonin explained this difference in the following way:
"Question: Is birth
in the Pure Land possible for all who recite Nembutsu?
Answer: Nembutsu
relying on the Power other than self [i.e. Amida Buddha] makes birth in the
Pure Land possible, but nembutsu relying on self-power will never result in
birth in the Pure Land.
Question: What does
Power other than self means?
Answer: Even a large
boulder, placed on a ship, will be transported to the far shore in due time.
This is possible not by the mobility of the stone but by the ability of the
ship. Likewise, one will see accomplishment
through the Power of Amida Buddha, which is referred to as the Power other than
self (Other Power).
Question: What is
meant by self-power?
Answer: If common mortals who possess worldly passions and are determined to rid themselves of these passions, strive to realize Enlightenment and to attain Buddhahood, even if they strive day and night, they will not be able to rid themselves of the worldly passions for very long. This is because they have been entrenched in the worldly passions of greed and anger from beginingless time. Thus, it is extremely difficult for us who are filled with the three poisons to rid ourselves of the worldly passions of ignorance. It would be as formidable a task as chipping away at Mount Meru with a tiny needle or emptying the ocean with a small ladle. Even if we were fortunate enough to chip away at Mount Meru with a needle and empty the ocean with a ladle the size of a poppy seed, innumerable eons of samsara would not help us to achieve Buddhahood. This is because we have accumulated negative karma with worldly passions. Being preoccupied by our thoughts, every moment will cause us to fall into both the three lower realms and the eight difficult conditions; and our every thought, awake and asleep, will be a bond that ties us to the six delusive worlds and the four modes of birth in the illusive worlds of transmigration. Under these circumstances, no amount of practice or study would make the attainment of Buddhahood a reality. This attempt to realize Buddhahood by one's efforts is referred to as self-power."[4]
The Pure Land school is not idealistic but takes into consideration our REAL capacities and limitations. While also accepting the general doctrine of the Mahayana that all beings have Buddha nature and all can become Buddhas (discover this innate Buddha nature), Jodo Shinshu starts from our real spiritual capacities that are as good as nonexistent.
All genuine Dharma Gates have three aspects: The Basis - we
all have Buddha nature, The Path - various methods to discover Buddha nature,
and the Fruit (Result), which is the actual discovery of this Buddha nature.
The latter is called perfect Enlightenment or Buddhahood/Nirvana.
All Dharma Gates have similar basis and fruit (result), but
differ in the Path which consists in various practices and teachings. Generally
speaking, all these teachings and practices can be classified in two big
categories: 1) self-power and 2) Other Power (Power other than self).
The first implies the reliance upon our own capacity to purify ourselves of negative karma, observe precepts, do this or that meditation or practice, etc, while the latter means a total and exclusive dependence on the Power of Amida Buddha. There are also people who combine dependency on their self-power with Amida’s Power (Shinran calls this “self-power within Other Power”) but by doing this they actually cannot be put in the category of genuine Other Power because Other Power or Power other than self means to rely EXCLUSIVELY and TOTALLY on Amida Buddha for our birth in the Pure Land, without thinking even for a second that we can add anything to this goal from our unenlightened personality.
To think that you can attain the fruit of the Path (Buddhahood) through relying completely or partially on your self-power is to be ignorant of your limited capacities and the influence of the habitual karma from the past. It means, as I often say, to behave like a drug addict who pretends that he can give up drugs instantly after twenty or more years of addiction. Just like he might end up taking a supra dose after a few hours of abstinence, we can also fall prey to just one moment of anger and lose all the karmic good that we have accumulated in many months or years of self-power practice. This is why Honen said that if we depend on our own limited capacities and ever changing personalities then “every moment will cause us to fall into both the three lower realms”. Instead of attaining liberation “our every thought, awake and asleep, will be a bond that ties us to the six delusive worlds”.
The Pure Land teaching sheds light on our limitations and puts us in the right place. It is the mirror into which we see ourselves as we really are and makes us realize we need Amida’s helping hand.
[1] In the translation the term is
“Essential Vow”. However, I prefer to always use “Primal Vow” everywhere
especially that it has the same meaning.
[2] The Promise of Amida Buddha:
Honen’s Path to Bliss, translated by Joji Atone and Yoko Hayashi, Wisdom
Publications, Boston, 2011, p. 246-247
[3] Shinran Shonin, Notes on the Inscriptions on Sacred Scrolls, The
Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu
Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.493
[4] Honen Shonin, Essential Discourse on Birth in the
Pure Land through Nembutsu, The Promise
of Amida Buddha - Honen's Path to Bliss; English translation of the Genko
edition of the works of Honen Shonin - Collected
Teachings of Kurodani Shonin: The Japanese Anthology (Wago Toroku),
translated by Joji Atone and Yoko Hayashi, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2011,
p.119-121
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