Honen
Shonin said in
An Outline of Nembutsu:
"It is
even more unfortunate that there are many who insult and deride the exclusive
practitioners of Nembutsu today. These unfortunate circumstances were foretold
by incarnate
Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas a long time ago. Accordingly, Bodhisattva Manjusri stated,
'Nonvirtuous beings in the future world will recite the Name of Amida Buddha in
the West, become detached from the delusive worlds of saṃsara by relying on the
Primal Vow, and be
born in the
Pure Land through the depth of their sincere heart.'
In the Hymns
of the Nien-fo Liturgy, Master
Shan-tao thus stated:
'At the very
moment when the World-Honored One [Buddha Shakyamuni] was coming to the end of
His sermon, He entrusted to Sariputra with great care the Name of Amida Buddha.
Over time,
after the death of Buddha Shakyamuni, the five defilements proliferated, and
many people began to slander the teaching of Nembutsu. Monastics and lay people
alike began to dislike the teaching of Nembutsu and ceased listening to it.
This gave rise to the poison of anger, and when they saw Nembutsu
practitioners, they struggled to incite intrigue and create grudges. Such
people seem blind by nature and have no intrinsic goodness. Destroying the
teaching designed for the instantaneous realization of Enlightenment, they will
sink into the three lower realms for a long time. They will never be released
from the three lower realms,
even though
innumerable eons pass, more numerous than the number of particles released in
the explosion of the earth.
The Sutra
of Universal Enlightenment states: 'If a
good man and woman listen to the teaching of Nembutsu, are overwhelmed both
with sorrow at their state of ignorance and with unspeakable elation at the
promise of birth in the Pure Land, and attempt to escape from the three lower
realms, then it is clear that they have already cultivated the path leading to
Enlightenment in a previous life.
Conversely, if a person does not rejoice even after listening to the teaching,
it is a sign that he has just emerged for the first time from the three lower
realms.'
Those who
criticize and slander the teaching of Nembutsu are merely obsessed with
illogical
reasons, which
are not worthy of debate."
Commentary:
“'Nonvirtuous
beings in the future world” refer to us, ordinary people of blind
passions living in the Last Dharma Age. We become assured of liberation
from samsara
(“become detached from the delusive worlds of
saṃsara”)
by saying the Nembutsu of faith in accordance with the Primal Vow of Amida
Buddha.
There
is a reason why this precious teaching was slandered in the past and is still
slandered today. By being slandered today I refer to those belonging to other
Paths
who look down on us for having a teaching too simple to be true, but also to false
teachers who wear the robes and kesas of Nembutsu faith in various branches of
Jodo Shinshu and who
deny the existence of Amida Buddha by calling Him a myth,
symbol and metaphor or who do not admit that the Pure Land is a real
enlightened place
to be attained after death. They too consider our devotional
approach and simple faith to be ridiculous and dismiss it as folk religion.
Why
there are so many wrong views about a Path like ours? Because it is the quickest
way through which all beings (not only the spiritual elites) can attain Liberation.
The Primal Vow is
"the
teaching designed for the instantaneous realization of Enlightenment" after death and
rebirth in the Pure Land, so it’s too easy to be left without complications. Various
Maras and evil spirits who don’t want people to escape their grasp, are even
more decided to possess and influence those who can infiltrate and stop the
spreading of the Primal Vow than those who teach
self-power methods which are
hard to follow anyway in this
Last Dharma Age. However, the Path of faith in the real, living
Amida Buddha will endure because it is
the teaching in perfect correspondence with the times and the capacities of beings, thus making it the Way that all Buddhas
support and protect.
Unfortunately,
the karma of those who slander the Nembutsu teaching, by denying the very
existence of Amida Buddha and His Pure Land is so evil that they will be reborn
in the Avici hell where they stay for a time impossible to calculate with our
limited minds. People like them “seem
blind by nature and have no intrinsic goodness” which means that they do
not have “good from the past”, as Rennyo Shonin explained. The good from the past represents our good karma from past
lives and this life (prior to the awakening of faith) which manifests itself
as an opening or receptive state of mind towards the message of the
Primal Vow of Amida Buddha.
In
deep harmony with His Master Honen, Shinran Shonin gave us an advice on how to
treat those who slander the Nembutsu teaching both from the outside or inside
of our school:
“Suppose that all
other schools joined together in declaring, ‘The Nembutsu is for the sake of
worthless people; that teaching is shallow and vulgar.’ Even then, without the
slightest argument, one should reply ‘When foolish beings of inferior capacity
like ourselves, persons ignorant of even a single letter, entrust themselves to
the Vow, they are saved. Since we accept and entrust ourselves to this teaching,
for us it is the supreme Dharma, though for those of superior capacity it might
seem utterly base. Even though other teachings may be excellent, since they are
beyond our capacity they are difficult for us to put into practice. The
fundamental intent of the Buddhas is nothing but freedom from birth-and-death
for all, ourselves and others included, so you should not obstruct our practice
of the Nembutsu.’ If one responds without rancor thus, what person will do one
harm? Moreover, there is an authoritative passage that states, ‘Where
disputation takes place, blind passions arise. The wise keep their distance.’
Shakyamuni taught
that there would be both people who entrust themselves to this teaching and
people who abuse it. By the fact that I have entrusted myself fully to it and
there are others who abuse it, I realize that the Buddha’s words are indeed
true. Hence, I realize all the more clearly that my birth [in the Pure Land] is
indeed firmly settled. If there were none who abused the teaching, then surely
we would wonder why there are those who entrust but none who abuse it. This is
not to say the Nembutsu necessarily must be slandered; I merely speak of the
fact that the Buddha, knowing beforehand that there would be both those who
trust and those who slander, taught this so people would have no doubts.”
The
words
“where disputation takes
place, blind passions arise. The wise keep their distance” are similar with
Honen’s,
“those
who criticize and slander the teaching of Nembutsu are merely obsessed with
illogical reasons, which are not worthy of debate."
Our
Path is not based on the flawed logic of the unenlightened minds but on the
direct revelations and instructions of Shakyamuni about Amida Buddha in the
Larger Sutra. It is a teaching that must
be accepted in faith as He clearly instructed:
“If there are
sentient beings who have heard it, they will attain the stage of
non-retrogression for realizing the highest Enlightenment. This is why you
should single-heartedly accept in faith,
uphold, and chant this sutra, and practice in accordance with its teachings.”
Insisting
further on the importance of not having any doubt about the contents of this
sutra, Shakyamuni said:
“‘I have expounded
this teaching for the sake of sentient beings and enabled you to see Amitayus
(Amida) and all in His land. Strive to do what you should. After I have passed
into Nirvana, do not allow doubt to arise.”
When
having such a clear instruction from the World Honored One and the testimony of
Ananda who literally saw Amida and His Pure Land, what is there to be debated?
I think that Master
Shan-tao refers here to the Smaller Amida
Sutra (Amidakyo) where Shakyamuni speaks to Shariputra alone. They have "good from the
past" as Rennyo Shonin said. 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.150-151 Not all followers of other schools
are like this, of course. Here I refer only to a category of infatuated and
self-deluded people.
Tannisho,The Collected Works of Shinran,
Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.669 The Three Pure Land Sutras - A
Study and Translation from Chinese by Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with
Harold Stewart, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and Numata Center for Buddhist Translation
and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p.70
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