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Honen’s search for salvation
Here
is the story of Honen’s meeting with the Primal Vow in his own words:
“Having a deep
desire to obtain salvation, and with faith in the teachings of the various
scriptures, I practiced many forms of self-discipline. There are indeed many
doctrines in Buddhism, but they may all be summed up in the three learnings,
namely the precepts, meditation and wisdom,
as practiced by the adherents of the Lesser (Hinayana) and Greater Vehicles
(Mahayana), and the exoteric and esoteric sects. But the fact is that I do not
keep even one of the precepts, not do I attain to any one of the many forms of
meditation. A certain monk said that without the observance of the sila
(precepts), there is no such thing as the realization of samadhi.
Moreover, the heart (mind) of the ordinary unenlightened man because of his
surroundings, is always liable to change, just like monkeys jumping from one
branch to another. It is indeed in a state of confusion, easily moved and with
difficulty controlled. In what way does right and indefectible wisdom arise?
Without the sword of indefectible wisdom, how can one get free from the chains
of evil passion, whence comes evil conduct?
And unless one gets free from evil conduct and evil passions, how shall
he obtain deliverance from the bondage of birth and death? Alas! What shall I
do? What shall I do? The like of us are incompetent to practice the three
disciplines of the precepts, meditation and wisdom.
And so I enquired
of a great many learned men and monks whether there is any other way of
salvation than these three disciplines, that is better suited to our poor
abilities, but I found none who could either teach me the way of even suggest
it to me. At last I went into the library at Kurodani at Mount Hiei, where all
the scriptures were, all by myself, and with a heavy heart, read them all
through. While doing so, I hit upon a passage in Shantao’s Commentary on the
Contemplation Sutra, which runs as follows:
‘Whether walking
or standing, sitting or lying, only repeat the Name of Amida with all your
heart. Never cease the practice of it even for a moment. This is the very work
which unfailingly issues in salvation, for it is in accordance with the Primal
Vow of that Buddha’.
On reading this I
was impressed with the fact, that even ignorant people like myself, by reverent
meditation upon this passage, and an entire dependence upon the truth in it,
never forgetting the repetition of Amida’s sacred Name, may lay the foundation
for that good karma which will with absolute certainty eventuate in birth into
the Blissful Land. And not only was I led to believe in this teaching bequated
by Shantao (Zendo), but also earnestly to follow the great Vow of Amida. And
especially was that passage deeply inwrought into my very soul which says, ‘for
it is in accordance with the Primal Vow of that Buddha’”.
Commentary:
I
would like to focus on the passage from Master Shan-tao that helped Master
Honen entrust to Amida Buddha. He did not understand it in the sense that he
must say Nembutsu in every minute or second of his life, as some might hurry to
interpret it, but that there is no special inner or outer condition in which he
should say the Name.
“Whether walking
or standing, sitting or lying, only repeat the Name of Amida with all your
heart” can
be understood as saying the Nembutsu of faith in a relaxed manner without worrying
about the circumstances of your life and without being attached to a specific
time or posture. “With all your heart” means
with faith, that is, with the” entrusting heart” (shinjin). “Repeat the Name of Amida with all your
heart” is to say the Nembutsu as an expression of faith. Only this Nembutsu
of faith “is in accordance with the
Primal Vow of that Buddha (Amida Buddha)”.
This
is how we should understand the passage from Master Shantao that helped Honen
Shonin entrust to Amida Buddha and come in agreement with the Primal Vow.
One
who has faith in Amida Buddha will never forget to say His Name (“never forgetting the repetition of Amida’s
sacred Name”) but he will do it in a relaxed manner without being concerned
with his state of mind, time, number of recitation, posture or any circumstance
of his life because he knows that nothing from his illusory personality can
interfere with the salvation offered by Amida Buddha. In the very first moment
one entrusts to Amida and says his first Nembutsu of faith he receives the
merit transference from Amida Buddha that places him in the stage of nonretrogressionfor birth in the Pure Land. This is the meaning of “may lay the foundation for that good karma (merit transference from Amida)
which will with absolute certainty eventuate in birth into the Blissful Land”.
For
Master Honen to be in accordance with the Primal Vow was the primary goal of
his life and it should be our goal too, because we are the school of the Primal
Vow:
“Especially was
that passage deeply inwrought into my very soul which says, ‘for it is in
accordance with the Primal Vow of that Buddha’”.
If
we are in agreement with the Primal Vow we are carried safely to the shore of Enlightenment
despite the fact that we are not capable to practice meditation and attain samadhi,
follow precepts or develop wisdom.
Words in brackets are my own. The edition of 1925 and 1949 used
the word “knowledge”, but the actual meaning is wisdom, so I used it in this
text. Special concentrated state of
mind. Morality, meditation (Samadhi) and the development of wisdom go hand in
hand on the path of self-power. You cannot have one without the other. Honen the Buddhist Saint - His Life
and Teachings, volume II, 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. 185-187
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