A reader asked
Shingyo Sensei of Amidaji: “The most succinct definition of any school of
Buddhism made by the Buddha himself is the sentence ‘Not to do any evil, to cultivate good, to purify one’s mind, this is
the teaching of the Buddhas’. Is this to be found in the teachings of Jodo
Shinshu?”
Shingyo Sensei
gave him a very simple and direct answer:
“This was said in the context of the self-power Path. However, it is possible to reinterpret these words in accordance with the Path of Other Power (Jodo Shinshu Buddhism/the Path of total reliance on Amida’s Power):
“Not to do any
evil”
- wish to be born in the Pure Land. (Samsara is evil).
“To cultivate good”
-
say the Name of Amida Buddha (no good is higher than His Name).
“To purify one’s
mind”
- entrust yourself to Amida Buddha.”
“This was said in the context of the self-power Path. However, it is possible to reinterpret these words in accordance with the Path of Other Power (Jodo Shinshu Buddhism/the Path of total reliance on Amida’s Power):
My commentary:
I think Shingyo Sensei’s words are golden and from now on they will remain Amidaji’s official reading of the above saying by Shakyamuni recorded in Dhammapada 183. However, I think a few more details are needed to better understand his explanation.
First,
let me state that Jodo Shinshu or the teaching of Amida’s indiscriminative
salvation is NOT an encouragement to do evil as I often explained in many of my articles based on Shakyamuni’s own words in the Larger Sutra and the various
sayings of our lineage Masters. However,
we believe that true purity of mind can be attained only after birth in the
Pure Land when we become Enlightened Ones. This might have been one way to
answer that reader, but Shingyo Sensei pointed out directly to the
Primal Vow. His simple explanations are not actually a re-interpretation of
Shakyamuni's words but a correct reading of them through the eyes of the Primal
Vow and the perspective of the Pure Land Dharma Gate which was also taught
by Shakyamuni Buddha.
I think Shingyo Sensei’s words are golden and from now on they will remain Amidaji’s official reading of the above saying by Shakyamuni recorded in Dhammapada 183. However, I think a few more details are needed to better understand his explanation.
Thus, as long as we are in samsara and our minds are samsaric minds we cannot avoid evil. Because samsara itself is the illusory emanation of our unenlightened minds, we cannot stop being evil while we are prisoners of our own dream. Yes, there are better realms in samsara than our human plane of existence or the lower realms, but even the world of the gods is still infected by ignorance and subtle attachments. As long as the smallest grain of ignorance and attachment remains within us we are still evil, so the only way of totally avoiding evil is to wish to be born in the Pure Land because only in that enlightened realm our blind passions and ignorance are melted like ice meeting fire and our innate Buddha nature with its myriad qualities will reveal itself automatically. Only as Buddhas in the Pure Land we can naturally avoid evil, do good and have pure minds.
Immediately join the truly settled;
Thus having entered the stage of non-retrogression,
They necessarily attain Nirvana"[1]
(the 17th Vow of Amida Buddha).
He
also said in the same sutra:
“All Buddha
Tathagatas in the ten directions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River,
together praise the inconceivable, supernal virtue of Amitayus (Amida).”[3]
[1] Shinran Shonin, Hymns of the Pure Land (Jodo Wasan), The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p. 341
[2] The Three Pure Land sutras, translated into English by Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with Harold Stewart, revised second edition, BDK English Tripitaka12-II, II, IV, Numata Center for Buddhist translation and Research, 2003, p.15
[3] The Three Pure Land sutras, translated into English by Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with Harold Stewart, revised second edition, BDK English Tripitaka12-II, II, IV, Numata Center for Buddhist translation and Research, 2003, p.35
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