„I beg of you to believe with ever-deepening fervour, and with undivided mind to give yourself up to the Nembutsu.”[1]
Here we can see again that Honen linked the saying of the Name with faith (shinjin), so the Nembutsu he always urged us to say was the Nembutsu of faith - the Nembutsu centered on Amida’s Power. That Nembutsu is said with an undivided mind which means it is not mixed with other practices and faiths. The salvation offered by Amida Buddha takes place according to the law of karma, so in order to be saved we need to enter into karmic connection with Him. That can be done only if we have exclusive faith in Amida and say only His Name. This is the „undivided mind” Honen speaks about. Focus exclusively on Amida and abandon any reliance on other religious characters from inside or outside Buddhism. All Buddhas are automatically praised when you say the Name of Amida, and nonBuddhist divinities are deluded so they cannot be an object of refuge.
[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. 468
0 comentarii:
Post a Comment