Rev Oku Kyokai Sensei - a friend of Amidaji has passed away

With Rev Oku Kyokai in 2004  

 Rev Oku Kyokai of Zuikoji temple in Osaka passed away last night at  85   years old.

  First time I met him in 2004 (I was 27 ) when I visited   Japan for the second time. He found about me on internet and invited   me at his   temple on his expanse where he offered me accommodation   for three   weeks. He greeted me warmly and kindly helped me to visit   mount   Koyasan as well as various religious sites in the Kansai area.   We held   religious services together at his temple and in the houses of people from his parish. I remember fondly how I recited Nembutsu, Sambutsuge and Juseige in a tiny Japanese house for a big family with parents, grandparents, children and a dog, all gathered together in front of their obutsudan (home altar).

Amida Buddha is our strength

Amida Buddha is our strength.

No matter the outer or inner obstacles that appear in our lives, we should not fall prey to desperation because Amida Buddha is on our side.

Dear friends, please follow this heart advice! Whatever disturbing emotions and fears appear in your mind-stream due to your ignorance, attachments and past karma, just ignore them, let them come and dissolve by themselves, and you focus on Amida. Change the focus to Amida every time your inner or outer world is overcome with problems and difficulties.

Remember this truth - all that appears in the outer or inner samsaric universe is illusory and ultimately not real. Only Amida, His Pure Land and His Name are truly real, so focus on that. Don't allow your lives to be ruled by illusion and fear. Choose the real, choose Amida and make Him the foundation of your life.

Namo Amida Bu

Don’t use formless Dharmakaya to deny the transcendent manifestation of Amida Buddha

Many nowadays false teachers who are slandering the right Dharma, often use the formless Dharmakaya (Dharmakaya of Dharma-nature) which is the Buddha nature of all beings and of Buddhas themselves, as an excuse and argument to reduce all transcendent manifestations (Dharmakaya of Expediency/Sambhogakaya Aspect) to mere symbols or metaphors, or even go so far as to blame “folk Buddhism” for their presence in the canonical writings. But surely, Master T’an-luan did not share such distorted views when he clearly said that exactly because Dharmakaya is formless, there is no form which it cannot manifest:

“Unconditioned Dharmakaya is the body of Dharma-nature. Because Dharma-nature is Nirvanic, Dharmakaya is formless. Because it is formless, there is no form which it cannot manifest. Therefore, the body adorned with the marks of excellence is itself Dharmakaya”. 

Is Amida Buddha a real person or a symbol/metaphor?

the altar of Amidaji temple

- fragment from a letter to a friend - 

Question: Is Amida a symbol or metaphor for Wisdom and Compassion? Some scholars nowadays support this idea.

Answer: Those scholars are wrong. Amida Buddha is NOT a symbol or metaphor for Wisdom and Compassion, but a real, existing Enlightened Person possessing Infinite Wisdom and Compassion. 

I always insist on the actual, literal existence of Amida Buddha and His Pure Land because without realizing and accepting this existence, faith of unenlightened people becomes abstract and false. There can be no real faith without a real object of faith – in our case, Amida Buddha.

If you can’t say it to yourself and others that the object of your faith is a real, living Buddha, then you don’t have faith. No matter how great scholar you are, if your knowledge and study has not simplified your faith, and if you can’t talk about faith in simple terms, then you don’t have faith.

Contemplation on the Twelve Names of Amida’s Light

 article by Shaku Hogen, lay member of Amidaji

 
Amida Buddha, your majestic light is the most exalted, no other Buddha’s light can match it.  It illumines all Buddha-lands in the ten directions, each beam grasping and never abandoning sentient beings of the Nembutsu.

 

Immeasurable rays of light emanate from each feature of your awesome Sambhogakaya form, illuminating all Buddha-lands.

Therefore, you are called mu ryo ko bu - Infinite Light Buddha

 

All beings without exception in the ten directions are touched by your light.  None is outside the reach of your calling all to entrust to you.  

Therefore, you are called mu hen ko bu - Boundless Light Buddha.

Where is Amida Buddha? (very short answer)

Question:

Where is Amida Buddha?

My answer:

Amida Buddha is in three places at the same time:

1) in ultimate Dharmakaya beyond form,
2) in Sambhogakaya form in the Pure Land, and
3) in various, unlimited manifestations or Nirmanakayas which are spread everywhere in the ten directions.

Amida’s Dharmakaya has no beginning and no end, because it is uncreated, and always existing. This is the Buddha-nature which does not depend on causes and conditions. Amida’s Sambhogakaya or transcendental (recompensed) body which He has manifested in the Pure Land has a beginning, when Bodhisattva Dharmakara attained Enlightenment and became Amida Buddha, and will have no end, as He promised in His 13th Vow.
The various Nirmanakayas (accommodated/transformed) bodies have a beginning when Amida in Sambhogakaya form decides to emanate them and an end if He decides to terminate them.

When we ourselves will attain Buddhahood in the Pure Land, we’ll have access to the ultimate reality beyond forms (Dharmakaya), we’ll dwell forever in transcendent form (Sambhogakaya) in Amida’s Pure Land, and in the same time, we’ll go in all the places of the universe in various bodies of accommodation or transformation (Nirmanakayas) to save all beings.

The twelve Lights of Amida Buddha – commentary on the first part of section 11 of the Larger Sutra

Image of Amida Buddha at the altar
of Amidaji temple

  fragment from my commentary on the Larger Sutra

- this is a work in progress and under constant revision -  

The whole section eleven should be read in connection with my explanation of the 12^th Vow where Bodhisattva Dharmakara promised that His Light as a Buddha will be infinite.

Now Shakyamuni himself speaks about the Light of Amida Buddha, praising it as supreme among the lights of all Buddhas and describing it as having twelve special characteristics, corresponding to twelve names:

 “‘The majestic light of Buddha Amitayus (Amida) is the most exalted. No other Buddha’s light can match His. The light of some Buddhas illuminates a hundred Buddha lands, and that of others a thousand Buddha lands. Briefly, that of Amitayus illuminates the eastern Buddha lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River. In the same way, it illuminates the Buddha lands in the south, west, and north, in each of the four intermediate directions, and above and below. […]

The story of Dharmakara becoming Amida Buddha – commentary on the sections 4 to 10 of the Larger Sutra

fragment from my commentary on the Larger Sutra 

               - this is a work in progress and under constant revision - 

Now let’s see what Shakyamuni told us about Amida Buddha and His Pure Land.

In section 4 of the Larger Sutra He first enumerates many Buddhas of the past eons of time who appeared in samsara to teach the Dharma: “in the distant past – innumerable, incalculable and inconceivable kalpas ago…”[1]. Doing so, He showed to us that human history, as we know it, is only a very small fraction of the endless and inconceivable time of the universe and that the various world systems and beings living in them had existed before the appearance of this earth. So He mentioned 52 great Buddhas who appeared in samsara, taught the Dharma and entered Nirvana before the story of Amida actually happened. After these 52 Buddhas, another great Buddha named Lokesvararaja appeared, still in a distant, and impossible to explain, time and place:

The meaning of "if when I attain Buddhahood" [...] "may I not attain the supreme Enlightenment" from the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha

- click to return to A Detailed Explanation of the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha - 

Amida Buddha promised in His Primal Vow:

"If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings of the ten quarters who sincerely entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and say my Name even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain the supreme Enlightenment." 

I explained the content of the Primal Vow here, at this link, but now I would like to focus more on the specific words from its beginning and end because I saw that many people misunderstand it:

"if when I attain Buddhahood" [...] "may I not attain the supreme Enlightenment"

Pure Land as a state of consciousness or a real place?

Question: I was told that the Pure Land is a state of consciousness and not a real place with forms and manifestations. What do you think?

Answer:

States of consciousness do not exclude forms and manifestations. In fact, depending on the states of consciesness one dwells in, various forms appear. Thus, for unenlightened beings, samsaric bodies and realms come into existence as effects of their specific karmic obscurations. When one becomes a Buddha, transcendental manifestations arise (see the article on Three Bodies/Aspects of Amida Buddha) as the effect of Enlightenment and the wish to save all beings.

My book - The True Teaching on Amida Buddha and His Pure Land

I am happy to share with you the free online edition of my book, The True Teaching on Amida Buddha and His Pure Land.

This is a long term project which has begun a few years ago as a reaction to the appearance in the international sangha of some divergent views which threaten to destroy the chances of many people to listen to the genuine Amida Dharma. It is also a work in progress, and the reader can expect that I will come back again, sooner or later, with new editions and improvements.

Click here to order a printed copy:

Click here to order it in British pounds on Amazon.com/uk
Click here to order it in US Dollars on Amazon.com
Click here to order it CDN on Amazon Canada

Click here to order it on Amazon Australia 
Click here to order it in Euro on Amazon Germany
Click here to order it in Euro on Amazon Italy

Click here to order it in Euro on Amazon France
Click here to order it on Amazon Spain
Click here to order it in Japanese yen on Amazon Japan

Here are the links where you can download it for free:

 1) My personal drive on google

2) (Academia.edu)

3) (Scribd.com)

The audio version is now available on my youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lmsf6r5kn8&list=PL1TmuLHxJGTN8Vk7gD2wh0LmfV4hu-0fc
 

If you have difficulties in downloading it, please write to me at josho_adrian@yahoo.com, and I will send you a copy myself.

If you can afford, please consider a small donation to support me and my Dharma activities, and especialy the construction of Amidaji Temple (click here to see all articles and photos related with the temple).:

Namo Amida Butsu

The grave karmic consequence of denying the transcendent reality of Amida Buddha

- based on Master T’an-luan’s Ojoronchu -

Master T'an-luan (476-542)

The Three Buddha Bodies (aspects) and the Two Buddha Bodies doctrines are usually not properly understood by those who don't accept the existence of the many transcendent Buddhas in Mahayana[1]. While the true reason for such an attitude is their materialistic vision of the universe, they often use the formless Dharmakaya (Dharmakaya of Dharma-nature) as an excuse and argument to reduce all transcendent manifestations to mere symbols or metaphors, or even go so far as to blame „folk Buddhism” for their presence in the canonical writings.

But surely, Master T’an-luan did not share such distorted views when he clearly said that exactly because Dharmakaya is formless, there is no form which it cannot manifest”:

„Unconditioned Dharmakaya is the body of Dharma-nature. Because Dharma-nature is Nirvanic, Dharmakaya is formless. Because it is formless, there is no form which it cannot manifest. Therefore, the body adorned with the marks of excellence is itself Dharmakaya”.

The two aspects of the Pure Land

The Pure Land of Amida Buddha has two main aspects:

1) the ultimate Dharmakaya aspect, and
2) the manifestation or Sambhogakaya                              (recompense) aspect.

1) The first aspect (Dharmakaya) means that the Pure Land is Nirvanic in its essence, as it was stated in the Larger Sutra:

My land, being like Nirvana itself,

Will be beyond comparison.”[1]

This means that all the manifestations of the Pure Land are grounded in the perfect Enlightenment of Amida Buddha, and are conducive to Enlightenment. We ourselves will attain Enlightenment when we are born in the Pure Land, because the essence of the Pure Land is Enlightenment/Nirvana/Dharmakaya itself. Otherwise, if the Pure Land was not an enlightened realm, it would produce only sensorial attachments, like other Samsaric realms do, but Shakyamuni Buddha[2] and our Masters were very clear that this is not the case.

The relation between the doctrine of the “Two Buddha bodies” and the “Three Buddha bodies” (Trikaya) of Amida Buddha

last update - 5th August 2015

The doctrine of the Two Buddha-Bodies (aspects) - Nishu Hosshin:

         This doctrine was much explained by Master T’an-luan in his Ojoronchu[1]. According to him, all Buddhas, including  Amida, have two Bodies/Aspects:

1. Dharmakaya of Dharma-nature (Hossho Hosshin)

2. Dharmakaya of Expediency (Hoben Hosshin), which is also called „Dharmakaya of Compassionate means”.

The first is the ultimate, unconditioned reality beyond form, which is equally shared by all Buddhas[2], while the second is the specific and particular manifestation of each Buddha for the sake of saving sentient beings.

The relation between the two is described as follows:

„From the Dharmakaya of Dharma-nature originates the Dharmakaya of Expediency; through the Dharmakaya of Expediency, the Dharmakaya of Dharma nature is revealed. These two Dharmakayas are different, but inseparable; they are one but not the same.”

The three bodies (aspects) of Amida Buddha

           

Amida Buddha

1. Dharmakaya (Hosshin) or Dharma-Body

This is the aspect of ultimate Reality or the Absolute Truth. It is beyond forms, unchanging, inconceivable, without beginning and no end. All Buddhas share the same Dharmakaya when they attain perfect Enlightenment; this is why it is said that all Buddhas, including Amida, have the same essence. Not only Amida Buddha, but His Pure Land too, has the same Dharmakaya aspect. This is evident from this and many other similar passages in the sacred texts:

My land, being like Nirvana itself,

Will be beyond comparison.”[1]

2. Sambhogakaya (Hojin) or Recompensed Body

This is Amida Buddha and His Pure Land in transcendental form, as a result of Dharmakara’s practices and Vows. It is called, the “Body of Recompense” because it is the effect, or the “recompense” of His practices and virtues. Thus, when Dharmakara became Amida Buddha, His 48 vows have become effective methods of salvation, and His Pure Land came into existence. To Amida in Sambhogakaya form, did Shakyamuni refer to when He said to Ananda:

If Amida’s Primal Vow is true…

Shinran Shonin

click here for the audio version 

on my youtube channel

Shinran Shonin said:

“If Amida’s Primal Vow is true, Shakyamuni’s teaching cannot be false. If the Buddha’s teaching is true, Shan-tao’s commentaries cannot be false. If Shan-tao’s commentaries are true can Honen’s words be lies? If Honen’s words are true, then surely what I say cannot be empty.”

The Primal Vow is true. This is the basis of our faith and of the entire Amida Dharma which was taught by Shakyamuni and the succeeding Masters. Everything starts with this – the Primal Vow is true. If we accept that the Primal Vow is true and we rely on it without any doubt, then we are saved; if not, this life in human form is wasted:

“if in this lifetime still you are entangled in a net of doubt, then unavoidably you must pass once more in the stream of birth-and-death through myriads of kalpas”.

The story of Amida Buddha as told by Shakyamuni Buddha

           

Shakyamuni Buddha teaching about Amida Buddha
and his Pure Land

Because we are unenlightened, we cannot fully comprehend with our limited minds everything that is related with Amida Buddha and his Pure Land. But because we were given a teaching and guidance on how to look at them and how to accept them, I think it is good if we know these instructions, so that we can never be misguided by others.

            Shakyamuni Buddha’s main teaching about Amida Buddha can be found in the Three Pure Land Sutras[1], among which the Larger Sutra is the most important. In fact, Shinran thought that teaching this sutra was the main reason for Shakyamuni’s appearance on earth[2]. He was also convinced that the Larger Sutra is the true teaching of the Buddha Dharma, while all other methods and teachings Shakyamuni preached during his lifetime, are provisory. Here are just a few important passages from his Kyogyoshinsho that support this vision:

Trees of Enlightenment

Samsaric or unenlightened beings are like seeds dropped in an infertile soil. Although the potentiality of any seed is to become a tree, if you place it in a poor soil, devoid of any good nutrients, and in the  presence of various bad weeds, the seed will not grow.

Just like the seed, the potentiality of any being is to become a Buddha (this is what is meant by all beings have Buddha-nature), but because we live in this samsaric world, itself the effect and echo of our own evil karma, we cannot grow and transform ourselves into Buddhas.

This is exactly why we need to let Amida take us to His Pure Land. That Land is the best soil for seeds like us to quickly develop their natural potential and become Buddhas. Unlike the various Samsaric planes of existence, the Pure Land is the soil (realm) of Enlightenment, the perfect garden manifested by Amida Buddha where everything is conducive to Enlightenment. So, we should all simply entrust to Him and wish to be planted/reborn there, where by receiving all the necesary nutrients and not being  obstructed by any bad weeds, we’ll naturally transform ourselves into Trees of Enlightenment.  

Namo Amida Butsu 

Master T’an-luan on Amida Buddha and the Pure Land (the doctrine of the two Buddha bodies)

                                      - based on his teachings in the Ojoronchu[1] -

Master T’an-luan (476-542)

According to T’an-luan, all Buddhas, including Amida, have two bodies (aspects):

„1. Dharmakaya of Dharma-nature and 2. Dharmakaya of Expediency.”

The first is the ultimate, unconditioned reality beyond form, which is equally shared by all Buddhas[2], while the second is the specific and particular manifestation of each Buddha for the sake of saving sentient beings.

The relation between the two is described as follows:

„From the Dharmakaya of Dharma nature originates the Dharmakaya of Expediency; through the Dharmakaya of Expediency, the Dharmakaya of Dharma nature is revealed. These two Dharmakayas are different, but inseparable; they are one but not the same.”[3]

This is a very important aspect that is not properly understood by those who don’t accept the existence of the many transcendent Buddhas in Mahayana[4]. While the true reason for such an attitude is their materialistic vision of the universe, they often use the formless Dharmakaya as an excuse and argument to reduce all transcendent manifestations to mere symbols or metaphors, or even go so far as to blame „folk Buddhism” for their presence in the canonical writings.

But surely, T’an-luan did not shared such distorted views when he clearly said that exactly because Dharmakaya is formless, there is no form which it cannot manifest”:

Question: What part of our mind goes to the Pure Land?

Question: What part of our mind goes to the Pure Land? Is it the mind we currently have, in others words is it who we are now that goes to be born in the Pure Land?”

Answer: What we know for sure is that birth in the Pure Land takes place after physical death. This is what the Masters of our tradition clearly said, so we accept it.

At death, what we call ‘mind stream’ leaves the physical body and instead of passing through bardo (intermediary state) and then to other states of existence, it goes directly to the Pure Land where Enlightenment happens immediately. At that very moment, the delusions of our ‘mind stream’ are naturally melt like ice meeting fire, and our true enlightened nature will appear. So, we may say that we go to the Pure Land as we are, but once born there, in the safe and enlightened realm of Amida, ‘we’ transform into something completely different, that is, fully Enlightened Buddhas.

But all these things are inconceivable and beyond conceptual understanding, so I cannot enter into further analysis. Some aspects are imposibile to understand at the level we are now as unenlightened beings. Now all we need to do is to simply entrust to Amida. Jodo Shinshu is the path of simple faith, not of profound understanding in this life of the ultimate nature of mind.