You must believe that Nembutsu possesses supreme merit and that Amida Buddha with His great compassion of the Primal Vow, will come to embrace one who recites Nembutsu even ten times or just once. Thus believing this, practice Nembutsu for your entire lifetime without negligence”[1].
Commentary:
As I showed in chapter “The Nembutsu is true and real” from my book Simple Teachings on Emptiness and Buddha nature, by quoting many sacred texts, the Name contains the merits of Amida and all Buddhas, as well as the virtues of all Buddhist teachings and practices. “It is the treasure-sea of merits of true Suchness, ultimate reality”[2], as Shinran said.
Also,
Amida protects and embraces those who entrust to Him both in this life as well
as in the moment of death when He welcomes them into His Pure Land of Bliss.
After
pointing out that the number of recitations is not important for our birth in
the Pure Land, Master Honen encouraged us to say the Name for our entire
lifetime. Just as one who was saved from fire will always be grateful to his
savior, we should also not be negligent in expressing our gratitude to Amida Buddha
for saving us from the repeated births and deaths. This is the reason why
sometimes Honen, but also Shinran and Rennyo, insisted on remembering to say
the Nembutsu. It was NOT that the number of recitations is important (it isn’t!),
but because we should remember to say “thank you” to the one who assured our
liberation from samsara.
The
Nembutsu is also the expression of faith, so if we really entrusted ourselves
to Amida, we’ll surely like to express it by saying His Name.
„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
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exclusively propagate
the sole practice of Nembutsu, to believe that the essence of the forty-eight
vows of Amida Buddha is the Vow of the exclusive recitation of Nembutsu, and to
recite single-heartedly Nembutsu - these indicate having the profound
heart."[1]
Commentary:
We are the school of the Primal Vow. All we need to know and all we have to do for our salvation is found in the Primal Vow. This is why I explained it word by word in almost 90 pages in my Commentary on the Larger Sutra.
We cannot enter into karmic connection with Amida Buddha for birth in the fulfilled land of the Pure Land[2] if we do not do EXACTLY what He asked us to do in His Primal Vow – entrust to Him, say His Name and wish to be born in His Pure Land. These three elements are exclusive requirements so we must have faith only in Amida, say only His Name and wish to be born only in His Pure Land. If we do exactly this and only this, then we receive the karma for birth there after death.
Both heart and
practice must be a single discipline, not only to achieve birth in the Pure
Land, but also to realize Enlightenment in the Holy Gate. This is referred to
as ‘observing the practice by awakening the heart to Enlightenment’.
In Jodo Shu (Pure Land
school), Master Shan-tao called this ‘the steadfast heart and practice’.”[1]
“Heart” refers to the
“entrusting heart” (shinjin) or faith in Amida Buddha. This is also linked with
“aspiration”, which is aspiration or
desire to be born in the Pure Land. “Practice”
is to say the Name of Amida Buddha.
All these three: faith (shinjin), the saying of the Name and the wish (aspiration) to be born in the Pure Land are the three requirements of Amida in His Primal Vow, where He asked beings to entrust to Him, say His Name and wish to be born in His Pure Land: “sincerely entrust themselves to me (faith/shinjin), desire to be born in my land (aspiration), and say my Name (Nembutsu) perhaps even ten times”.
I would ask these people to try using their own names, John,
Marc, Mary, etc, and see if they can attain birth in the Pure Land through them.
Of course, they can’t and the reason why is that theirs are empty names without
any power.
As the Nembutsu is the saying of Amida’s Name it belongs to Amida and is infused with His infinite merits and Power. This is why it works in bringing us to the Pure Land at the end of our physical bodies. So, it is extremely important that our saying of the Name should be an expression of faith in Amida, and NOT in our capacities to say it often or seldom.
Each of us has his/her own personal relation with Amida Buddha who saves us one by one, having us always in front of His compassionate eyes. We do not need to be heroes, have the same visions or recitation capacities like Masters of the past, but simply say the Nembutsu according to our personal conditions while keeping in mind that Amida did NOT impose a fixed number of recitations in order to be born in His Pure Land: “say my Name perhaps even ten times”. This expression “perhaps even ten times” means ANY NUMBER from one to ten or to hundreds, thousands and as many as we can.
“If we only put our
trust in Amida’s Primal Vow, there is no doubt whatever about our future
destiny, but what are we to do with the present world?’
‘Well, the thing to do is to make the Nembutsu practice the chief thing in life, and to lay aside everything that you think may interfere with it. If you cannot stay in one spot and do it, then do it when you are walking. If you cannot do it as a priest, then do it as a layman. If you cannot do it alone, then do it in the company of others. If you cannot do it and at the same time provide yourself with food and clothing, then accept the help of others and go on doing it. Or if you cannot get others to help you, then look after yourself but keep on doing it. Your wife and children and domestics are for this very purpose, of helping you to practice it, and if they prove an obstacle, you ought not to have any. Friends and property are good, if they too prove helpful, but if they prove a hindrance they should be given up. In short, there is nothing that may not help us to Ojo, so long as it helps us to go on the even tenor of our way through life undisturbed.’”[1]
Commentary:
The goal of Buddhism is not to attain happiness here and now which is actually impossible as samsara itself is the karmic effect of our own blind passions and ignorance. However, this doesn’t mean that we should neglect our basic needs. Amida devotees also eat, drink, seek shelter, comfort and good company, they get married, have children, property, etc. There is no problem with this. What Honen Shonin advised us is to use all the aspects of our life as support for the Nembutsu Path. The Primal Vow of Amida does not require asceticism, but only the Nembutsu of faith, so try to arrange your personal life in such a way that you be able to walk the Path of Nembutsu.
“Those who think that
it is only the Nembutsu of the pious and learned which can eventuate in Ojo (birth
in the Pure Land), and that there is no Ojo for the ignorant and unlettered and
those who go in sinning every day, even if they should say the Nembutsu, have
not yet grasped the fact that the Primal Vow includes both the good and the
bad.
It is impossible in
this life to change man’s nature, which he has inherited through the working of
his karma from a pre-existent state, just in the same way as it is impossible
for a woman in this life to be changed into a man, no matter how much she might
desire it. Those who call upon the sacred Name should do it with the nature
they now have, the wise man as a wise man, the fool as a fool, the pious as
pious, the irreligious as irreligious, and thus all equally may attain Ojo.
Honen Shonin said:
“Where one is to
receive something from another, which is better, to have already received, or
not yet to have received? I, Genku (Honen), repeat the Nembutsu as if I had
already received.”[1]
Commentary:
There
are two types of Nembutsu: the Nembutsu of those who don’t have faith, and the Nembutsu
of faith.
The
Nembutsu of those who are not yet established in faith is said without being
sure of their salvation (“not yet to have
received” – not yet assured of birth in the Pure Land). This is because when one relies on one’s own
power one cannot have any certainty.
The
Nembutsu of faith or Honen’s Nembutsu is said by one who knows that he has
already received the assurance of birth in the Pure Land since the moment he
entrusted for the first time in Amida (“have
already received”). This is the Nembutsu
of Buddha centered Power through which one is certain to attain Ojo[2].
It is also the Nembutsu of “thank you Amida Buddha for saving me as I am”.
[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. 400
[2] Ojo means birth in the Pure Land.
She took his
advice, gave up the reading, and did nothing but call upon the sacred Name all
the rest of her life, till she at last attained Ojo (birth in the Pure Land).
“Those who deeply
entrust themselves
To Amida’s Vow of great compassion
Should all say Namo Amida Butsu constantly,
Whether they are waking or sleeping.”
Answer:
Shinran also said:
"In the Primal Vow are the words:
'Saying my Name perhaps even ten times'.
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