Rest in Nembutsu

Rest in Nembutsu. Let all your thoughts come and go while you just say the Name. Put an image of Amida that you like  in front of you and say Nembutsu while looking at it. Don't force yourself to feel anything special, just look at Amida and say His Name.
Rest in His presence and Name,
Na Mo A Mi Da Bu, Na Mo A Mi Da Bu, Na Mo A Mi Da Bu....

Do not pursue the various thoughts and worries that appear in the mind, but rest in Amida's Name. You can do this wherever you are, even without an image in front of you.

Amida Buddha is always present so you can simply change the focus to Him and leave everything else aside. You do not need meditation techniques which will make you go astray from Amida when this simple resting in the Name can be done in any circumstance and it is in accord with Amida's Primal Vow and Shinran's words:

"In this fleeting world - this burning house - all matters without exception are empty and false, totally without truth and sincerity. The Nembutsu alone is true and real. "

So, rest in Namo Amida Bu, the manifestation of true reality beyond the samsaric delusion.

Rest in the Name and you rest in Amida's presence. This is not a metaphor, nor a symbol, but the actual truth. Amida is in front of you every time, so please, turn your mind to Him and rest in His Name.
Namo Amida Bu

The above instructions appeared to me spontaneously this night at Amidaji temple. May our Dharma friends abandon the intention to mix practices and find everything they need in the Nembutsu of Faith!

The right attitude of mind when working for Amidaji

            

Working to strenghten the walls and roof of  the  

Hondo (Dharma Hall) of Amidaji. 
You can see me in the right corner of the photo.

Once, when I was doing my daily work for Amidaji,  in the unbearable heat, I suddenly remembered a passage from Thus I Have Heard from Rennyo Shonin, in which there is a recorded saying of Zenshu, a close disciple of Rennyo Shonin:

"Zenshū said, 'When I make offerings to the Shōnin, I do this as if they were my own. How shameful!' When asked why, he said, 'They are the things given by the Buddha, but I offer them to the Shōnin as if they were my own gift. My role is only to pass the Buddha's gift over to the Shōnin. How shameful I am to make these offerings as if they were my own.'"

I don't miss meditation since I met the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha

Question: Do you ever feel like anything is "missing" for you without regular meditation?

My answer: I really do not feel something is missing. For an ordinary person meditation is useless anyway because no one can attain Enlightenment through it in this last Dharma age. More than this, meditation can even be a distraction from the Primal Vow. If Amida wanted us to practice meditation and considered meditation to be helpful to us, then He would have included it in His Primal Vow, which He didn't. As Honen said, Amida chose only His Name from the myriad practices. Why? Because this Name is supreme and all-powerful, and will take us quickly to freedom from birth and death.

A short question and answer on the home altar

Yasodhara venerating the Buddha by placing her head upon His feet.

I myself like to place my head on the feet of Amida images/statues and kiss them. 

Question:

"Some say that a Jodo Shinshu follower must have a home altar (butsudan), while others say this is not important. What do you think?"

Answer:

I think it depends on each person. Let me give you an example from daily life.

Some are capable to remember their loved ones even if they don't carry their photos with them every day. Others, even if they also never forget their loved ones, they enjoy looking with love and affectionate thoughts to their photos. I myself never forget the girl I love, even when I do not see her for many days or weeks, but I like to look at her photo anytime I can, so I always carry  one of her photos with me, in my pocket. It is the same pocket I carry a photo with Amida Buddha, too :)

This is somewhat similar with having an altar dedicated to Amida Buddha and an image with Him in your own room. You are never far from Amida, and you know He is always with you, but because your unenlightened eyes of flesh cannot see Him, you may wish to have a painted image with Him and His Name in Chinese or English characters. There is nothing wrong with this, but on the contrary, it may prove helpful.

Also, have you ever kissed a photo of your dear ones, when you thought to them or missed them, or simply out of love for them? In the same way, you can have an image of Amida Buddha to whom you can offer flowers or bow to it, or touch your forehead with it, or even kiss it with devotion. I myself like to do all these things with images of Amida Buddha. It is the way this ignorant and devotional peasant likes to express his faith in his Savior.

But of course, you may be different and you might not feel the need to have sacred images at home. Both choices are ok, as long as you have faith (shinjin), because faith is all that matters. And if you are not yet established in faith, sacred images may help in creating connection with Amida Buddha, along with listening to the true teaching about Him.

- fragment from a letter to a friend -

The dream world and the nembutsu of faith

 “Unless one comprehends the truth he is continually in a dream. Therefore Buddha explains life and death as a long night.”  
Master Genshin [1] 

Sometimes I'm so tired during or after my 24 hour shift[2] without sleep that I can hardly differentiate between dream and reality....In such moments I feel like Zhuangzi who after dreaming that he was a butterfly he could no longer differentiate if he is now Zhuangzi who dreamed the butterfly or the butterfly who still dreams that he is Zhuagnzi :)

Ten years since I became a priest

Do not have patience

I myself cannot find any satisfaction with Buddhist teachings and practices that doesn’t promise me a quick escape from birth and death. This why I entrust myself to Amida Buddha, because I am in a hurry to become a Buddha. 

I know that some virtuous practitioners might interpret my hurry as laziness in spiritual matters or as lack of patience. I don’t deny anything, but when I deeply contemplate the rare chance of being born a human and how easy it is to fall again in the lower realms[1] or when I see that even in this life, thoughts resembling those of animals, hungry spirits or hell dwellers often appear in my mind and in the mind of others, I feel that I do not want to assume any risk of failing to quickly become a Buddha once and for all. 

I remain the same

No matter where I go, or what I do, I remain the same.

Wether I am in my room, a temple, or even in the presence of the relics of the Buddha[1], where I was today, I remain the same.

I came to the relics shrine with a distracted mind, I stayed there and paid homage with a distracted mind and left home with the same distracted mind. I did this or that, circumambulation, gassho, etc, but still my mind remained the same. When I realized this, I  stopped doing anything and remained sitting. Just being there and saying Nembutsu was enough.

I was and always am in the presence of Amida Buddha, so what else do I need doing? What does a child needs to do in the presence of his father or mother? Nothing. Trully nothing. He just stays there and feels accepted. No special thing is required.  Just sitting there I realized again that everything is ok.

My mind can never be at peace. Since the Buddha and me both know this simple truth, just sitting in His presence is enough.

Namo Amida Bu. The problem of my life and death are solved once and for all without me doing anything special.

---

[1] I wrote this short fragment after I attended an exhibition with the relics of the Buddha and various Buddhist sages.

Incapable to read even a single Dharma sentence

 -fragment from a letter-

In times of great difficulties I cannot read a single Dharma sentence, nor am I capable to make my daily devotions properly. To think, to contemplate something, to write or translate becomes a great burden. Everything stops and I cannot do anything.

In those moments, when I am incapable of any religious activities, I often become deeply aware of the friendship and care of Amida Buddha. My inability of doing anything, even to read or recite a single line is entirely accepted and I feel nothing like a reprimand on His part. I blame myself for my inaction and my incapacity, but still the feeling of being accepted as I am never disappears from my heart and mind. So, even if I say the Name often or seldom, I know that my assurance of birth in the Pure Land is the same and the Buddha is here as always, walking with me, seeing me, protecting me.

Indeed, I realize that Jodo Shinshu is for me, Josho, a person incapable of any sustained practice, who often falls and wanders here and there driven by various attachments. It is this feeling of being accepted no matter what, that makes me a Jodo Shinshu follower. Without Jodo Shinshu I could not be a Buddhist and the gates of Freedom would be forever closed for me. This is not a metaphor, nor a sign of humbleness, but the simple truth. There is no hidden quality in myself, no special capacity that can be of any help in the matter of birth and death. Still, such a person is saved and assured of Buddhahood due to Amida.

Indeed, the greatest miracle in religion is not that Shakyamuni or Nagarjuna became a Buddha, but that an ordinary person will become a Buddha without deserving it. Many wise and virtuous people will never understand this....

Namo Amida Butsu

Solve the matter of death and after death NOW!

"We should all quickly take to heart the

matter of the greatest importance of the afterlife, entrust ourselves deeply to
Amida Buddha, and recite the nembutsu." (Master Rennyo)

No matter what I do, there is one thought that comes to me naturaly and this is: „I will die one day, maybe tommorow or even today”.....

To be or not to be a religious person lies in how much attention one gives to his own death and after life. And there is something more: in how hurried he or she is to solve this matter of death and after death.

This I think should be a great urge for a Buddhist practitioner – to solve the matter of death NOW, as soon as possible, to be hurried to solve it and to not postpone it for another day or year.

Jodo Shinshu – the only path for people of lower classes

As an ordinary person that I am, gratitude does not often arises in my mind, but when it does I feel happy not only for Amida’s salvation but for every little thing that brings me satisfaction.

Those who always had what they wanted might not easy feel happiness when for example, they eat a good meal, but for me, this might bring me great happiness. Also to have enough clothes to cover my body, to have the rent paid so I am sure that I do not become homeless, to be able to pay electricity or water, etc, are sources of great satisfaction and relief. This is because every day I struggle with these matters and worry how I will be able to cope with them. Thus my mind is very much attached to such things.

To concentrate on the Dharma is never easy in the everyday life of an ordinary person who has a minimum income which is hardly enough to cover his needs. To be a full time practitioner or full time priest is completely impossible.

More than this, to have a job that does not contradict Buddhist precepts is also in many cases impossible.

A vision with Amida Buddha

Today I wish to share with you a personal experience which happened many years ago, even before I became a priest. Whether you believe me or not, it doesn’t matter, as I can’t prove to you that I am telling the truth.  So, you may treat this testimony as you wish. 

Arround 4 a.m. I  woke up from the bed, not feeling well due to a bad experience and an ugly dream I had that night, and I went straight to my personal altar. There I started to say the nembutsu.

Suddenly an image of Amida Buddha appeared floating in the air and a bright but impossible to describe light came from his head toward me. The image was somehow the same as the one from the altar but more bright and with that beautiful light.

When I saw the image and light I instantly became calm and I was overwhelmed with a sense of safety and security. I felt  and I also heard in my head something like "don't worry I am here and I am protecting you". All that experience lasted less than a minute, so I didn't have enough time to savor it, but I felt it very strong and real. It was as if I was looking at somebody sitting in front of me - this is how I saw that image of Amida Buddha. And it was so unexpected.

With that strong sense of security and peace I could finally went to sleep again.

I often remember that experience, and although it may sound incredibile, I know it really happened. And it was not a dream, but a fully awake experience. It is like seeing somebody right in front of me, this is how I saw Amida Buddha’s image emanating clear light. 

I know other ordinary Pure Land followers like me had simmilar experiences, but few dare to speak freely about them. However, today I decided to speak. I was thinking a lot whether to do it or not, as I was and I am still afraid that some might call me a liar or a crazy person having hallucinations…. But as I can do nothing to change their opinions, I think is better to stop worrying about it. We live in a secularized world where to have or speak about such religious experiences or visions might attract exclusion from the company of the so called, respectable people. 

I also hope the readers will realize the mechanism of these experiences and not have a wrong understanding. They appear only due to Amida's Power and not because of some merits on the part of the practitioner. Every good experience the believer has, is due only to Amida. They just happen or don’t happen at all. I think we should not worry if they don’t appear. Certainly, we should not depend on miraculous events or visions.

Whether we have or not have such experiences it has nothing to do with our birth in the Pure Land, as this comes naturally only due to shinjin (faith).  Diamond like faith is all that matters in Jodo Shinshu and this is nothing special, but a simple, firm entrusting to Amida Buddha.

I am not a special kind of person because I had that vision, on the contrary, I remained the same ordinary person as before.  I really don’t know why it happened, but it surely happened and for this I feel grateful to Amida. 

Again, it was a real event in my life and I don’t care if others believe me or not. Indeed I had a vision with Amida Buddha who appeared in front of me in a form adapted to my mind. Nobody can take this experience from me.  

Namo Amida Butsu

- please also read the article Faith is simple, nothing special

Enjoy the presence of the Buddhas

One thing that I especially like in Jodo Shinshu is the feeling of  Buddhas being close to me, walking with me, seeing me in my daily life, watching over me.

Buddhas are not just teachers. If you think of the Buddhas only in this way, then the Buddhas will seem very far from you, somehow secluded in their Enlightenment, while you are here to struggle alone following their example. However, this is not the single side of the coin. Buddhas are indeed teachers and “fingers pointing to the moon”, but they are also saviors, active in your daily life. They walk with you, think of you, see you, make plans how to make you understand important things and guide you to Amida. Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Masters are alive and active – this is a matter of extreme importance.

You can speak directly with the Buddhas, with Amida, Avalokitesvara, Mahasthamaprapta, with Shinran, Honen, Rennyo, Nagarjuna, Shantao, etc. In your times of sorrow or in your happy times, you may chose to speak with Amida directly because He is indeed in front of you (this is not a metaphor!).

Entering the Jodo Shinshu path

---read this article first (Aspiration to become a Buddha - the most important matter)---

Entering the Jodo Shinshu path is like becoming a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and recognizing: “Hello, my name is Josho and I am an alcoholic”. 

Jodo Shinshu doesn’t state something like: “My name is Josho and I can become a Buddha”, but “my name is Josho and I am full of blind passions, incapable of healing myself”. 

While in other Buddhist schools, an important matter is the recognition of the possibility that every being can become a Buddha like Shakyamuni in this life, the Jodo Shinshu path begins with the sense of failure. When you are 100% convinced that you cannot attain Buddhahood in this life, then you are ready for the Jodo Shinshu path. As long as you still harbor in your mind the smallest thought of personal merit or “maybe I can”[1] kind of things, you cannot see and enter the Dharma gate of birth in Amida Buddha’s Pure Land. 

Amida Buddha’s Pure Land is like a country where everybody can emigrate without the least requirement: no visas, no special capacities, nor any other qualities. As Shinran said: 

“This is the way of easy practice to be followed by those of inferior capacity; it is the teaching that makes no distinction between the good and the evil.” 

Thus, the Jodo Shinshu sangha is like an “idiot’s club” or alcoholics anonymous, in comparison with the nice and good Buddhists, who believe they are always calm and ready to become Enlightened. 

If you hope to find here some interesting quotes about detachment or how capable people are for goodness, virtues and any kind of spiritual realizations, then this is not the place for you. But if you recognize yourself more and more in the group of spiritual alcoholics or those that are incapable of any important practice which leads to perfection here and now, in the middle of sufferings and miseries of any kind, then this teaching will be of much help, and I greet you with a warm “welcome to the club!” 

I repeat, Jodo Shinshu starts with the sense of failure….

---

[1] Maybe I can attain perfect Enlightenment.