Elements of genuine faith: 6)To accept that birth in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha takes place after death

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Birth in the Pure Land through the Gate of the Primal Vow means the attainment of Buddhahood and acquiring the special transcendental qualities of the Enlightened Ones, which cannot be found in our present samsaric minds and bodies[1].

                     

Shakyamuni Buddha said:

“However hard you may practice in this life, it can only be for a short while. In the life to come you will be born in the land of Amitayus (Amida) and enjoy endless bliss there. Being forever in accord with the Way, you will no longer be subject to birth and death and be free of the afflictions caused by greed, anger and ignorance.”[2]

Honen Shonin said:

“When they lay aside their present lives, they will enter into the dwelling of the Buddhas, the Pure Land”.[3]

Shinran Shonin said:

"At the end of your life you will enter the family of the Buddhas, that is, the Pure Land".[4]

"At the moment our karmic bonds to this saha world run out and helplessly we die, we shall go to that land."[5]

“We read in the commentary of the Master of Kuang-ming Temple:

‘[…]We should sincerely devote ourselves to this teaching until the end of our life and, after abandoning our defiled bodies, realize the eternal bliss of Dharma-nature.’”[6]

„Those who have been born first [in the Pure Land] guide those who come later, and those who are born later join those who were born before. This is so that the boundless ocean of birth and death be exhausted”.[7]

“When ordinary beings reach the Western Land,

Their karmic evils, countless as particles, from long past

kalpas will perish.

Endowed with the six supernatural powers, they attain

unrestricted freedom in action;

Forever freed of old age and sickness, they are liberated from impermanence.”[8]

---

[1] Please reffer to the chapter "A collection of passages on the true meaning of birth in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha", from my book against wrong views - The True Teaching on Amida Buddha and His Pure Land, Dharma Lion Publications, Craiova, 2015, p.113

[2] Shakyamuni Buddha, The Larger Sutra, The Three Pure Land Sutras, translated by Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with Harold Stewart, revised second edition, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Berkeley, California, 2003, p. 53

[3] Honen’s Senchakushu – Passages on the Selection of the Nembutsu in the Original Vow (Senchaku Hongan Nembutsu Shu), translated and edited by Senchakushu English Translation Project, Kuroda Institute, University of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu and Sogo Bukkyo Kenkujo, Taisho University, Tokyo, p.121

[4] Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 132.

[5] Shinran Shonin, Tannisho, chapter 9, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p. 666.

[6] Shinran Shonin, Kyogyoshinsho, chapter IV, Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 175.

[7] Shinran Shonin, Kyogyoshinsho, chapter VI, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.291

[8] The hymns by Fa-chao, based on the Sutra in Praise of the Pure Land (Sukhavativyuha), quoted by Shinran in his Kyogyoshinsho, chapter II,   Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, Idem, p. 41-41.

Elements of genuine faith: 7) To say the Name of Amida Buddha

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When one has faith (shinjin), one is convinced that Amida Buddha and His Pure Land exists, and that the Promise He made in His Primal Vow is true, so he simply entrusts to this Buddha and wishes to go to His Pure Land (Buddha-field of Amida) after death. Saying Namo Amida Bu[1] often or seldom means exactly this – “I entrust to Amida Buddha/I take refuge in Amida Buddha and I wish to go to His Pure Land”. It also means, “Thank you Amida Buddha for saving me and taking me to your Pure Land at the end of this physical body”.

The genuine saying of Amida's Name comes automatically after entrusting to Him. Thus, the Nembutsu is both an expression of faith and gratitude that you are saved as you are by Amida Buddha.

Shinran Shonin said:

"Although the one moment of shinjin and the one moment of nembutsu are two, there is no nembutsu separate from shinjin (faith), nor is the one moment of shinjin separate from the one moment of nembutsu."[2]

Elements of genuine faith: 8) To not mix nembutsu and devotion towards Amida Buddha with other faiths and practices from inside or outside of the Buddha Dharma

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For example, a person of genuine faith will not entrust to, nor rely on the "god" of the monotheists[1] or any other gods or spirits of various religions.  

"Based on the true intent of the Buddha’s teaching and the expositions made and transmitted by the masters of the past, I will clarify that the path of sages is provisional and the Pure Land path is true, and caution people against non-Buddhist teachings, which are perverted, false, and wrong".[2]

“Those who take refuge truly and wholeheartedly, freeing themselves from all delusional attachments and all concern with the propitious or unpropitious, must never take refuge in false spirits or non-Buddhist teachings.”[3]

"Here, based on the sutras, the true and the false are determined and people are cautioned against the wrong, false, and misleading opinions of nonbuddhist teachings:
The Nirvana Sutra states:
'If one has taken refuge in the Buddha, one must not further take refuge in various gods.'

The meaning of "sentient beings of the ten quarters" from the Primal Vow

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"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."  (The Primal Vow of Amida Buddha) 

This shows that the Promise of Amida Buddha is addressed to ALL beings, without any discrimination or distinction between them. All are the object of Amida's Primal Vow, no matter how high or low they are on the scale of spiritual evolution, and especially if they are the lowest of the low:

"Know that the Primal Vow of Amida makes no distinction between people young and old, good and evil; only shinjin (faith) is essential. For it is the Vow to save the person whose karmic evil is deep and grave and whose blind passions abound."[1]

(Shinran Shonin)

Buddhism and science

click here for the source of this cartoon

For me Buddhism is religion, faith, salvation from birth and death, devotion, saying of Amida Buddha's Holy Name, bowing, prostration, circumambulation, making offerings in the name of all beings, etc. I am very, very different from those who say that Buddhism is some kind of science or just a philosophy.  

I really "hate" it when people compare the most beautiful religion in the world with the science or philosophy of unenlightened human beings. Buddhas are the smartest guys in the universe and you compare them with scientists who contradict each other every year?

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"

Stop using Zen Masters explanations when referring to Amida Buddha - an example

Question: Zen Master Kodo Sawaki said: „Amitabha (Amida) doesn’t exist because I believe he exists. Amitabha Buddha exists without being concerned whether I believe in him or not. Regardless what I think or believe, Amitabha is the whole heaven and earth. Being pulled by Amitabha’s original vow that is the absolute reality, I function through my own body, speech, and mind as all-pervading self. This is being a Buddha—a great being, a truly mature person.” How do you comment on this?

Answer: I saw that passage about Amida Buddha from Kodo Sawaki, a respected Zen master, quoted many  times, like a big thing by Pure Land followers who are not careful to what they share with others. At first sight, it's a good teaching, but at a careful examination, we can see it’s nothing else but a Zen interpretation and NOT in accord with the Jodo Shinshu teaching.

Paul Roberts was born in the Pure Land

Paul Roberts

"At the end of your life you will enter the family of the Buddhas, that is, the Pure Land."

Shinran Shonin

Paul Roberts recently left his physical body and was reborn in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha. He was a true follower and teacher of Jodo Shinshu and a guide for many.

In our times of profound corruption of the Dharma he was a clear and uncompromising voice, standing up against wrong views, and defending the right teaching. 

Because we shared the same simple faith in Amida Buddha and the same cause of fighting modern divergences, we often collaborated. I sent many of my readers to his online group True Shin Buddhism, and he recommended me and my website to others. 

His determination and uncompromising style was an example for all, and I am sure that his students, Egen (Richard St Clair) and Camille, will continue his Dharma work, as they too share the same faith and the same courage like him.

Thank you Paul, for your service.

Namo Amida Bu

My book The Four Profound Thoughts Which Turn the Mind Towards Amida Dharma (free online edition)

click here to listen the audio version on youtube!
(work in progress by Gansen John Welch)

Dear Dharma friends,

I am happy to share with you the free online edition of my new book, The Four Profound Thoughts Which Turn the Mind Towards Amida Dharma. This is the improved and proofreaded version of the teaching series you probably saw on this website.

About the book (from the Foreword):

The Four Profound Thoughts are basic teachings, something like a preliminary to any Buddhist path or practice. It has the effect of turning the mind towards the Buddha Dharma and should be a constant companion no matter if one is a beginner or an older follower. Sometimes they are reffered to as the Four Contemplations, the Four Understandings or the Four Reminders. Because in this book I explain them in the context of the Pure Land Dharma Gate of Jodo Shinshu (Amida Dharma), I decided to call them the Four Profound Thoughts which Turn the Mind Towards the  Amida Dharma. These Profound Thoughts are:

Contemplating the suffering of the intermediate state (bardo)

article connected to this collection of teachings

Samsara is suffering - description and contemplation 

of the six realms of samsaric existence

After describing each of the six realms of samsaric existence, I find it important to also explain the intermediate state between death and the next rebirth (antarabhava in Sanskrit, bardo in Tibetan)[1]. All beings pass through this state, which is itself filled with various dangers and suffering, depending on the individual karma. But first, let me say a few words about the process of dying.

Not all beings die the same way. Those who cultivated virtue and who die with a virtuous mind, that is, while remembering their good deeds or focusing on good thoughts, may see various pleasant images as though in a dream. Their death is comfortable and do not feel too much pain in body. On the other hand, those who did evil deeds and who die with an unvirtuous and attached mind experience  immense suffering when leaving their bodies:

The benefits of being born in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha

this article is a continuation of the teaching series, 

The Four Profound Thoughts that Turn the Mind Toward Amida Dharma

            

In order to help my Dharma companions to awake aspiration for the Pure Land, I will further explain the benefits of being born there. These should be read and contemplated in contrast with the previous descriptions of the sufferings of samsara, and with the rest of the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind Toward Amida Dharma: the preciousness of human birth, impermanence and death, and karma - the law of cause and effect.

But before I enter into the details of this topic, we must remember a few key points. First of all, the goal of Buddhism is to become a Buddha. Not to paint this life in different colors, not to become a smart or interesting kind of Buddhist, but to become a Buddha. The Buddhist path is not a method of relaxation or a tablet for headache, something like “how can we become happier and calmer people” or a recipe for momentary happiness, but a road to Buddhahood or complete Freedom for us and all beings.