The receiving of faith (shinjin) is equivalent with escaping a great burden. We know that we’ll become Buddhas in the Pure Land of Amida, no matter our present situation. This joy is like the relief you feel when a great burden is taken from your shoulders, and indeed there is no greater burden than to be unenlightened and a slave of samsaric existence. The burden of your liberation is carried by the Buddha called Amida, who already crossed the Path for you. Anybody who carries a great burden is happy when that is taken away from him, so you can be happy or feel relief when you first entrust to Amida Buddha, if attaining Buddhahood or final liberation from birth and death is the most important matter for you. However, this doesn’t mean that hour by hour, minute to minute, second to second, you will think on Amida or feel a continuous joy as to jump in the air. Our lives are in such a way that we can always be overwhelmed by daily problems and worries. But its ok, its simply ok to be like this. We are not compelled to always jump with joy because we are saved by Amida. Despite of this, the salvation of Amida is always present, as our simple faith in Him remains with us since we first received it in our hearts. I usually explain that faith, once received, becomes like breathing, always being there although you don’t always express it consciously. We don’t always feel our breathing, but this doesn’t mean that breathing doesn’t exist. Sometimes we feel it better when, for example, we are fascinated by the clear air of the mountains or of a beautiful morning and we take long and deep breaths, while some other time we are too hurried and busy in our daily life to concentrate on it.
Saturday, April 21, 2018
The Ten Benefits of faith in Amida during this life: 7. The benefit of having great joy in our hearts
The receiving of faith (shinjin) is equivalent with escaping a great burden. We know that we’ll become Buddhas in the Pure Land of Amida, no matter our present situation. This joy is like the relief you feel when a great burden is taken from your shoulders, and indeed there is no greater burden than to be unenlightened and a slave of samsaric existence. The burden of your liberation is carried by the Buddha called Amida, who already crossed the Path for you. Anybody who carries a great burden is happy when that is taken away from him, so you can be happy or feel relief when you first entrust to Amida Buddha, if attaining Buddhahood or final liberation from birth and death is the most important matter for you. However, this doesn’t mean that hour by hour, minute to minute, second to second, you will think on Amida or feel a continuous joy as to jump in the air. Our lives are in such a way that we can always be overwhelmed by daily problems and worries. But its ok, its simply ok to be like this. We are not compelled to always jump with joy because we are saved by Amida. Despite of this, the salvation of Amida is always present, as our simple faith in Him remains with us since we first received it in our hearts. I usually explain that faith, once received, becomes like breathing, always being there although you don’t always express it consciously. We don’t always feel our breathing, but this doesn’t mean that breathing doesn’t exist. Sometimes we feel it better when, for example, we are fascinated by the clear air of the mountains or of a beautiful morning and we take long and deep breaths, while some other time we are too hurried and busy in our daily life to concentrate on it.
Friday, April 20, 2018
The Ten Benefits of faith in Amida during this life: 4. The benefit of being protected and cared for by all the Buddhas and 6. The benefit of being protected constantly by the Light of Amida's heart
If
the 1st benefit described the protection of various powerful unenlightened
beings (worldly protectors), the 4th speaks about the protection of all Buddhas
(enlightened protectors), and the 6th refers to the special protection of
Amida Buddha himself. I
decided to explain the 4th and 6th benefit together because they are
interrelated.
The
4th and 6th benefits include but are not limited to, protection against various
influences from external evil forces, sorcery, black magic, evil spirits, etc.
Shinran Shonin
said:
Thursday, April 19, 2018
The Ten Benefits of faith in Amida during this life: 5. The benefit of being praised by all the Buddhas
Shinran Shonin said:
“Amida’s
Seventeenth Vow declares that the Buddha will not enter into perfect
Enlightenment if those who say the Name are not praised by all the countless Buddhas throughout the worlds in the
ten quarters. The passage declaring the fulfillment of the Vow states: ‚such
people are praised by all the Buddhas and rejoice.’’’[1]
Those who entrust
to Amida are regarded by Shakyamuni as His true companions:
"Those
who realize shinjin, which is Other Power,
'Revere the Dharma and greatly rejoice in it,
And therefore are my true companions'.
'Revere the Dharma and greatly rejoice in it,
And therefore are my true companions'.
Such is the praise of the World Honored One,
the
Master of the teaching".[2]
"Sakyamuni
rejoices in persons of shinjin, saying, 'They are my true companions'”.[3]
They are wonderful
people, as well as true disciples of Shakyamuni, Amida and all Buddhas:
The Ten Benefits of faith in Amida during this life: 3. The benefit of our karmic evil being transformed into good
Due to the
influence of Amida we can transform an unpleasant experience into an
opportunity to understand life as it is and the Dharma. It doesn’t mean that we will no longer have
problems, or experience lack of material things, etc., but that we can
understand these unfortunate events as being the effects of our karma, using
them to become more aware that this is samsara, the world of suffering, from
which we must escape once and for all through birth in the Pure Land. Bad
events in our lives can thus be transformed through the light of the Dharma
into useful ones – useful for our understanding.
Also this benefit
refers to the fact that in the instant we receive shinjin (faith) our karma is
cut or sterilized and cannot plant its seed into another life. When shinjin
enters our heart we receive the pure karmic energy of Amida Buddha. Our evil is
turned into good in the sense that it is no longer an obstacle for our birth in
the Pure Land at the end of this life:
The Ten Benefits of faith in Amida during this life: 2. The benefit of being possessed of supreme virtues
This benefit means that by
entrusting ourselves to Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow we receive His merits and
virtues which cause us to attain birth in the Pure Land:
"When
sentient beings of this evil world of the five defilements
Entrust themselves to the selected Primal Vow,
Virtues indescribable, inexplicable, and inconceivable
Fill those practicers".[1]
Entrust themselves to the selected Primal Vow,
Virtues indescribable, inexplicable, and inconceivable
Fill those practicers".[1]
„All
beings, having heard Amida’s virtuous Name,
Attain
joyful faith, rejoice in what they hear,
And call
his Name even once. The person of sincerity, Amida,
Endows
merit to them. All who aspire for birth in the Pure Land attain Birth there.
Hence, I
prostrate myself to worship him and aspire to be
born
there.'"[2]
Shinran Shonin
explained in his work “Passages on the Two Aspects of The Tathagata’s
Directing of Virtue”:
The Ten Benefits of faith in Amida during this life: 1. The benefit of being protected and sustained by unseen powers and divine beings
This benefit means that those who have shinjin (faith in Amida) are protected against various influences from
external evil forces. Thus, the nembutsu follower has no reason to be afraid of
sorcery, black magic or evil spirits. Shinran Shonin said in Hymns of Benefit in the Present:
"Those
who deeply entrust themselves to the Buddha's teaching are protected by all the
gods of the heavens and earth, who accompany them just as shadows do
things."[1]
„When we say
‚Namo Amida Butsu,’
All the
benevolent gods of the heavens
Protect us
constantly, day and night.
When we
say 'Namo Amida Butsu',
The four great deva-kings together
Protect us constantly, day and night,
And let no evil spirits come near.
The four great deva-kings together
Protect us constantly, day and night,
And let no evil spirits come near.
The Ten Benefits in this life of a person who has faith in Amida Buddha
This is a chapter of my book
Shinran Shonin speaks about ten benefits that
a person who entrusts in Amida Buddha receives in the present life:
„When we
acquire adamantine true faith we unfailingly gain ten benefits in this life. What are the ten?[1]
Amida’s heart (the 4th and 6th benefit are explained together in the same article!)
9. The benefit of constantly practicing great compassion
(the 8th and 9th benefit are explained together!)
(the 8th and 9th benefit are explained together!)
Please also read,
Please support Amidaji and my Dharma work with a one time donation ot by becoming a Patron (constant supporter)
[1] Shinran Shonin, Kyogyoshinsho,
chapter III, Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment,
translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research,
Kyoto, 2003, p. 121 and The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism
Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.112
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Why did Shinran say that we should not wait for Amida’s coming at the moment of death?
Question:
Why did Shinran say that we should not wait
for Amida’s coming at the moment of death? Will Amida not come for people of
shinjin?
Answer:
The
person who has faith in the Primal Vow does not wait for the final moment of
death to have a good state of mind in which to say Nembutsu and be welcomed by
Amida Buddha, but receives faith during his present life when he becomes assured of birth in the Pure Land, which will actually happen at the moment of death, when he is
naturally welcomed by Amida Buddha and attains Budhahood.
The Nembutsu one says during one’s whole life is thus the expression of faith
and gratitude, and not the self power nembutsu. When Shinran said that we should not wait for Amida's coming at the
moment of death, he did not mean that we are not actually received by Amida in
His Pure Land when we die or that He might not send one of His manifestations
to us in our final hours before death! Of course Amida can do that if He wants!
What Shinran meant is that we should
not think that the moment of death is more important than our daily lives, and
we should not attach a false significance to it, fearing that if we do not have
a good state of mind or concentration in those final moments, then we will not
go to the Pure Land. No matter we are or we are not in a concentrated or
good state of mind when we die, no matter if we say the Nembutsu or die without
saying it because of unforeseen circumstances, we will be welcomed by Amida
Buddha in His Pure Land if we already entrusted ourselves to Him and said His
Name in faith during life. Shinran explained:
Friday, April 13, 2018
Abandon the idea that you can attain Buddhahood in this life
Question:
You said
in one of your recent posts that as long as you
still harbor in your mind the smallest thought of personal merit or “maybe I
can attain Buddhahood by myself” kind of thinking, you cannot see and enter the
Dharma gate of birth in Amida Buddha’s Pure Land. Please explain in more detail.
Answer:
People
don't really understand what is meant by becoming a Buddha in this life, and in
this very body. This is perhaps due to the bad influence of many fancy Buddhist
magazines which talk about Enlightenment like it’s some kind of calmness or
stillness of mind which can be attained by everybody. They use a language which
makes Enlightenment seem a normal human experience if you are good, and
meditate, and they also describe Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, like a
normal human being who proved that spiritual calmness can be attained by
anybody.
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Spring work at Amidaji and the plan for this year (2018)
 |
| planting tibetan goji on the eastern fence |
As
usually in spring, I started the work at Amidaji temple with planting activity. Thus,
from the few donations received from readers and Dharma friends I planted 20
tibetan goji on the eastern fence of the temple land, and 26 sea berry on the
Western fence.
I
also added three Paulownia Tomentosa (Empress Tree/Kiri Tree). The Paulownia
Tomentosa are fast growing trees which are also present in China and Japan. The
total amount spent was around 150 euro (700 lei).
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
The Primal Vow of Amida Buddha is inconceivable
"Tathagata's Primal Vow surpasses conceptual
understanding; it is a design of the wisdom of Buddhas. It is not the
design of foolish beings. No one can fathom the wisdom of Buddhas, which
surpasses conceptual understanding."[1]
"Further,
with regard to Other Power, since it is
inconceivable Buddha-wisdom, the attainment of supreme Enlightenment by foolish
beings possessed of blind passions comes about through the working shared only
by Buddhas; it is not in any way the design of the practicer. Thus, no
working is true working. 'Working' that is negated refers to the calculation of
the person of self-power. Concerning Other Power, then, no working is true
working."[2]
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