What to do with evil thoughts that arise in our ignorant minds?

Question by a Dharma friend:

“When you are at home or walking around the village or somewhere and you see and feel evil impulses in your mind, do you feel regret or disliking that they arose?”

My answer:

“When I see evil impulses in my mind I am aware of their occurrence and I let them come and go by themselves. I change the focus from them to something else that I am doing at the moment, be it Nembutsu or watching a movie, working, etc, and by simply leaving them alone. I don't give them attention because that would make them grow even more, and I cannot solve them by feeling regret or by disliking them.

It is useless to dislike thoughts and feelings. If I focus on them with dislike or regret then I empower them, so I do not do that. After I instantly realize their appearance, I simply leave them alone. I do not take them seriously. Thoughts and feelings are like clouds that appear on the empty sky. They do not deserve my attention because they are not real, so I do not want to give them a reality they don't actually have.

Thoughts and feelings appear and disappear naturally IF we allow them to disappear. But if we start judging them, feeling regret about them and dislike them, then we help them become greater and greater. This is how obsession grows. Obsessions are simple thoughts and feelings that were given too much attention and were taken too serious.

My way is to not take the evil thoughts and feelings too serious, but leave them, let them come and go, not focusing on them. Shinran Shonin made a wonderfully true statement when he said that "the Nembutsu alone is true and real" while everything else is a delusion. If the Nembutsu alone is true and real why take seriously all the residual thoughts and garbage that normally appears in my ignorant mind?

Namo Amida Bu

Don’t expect the sangha to solve your worldly problems

I have seen many people joining various sanghas with an ego centered attitude. They expect the sangha to do things for them, to treat them in a certain way, and they are never satisfied with receiving the teaching and just the teaching. They don’t understand that to receive the teaching and being corrected in matters related with the teaching is the greatest compassion they receive in this life, even more than the compassion their parents showed to them. The gift of Dharma is the highest gift, said the Buddha, because it gives you freedom from all births and deaths. It is a pity that some do not appreciate the compassion that is showed to them by being offered the gift of Dharma.

The role of the sangha is not to be a substitute for your family, for your husband, wife, parents, children or friends. It is your fault if you are not able to manage your own personal life, so you should never blame the sangha. The sangha is giving you the Dharma and then you can use that Dharma to solve your problems and more importantly, to solve the most important problem of birth and death.

The role of the sangha is not to approve you or to solve your emotional chaos. You are the one who should solve your own problems by using the Dharma offered so generously by the sangha and/or by simply going to a doctor and by taking good care of yourself. If we use the sangha for worldly goals and our ego centered need for attention and approval and we are not satisfied with the Dharma and the correction of our teachers and Dharma colleagues, then we create the karma of not deserving the sangha and the Three Treasures.

Be grateful when you meet a true sangha where the true teaching is taught because such a sangha is hard to meet in many lifetimes. Don’t miss the opportunity to listen to the Dharma. Don’t think you have other needs than hearing the Dharma. 

(fragment from a letter to a friend)

 

Members of Amidaji: Hozan Elmir Bratić (USA)

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Hello Everyone! My name is Elmir Bratić and my Dharma name Shaku Hozan.

Allow me to introduce myself. I grew up in a non-religious Sunni Muslim household. Both my parents are not from the US, but from Europe. My father is German and my mother is Bosnian. They are no longer together.

I myself was always a spiritual person and always interested in religion since the time I was little. I remember having vivid dreams of Shākyāmuni Buddha. Once, when I was 5 or 6 years old I dreamed that Shakyamuni was in a forest together with other monks surrounding Him, and I was somewhere in the distance. Shakayamuni was teaching something and I don’t remember exactly what He said. I just remember seeing Him and explaining something.

Parrots who recite sounds without knowing their meaning

“… 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." (Shinran Shonin, Tannisho)

If Namo Amida Bu/Namo Amida Butsu (Nembutsu) is true and real, then Amida Butsu is true and real. This is something that even children can understand. Namo means to entrust and take refuge in Amida Butsu (Amida Buddha). This refuge (Namo) is real and effective because the object of refuge – Amida Butsu – is true and real. Refuge in metaphors, symbols or fictional characters is not true refuge, but intellectual gymnastics.

Those deluded scholars who repeat “Namo Amida Butsu” but do not accept the transcendent reality and existence of Amida Butsu are like parrots who recite sounds without knowing their meaning. Please, stay away from them.

Are faith and devotion two different things?

Question: Are devotion and faith two different things? Faith seems to be constant while devotion is sometimes felt more or less depending on our inner circumstance and our emotional states of mind. However, faith is not affected by our changing emotional states, so I ask if these are two different things.

Answer: Faith (shinjin) is a simple entrusting. As I always like to say, its similar with entrusting John who is a mechanic to fix your car because you can’t do it yourself. In the same way, we entrust to Amida Buddha to take us to the Pure Land of perfect Enlightenment because we can’t go there through our self-power.

Devotion does not always imply a specific emotional state of mind, but always means dedication. When you have faith you are dedicated entirely to Amida Buddha, you entrust only to Him, you say only His Name and wish to go only to His Pure Land. This exclusive focus on Amida Buddha in your religious life is devotion. It means you are entirely devoted to Amida. It does not matter that today you make more bows or say Nembutsu many times and tomorrow you do no bowing and say less Nembutsu. It means that no matter what happens in your daily life you continue to be devoted exclusively to Amida. Faith never disappears from your heart once it arrived there. So, as long as you have faith in Amida you are automatically devoted to Amida. Faith means devotion. Even those who don’t have mental stability have devotion towards Amida Buddha if they entrust to Him. So, faith and devotion are never separated.