Do not despise other Buddhas, Dharma Gates and Buddhist teachings because you have faith in Amida

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Selected passages from Honen Shonin 

with commentary

Honen Shonin said: 

"Just because one relies solely upon Amida Buddha and believes only in Nembutsu, do not make light of the compassionate vows of various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, or think ill of and slander wondrous sutras such as the Lotus Sutra or the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. The karma of defaming myriad Buddhas and of doubting and slandering many holy teachings is not in harmony with the heart of Amida Buddha. Such actions would certainly exclude one from His compassionate Vow even if one recites Nembutsu”.[1] 

Commentary:

This excellent teaching of Honen Shonin is fundamental to our Amidaji school. 

Nembutsu is the same no matter who says it

 

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Selected passages from Honen Shonin 

with commentary

“When someone once said to Honen that his repetition of the Nembutsu must be very acceptable to the Buddha, he asked ‘Why?’

‘Because you are a wise man, and know in detail what merit there is in the repetition of the sacred Name, clearly understanding the meaning of the Buddha’s Primal Vow.’

At this Honen replied: ‘You have not yet really come to believe in the Primal Vow at all. As to calling upon the sacred Name of the Primal Vow of the Buddha Amida, it makes no difference whether the man be a wood-cutter, a gatherer of grass or greens, or a drawer of water or the like, whether he be utterly unlettered in Buddhism or other religions. It makes no difference, I say, so long as he calls upon the sacred Name. If he believes his Ojo (birth in the Pure Land) is certain and keeps repeating the Nembutsu, he is the very best kind of believer. If it is possible by wisdom to get free from the bondage of life and death, why indeed should I, Genku (Honen), have given up the Holy Path (Shodo-mon) and devoted myself exclusively to this Pure Land doctrine (Jodo-mon)? The self-discipline of the so-called Holy Path consists in the effort to escape birth and death by the cultivation of one’s wisdom whereas that of the Pure Land consists in coming back to what the world calls foolishness, and thus attain birth into the Land of Bliss.’”[1] 

Goodness or badness are NOT the cause of birth into the Pure Land

 

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Selected passages from Honen Shonin 

with commentary

Some people were conversing about the future life, some saying that fish-eaters will be born in the Pure Land, others that they will not. Honen overhearing them said, ‘If it is a case of eating fish, cormorants would be born into the Pure Land; and if it is a case of not eating them, monkeys would be so born. But I am sure that whether a man eats fish or not, if he only calls upon the sacred Name, he will be born into the Pure Land.’”[1] 

Commentary:
There is a sentence in Tannisho which explains the reason for such useless discussions about eating or not eating meat in relation with birth in the Pure Land: 

“In truth, myself and others discuss only good and evil, leaving Amida’s benevolence out of consideration”.[2] 

Iguales al Buda Maitreya

translated from English by Juan Sebastian Hincapie Arana

Una enseñanza única del Jodo Shinshu es que los seguidores que han recibido shinjin (fe) son iguales a la Iluminación perfecta, iguales a todos los Budas e iguales a Maitreya Buda.
 
Shakyamuni dijo que Maitreya, que ahora reside en el cielo de Tusita, es un futuro gran Buda que aparecerá en este mundo después de muchos miles de millones de años (5.670.000.000) desde Su tiempo.
 
Shinran Shonin explicó esto en la carta 3 de la obra Mattosho:
 
“Puesto que aquellos que han recibido el shinjin necesariamente moran en la etapa de los verdaderamente asentados, están en la etapa igual a la Iluminación perfecta. En el Sutra Mayor de la Vida Inconmensurable, se dice que aquellos que han sido acogidos, para nunca ser abandonados, están en la etapa de los verdaderamente asentados, y en el Sutra del Tathagata de la Vida Inconmensurable se dice que alcanzaron la etapa igual a iluminación perfecta. Aunque difieren, los términos "verdaderamente asentado" e "igual a la Iluminación" tienen el mismo significado e indican la misma etapa. Igual a la Iluminación perfecta es la misma etapa que la de Maitreya, quien está en el rango de sucesión a la Budeidad. Dado que las personas de shinjin definitivamente alcanzarán la Iluminación suprema, se dice que son iguales a Maitreya”.

Honen said the Nembutsu as if already saved by Amida

 

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Selected passages from Honen Shonin 

with commentary

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”.

 

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[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.

The determination of the true disciple of Amida Buddha

 

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Honen Shonin said: 

“When a deer is being pursued by the hunters, it does not stop even to look around for its fellows or look back at its pursuers, but with all eagerness, hastens straight forward, and no matter how many may be following, it escapes in safety. It is with the same determination that a man fully entrusts himself to the Buddha’s power, and without regard to anything else, steadfastly sets his mind upon being born into the Pure Land.”[1] 

Commentary:
A genuine disciple of Amida Buddha does not care about other practices and does not listen to the wrong views of modernists or the false teachings of externalists (non-Buddhists). Even if thoughts of “what if Amida is not real” or “what if the Primal Vow is not true” appear suddenly in his mind, he does not pay attention to them, but continues to be focused on the Nembutsu of faith. Instead of looking at these “pursuers” who come in the form of non-Buddhists, heretics or even random thoughts, he goes forward to the Pure Land encouraged by Shakyamuni and the lineage Masters. 

To be satisfied with the Nembutsu and to think that Nembutsu is enough, to not need anything else than Amida’s Holy Name – these are the characteristics of a person of faith. Promises of other practices and religions fall deaf to his ears because he obeys only to the exclusive requirements of the Primal Vow: exclusive faith in Amida, exclusive saying of His Name and exclusive wish to be born in His Pure Land. 

Even if the people around him follow other paths or the stones and rocks, the sky and the trees all shout in one voice that Amida does not exist or that so and so god has a better teaching, the true disciple will never falter in his determination to have faith only in Amida, say only His Name and wish to go only to His Pure Land after death. Just like the deer pursued by hunters, he sees nothing, hears nothing and is not interested in any other path than the Nembutsu of faith. Only such a true disciple will reach the safety of the Pure Land.
 

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[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. 399