Just say the Nembutsu without adding anything to it

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Selected passages from Honen Shonin 

with commentary

“Once a devotee from the Chinzei district came up to Kyoto to visit Honen at his cottage.
Before meeting him, he asked one of Honen’s disciples if it was a good thing to meditate upon the Buddha’s signs of eminence while one is repeating the Nembutsu. The reply was that it was an excellent thing to do.
 
Honen who was sitting in the adjoining room before the Buddha’s image, overheard the conversation. He opened the sliding door and remarked, ‘I don’t think so. It is as Zendo (Master Shan-tao) says, ‘If a single one of the sentient beings in the ten quarters of the world should fail to be born into the Pure Land through calling of my Name at least ten times, then I refuse for myself the perfect Enlightenment of Buddhahood. Now the fact is that He did become a Buddha and now exists as one. So from this we are perfectly sure that His Great Primal Vow was not in vain. If therefore any sentient being now does call upon His Name, he shall certainly attain Ojo (birth in the Pure Land). No matter how much we may meditate upon the Buddha, we cannot do it in the perfect way as Shakyamuni explained it (in the Contemplation Sutra). So the only thing for us to do is to put our trust deeply in the Primal Vow itself, and call upon the sacred Name with our lips. This is the one and only way to practice religion.[1]’”[2]

Visions or Dharma? How can one know he has genuine faith in Amida Buddha?

Here are the Eight Elements of Faith (Shinjin) - click here to read -  explained in detail based on the sutras and words of the Masters of our lineage. If you miss one of them, then you don't have faith. It does NOT matter what visions or spiritual experiences one has. If he misses only one element he does not have faith in Amida Buddha and cannot be born in the true fulfilled land of the Pure Land. If spiritual experiences contradict the Amida Dharma as explained in this article based on sutras and words of our Masters then one does not have faith (shinjin). Only when spiritual experiences coincide 100% with the Dharma can they be called authentic. If not, they are illusions. If one would guide oneself only after one's spiritual experience and not after the Dharma then all kinds of heresies and wrong views will appear according to anyone's ego and the sangha would be in chaos.

In our chaotic times, the Dharma is our only guiding lamp. If one wants to ask something to Amida Buddha he should ask the Dharma about Amida, not wait to receive spiritual experiences and visions (or signs from Amida) while ignoring His Dharma. The monks and teachers who rely on their visions but do not conform with the Dharma are a danger for themselves and others. People should trust a teacher only by checking his words with the Dharma and do not be impressed by the visions (true or false) he pretends to have!
I myself as a teacher am not impressed by one's visions and spiritual experience but by seeing people being in accord with the Amida Dharma.  Please always check the Dharma and put your mind in accordance with the Dharma! This is the best spiritual experience.

Namo Amida Bu 

El verdadero discípulo de Amida y todos los Budas

translated from English 

by Juan Sebastian Hincapie Arana 

Como ya expliqué, Shinran Shonin enseñó que la verdadera razón de la aparición de todos los Budas en el mundo es ayudar a los seres sensibles a confiar en Amida y nacer después de la muerte en Su Tierra Pura, donde pueden alcanzar fácilmente el Nirvana. Por lo tanto, la conclusión lógica a la que Shinran llegó es que la persona que tiene Fe en Amida es el verdadero discípulo de los Budas porque está de acuerdo con su intención más íntima. Él dijo:

"El verdadero discípulo del Buda significa esto: 'verdadero' contrasta con lo falso y provisional. 'Discípulo' significa un discípulo de Shakyamuni y otros Budas, a saber, el practicante que ha alcanzado la Fe adamantina (shinjin).Debido a que uno ciertamente alcanza el gran Nirvana con esta Fe y práctica, uno es llamado un verdadero discípulo del Buda" [1]

Me sorprende mucho el que tantos budistas de hoy en día inviertan su precioso tiempo en forma humana para tratar de lograr algo en lo que tienen todas las posibilidades de fracasar, es decir, la Iluminación perfecta, cuando pueden simplemente encomendarse al Buda Amida, ir a Su Tierra Pura después de la muerte, y alcanzar instantáneamente la Iluminación perfecta allí. ¿Es realmente sabio usar nuestro tiempo, el cual es extremadamente corto, en intentos inútiles para convertirnos en un Buda en esta vida, cuando todo lo que tenemos que hacer es dejar que Amida nos lleve a Su lugar iluminado donde no existen obstáculos y en donde todo es automáticamente propicio para la Iluminación?

On those who slander the exclusive Nembutsu practitioners

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Selected passages from Honen Shonin 

with commentary

Honen Shonin said in An Outline of Nembutsu:
 
 "It is even more unfortunate that there are many who insult and deride the exclusive practitioners of Nembutsu today. These unfortunate circumstances were foretold by incarnate
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas a long time ago. Accordingly, Bodhisattva Manjusri stated, 'Nonvirtuous beings in the future world will recite the Name of Amida Buddha in the West, become detached from the delusive worlds of saṃsara by relying on the Primal Vow, and be
born in the Pure Land through the depth of their sincere heart.'
 
In the Hymns of the Nien-fo Liturgy, Master Shan-tao thus stated:
'At the very moment when the World-Honored One [Buddha Shakyamuni] was coming to the end of His sermon, He entrusted to Sariputra with great care the Name of Amida Buddha[1].
Over time, after the death of Buddha Shakyamuni, the five defilements proliferated, and many people began to slander the teaching of Nembutsu. Monastics and lay people alike began to dislike the teaching of Nembutsu and ceased listening to it. This gave rise to the poison of anger, and when they saw Nembutsu practitioners, they struggled to incite intrigue and create grudges. Such people seem blind by nature and have no intrinsic goodness. Destroying the teaching designed for the instantaneous realization of Enlightenment, they will sink into the three lower realms for a long time. They will never be released from the three lower realms,
even though innumerable eons pass, more numerous than the number of particles released in the explosion of the earth.

The Pure Land is in harmony with all sentient beings

 

Master Shan-tao said: 

“It is regrettable indeed that sentient beings doubt what should not be doubted;
The Pure Land is right before us and never out of harmony with us.
Do not ponder whether Amida will take you in or not;
The question is whether or not you wholeheartedly turnabout at heart.”[1]

Commentary:
The Pure Land is extremely easy to reach. This is the meaning of the words “right before us”. We’ll go there in an instant at the moment of our death if we have entrusted ourselves to Amida Buddha during this life. It is the easiest country to emigrate – no visas, no special requirements, just say Amida’s Name in faith and wish to be born there, and you will, at the end of your physical body. Being easy to enter, the Pure Land is in harmony with all beings as anybody can go there without discrimination between virtuous and non-virtuous. Harmony mean accessibility, that is, nothing that can be found within our ignorant mind constitutes an obstacle for birth there.
Thus, you should not doubt Amida’s capacity to save you, but ask yourself if you really have faith in Him. To turnabout at heart means to leave behind any reliance on your self-power and abandon yourself totally to Amida’s Power. As He is the One who manifested His Pure Land, you can only go there through Him. An unenlightened mind cannot create within oneself the cause to birth into the enlightened realm of the Pure Land.  

---

[1] Master Shan-tao as quoted by Shinran in his Kygyoshinsho, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.238

 

Амида Будда спасает воинов, если они вверяются Ему: наставления Хонэна Сёнина самураю Таро Тадацунэ Амакасу.

translated from English by Evgeny Terekhin

В провинции Мусаси жил самурай по имени Таро Тадацунэ Амакасу. Он принадлежал к клану Иномата и состоял на службе у семьи Минамото. Он был преданным последователем Хонэна Сёнина и вверил в силу Нэмбуцу. В то время произошёл вооружённый конфликт с отрядами восставших монахов горы Хиэй. Лагерь мятежников располагался у святилища Хиёси Хатиодзи. Тадацунэ был поставлен во главе войск, которые должны были подавить восстание. Прежде чем отправиться на битву, он нанёс визит Хонэну и сказал ему:

«Я часто слышал от вас, что даже такие грешники, как мы, непременно достигнут Одзё (возрождения в Чистой Земле) лишь только произнеся Нэмбуцу и полностью вверив себя Изначальному Обету Амиды. Эти слова каждый раз производят на меня глубокое впечатление, однако, мне кажется, что такое может случиться только с теми, кто лежит на больничной койке и спокойно ждёт наступления смерти. Что же касается меня, то, будучи самураем, я вынужден поступать так, как велит мне долг. Сейчас, повинуясь императорскому приказу, я должен отправиться в замок Хатиодзи, чтобы наказать мятежных последователей Саммона. Я воин и, с детства обучаясь военному мастерству, в совершенстве постиг науку стрельбы из лука ради того, чтобы, с одной стороны, стать достойным продолжателем дела своих предков, а с другой — чтобы следующие поколения моего клана могли бы гордиться мной. Если я, как воин, полностью отдам все свои силы победе над врагом, то окажусь во власти всевозможных злых и яростных страстей. В таком случае мне будет очень трудно пробудить в своём сердце какое-либо благочестивое чувство. Если же я позволю себе со время битвы думать о бренности жизни и пытаться не забывать о достижении Одзё с помощью Нэмбуцу, то подвергнусь опасности попасть в плен и навечно буду заклеймён как трус. Моя семья лишится всего! Поэтому я никак не могу решить, как мне следует вести себя во время битвы. Подскажите мне, как я могу осуществить своё заветное желание обрести Одзё не поступаясь своей честью, как воина, и честью своей семьи?»