AMIDA DHARMA - Fascicle 6. The eight precepts of faith

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1.Those who wish to be in harmony with the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha and to protect the transmission of true faith for other generations, helping themselves and others to not fall into wrong views, must have faith themselves and posses the eight elements of faith. They must also follow the eight precepts of faith.

2.The first precept of faith:

A true disciple of Amida and all Buddhas shall not himself deny, or encourage others to deny the actual, literal existence of Amida Buddha and His Pure Land. He must not create the causes, conditions, methods or karma of denying the existence of Amida Buddha and His Pure Land. As a true disciple of Amida and all Buddhas he must have devotion and faith in Amida Buddha, always helping sentient beings to entrust to Him and aspire to be born in His Pure Land.

AMIDA DHARMA - Fasicle 5. The eight elements of faith

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1.Faith (shinjin) in Amida Buddha, the saying of His Name (Namo Amida Bu) and the wish to be born in His Pure Land after death, are the three important things Amida Buddha asks from us. All this three elements are in fact manifestations of faith (shinjin) because the follower who has faith in Amida will certainly say His Name and desire to be with Him in His Pure Land. So, the saying of the Name and the wish to be born there are expressions of faith. Only a person who has true faith in Amida Buddha will say the Name in an authentic way and wish to be born in His Pure Land.

2. When one has faith (shinjin), one is convinced that Amida Buddha and His Pure Land exist, and that the Promise He made in His Primal Vow is true, so one simply entrusts to this Buddha and wishes to go to His Pure Land after death. Saying Namo Amida Bu (Nembutsu) 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, “Homage to Amida Buddha” and “Thank you Amida Buddha for saving me as I am”.

AMIDA DHARMA - Fascicle 4. Personal power and Amida’s Power

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1.The teachings and practices taught by Shakyamuni Buddha can be classified in two categories, depending on the capacities of beings: the path of personal power (jiriki) and the path of reliance on the Power of Amida Buddha (Tariki).

2.The path of personal power is also called the difficult path because it refers to following the Buddhist practices and attaining Enlightenment through one’s own efforts. It is a path which often includes retiring from the world.

3.The Path of reliance on the Power of Amida Buddha (the Path of Faith) is also called the easy path because it depends exclusively on the unconditional help offered by Amida who guides the faithful to His Pure Land where Enlightenment is spontaneously attained.

AMIDA DHARMA - Fascicle 3. Shakyamuni Buddha and Amida Buddha

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1. Human history, as we know it, is only a very small fraction of the endless and inconceivable time of the universe. This means that many world systems and beings living in them had existed before this earth and will continue to exist after its disappearance. Thus, in the beginnigless past a great number of Buddhas appeared in various worlds and will continue to appear in the never ending future.

2. The Enlightened Person who taught the Dharma during our present human history was Shakyamuni Buddha and the teachings and methods presented by Him were transmitted to us in the form of sutras (discourses).

3.Different Buddhist schools were created based on various sutras (discourses). Our Jodo Shinshu school

( the True Pure Land School) which we also call Amida Dharma was formed based on the The Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life (Larger Sutra). A lineage of Masters from India, China, and Japan transmitted and explained the teaching of this sutra, among which the most important is Shinran Shonin, the founder of this school in Japan, and Rennyo Shonin, the restorer.

AMIDA DHARMA - Fascicle 2. Buddha nature and escape from samsara

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1.Escaping the cycle of repeated births and deaths or waking up from the samsaric dream is called the attainment of Buddhahood. As in the case of a precious jewel buried underneath a mountain of trash, all beings have Buddha nature, hidden under thousands of layers of delusions and blind passions.

2. Just like all seeds have the natural potential to become trees, all sentient beings have the natural potential to become Buddhas, that is, to awaken to their own Buddha nature. Beyond the various layers of our delusory personality, the Buddha nature is the true reality, uncreated and indestructible, the treasure hidden in every one of us. When it's discovered, the causes of suffering and repeated births and deaths are annihilated and the one who attained it becomes himself a savior and guide of all beings that are still caught in the slavery of samsara.

AMIDA DHARMA - Fascicle 1. Karma and Samsara

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1.There is a natural law, a supreme law, uncreated and the same for all. It is called karma and it means that everything is cause and effect.

2.Thoughts and intentions represent the karma of mind, words are the karma of speech and the actions are the karma of body. These are the three types of karma. They define and create all beings and they also determine the environment in which we are born.

3. All that we think, speak or do will affect our personal history. What we are now is the result of what we thought, said or did in the past, in another lifetime or in the present life; and what we think, speak and do in the present will create us in the future. 

AMIDA DHARMA - Introduction

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Jodo Shinshu Buddhism or Amida Dharma is the Path to Nirvana (perfect Enlightenment) through faith in Amida Buddha. This Path was taught by Shakyamuni Buddha (the historical Buddha) and was later transmitted to our times by a long series of Masters and teachers among which I mention Shinran Shonin (1173-1262), the founder of this school in Japan and Rennyo Shonin (1415-1499), the restorer.

The words ”Jodo Shinshu” mean ”the True Pure Land School” and Dharma means teaching. Amida Dharma is the teaching about the unconditional salvation offered by Amida Buddha. With the help of this Buddha called Amida we are born in His Pure Land (His sphere of influence) after death where we attain perfect Enlightenment (Nirvana).