La complejidad de la Reforma que necesitamos

El altar del Templo Amidaji

translated from English by Kosho Arana Sensei

Definición de reforma: Por reforma quiero decir un retorno a las raíces de nuestra religión y un rechazo de las llamadas ideas modernistas o "progresistas" que niegan nuestras doctrinas básicas o las redefinen para que se ajusten a las ideologías mundanas y las mentes carentes de varios momentos históricos.

En primer lugar, debemos ponernos de pie y contrarrestar esas ideas horribles respaldadas por muchos eruditos ilusos hoy en día que presentan a Amida como un mito, símbolo, personaje de ficción, etc., o que niegan Su Tierra Pura como un lugar real para alcanzar después de la muerte, sino que esto se trata de algo en nuestras cabezas o que está "aquí y ahora". Este es el mayor de todos los males y debemos luchar contra él con todas nuestras fuerzas. Ya estoy haciendo esto en mi libro La verdadera enseñanza sobre el Buda Amida y su tierra pura, así como en los artículos que he escrito en la sección dedicada a este tema.

The complexity of the reform we need

the altar of Amidaji temple

click here for the Spanish version of this article

Definition of reform: By reform I mean a return to the roots of our religion and a refusal of the so-called modernist or "progressive" ideas which deny our basic doctrines or redefine them to conform to the worldly ideologies and faithless minds of various times.

First and foremost we must stand up and counteract such horrible ideas supported by many deluded scholars nowadays which present Amida as a myth, symbol, fictional character, etc, or His Pure Land as not being a real enlightened place to be attained after death but something in our heads or"here and now". This is the greatest of all evils and we must fight against it with all our strength. I am already doing this in my book The True Teaching on Amida Buddha and His Pure Land as well as in the articles I wrote in the section dedicated to this topic.

The miracle of Jodo Shinshu

“Hokyo-bo said to Rennyo Shonin, ‘The Myogo (six character NA MO A MI DA BUTSU) you have painted has been destroyed by fire but it has become six Buddhas. How extraordinary!’ 

The Shonin remarked, ‘It is nothing extraordinary. Since the Buddha (that the Name represents) has become a Buddha, it is nothing extraordinary. What is extraordinary is that an evil bombu[1] becomes a Buddha through a single thought of entrusting to Amida[2]’.”[3]

If you hear that a Buddha or a saint performed miracles, you might become happy and want to see that miracle for yourself, but you will always feel it is quite natural for such superior beings to perform miracles.

However, to hear that you, an ordinary person with strong attachments and blind passions, some of them known only to yourself and kept hidden with shame in the depths of your heart where no one can see them.... you the reader of this book and internet addict who likes to read a lot about Buddhism, Nirvana, Buddha-nature, ultimate reality, and virtuous Masters of the past, but always finding yourself incapable to be like them….. imagine that you will become a Buddha!

You are sitting in front of your computer for many hours, surfing the internet, reading a lot of good teachings and wise Buddhist quotes, but never really being able to put them into practice for even 24 hours a day. From time to time, you practice a little bit of this, a little bit of that, some zazen[4], some vipassana[5], etc., and then you come back to internet or books to read about the spiritual realizations of others. You read all those pages and try to practice this or that, but in the end you return to your true reality – the everyday misery of living with your own ego and fighting with the ego of others.
You, who recognize yourself in my description, imagine that you will become a Buddha! And to become a Buddha at the end of your life, you need nothing else than to entrust yourself completely to Amida!

When I heard for the first time about the promise of Amida, that ordinary people will become Buddhas through simple faith in Him, I was struck with wonder and couldn’t believe my eyes and ears, as if I had seen or heard someone from another planet. Soon, after realizing this is true and not just a parable with esoteric and hidden meaning, I found myself saying: “What am I waiting for?” For the first time I felt that Buddhism was speaking to me, and not only to supermen. Since then, every time I recall to my mind the promise of Amida’s Primal Vow that everybody who entrusts in him and recite his Name will become Buddha, and realize that I myself will become a Buddha, I feel there is no greater miracle.

 

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[1] A bombu is a being full of illusions and blind passions and who cannot attain Nirvana by his own power. 

[2] According to the Jodo Shinshu teaching of Shinran and Rennyo, a person who entrusts in Amida enters in the same moment in the stage of non-retrogression or the stage of being assured of Nirvana, and becomes a Buddha in the moment of death, when he is born in the Pure Land.

[3] Rennyo Shonin Goichidaiki Kikigaki (Thus I Have Heard from Rennyo Shonin)

[4] Zen Buddhist meditation.

[5] Meditation in Theravada Buddhism.

Never say Amida Buddha is the same with the "god" of monotheists or with any other divine figure outside the Buddha Dharma

Amida Buddha image from
 Amidaji temple

You should NEVER, EVER, say Amida Buddha is the same with the god of monotheists or with any god and religious figure of a non-Buddhist religion! Don’t use words such as “entrust to Amida Buddha or God”, “be in harmony with Amida Buddha or God”, “communicate with Amida Buddha or God”, etc, like this would be the same! It is NOT the same! Religions are NOT the same, and NO religion outside Buddha Dharma can ever lead you to perfect Enlightenment. Having faith in Amida Buddha and having faith in god do not lead to the same result. Faith in any god, including the so-called “god” of monotheist religions will NEVER lead you to Enlightenment.  

Don’t be a politically correct Buddhist in these matters because you will do no good to your fellow practitioners or beginners, but lead them to more confusion. It is exactly because I wanted to clear away the confusion people make nowadays on this topic, that I wrote these articles (and many others!) which I ask you to READ CAREFULLY:

The roof of Amidado (Hall of Amida) and next plan

The roof is ready, shinning in the sun!
Click on the photo to enlarge it

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE NEW UPGRADES AT THE TEMPLE 

As you may know, last year I built the concrete platform and metal frame for Amidado (Hall of Amida). These days I finished the construction of the roof. The total amount I paid for two workers and materials was 750 euros.

I needed to start with the roof this year because it was cheaper than the walls. I will, of course, continue with the walls as soon as I raise the necessary amount which will probably be arround 2000 euros (double walls filled with thermal insulation, door, windows, exterior insulation and paint, workers, etc).

All lives matter! Amidaji does NOT take a knee to racist movements

As I saw a lot of unwise statements made by various Buddhist priests and centers, including Buddhist Churches of America, in the support of the racist movement called "Black Lives Matters" while they say absolutely nothing about the violence and killings made under this slogan in many American cities, and because Amidaji has many readers and supporters in USA,  I decided to publish here what I already stated on my Facebook Page.

Rest in Nembutsu

Rest in Nembutsu. Let all your thoughts come and go while you just say the Name. Put an image of Amida that you like  in front of you and say Nembutsu while looking at it. Don't force yourself to feel anything special, just look at Amida and say His Name.
Rest in His presence and Name,
Na Mo A Mi Da Bu, Na Mo A Mi Da Bu, Na Mo A Mi Da Bu....

Do not pursue the various thoughts and worries that appear in the mind, but rest in Amida's Name. You can do this wherever you are, even without an image in front of you.

Amida Buddha is always present so you can simply change the focus to Him and leave everything else aside. You do not need meditation techniques which will make you go astray from Amida when this simple resting in the Name can be done in any circumstance and it is in accord with Amida's Primal Vow and Shinran's words:

"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. "

So, rest in Namo Amida Bu, the manifestation of true reality beyond the samsaric delusion.

Rest in the Name and you rest in Amida's presence. This is not a metaphor, nor a symbol, but the actual truth. Amida is in front of you every time, so please, turn your mind to Him and rest in His Name.
Namo Amida Bu

The above instructions appeared to me spontaneously this night at Amidaji temple. May our Dharma friends abandon the intention to mix practices and find everything they need in the Nembutsu of Faith!