Shinjin (faith in Amida Buddha) is knowing, not feeling

 

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Buddhas exist

Buddhas are real, living, enlightened Ones. Amida is a real, living, enlightened Buddha.

Unenlightened beings like us cannot say that the reality of the Buddhas is mythological, symbolical or metaphorical, thus denying their actual existence. They should rather see their own so-called samsaric reality as dreamlike and illusional and the reality of the Buddhas as truly real. Unlike us, samsaric beings, Buddhas (Amida included) have their existence grounded in the ultimate Reality of Nirvana which makes them truly real and alive. Thus, it is stupid, harmful and demonic to relate to the Buddhas as to symbols, metaphors or myths when they are actually more real and alive than us.

Our samsaric reality is an optical illusion and a dream while the Pure Land is a real enlightened place. Our world and everything we see here is dreamlike and not actually real, while the Pure Land is truly real because, I repeat, it is rooted in the ultimate reality.

The existence of the transcendental Buddhas and Enlightened Bodhisattvas of the Mahayana pantheon is not similar with our existence which is false and illusory. They don't exist like us, but this does NOT mean they don't exist. Samsaric minds cannot understand everything about the Buddhas but should accept, based on the sutras, that they truly exist and are active in guiding and saving us.

Please don't fall into the wrong view of denying the existence of the Buddhas just because your unenlightened mind cannot understand them yet. The time will soon come when you'll meet them face to face after birth in the Pure Land. Until then, enjoy and be grateful for their protection because all of them guided you to Amida Buddha.

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Say Nembutsu in the mountains and forests

If you can, go to mountains and forests, say the Name of Amida Buddha and encourage all nonhuman beings living there to say it in faith. Spread the good news of the Primal Vow everywhere!

May all beings create indestructible connections with Amida Buddha, say His Name in faith and wish to be born in His Pure Land!
Namo Amida Bu

Ve a las montañas y los bosques, di el nombre del Buda Amida y anima a todos los seres no humanos que viven allí a decirlo con fe. ¡Difunde las buenas noticias del Voto Primordial por todas partes!

¡Que todos los seres creen conexiones indestructibles con el Buda Amida, digan Su Nombre con fe y deseen nacer en Su Tierra Pura!

 Идите в горы и леса, произносите Имя Амида Будды и побуждайте всех живущих там нечеловеческих существ произносить его с верой. Распространяйте благую весть об Изначальном Обете повсюду!
 

Пусть все существа создадут неразрушимые связи с Амида Буддой, произнесут Его Имя с верой и пожелают родиться в Его Чистой Земле!
Намо Амида Бу  

Mergi in munti si paduri, spune Numele lui Buddha Amida si incurajeaza toate fiintele neumane care traiesc acolo (spirite si zei) sa-l rosteasca cu credinta. Raspandeste peste tot vestea cea buna a Legamantului Principal!
Fie ca toate fiintele sa creeze legaturi indestructibile cu Buddha Amida, sa rosteasca Numele lui cu credinta si sa isi doreasca sa se nasca in Taramul sau Pur.
Namo Amida Bu

 

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

 Click here to return to 

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.