Josho Sensei’s books contain the nectar of the sutras
and shastras, because they are full to the brim with quotes from the words of
Shakyamuni Buddha, Shinran Shonin, Honen Shonin and Rennyo Shonin, and the
great Mahayana Patriarchs. There is no room for wrong views or half-truths in
his writings. You can sense he is just an ordinary guy doing his best to
explain to himself and others the wonderful treasure of the Buddha Dharma in
general and Jodo Shinshu in particular, and that is priceless in our day and
age in which there are thousands of self-proclaimed gurus, masters,
“venerables” and mystics of all sorts who don’t blink twice at combining Buddhism
with worldly ideologies, and samsaric religions just to make them more
appealing to the masses.
Josho Sensei simply could not care less about numbers
or pleasing people. I could sense that from the first emails we exchanged. All
his words and deeds as a Jodo Shinshu monk are just ways to say, “entrust
yourself to the real and living Amida Buddha, say His Name with faith and
gratitude and wish to be born in His Pure Land after death so that you scape
the painful cycle of birth and death and attain Buddhahood, and then you
yourself will eternally return to Samsara so save all beings in the 10
directions with perfect wisdom and compassion”. This clear, honest and
uncompromising way to teach the Dharma is rarely found in Jodo Shinshu nowadays
and I would say it is also scarce for Buddhism in general. “Feel good talks”,
dangerous and misleading spiritual combinations, mundane entertainment and pop
self-help teachings is what most temples thrive on nowadays. It’s fairly easy
to find so-called Buddhist teachers and temples that never or rarely mention
basic Buddhist teachings such as karma, samsara, Buddhahood, faith and
morality. So, I am truly grateful to have found in this life an honest teacher
who puts the Dharma above his own opinions and who tries to understand and
explain the Dharma in simple terms for ordinary people living ordinary lives.
