My Dharma activities go beyond any affiliation and institution

Recently a member of Higashi branch of Jodo Shinshu wrote to me and said that although he likes the way I teach Jodo Shinshu and how I stand up against modern divergences, he does not like the idea of leaving his branch or joining a new one.

I answered that my intention is NOT to create another branch of Jodo Shinshu, nor to attract people to the Nishi (Hongwanji-ha) branch, but to awake followers of all Shinshu branches, or without any affiliation, to the true Amida Dharma as it was taught by Shakyamuni Buddha, Shinran and Rennyo. When I teach or discuss the Amida Dharma I don't make any distinction between followers of Nishi, Higashi or any branch. All I want is that the seed of true teaching be planted in the minds and hearts of all followers of Shinran Shonin, and the bad roots of wrong views be cut forever from all various Jodo Shinshu branches. So I think that my attitude would be better described by words such as, orthodox, non-sectarian and all-inclusive.

Depend on Amida, not on your feelings

There is no need to create something

special into your mind.

By saying Namo Amida Bu in faith 

you accept that everything necesary 

to your salvation depends entirely 

on Amida Buddha. 

Question:

How can I say that I have or don't have shinjin (faith) if there is no special feeling I should associate it with?

Answer:

Rather than asking yourself, "do I feel the right thing" in relation with shinjin (faith), you should better ask:

- do I accept the real existence of Amida Buddha and His Pure Land?

- do I accept Amida Buddha's salvation as promised in His Primal Vow, that is, do I entrust myself completely to Him?

- do I accept that only Amida Buddha can save me through His Power from birth and death and that nothing which can be found in my unenlightened personality can help me in any way in achieving this goal?

If your answer to the above questions is YES, I DO, then you are a person of faith.

So, you are a person of faith not because you feel the right thing, or because you have an intellectual understanding of all Buddhist concepts, including faith, but because you accept and you know  that Amida Buddha and His Pure Land are real and that He saves you by assuring your birth there after death.

Se o Voto Original de Amida é Verdadeiro...

                                            (translated from English by Shaku Shinkai)

- click here for the English version - 

 Shinran Shonin disse:

Shinran Shonin

“Se o Voto Original de Amida é verdadeiro, então o ensinamento de Shakyamuni não pode ser falso. Se os comentários de Shan-tao são verdadeiros, as palavras de Honen podem ser falsas? Se as palavras de Honen são verdadeiras, então certamente o que eu digo não pode ser vazio.[1]”

O Voto Original é verdadeiro. Esta é a base da nossa fé e de todo o Dharma de Amida ensinado por Shakyamuni e os Mestres que vieram depois. Tudo começa assim – o Voto Original é verdadeiro. Se aceitamos que o Voto original é verdadeiro e confiamos nele sem dúvida, então somos salvos; se não, esta vida em forma humana será em vão:

“se nesta vida você ainda está emaranhado em uma rede de dúvidas, então inevitavelmente você deve passar mais uma vez no caminho de nascimentos e mortes através das miríades de kalpas[2]”.

Rights versus Dharma Responsability

- fragment from a letter to a priest who embraced wrong views -

  

Recently, a priest wrote to me:

"I have the right to my own views. What you do in your books and on your website is to judge others because you do not agree with them. This is outrageous".

My answer:

From the legal or juridical point of view, you have the right to do everything you want with Amida Dharma. This is because we are fortunate to live in countries where freedom of speech is guaranteed.  But from the moral and Buddhist point of view, you do not have the right to change Amida Dharma, and the reason for this is very simple -  you are not a Buddha. 

As a priest and teacher you do not have rights, but responsabilities toward the Amida Dharma and sentient beings who come in contact with it. This is not a matter of you and me agreeing with each other. The sangha is not a social club, but a place where we should be in harmony with the Dharma. Please bear this in mind.

Os dois aspectos da Terra Pura

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A Terra Pura de Buda Amida têm dois aspectos:: 1) O aspecto do Dharmakaya supremo , e  2) o aspecto da manifestação Sambhogakaya (recompensa). 

1) O primeiro aspecto (Dharmakaya) significa que a Terra Pura é Nirvânica em sua essência, como explicado no Sutra Maior:

Minha terra, como o próprio Nirvana,

Será além das comparações.”[1]

Isto significa que todas as manifestações da Terra Pura estão enraizadas na perfeita Iluminação de Buda Amida e conduzem á Iluminação. Nós atingiremos a Iluminação quando nascermos na Terra Pura, porque a essência da Terra Pura é a própria  Iluminação/Nirvana/Dharmakaya. Se a Terra Pura não fosse um reino iluminado, ela produziria apenas apegos sensoriais como outros reinos samsáricos, mas o Buda Shakyamuni[2] e nossos Mestres[3] foram muito claros dizendo que este não é o caso.