REV.

JOSHO ADRIAN CRLEA

JODO SHINSHU
BUDDHIST TEACHINGS

Copyright Adrian Gheorghe Crlea

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without
prior written permission from the author.
Rev. Josho Adrian Crlea is the representative of Jodo Shinshu
Buddhist Community from Romania, founder of Tariki Dojo Craiova
and Tariki Dojo Bucharest.
He is also the author of The Path of Acceptance Commentary on
Tannisho, published by Dharma Lion in 2011
Crlea Adrian
O.P. 6, C.P. 615
Craiova, Dolj,
Romnia
phone: 0725854326
e-mail: josho_adrian@yahoo.com
yahoo id: josho_an
skype id: josho_adrian
blog of the author:
www.amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com

Dedicated to my love, Ioana.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword .
7
You are not your body
8
On the six categories of unenlightened beings 11
Aspiration to become a Buddha the most important matter .
13
About Amida Buddha and his Pure Land ...
16
On returning from the Pure Land
22
Amida as the eternal Buddha and the Buddha described in the
Larger Sutra .
25
The Purpose of Shakyamunis coming to this world ..
27
The three Dharma ages ...
33
Jodo Shinshu the only effective path in this last Dharma age .
38
Shinran Shonin a manifestation of Amida Buddha and
Avalokitesvara
47
The meaning of there are no precepts ..
59
No self improving programs for Jodo Shinshu followers ...
62
The effect is similar to the cause difference between the Path
of self power and the Pure Land Path .
63
Entering the Jodo Shinshu path ...
67
A bad Buddhist who entrusts to Amida ..
69
The miracle of Jodo Shinshu ...
70
Do not have patience ...
73
Dont rely on all beings will eventually become Buddhas ..
76
Faith is simple, nothing special ...
78
How can one know that he received shinjin if he has no access
to a temple or priest? ...
81
Nembutsu of faith and gratitude .. 84
Self-power as an obstacle to nembutsu ...
87
Three vows of salvation ..
89
Methods for the visualisation of Amida and shinjin ...
96
About your thoughts and bad tendencies that dont stop even
after receiving shinjin .. 100
On doubts and fears . 102
I was a good Buddhist ..... 108
5

Four misconceptions concerning the nembutsu (impermanence,

evil karma/good karma and one or many sayings) ..
The alaya consciousness and faith in Amida Buddha .
Merit transference from Amida Buddha to the practicer
No discrimination of women in the salvation of Amida Buddha
The changing mind ..
Faith and nembutsu are not our creations ...
Why some are saved by Amida and others are not? ...
The ten benefits in this life of a nembutsu follower ...
Equal to Maitreya Buddha ..
Shinjin and Buddha nature ..
The exclusion in the 18th Vow .
The Meaning of the Three Refuges in Jodo Shinshu ..
Ryogemon (Jodo Shinshu Creed) ...
Those who deny the existence of Amida dont have shinjin
some simple explanations ...
Honen Shonin on Amida Buddha ...
The reason for the western location of the Pure Land and its
wonderful description in the sutras .
Pure Land is NOT here and now .
The Pure Land in the teaching of Jodo Shinshu ..
About petitionary prayers
Death barrier ...
State of mind in the moment of death .
Immediate Buddhahood for ordinary people, without passing
through bardo ..
Only for me, Shinran ...
How do I feel as a Buddhist
Enjoy the presence of the Buddhas .

111
115
118
121
124
126
128
130
142
147
149
156
161
166
169
171
173
177
179
184
186
188
191
192
194

Foreword
Jodo Shinshu does not give moral speeches and it doesnt contain
difficult practices. While other Buddhist methods talk about the ideal
of Buddhahood and the possibility to attain it in this life, Jodo
Shinshu starts with the sense of failure.
It is a simple path for ordinary people like you and me, lost from
morning till evening in the fight for daily survival, filled with
illusions and attachments to which we see neither the beginning nor
the end. Jodo Shinshu is not a path for saints, but for losers, for those
who cannot attain by themselves anything stable in the spiritual life.
Not the promise of purification, but of salvation as we are is the
essence of Jodo Shinshu. Nothing special, no state of mind to be
attained or developed. Only faith in the Infinite Compassion of
Amida Buddha.
This book is an adaptation of some Dharma sermons given at Tariki
Dojo and letters to my Buddhist friends all over the world.
I am grateful for the help of my Dharma friend Richard St. Clair
(Shaku Egen), who proofread the manuscript and gave me valuable
suggestions.
Namo Amida Butsu,
Josho Adrian Crlea

Bucharest,
December 30th 2555
Buddhist Era
2011 C.E.

You are not your body

There are many situations when you want to do something but your
body doesnt obey your wishes. Like for example, you would like to
read or learn all night but the body is too tired and wishes to sleep. Or
you have a very important task to finish, but the body suddenly feels
hunger and needs to eat. Also, you have to go to the toilet every day,
even many times a day.
Sleep, hunger, thirst, the need to urinate comes automatically, no
matter whether you want them to happen or not. So, it seems that
your body has its own needs and its own mechanism.
Even now when you read these lines, inside your body the stomach
is digesting food, the heart is beating, the blood is running through
the veins: in short, many organs do their daily routine without your
awareness.
And in the exact moment you enjoy your reading, it might happen
that you need to go to the toilet. There are many moments when you
really dont want to go to the toilet because you are watching a good
movie, spending your time in good company or listening to an
inspiring Dharma talk. But no matter whether you like it or not, you
will be forced by the body to interrupt any enjoyable activity and go
to urinate. Urine forms itself inside your body without your notice,
and from time to time you have to go to the toilet, no matter if you
like it or not.
What do these simple situations show us and how should we
interpret them? To me all these are clear proofs that I am not my
body. It is as simple as that.
How can I be one and the same with my body if, when I want to do
something, it doesnt obey my commands? If I am to be my body

then when I want to do this or that, I should do it without any

impediments.
But it is very clear that the body has its own mechanism. It grows
from childhood to maturity and old age by itself, it develops by itself,
transforms by itself and I (this mind stream I call I) cant do
anything about it. I may have my own plans and wishes but the body
just follows its own course. No matter if I want it to last for eternity,
this will never happen.
The simple truth is that my mind stream is just covered by the
body, carried by the body, influenced by the body, but surely I am not
the body. This is very logical. The body is just a machine which
works automaticaly if it is given fuel consisting of food, water, air,
etc. This machine has needs like any other machine that must be
sheltered against rain or other physical elements.
The consciousness or flux of consciousness (mind stream) is
impregnated in the body, this is why I feel the pain of the body or
its pleasures. Also the consciousness is limited by the body. So, for
example, as long as I am in the body my vision will be limited by
the eyes, ears, nose, etc. After the death of the body, the mind stream
(which always changes due to various karmic impulses and desires)
goes into another vehicle or body and continues its journey into the
various realms of existence. Only if you have faith in Amida Buddha
can your unenlightened mind stream naturally and spontaneously be
transformed into a Buddha1, a truly free one.
Fear of death appears because of attachment to the body and
identification with it. Life, in the general acceptance of the world, is
the duration of the body from its birth to its death. But this period
when you have this form and are carried by this vehicle is only a
small part of an endless change. So, try to relax and dont let yourself
get driven into fear due to the materialistic views and philosophies
that are now prevalent in the world.
1

See chapter Amida Buddha and his Pure Land

Just observe your body and you will naturally realize that you are
different from it. Of course, the fear of death might remain inside
your mind even after accepting the difference between you and the
body, because attachments are hard or impossible to be cleared away
due to many past lives spent in ignorance. But at least you have made
an important change at the intellectual level.
And this small step is very important on any religious path. When
your vision is no longer that of a prisoner of materialistic ideas, you
are ready to understand further Buddhist teachings on rebirth and
karma and awaken the aspiration to Buddhahood, i.e. liberation from
birth and death.

10

On the six categories of unenlightened beings

Unenlightened beings are of many types, but what they all have in
common is various kinds of illusions and ignorance.
Our view of reality is corrupted by many attachments of which
some are hidden deep in our unconscious. Any action done by a being
drowned in illusion and motivated by attachment gives rise to karma2
and suffering or passing states of wellness. Everything is cause and
effect. As long as one acts with an unenlightened mind, under the
slavery of false views, the effect is a little or more unsatisfactoriness
or happiness of limited duration.
Thus there are beings that are always motivated by hate and
constantly do deeds of cruelty. Even since this present life they are
though being burned by fire, and after their life is ended they will be
born in places where they are devoured by their own hate and the
effects of their evil actions. These are the beings born in hells.
Other beings are consumed by a never ending hunger and thirst for
various possessions, living as they are never satisfied. After death
their mind stream, which is impregnated with this obsession, will take
a form (body) similar with it and will wander in places without food
or water. But even if water or food can be found their bodies are so
much distorted that they cannot digest it. These are the beings born as
hungry ghosts (pretas).
Next there are beings that have their minds focused only on sex,
food and drink, with no further aspirations related to higher spiritual
goals. Limited as they are to their instincts they will be born in their
next life as animals. The fear they experience and the tensions
created by instincts are so great that they live almost entirely to
satisfy themselves.
2

Karma means any action by thought, deed and word which one day (in this life or
future lives) will produce an effect.

11

Humans are beings in which the various tendencies are somehow

in the middle. The karma which manifested at their previous death
was not so bad as to go to the lowest level of existence, but also not
so good as to go higher than the human realm.
The two spheres of existence which are immediately higher than
the human realm are by no means without suffering, illusions or
attachments, but these can be found in smaller quantities than those
on the human or lower levels.
Right above humans are the asuras (demigods or fighting
spirits), which are beings in whom jealousy and a competitive spirit
still remain very powerful.
Above the asuras are the devas or gods whose merits and virtues
they accumulated in previous lives manifested in the form of birth in
heavenly realms.
It is very important to know that these states of existence generally
described above and the beings born there are not free or enlightened,
but rather are only owners of a better or worse karma.
Imagine something like a reservoir of good or bad karma the
result of various good or evil acts which is waiting to manifest itself.
The more good karma this reservoir has, the happier the next life in
various forms of existence will be. But there is a warning here, as this
reservoir will become empty sooner or later and the person will fall in
the end from the good state he dwells now, dying and leaving that
place to be born somewhere lower, depending on other types of
karma gathered in previous existences.
Thus, no state is permanent. No matter whether one is on the low
level or the upper level of the wheel of life, he is never free and
secure. Pain and suffering follow him always, in many forms, until
Buddhahood or complete freedom is attained.

12

Aspiration to become a Buddha the most important matter

The goal of Buddhism is to become a Buddha: not to paint this life
in different colors, not to become a smarter or more interesting kind
of Buddhist, but rather to become a true, fully enlightened Buddha.
The Buddhist path is not a method of relaxation or a pill for a
headache. In other words it is not something like how can we
become happier and calmer people or a recipe for momentary
happiness, but rather a road to Buddhahood or complete freedom for
us and eventually all beings.
It is vital for those who enter the Buddhist path to have the
aspiration to become a Buddha. Without this aspiration there is no
true Buddhism. If we dont want or dont feel the urgency to attain
complete freedom from the many sufferings of repeated births, then
Buddhism will remain for us only an object of study, an interesting
lecture of mythology or an intellectual delight.
There are, so to speak, two visions one can have about himself and
the world: one is the ordinary vision depending on his cultural
education or his daily concerns; the other is the Dharmic vision.
The first vision represents what is considered normal in various
times, containing limited explanations of the world and without being
interested in the sense of human existence or something which is
beyond the life of the here and now. The immediate utilitarianism is
fundamental in the non-Dharmic vision of the world.
On the other hand, the Dharmic vision perceives the world and
personal life through the perspective of the Buddhist teaching
(Dharma) where, for example, everything is explained in terms of
impermanence and the law of karma. Also what is truly important is
defined in a different way from immediate utility, and the need for
freedom is especially emphasized.
13

By reading, listening to and always reflecting on the explanations

and light that the Dharma throws on the world and human existence,
one can come to understand why it is necessary to become a Buddha.
By engaging more and more in the study of the Dharma, you reach
the point where you receive what we may call the Dharmic vision
or Dharma eye. Then, many of your mental constructions which
you had considered to be solid and unbreakable will break down: the
world will start to empty itself of the false colors projected on it and
be taken as the true reality.
Walking the Buddhist path with the aspiration to become a Buddha
and having the Dharmic vision on your side, you become more
intimate with your own karma, that is, you start to know yourself
better and especially your spiritual limitations.
This stage the awareness of your spiritual limitations in
comparison with the effort of becoming a Buddha is extremely
important and especially emphasized in Jodo Shinshu.
To aspire to become a Buddha is fundamental, but this aspiration
remains just an unfulfilled wish like many others if your personal
capacities cannot lead you to this goal. It is not necessary to become a
saint or a special kind of person in order to have the aspiration to
become a Buddha, but to be successful in attaining Buddhahood will
require effort and spiritual qualities infinitely greater than your
ordinary capacities.
So, in the moment you realize not only that you cannot, but that it
is impossible to attain this state through your own power, you are
ready to hear the message of the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha3.
This message is not a sophisticated or a hard to understand one, but
the only disadvantage it has is that few Buddhists who are nice and
3

See the chapter Amida Buddha and his Pure Land.

14

full of themselves are truly capable of recognizing their limitations

and their incapacity to become a Buddha through their own efforts.
Put simply, who is ready to recognize himself as powerless?
It is very important to understand that Jodo Shinshu doesnt require
people to consider themselves incapable in their daily activities, but
only in matters of attaining supreme Liberation.
To become a Buddha is not the same thing as being a good
electrician, businessman or anything you are in your private life.
These are two different things.
Walking the path to freedom from birth and death is not a hobby or
an interesting cultural topic, but rather it is the only meaningful
activity in our lives. It means escaping from the endless sufferings of
birth and death. If this is important to you, then you are indeed a
disciple of the Buddha.

15

About Amida Buddha and his Pure Land

I try to explain here, again in easy terms, who Amida Buddha is
and how we should understand the Pure Land.
First of all, what is a Buddha or more exactly, what is a Buddha
not?
A Buddha is not somebody like us, although at some point in his
history he was. In a well known dialogue, a brahman named Dona
asks Shakyamuni Buddha4 who he is:
Sir, are you a god?
No, brahman.
Are you an angel?
No, brahman.
Are you a yakkha?
No, brahman.
Are you a human being?
No, brahman.
When asked, Are you a god? you answer, No, brahman
When asked, Are you an angel? you answer, No, brahman.. When
asked, Are you a yakkha? you answer, No, brahman When
asked, Are you a human being? you answer, No, brahman Then
what sort of being are you?
Brahman, the defilements by which if they were not abandoned
I would be a god: those are abandoned by me, their root
destroyed, made like a palm tree stump, no longer subject to future
arising. The defilements by which if they were not abandoned I
would be an angel a yakkha a human being: those are
abandoned by me, their root destroyed, made like a palm tree stump,
no longer subject to future arising.
4

Shakyamuni is the historical Buddha.

16

Just as a blue or red or white lotus born in water, grows in water

and stands up above the water untouched by it, so too I, who was
born in the world and grew up in the world, have transcended the
world, and I live untouched by the world. Remember me, brahman, as
a Buddha.
The state of human beings is limited by various kinds of delusions,
so we are mistaken if we say, for example, that Buddha is a human
being. This is because the state he attained is higher than the human
state of spiritual evolution. In particular, some Christians accuse
Buddhism saying that its Founder is just a human and is thus inferior
to Jesus who was the son of God. Even some Buddhists say that
Buddha was a human being in order to show that they dont promote
idols or god-worshiping.
Both methods of speaking about a Buddha are false, because
although the physical appearance of a Buddha may be human,
the state which he has attained and in which he dwells is supreme
in the whole universe.
The egos unceasing run, led by desires and karma, is followed by
suffering. Birth and death does not end until Enlightement or
Awakening is attained. A Buddha is one who escapes from this
maddening run.
The word Buddha means The Awakened One, that is,
awakened to the true reality. He goes beyond birth and death,
escaping the chains of karma. His existence in the Universe is
supreme and beyond our thinking, which is still enslaved by illusions
and ignorance.
A Buddha has Infinite Wisdom and Infinite Compassion, helping
sentient beings to break free from birth and death.

17

In Buddhism the situation is different from Christianity because

there isnt a Creator God, a Ruler, nor a Judge. Everything depends
on karma: a Buddha is not a creator, a ruler, or a judge, but his
existence in the Universe is supreme. He is just The Awakened
One and he acts as a guide and Saviour, capable of true
Compassion which is no longer enchained by the attachments or
the illusions of ordinary beings.
Through Buddhism, the Ultimate Reality, i.e. Liberation or
Nirvana, is accessible to all beings who observe the path given by the
Buddha.
A very important doctrine in Buddhism says that we can become
Buddhas because we already have in us this possibility or
potentiality. Thus, it is said that all beings, no matter their delusion or
actual misery, have in themselves what is called Buddha nature, the
potentiality to become Buddhas. It doesnt matter if you are a worm,
a cockroach, a dog, a human being, a hungry ghost or a god, etc., you
have in yourself, like an unknown jewel thrown in the mud, the
Buddha nature and the possibility to become a Buddha.
This is good news, but unfortunately it doesnt keep us very warm,
because those who really come to liberate themselves from delusions
and attain this state of a Buddha are extremely few in our time, or as
Shinran5 said, they are completely nonexistent.
Therefore, only the Path of faith in Amida remains the securely
accessible method for attaining Buddhahood.
Any Buddha is completely free and continues to manifest himself
in various ways and forms in order to guide others to Liberation. All
Buddhas attain the same ultimate absolute reality: this is why it is
said that all Buddhas have the same essence or nature, often called
the Dharma body of ultimate reality or Dharmakaya.
5

Founding Master: Shinran Shonin (1173-1262), the Founder of the Jodo Shinshu
school of Buddhism.

18

Further, every Buddha has multiple transcendent manifestations,

visible only to those well trained in Samadhi or profound
concentrated states of mind. These manifestations can take various
forms to help unenlightened beings.
Various Buddhas create spheres or fields of personal influences,
known as pure lands where beings who entrust in them and create
special links with them can be born after their physical death.
In order to better understand how things are with these pure lands
or Buddha spheres of influence, please try to remember how it is that
in the presence of some peoples you suddenly feel better or worse or
sometimes more excited or more tired. Every man has something like
his own sphere of influence which is the natural manifestation of
his inside states of mind and can influence more or less the others.
Some people automatically change the atmosphere in a room by
their presence, for example a beautiful woman will surely make many
men feel sexually aroused, or a killer will create an atmosphere of
fear and coldness. In the same way, the presence of a Buddha inspires
and influences, but this influence is one which brings Enlightenment
or spiritually positive states of mind.
When we are in the presence of a killer and are influenced by him,
we may say that we are in his land or his sphere of influence. Also,
when we are born in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha, we
automatically arrive in his field whose influence makes us become
ourselves Buddhas. This Pure Land of Amida is real and effective,
being the manifestation of Amidas Enlightenment in a form that we
can accept and in which we can aspire to be born after death.
It is not at all impossible for the supreme Enlightenment of a
Buddha to take various forms for the sake of unenlightened beings.
These special and transcendent manifestations of a Buddha are called
Sambhogakaya or the Body of Recompense.
19

Various Buddhas have different bodies of recompense, due to the

vows they made when they engaged on the Path. Lets say, for
example, that a person named Jim begins to follow the Buddhist Path
and he makes a vow to save especially the beings with physical
disabilities. In the moment he becomes a Buddha, he automatically
has access to the ultimate reality (Dharmakaya), which is the same
for all Buddhas, but he will have different transcendent
manifestations, especially made to help that category of beings for
which he made specific vows that is, he will have a Sambhogakaya
different from other Buddhas. This body is named the body of
recompense because it is the effect or the recompense of his
practices and virtues, of the special vows he transformed through his
Enlightenment in effective methods of salvation.
Next, the physical body in which somebody becomes a Buddha is
called Nirmanakaya or the body of transformation.
Thus, if Jim becomes a Buddha he will be called Buddha Jim, and
he will have a body of flesh (Nirmanakaya), which has a visible
beginning and a visible end; a transcendent body (Sambhogakaya),
with a beginning in the moment of the attainment of Buddhahood, but
without end, which is the result of his vows and virtues, different
from those of other Buddhas; and an ultimate body (Dharmakaya)
without beginning and without end, which is the same with all
Buddhas.
In the same way, the Buddha we call Amida, a long time ago in
another era than that in which we are living now, was a monk named
Dharmakara. He made the aspiration to become a Buddha, but what
makes him so different from other Buddhas is that he made a special
Vow6 which promises salvation (attainment of Buddhahood) not only
6

The Primal Vow of Amida Buddha promises birth in his Pure Land to all those
who entrust themselves in him, say his Name and aspire to be born there:
If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters who
sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and

20

for those capable of some hard practices and virtues, but to all beings
and especially to those who are incapable of any practice. He
promised the creation of a special Pure Land in which everybody can
have access and, once born there, they will themselves become
Buddhas, completely free of birth and death and capable to save other
beings. In accordance with his Primal Vow, only faith is neccesary to
become a Buddha in Amidas Pure Land, this faith being manifested
in the saying of his Holy Name7 Namo Amida Butsu.
Faith (shinjin) is not something complicated, but rather is a simple
entrusting in Amida, that is, considering his Primal Vow to be true
and effective.
In the moment Dharmakara became Amida Buddha, the vows and
his Pure Land became real and effective for the salvation of sentient
beings. Thus we may say that the Sambhogakaya of Amida Buddha is
in his Pure Land.
This is, in short, the story of Amida, told by Shakyamuni (the
historical Buddha) to his disciples and which we, the Jodo Shinshu
followers, consider real and trustworthy.
Any Buddhist teaching can be considered authentic if it was
approved or presented by Shakyamuni Buddha himself. The teaching
about the path of faith in Amida Buddha and his Pure Land, where all
beings can attain supreme Enlightenment no matter their capacities, is
part of these teachings taught by Shakyamuni.
call my Name, even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain perfect
Enlightenment.
Birth in the Pure Land of those who entrust themselves in Amida without doubt,
will coincide with their attainment of perfect Enlightenment or Buddhahood. The
48 Vows of Amida Buddha, among which, the Eighteenth is called the Primal
Vow, are recorded in the Larger Sutra on Amida Buddha. This was taught by
Shakyamuni Buddha on Vulture Peak, in the northern part of India.
7
Nembutsu is the saying of the Name of Amida Buddha, Namo Amida Butsu.
Namo means I take refuge in but also homage/praise to. Butsu means
Buddha. So, Namo Amida Butsu is I take refuge/homage in Amida Buddha.

21

On returning from the Pure Land

Question:
Do you think all beings who are born in the Pure Land will return
to this world in order to help others? Or only some great teachers like
Honen and Shinran? If all beings return, would they have some
knowledge on this (i.e. that they came from the Pure Land)? It seems
Honen8, for example, only realized this (or mentioned it to his
students) when he was about to die. Also, I wonder what the
difference is between returning to this world from The Pure Land and
returning to this world for an ordinary next life (without achieving
Ojo9 first). I you have any thoughts on this, Id be happy if you share
them with me.
Answer:
Not all beings who are born in the Pure Land will immediately
return to this world to help others. Those who have faith mixed with
doubts will stay for a period in the borderland of the Pure Land. They
are those born in the Pure Land through the 19th and the 20th Vows10.
But those who enter the Pure Land through the gate of the Primal
Vow (18th Vow) will immediately become Buddhas and they will be
able to quickly return to this world in various forms, to help others.
Only Buddhas can come to the Saha world whenever they wish and
in whatever form they wish, to help all beings. The reason for being
born in the Pure Land is to become a Buddha. Aspiration to become a
Buddha for ourselves and others is central to Mahayana Buddhism
and we, Jodo Shinshu followers, also have this aspiration. But, as
Master Shan-tao said, we aspire to become Buddhas through Amidas
Power, not our own. So, if we entrust ourselves completely to
Amidas Power, then we will become Buddhas in the Pure Land. But
if our trust is not complete, then we are forced by our own doubts to
8

Honen Shonin was the Master of Shinran Shonin.

Birth in the Pure Land.
10
See the chapter Three Vows of Salvation.
9

22

remain, until those doubts are purged, in the borderland of the Pure
Land.
Between birth in the Pure Land of an ordinary person and of a
great master there is no difference if they have shinjin (faith in
Amidas Primal Vow). Both become Buddhas capable to return to the
world of suffering to help others. This is because it is Amidas Power
that causes them to be born there, not their virtues and personal
merits.
If they were born in the Pure Land by their own virtues, then there
would be differences among them, but because they are born through
faith given by Amida, their birth and Buddhahood is the same. Honen
is recorded as saying in Tannisho that if one has the same shinjin as
his which is shinjin given by Amida (shinjin of the Primal Vow)
then he or she will go to the same Pure Land as he (Honen).
And of course, everybody who returns from the Pure Land as a
Buddha will know it, because all Buddhas know their own and all
other beings previous lives. There is nothing a Buddha does not
know about himself or other beings, no limitation to his vision or
power, because he is completely free from all bondages. And
freedom from all bondages is what all of us Buddhists truly want to
become, isnt it?
Buddhas come to this world of birth and death out of their free and
enlightened will to help others, while unenlightened beings, who
havent achieved Ojo (birth in the Pure Land) first, come due to their
karma. The latter are slaves of their own karma; they do not choose
where to go or where to be born, and no matter where they are, they
will suffer and make others suffer even when they wish to make them
happy.
So, one should first become a Buddha in the true Pure Land
through simple faith in Amidas Primal Vow if he or she wishes to
help other beings attain Liberation and Buddhahood.
23

In the end I wish to mention one more thing. In my opinion, Honen

and Shinran were already Buddhas when they came into this world
and preached the Pure Land teaching. This means that they somehow
became Buddhas in the Pure Land in the distant past and their life we
know on this earth was in fact a returning from the Pure Land.
Shinran never regarded Honen as an ordinary person and we can see
this in his wasans (hymns). I myself go even further, and am sure that
Shinran was not only a returner, but the manifestation of Amida
Buddha and Avalokitesvara11.
One very important thing should be very well understood: Buddhas
never live for themselves and the Pure Land is not a place to enjoy
egoistic pleasures. It is not a destination, nor the end of the journey,
but the beginning of our activity to save other sentient beings. We go
there in order to return.

11

See the chapter Shinran Shonin , a manifestation of Amida Buddha and

Avalokitesvara.

24

Amida as the eternal Buddha and the Buddha described in the

Larger Sutra
Question:
.how can Amida Buddha be the primordial (eternal) Buddha if
he is Dharmakara who practiced aeons ago and had a starting point of
existence in an other world? Is Dharmakara a manifestation of
Primordial Buddha as Amida, like Shaka Nyorai (Shakyamuni) is a
manifestation of Amida in this world? I am a bit confused...
Answer:
Dharmakara becoming Amida Buddha is the description in terms
of cause and effect of the salvation work of Amida as eternal Buddha.
It is how the eternal and supreme Buddha or Dharma body of Dharma
nature, indescribable and beyond any form, becomes the Dharma
body of compassionate means with form and Name.
In its ultimate sense or Dharmakaya sense, Amida Buddha is the
eternal Buddha nature, in Sambhogakaya terms he is the result of
Dharmakara vows and practices, that is Amida Buddha as described
in the Larger Sutra, and in Nirmanakaya terms it is said by Shinran
that he emanated Shakyamuni Buddha to expound his method of
salvation.
In order to be born in the Pure Land and attain supreme
Enlightenment there, we should entrust ourselves to Amida as
described in the Larger Sutra, that is, as the Buddha who has a form
and Name, who fulfilled the 48th Vows, and who now resides in the
Pure Land.
This is my answer but I wish to go a little further.
We cannot directly worship and entrust ourselves to Amida in his
aspect of eternal Buddha which is beyond any form. Shakyamuni
encouraged us in the Larger Sutra to take refuge and have faith in
Amida as the Buddha who made the Primal Vow and so who has a
25

form and a Name. He didnt tell us to have faith in the ultimate nature
of Amida Buddha.
One cannot have faith in the Dharmakaya. In Dharmakaya one can
only live when he becomes a Buddha because in that state there is a
transcendence of subject and object. This is what those who deny the
reality of Amida in his Sambhogakaya or transcendental form and of
the Pure Land do not understand.
Only in Amida Buddha with a form and Name, that is, in Amida as
described in the Larger Sutra, can one have true faith. Shinran Shonin
also talked about Amida in ultimate terms but he encouraged people
to entrust themselves to Amida as described in the Larger Sutra
whose story told there he fully accepted.
Thus, to call the story of Amida in the Larger Sutra or the
existence of the Pure Land to be fictional, symbolic or mythical is
equal with not having faith (shinjin) in Amida and to deny others the
chance to receive it.

26

The Purpose of Shakyamunis coming to this world

All the scriptures, in thousands of volumes
Are nothing but the Great Compassion
(Zuiken Inagaki Sensei12)
Infinite Wisdom and Compassion are the essence of this universe,
the ultimate reality beyond everything and everyone. This is the only
vision I accept. And another thing: even though this ultimate reality
transcends me, at the same time it envelops me and accepts me for
who I am and what I am. I can feel this: Buddhism has made me feel
this.
There is no fear on the Path of the Buddha. There is no loneliness
perceived as alienation or abandonment. If these feelings do show up,
dont fool yourselves: for they are only in your head, they are not
real. Please, do not misunderstand Buddhas Wisdom and
Compassion, that is, do not try to understand it by means of your
narrow mind. Do not use discriminative terms to explain the Infinite
Light and the Infinite Life - the two ways of portraying Amida
Buddha.
Shinran and Honen wondered what the purpose was of
Shakyamuni Buddhas coming to this world. What is in fact the
profound signification of the Bodhi Mind related to the Mahayana13
teaching? Furthermore, what is the purpose of the Enlightenment of a
Buddha? Isnt the Bodhi Mind the aspiration to reach Buddhahood
for the sake of all beings? And once this is reached, arent all beings

12

Zuiken Inagaki Sensei (1885-1981).

Mahayana or Buddhism of the Great Vehicle has the goal of leading all beings to
attain Buddhahood. On this path, the follower makes the vow of practicing the
Dharma not only for himself, but for the liberation of all sentient beings. Mahayana
represents a great number of schools which relies on the Sanskrit canon. The Pure
Land tradition, which also contains many schools, is one of the main streams of
Mahayana Buddhism.

13

27

invited to share in it? The Enlightenment of a Buddha isnt a selfish

act, as Nirvana is not selfish in Mahayana.
Seeing things from only one perspective, centered on yourself, is a
limited vision and belongs to ignorant beings, but for a Buddha or a
Bodhisattva, the vision is universally centered, everything being
included in his Enlightenment. Discrimination exists only in our
mind, but not in the mind of a Buddha.
So, has Shakyamuni appeared in our world only for a particular
category of people, that is, only for those able to reach Nirvana14 by
themselves, or in accordance with the Bodhi Mind, that is his
Enlightenment which envelops all beings no matter their capacities?
Shinran and Honen thought that the latter is true because it is in
accord with the Buddhas Infinite Compassion. It cannot be any other
way, because Buddhism would otherwise seem pointless for a man
like me, who is incapable of any virtuous practice and is full of
various attachments.
How many of us are truly capable of fulfilling the difficult
practices of a monastery? How many of us are able to have a kind
and virtuous behavior throughout our entire lives? How many of us
can reach during our confused lives, the same level of Enlightenment
as Shakyamuni? How many of us would truly follow the Buddhist
way if this way made sense only for those who are spiritually
advanced?
Shinran and Honen believed that Shakyamuni never intended to
exclude certain beings from his Path. If he did, he would have
contradicted himself and the Bodhisattva spirit. That is exactly why
14

Nirvana comes from the term nirv to extinguish, and is wrongly

understood by many as becoming nothingness. But nirvana means to extinguish
the flame of blind passions and illusions and to awake to the true reality or Buddhanature which all beings possess. In the Jodo Shinshu school, the state of Nirvana or
Buddhahood is to be attained in the moment of birth in the Pure Land of Amida,
after death.

28

Shakyamuni preached the salvation offered by Amida Buddha and

urged all beings, no matter their spiritual capacities, to rely on him.
Thus, Shinran considered that the true reason of Shakyamunis
coming to this world is to preach Amidas method of salvation:
The reason for the Buddhas appearance in the world
Is solely to expound the Primal Vow of Amida, wide and deep as
the ocean.
All beings in the evil age of the five defilements
Should believe in the truth of the Buddhas words.15
Because this method of salvation is presented in the Larger Sutra
on Amida Buddha, Shinran regarded it to be the supreme sutra among
all sutras preached by Shakyamuni:
To begin, the teaching of the Pure Land way is found in the
Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life. The central purport of this sutra
is that Amida, by establishing the incomparable Vows, has opened
wide the dharma-storehouse, and full of compassion for small,
foolish beings, selects and bestows the treasure of virtues. It reveals
that Sakyamuni appeared in this world and expounded the teachings
of the way to Enlightenment, seeking to save the multitudes of living
beings by blessing them with the benefit that is true and real.
Assuredly this sutra is the true teaching for which the Tathagata
appeared in the world. It is the wondrous scripture, rare and most
excellent. It is the conclusive and ultimate exposition of the One
Vehicle. It is the right teaching, praised by all the Buddhas
throughout the ten quarters. To teach Tathagatas Primal Vow is the
true intent of this sutra; the Name of the Buddha is its essence16.
More than this, Shinran considered Shakyamuni to be the
manifestation of Amida Buddha and he clearly expressed this in
Shoshinge:

15
16

Shoshinge.
Passages on the Pure Land Way

29

Amida, who attained Buddhahood in the infinite past,

Full of compassion for foolish beings of the five defilements,
Took the form of Sakyamuni Buddha
And appeared in Gaya.
Nagarjuna17, considered by all Mahayana schools as the second in
importance after Shakyamuni and one of their most important
patriachs, also urged all beings to rely on Amida. Maybe most
Buddhists know about Nagarjuna from his subtle writings on
emptiness, but they forget or they dont know that he also sought
refuge in Amida and was reborn in the Pure Land after passing away.
In the chapter entitled The Way of Easy Practice from the
volume Dasabhumika-vibhasa-sastra (Commentary on the tenstages Sutra), he speaks about two types of practices: a hard one,
based on personal power, similar to an arduous journey on land, and
an easy one, based on the Compassion of the Buddhas, similar to a
pleasant voyage sailing on water. Even though he recommends the
easy way to those incapable of great personal efforts, which may lead
to the impression that nembutsu is for lesser beings only, he
himself, a bodhisattva of high attainment, also seeks refuge in Amida
as he writes:
The Buddha of Infinite Light and Wisdom,
whose body is like a mountain of genuine gold,
I worship with my body, speech and heart
by joining hands and bowing down toward him.
If anyone is mindful of that Buddhas infinite power and merit,
He will instantly enter the Stage of Assurance.
17

Nagarjuna (approximately 150-250), is dubbed thefather of Mahayana

Buddhism and is famous for his rejection of any affirmation about the ultimate
nature of reality in the Mahayana doctrine of emptiness. He founded the school of
Madyamika (Middle Path) dialectics. The teachings of this school, together with
the Yogacara teachings are the basis of Mahayana theory and practice. Also, he is
considered by Shinran as one of the seven Patriarchs of the true Pure Land teaching
(Jodo Shinshu), due to his works related with Amida Buddha.

30

So I am always mindful of Amida.

Thus, in the end, the nembutsu, saying Namo Amida Butsu,
turns out to be a universal practice, for both the inferior and
superior beings. Buddha Amidas Compassion does not draw a
distinction between the two. Again Nagarjuna writes:
All the sages and the saints, all people and gods seek refuge in
him,
Thats why I also take refuge in him, and worship him.
In Buddhist history, there are many examples of spiritually evolved
Masters18 who, even though they followed practices based on
personal power, still felt the need to recite the nembutsu and seek
refuge in Amida. They recommended this practice to their disciples,
too. Therefore, if even these wise masters relied on Amidas
Compassion, thus showing how hard it is to become free from birth
and death, how much more should we of this confused modern era
and so full of attachments seek refuge in Amida.
Shinran says in Tannisho:
Since it is extremely difficult to free oneself from blind passions
and the hindrances of karmic evil in this life; even the virtuous monks

18

Another important figure well known in Mahayana Buddhist schools is

Vasubandhu (approx. 320-400), exponent of Yogacara (the practice of unifying
meditation) teachings which explain all plains of existence in terms of
consciousness and teach the meditation about the relationship between personal
conscience and the universe, as well as reaching supreme Enlightenment by
realizing the inseparable unity between the two. As a Pure Land devotee, he wrote
The Hymn of Aspiring towards Birth: Discourse about Amida Sutra, in which he
explains the theory and practice based on contemplation of Amida Buddha, the
Pure Land, and the Bodhisattvas who dwell there. At the beginning of the hymn he
addresses to Shakyamuni and expresses his devotion towards Amida: O WorldHonored One, with singleness of mind, I take refuge in the Tathagata of
Unhindered Light Shining throughout the Ten Directions, And aspire to be born in
the Land of Peace and Bliss.

31

who practice the Shingon and Tendai19 teachings pray for

enlightenment in the next life. In our case, what more need be said?
We lack both the observance of precepts and the comprehension of
wisdom, but when, by allowing ourselves to be carried on the ship of
Amidas Vow, we have crossed this ocean of suffering that is birthand-death and attain the shore of the Pure Land, the dark clouds of
blind passions will swiftly clear and the moon of Enlightenment, true
reality, will immediately appear. Becoming one with the unhindered
light filling the ten quarters, we will benefit all sentient beings. It is at
that moment that we attain Enlightenment.

19

Famous Japanese Buddhist schools in the time of Shinran Shonin.

32

The three Dharma ages

I will explain in this chapter, the teaching about the three Dharma
ages by using various quotes from the last chapter of Shinrans
Kyogyoshinsho. These quotes are Master Shinrans own words or
passages from sutras and commentaries that he himself used in his
explanations.
Generally speaking, the doctrine of the Three Dharma Ages refers
to the gradual decline of the capacities of beings to practice the
Dharma and attain realization through it. Thus, there is a difference
between the time when the Buddha was in a human body and when
he influenced directly through his example and energetic field
(Buddha field) those gathered around him, and the periods far away
in time when only the teaching remains, but not the Teacher.
What a great chance it is to meet a Buddha in flesh and bones and
receive instructions directly from him, being constantly in his
presence and influenced by his Buddha field. How quick and safe the
spiritual development can be, just by seeing his face and having
devotion for him every day, not to mention the constant checking and
support he gives to your practice. Also, if you live in the period close
to the physical death of a Buddha, his influence is still felt and active
through the working of his closest disciples or the disciples of these
disciples.
As it is stated in the Sutra of Mahamaya:
During the first five hundred years after the Buddhas
parinirvana, seven holy monks, sages all, including Mahakasyapa,
will uphold the right Dharma in succession so that it does not perish.
After five hundred years, the right Dharma will become completely
extinct.

33

The first period of 500 years after the physical death of the Buddha
(parinirvana) is called the right Dharma age. It is an age
characterized by correct understanding and practice of the Dharma in
all its aspects (meditation, wisdom and precepts) with often the
attainment of emancipation.
The second Dharma age is called the semblance Dharma age,
which lasted 1000 years after the previous one. It was characterized
by gradual decadence in the determination by which followers, both
monks and lay, practice the Way. Self indulgence slowly takes place
and fills the minds and hearts of the followers. The breaking of
precepts becomes more and more common among monks and nuns
and only a few attain the fruit of Enlightenment.
The third and last Dharma age lasts for 10.000 years after the
second age. In it only the verbal teaching remains, while nobody is
capable of observing the precepts and of truly practicing meditation
or other Buddhist methods based on self power.
Words like, the right Dharma will become extinct or the
teaching will be stored in the nagas palace, which can be found in
Mahamaya Sutra, Benevolent King Sutra and others, means that
although one can still find the written texts of the Buddhist teaching,
the Dharma of personal power teachings and methods is as good as
non-existent or practically non-existent because nobody can attain
Enlightenment through it. The requirements of the paths of self power
within the Buddhist teachings do not accord anymore with the
capacities of beings. This is the situation in the last Dharma age.
Also, even if we read about precepts in the sacred texts, nobody
can actually observe them. So it is said that in this period there are
no precepts. If there were people who at least have the capacity to
observe precepts in an imperfect manner, we could say that there is a
breaking of precepts, but since people cant observe precepts at all, it
is said that precepts do not exist anymore. The capacities of beings in
this period are so low that no requirement is made to them, hence
34

there are no precepts20. It is the same with having no pretention of

healthy behavior from a terminally ill person with a chronic disease.
The matter of accordance between the teaching and the beings to
be taught and also the time in which they live in - close or far from
the physical presence of the Buddha - is extremely important.
Master Tao-cho said that:
if the beings, the teachings and the times were not in accord, it
would be difficult to perform practices and difficult to attain
Enlightenment.
A person living in the presence of the Buddha or close in time to it
can easily follow the paths of self power practice in comparison with
someone living 2500 years distant from the Buddha. The
requirements and practices cannot be the same for them because their
times and capacities differ.
Master Shinran explained this:
With regard to the Dharma, there are three ages, and among
people, there are three levels. The instruction imparting the teaching
and precepts flourishes and declines according to the age, and words
of condemnation or praise are accepted or rejected depending on the
person...
...the wisdom and enlightenment of beings of the five five-hundred
year periods after the Buddhas demise differ. How can beings be
saved by only one path?
20

No requirement in terms of precepts doesnt mean that people of the last Dharma
age should make no efforts in having a moral life or living in harmony with other
beings, but that their trying cannot be called observation of precepts, anymore.
They are not required to attain Enlightenment through leading a pure life because
precepts and observation of precepts is exactly this - a method combined with the
development of wisdom and meditation as a mean to attain Enlightenment.

35

How can beings be saved by only one path? - how can beings
living in the last Dharma age attain Enlightenment through the means
and practices given to those living in the presence of the Buddha or in
the right Dharma age, who have a different environment and different
capacities?
It is like rubbing green wood to build a fire; fire cannot be made,
for time is not right, said Master Tao-cho in a well suited
comparison.
Also Master Shinran said it very clearly:
Truly we know that the teachings of the Path of Sages were
intended for the period when the Buddha was in the world and for the
right Dharma-age; they are altogether inappropriate for the times
and beings of the semblance and last Dharma-ages and the age when
the Dharma has become extinct. Already their time has passed; they
are no longer in accord with beings.
Thus the Great Collection Sutra states:
Out of billions of sentient beings who seek to perform practices
and cultivate the way in the last Dharma-age, not one will gain
realization.
Master Tao-cho comments on this last quote by saying:
This is now the last Dharma-age; it is the evil world of the five
defilements. This one gate - the Pure Land way - is the only path that
affords passage.
The Jodo Shinshu path alone doesnt discriminate between the
capacities of beings and doesnt depend on the time they live in,
whether it is the period when the Buddha was in the world, the right,
semblance and the last Dharna ages, or the time when the Dharma
36

becomes extinct, because it is the path that brings all to perfect

Enlightenment, not through their personal power, which is
changeable and not reliable, but through the Other Power of Amida
Buddha.

37

Jodo Shinshu the only effective path in this last Dharma age
based on some verses in Shinrans Shozomatsu wasan
Buddhism has spread widely in Europe in the last fifty years and
this is indeed very fortunate. But in this spreading and in the image
that Buddhism has in the West a very important element is missing or
is not so well understood. Too many voices are heard in Western
Buddhism that support some already established preconceptions like:
Buddhism is a path of Liberation by oneself and Buddha is only a
teacher or the finger pointing to the moon, etc. The established
image of a Buddhist is a forever calm and smiling Buddhist monk or
practicer, following a path of self liberation and improvement. This
for many is Buddhism, but for Shinran, this is exactly what
Buddhism is no more.
His life story and teaching shows another aspect of Buddhism
which he considers it to be the real goal of Buddhism: the true Pure
Land Teaching or Jodo Shinshu in which Amida Buddha is not the
finger pointing to the moon, but rather he is a Savior, - in fact, the
best Savior of all the three worlds, with Shakyamuni being his
messenger, guiding sentient beings to entrust in Amida. What a
dramatic difference in the vision of what the Dharma truly is between
Master Shinran and all other schools of self power Buddhism!
We can say that in Shinrans terms, Buddhism will not be well
established in the West until the teaching about Amidas salvation is
known. In fact, in the West only the provisional and accommodated
(self power) teachings of Shakyamuni have spread until now, but not
the teaching of his true intent of coming into this world. Thus, it is
our mission to understand and transmit correctly the only Dharma of
Shakyamuni that is still functioning in this world of the last age. The
more we become aware of this truth, the better it is for all sentient
beings.
The possibility of attaining Buddhahood in this very life is the
essence of most of the Buddhist schools that are widely spread in
38

Europe. News about famous Buddhist masters and their realizations

are many and the number of disciples is growing. Who does not want
to see, touch and be around somebody about whom it is said he is an
incarnation of an ancient Master or even a living Buddha But I
myself cannot help looking with suspicion at all the so called spiritual
achievements of todays important figures of Buddhism.
Seeing all these modern realizations with the eyes influenced by
the teaching of Shinran Shonin about the true capacities of beings in
the last Dharma age, I think there are two possibilities about those
who seem to attain Buddhahood in our times:
1) They might be Bodhisattvas21 in disguise who already became
Buddhas in the past and come here to keep on the Buddhist path those
who cant yet have faith in Amida but continue to follow other
Dharma teachings, or
2) because we are deluded, we think that somebody who shows
more calm than us has already supposedly attained Buddhahood.
But to become a Buddha means a lot more than always showing a
calm face and saying beautiful words of wisdom. Shinran mentioned
in Tannisho a few aspects of what it is to become a Buddha and what
those smiling Buddhist faces of his days and ours do not have:
Do those who speak of realizing Enlightenment while in this
bodily existence manifest various accommodated bodies22, possess

21

The term bodhisattva is used to describe the practicer who aspires to become a
Buddha for himself and all beings (bodhisattva in aspiration) and makes the vows
of the Bodhisattva, and the one who although he has attained supreme
Enlightenment or Buddhahood does not remain closed in it but continues to
manifest himself in various forms in the world of suffering to help all beings
(Bodhisattvas who are already Buddhas).
22
Nirmanakaya, in Sanskrit. One of the three bodies of a Buddha. Any Buddha
manifests himself in various forms according to the conditions and capacities of
those he wishes to save. See the chapter About Amida Buddha and his Pure Land
where the doctrine of the Three Buddha Bodies (Trikaya) is explained.

39

the Buddhas thirty-two features23 and eighty marks24, and preach the
Dharma to benefit beings like Shakyamuni? It is this that is meant by
realizing Enlightenment in this life.
A true Buddha knows all his previous births and the previous births
of all sentient beings, He knows all the causes and their possible
effects, thus being able to predict the possible future of any being; He
knows perfectly which method is better to be applied to every one
meeting him, and the list of the Enlightened capacities of a Buddha
can go on filling many pages.
I think it is very important to understand that a Buddha is not a
human being, as the human condition is just one of the many
unenlightened states of existence. The inside Enlightened qualities of
a Buddha manifest outside and are impregnated on his physical body,
so both physically and mentally a Buddha is an extraordinary person,
beyond and superior to any being.
To become a true Buddha, possessing such capacities as those
enumerated above, is something that cannot be done in this age,
according to Shinran Shonin. But unfortunately, people often dont
read carefully in the sutras what a Buddha truly is, and instead
become easily impressed by anyone who shows more calm than they
do.
When I myself look to the various Buddhist magazines that are so
popular nowadays, I always have the feeling of futility. So many
smiling monks, sophisticated articles, Zen talks about emptiness and
how we are already Buddhas and dont need to worry about anything,
practicers talking about how to overcome anger or jealousy, and
many other wordy things. I read all those articles and feel like they
talk for aliens, but surely not for me.
23

Thirty-two features, refers to the thirty two physical marks attributed to a

Buddha and to a Cakravatin (ideal universal king).
24
Eighty marks refers to the eighty important physical features of a Buddha.
These are minor features that accompany the thirty two important features.

40

Who are all those good Buddhists and how can their nice talks be
of any help to me? Did the Buddhas came into this world only to
teach these nice guys who are always calm and have such fulfilled
lives through meditation? Then what am I doing here?
Before coming to Jodo Shinshu I felt like in school when the teacher
always talked with the good children and sent me in the back of the
classroom with the bad children.
And thenI found Jodo Shinshuwhich is the only reason why I
am a Buddhist. Without Jodo Shinshu, Buddhism is just another nice
discourse for the smart and good folks but with no relevance for the
average person living in the real world.
I truly understand now why Shinran Shonin considered that
preaching the Larger Sutra was the main reason for Shakyamunis
coming to this world. He had the courage to abandon his mask of a
good smiling monk and looked deeply into himself and the true
human capacities. Shinran didnt choose to teach the nice discourses
of other sutras, but carefully selected the passages that were truly
beneficial for himself and this world.
There are teachings and practices preached by Shakyamuni that
Shinran chose not to speak about and he did this not because those
practices are bad, but because they are not truly useful for our
attainment of Buddhahood, given our limited capacities..
Shinran said in his letters that some Buddhist teachings are of
limited relevance while others are of universal relevance and that the
teaching of the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha is of universal
relevance. To be of universal relevance means to be useful and
effective both for the good and virtuous and for the evil beings filled
with blind passions. Saints and stupid people can be saved equally. It
is the teaching in accord with the times and with beings as he also
said in Shozomatsu Wasan.

41

Some might think (and I heard such a statement at one of the

European meetings) that we should not be so radical as Shinran who
says that only faith in Amida can make people attain Buddhahood,
because in this way we might offend other Buddhist schools with
whom we are engaged in ecumenical talks.
So what can we do? Why should they feel offended when so many
other schools also claim they have the best practices and methods?
Just look to the statements of the Tibetan schools when they speak
about their specific teachings!
My opinion on this matter is that it is extremely important to keep
strictly to the explanations of Shinran Shonin and expound them as
they were truly said without adding anything to them so as to satisfy
the expectations of unenlightened people from other schools or other
non-Buddhist religions of this deluded world. This is because in
Shinrans explanations we find the true reason for the existence of
Jodo Shinshu.
This wonderful teaching on the absolute reliance on Amida
Buddha is not just another Buddhist method in the 84,000 Buddhist
teachings25, but the most important teaching among all Shakyamunis
teachings.
Shinran said in the second verse of Shozomatsu Wasan:
the teachings that Sakyamuni left behind
Have all passed into the nagas palace.

25

Shinran said in Letter 8th of his Lamp of the Latter Ages: Of the conceivable and
the inconceivable Dharma, the conceivable comprises the 84,000 kinds of good of
the Path of Sages. The Pure Land teaching is the inconceivable Dharma-teaching
- so he clearly separated the Pure Land teaching from other Buddhist teachings and
practices.

42

This means that all other Buddhist teachings are no longer

effective during these times. To pass into the nagas palace means
exactly this not being effective or only being as good as nonexistent.
Shinran is even more clear:
Although we have the teachings of Sakyamuni,
There are no sentient beings who can practice them;
Hence, it is taught that in the last Dharma-age,
Not a single person will attain Enlightenment through them.
Not a single person will attain Enlightenment through them is a
very strong statement! Not a single one this should be very well
heard and understood. Not a single person can effectively practice the
Buddhist teachings other than the reliance on Amida Buddha.
Shinran said it clearly for those who are ready to hear it:
Without entrusting themselves to the Tathagatas compassionate
Vow,
No sentient beings of these times - the last Dharma-age, and
The fifth five-hundred year period since Sakyamunis passing
Will have a chance of parting from birth-and-death.
Shinrans words leave no trace of doubt about what we have to do.
There is no other Buddhist method which can guarantee Buddhahood
so quickly without asking anything from the practicer. All the nice
discourses and practices of other schools through which they claim
that everybody can become a Buddha in this very life are good in
themselves, but they are not effective for this age and for the people
living in it. So they are as good as non-existent gone into the
nagas palace.
In this age, any truly spiritual practices, (by truly I mean any
Buddhist practices and not the practices of other religions), which ask
43

even to acquire merit as little as a particle of dust from the practicer

are not effective practices. So we should abandon them, because we
cannot become Buddhas through them.
If we should abandon all other Buddhist teachings and practices as
being as good as nonexistent or gone into the nagas palace, so much
more we should never follow non Buddhist teachings and practices
about which Shinran Shonin talks in greater detail in his
Kyogyoshinsho where he states, for example, quoting the Great
Nirvana Sutra:
Good sons, there are two kinds of Enlightenment: eternal and
impermanent. The Enlightenment of non Buddhist ways is called
impermanent, Buddhist Enlightenment is called eternal.. The
emancipation of non Buddhist ways is called impermanent, the
emancipation of Buddhist ways is called eternal.
He makes reference again on non Buddhist teachings in
Shozomatsu Wasan about which we are talking now:
The ninety-five non Buddhist teachings26 defile the world;
The Buddhas path alone is pure.
These words are immediately followed by these verses:

26

Ninety-five non Buddhist teachings (kujugoshu ) originally appear in the

Nirvana Sutra and others. It is said that at the time of the Buddha there were ninetyfive kinds of wrong teachings. They are views of the six philosophical masters
(rokushi gedo) and those of their disciples, fifteen under each master (Zuio Sensei
explanations).
I also think that any spiritual teaching nowadays that contradicts the law of karma
as explained by the Buddha, denies rebirth, affirms the existence of a Creator and
supreme judge of the world, etc., can be considered in the category of non Buddhist
teachings that should be rejected. One cannot be a Jodo Shinshu follower and
believe in God or deny rebirth or the law of karma.

44

Only by going forth and reaching Enlightenment can we benefit

others
In this burning house; this is the natural working of the Vow.
which if they are compared with the statement about the two types
of Enlightenment (eternal and impermanent) quoted by Shinran in his
Kyogyoshinsho and presented above, we can easily draw the
conclusion that not through non Buddhist teachings, but through the
Buddhas path which is pure, is one made capable of attaining
Enlightenment.
So, if we live in this last Dharma age with all its defilements and
difficulties, we should follow only the path of the Buddha and not the
various non Buddhist teachings which are themselves manifestations
of this defiled world. More than this, among all Buddhist methods we
should select only the teaching of the Primal Vow and abandon the
rest as being as good as nonexistent.
I especially think that these statements of Shinran Shonin about the
non Buddhist teachings and other Buddhist practices are very useful
in our days when it became a custom to mix things and find so called
synthesis of various religious beliefs. Many spiritual soups are
prevalent in our days, mixing elements of Christianity with Buddhism
and Hinduism.
But also in the Buddhist world mixing things is often met and even
in our international community there is for example, the tendency
among some followers to make Jodo Shinshu more Zen-like in order
to accommodate their personal visions and their incapacity to be open
to a salvation and totally faith-oriented teaching.
In rejecting non Buddhist views as not leading to Enlightenment
and also other Buddhist teachings as ineffective, Shinran Shonin
shows he is not interested in satisfying everyones ideas or in having
a nice and politically correct talk with all doctrines and religious

45

views, but is concentrated in saving people from birth and death,

which is the most important thing in this life.
In front of the two rivers of fire and water with death and danger
waiting to strike at every moment, and the rare chance of having
another human life so hard to find, Shinran is interested only in
showing us the path to escape from birth and death. And he clearly
sees no other way than entrusting in Amida Buddha. All other
methods are not real or they are ineffective.
Shinran calls us to awaken and not lose the precious time we have.
This is a burning house and not a place for unimportant talks and
doctrines. He is clear in his explanations like a doctor who prescribes
exactly what a patient needs to save his life.
He says something like: Do you want to escape birth and death? If
you do, then this is the way to follow and no other. Entrust in Amida
Buddha and in no one else. It is Shinrans message to a terminally ill
world in the last Dharma age, a world that needs the best medicine
ever to be found in all religious history.
For those who come to Buddhism and Jodo Shinshu only for
intellectual delights or interesting discussions, the radical attitude of
Shinran will always be embarrassing or not so politically correct. But
for those to whom birth and death is the most important matter and
realize their true capacities, the clear message of Shinran and his way
of rejecting that which is not true or effective and selecting that
which is true and useful, is all they need to hear.
So, dear friends, make a choice: escape this burning house or
remain inside it, spending your time with false or futile practices. Its
your decision: no one can make it for you.

46

Shinran Shonin a manifestation of Amida Buddha and

Avalokitesvara
Before I enter this topic, lets think a little about Shakyamuni, the
Founder of Buddhism in our world.
Did he become a Buddha during his life on this earth that we all
know from history, or had he attained Buddhahood countless
lifetimes ago, in the incomprehensibly remote past? Or was he the
manifestation of Amida Buddha?
The answer depends on which sutras you choose to read. In many
sutras the first situation is presented, in others the second is taken as a
profound truth (for example, the Lotus Sutra, - Life Span chapter).
The Pure Land sutras are interpreted by Shinran Shonin to clearly
show the third situation in which the true reason for the appearance of
Shakyamuni in the world was to teach the Dharma about Amida
Buddhas salvation. To me, the third is the one I choose27.
The same thing applies to many important figures in the Buddhist
history after Shakyamunis passing. Some Masters have a visible life
in which they are born, do this or that, meet with the Dharma,
practice it and one day attain the most important thing supreme
Enlightenment, or in the case of Shinran Shonin, he receives shinjin,
which is faith in Amida Buddhas Primal Vow.
This is the visible life, but an invisible one or hidden truth about
them might be revealed by their own words or actions on various
occasions or by the testimonies of their closest disciples who had
revelatory dreams or visions about these Masters.
In the case of Shinrans teacher, Master Honen (Genku), Shinran
sometimes described him not just as an ordinary person who received

27

See the chapter The purpose of Shakyamunis coming to this world.

47

shinjin during his earthly life after struggling with hard practices, but
also in the following terms:
It was said among the people
That the original state of our teacher Genku (Honen)
Was Master Tao-cho,
Or again, Master Shan-tao.
Genku appeared as Mahasthamaprapta,
And also as Amida.
Emperors and ministers venerated him,
And the ordinary people in the capital and the countryside revered
him.
He also recorded Honens own words about who he actually was
during his life on earth:
When the moment of death approached,
Our teacher Genku (Honen) said,
This is my third time to be born in the Pure Land;
It is especially easy to accomplish.
Genku himself said,
Formerly, I was among the assembly on Vulture Peak28;
I practiced austerities with other sravakas
And guided beings to the Buddhist path.
He then, explains again his own interpretation of who his Master
truly was:
Amida Tathagata, manifesting form in this world,
Appeared as our teacher Genku;
The conditions for teaching having run their course,
He returned to the Pure Land.

28

The Larger Amida Sutra was preached by Shakyamuni Buddha on Vulture Peak.

48

[...]
The death of our teacher Genku
Came in 1212, in early spring;
On the twenty-fifth day of the first month,
He returned to the Pure Land.
Master Honen returned to the Pure Land, which means it was not
the first time when he was born there this is how Shinran Shonin
regarded his Master. This is how I, a disciple of Shinran, look to
Honen Shonin, too.
Also well known is the opinion of Shinran Shonin about prince
Shotoku29, whom he also regarded not as an ordinary person, but as a
manifestation of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. I myself look to
Shotoku Taishi in this way, so as to be in accord with Shinran, my
Master.
Now lets move to the actual topic of this chapter and refer to the
case of Shinran Shonin about whom, I think, we can have two visions
that are equally argued. First, we may think of Shinran as an ordinary
person filled with blind passions who struggled for twenty years as a
monk to attain Enlightenment through his personal power and after
being confronted with failure, he met Honen Shonin and entrusted
himself totaly to Amida Buddha, remaining an ordinary person until
his death when he was born in the Pure Land and became a Buddha
himself.
Or we may think of Shinran as the manifestation/emanation of
Amida Buddha and Avalokitesvara who took the apparent form of an
ordinary person filled with blind passions, going through struggle,
failure, conversion and birth in the Pure Land, so that the most
suitable Dharma for this age (Amida Dharma) is being spread in the
world and has become accepted by many.
29

Shotoku Taishi (574-622) was a prince who led the campaign to unify Japan,
wrote the imperial constitution, and promoted Buddhism.

49

The first vision about Master Shinran is sustained by the fact that
he never described himself in his written texts as being a
manifestation of anybody, but only an ordinary person filled with
blind passions entrusting totally to Amida Buddha. We should clearly
understand this. He didnt even describe himself to be the founder of
a new school, but always considered himself as a disciple of Honen.
The teaching he left to the world is outstanding and unique,
however, he never said about himself as being an extrardinary person.
I dont insist on this first vision as there are so many quotes from
Shinrans own words that can be used as a proof for it.
My interest is to the second vision that I personally share about
Shinran Shonin, despite the humbleness he always showed in what he
wrote and preached. So, what is the basis for my vision of Shinran
Shonin as being the emanation/manifestation of Amida Buddha and
Avalokitesvara?
I dont deny that my own feelings play a crucial role in this. On
this basis I accept openly the testimonies of others who themselves
have shared the same vision as myself. And who were these persons
that also regarded Shinran Shonin as being the manifestation of
Amida and/or Avalokitesvara?
First it was his own wife, the mother of our school, Eshinni. Here
is what she wrote to her daughter Kakushinni, after Shinrans
passing:
Also I recall a dream I had while we were at a place called Sakai
village at Shimotsuma in Hitachi [province]. It seems that there was
a dedication ceremony for a temple building. The building stood
facing east, and it was apparently on the eve of the ceremony. In front
of the building there were lanterns [burning] bright, and to the west
of the lanterns in front of the building there were [two] Buddhist

50

images suspended from the horizontal part of what seemed to be a

shrine gate (torii).
In one there was no face to the Buddhist image, but only a core of
light, as if it were the radiance of the Buddhas head; distinct
features could not be seen, and the light was the only thing there. In
the other, there was a distinct face to the Buddhist image.
I asked what Buddhist images these were, and the person [who
answered] I have no recollection who the person was said, The
one that is only light is none other than Master Honen. He is the
Bodhisattva Seishi30. When I asked who the other was, he said, That
is [the Bodhisattva] Kannon31. That is none other than the priest
Zenshin32 [Shinran].
Upon hearing this I was shocked [out of my sleep], and I realized
that it had been a dream. I have heard that such things are not to be
spoken to other people, for they may not think such things spoken by
this nun [i.e. Eshinni] to be true. Therefore, I [have remained] silent,
not telling other people [about this]. But I did tell my husband
[Shinran] the part about Master [Honen].
He said, Among dreams there are many different types, but this
dream must be true. There are many [other] instances of dreams in
which people have seen Master [Honen] in one place or another as a

30

Bodhisattva Seishi (Daiseishi) or Mahasthamaprapta, is one of the attendant

Bodhisattvas of Amida Buddha together with Kannon (Avalokitesvara). He
represents wisdom.
31
Bodhisattva Kannon (Kanzeon) or Avalokitesvara, is the Bodhisattva of
Compassion and one of the attendants of Amida Buddha together with Bodhisattva
Seishi. Kannon is often depicted with a small representation of Amida Buddha on
his crown. In China and Japan he is often portrayed in feminine form as Kwan Yin.
32
Zenshin is a clerical name adopted by Shinran during his six year period of study
unde Honens guidance in Kyoto. Zenshin can be found in some parts of his
writings, even if he used more often the name, Shinran.

51

manifestation of the Bodhisattva Seishi. The Bodhisattva Seishi is the

ultimate in wisdom, so he [appeared simply] as light.
I did not say anything about my husband being Kannon, but in my
own mind I never looked upon him from that time forward in an
ordinary way. You should ponder these things well33. Thus, you
should have no doubt [concerning Shinrans birth in the Pure Land]
however his death may have been.34
We see that Shinran Shonin accepted as true the dream of his wife,
without being informed about the part related to him. This is
something to reflect upon....
To me, Eshinni is very important and her apparition in human form
as a consort of Shinran Shonin is not accidental. She is a part,
together with her daughter Kakushinni, of Amidas salvation work.
The image that suddenly appears in my mind is that of Buddhist
paintings where some Buddhas are pictured together with their
consorts. Such far my gratitude and devotion to her goes in my
mind....
Things are profound and beyond our capacities to understand using
our limited minds, but I certainly feel with my heart the wonderful
Compassionate work of many Buddhas and their manifestations who
are always active in order to make us, hopeless sentient beings, to
entrust ourselves to Amida Buddha. I am amazed when seeing with
eyes of devotion the working of the Buddhas.
We indeed live in the last Dharma age in which no one is capable
of attaining anything permanent from the spiritual point of view, but
exactly in this age Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are very active using a
lot of methods to make us aware of the Amida Dharma. Shinran was
33

This long passage about Eshinnis dreams is paraphrased in Kakunyos

Kudensho.
34
The quote and most of the footnotes are from Letters of the nun Eshinni, by
James C.Dobbins, printed at University Hawaii Press in 2004.

52

the most important part of Amidas working, following a long line of

Masters which started with Shakyamuni Buddha himself, and in my
opinion he could not be an ordinary person in his true nature.
Now lets read other testimonies in which Master Shinran appears
as an emanation/manifestation.
We read in Hongwanji Shonin Shinran Denne (Godensho35), the
biography of Shinran Shonin written by Master Kakunyo Shonin
(1270-1351), the third chief abbot of Hongwanji (the son of
Kakushinni and grandson of Shinran):
On the ninth day of the second month in the eighth year of
Kencho (1265)36, at night at the hour of the tiger37, Shaku Reni had a
vision in a dream: Prince Shotoku bowed in worship to Shinran
Shonin and said in verse:
Adoration to Amida Buddha of Great Compassion!
You have appeared in this world (as Shinran Shonin) to spread the
excellent teaching;
You lead people of the evil world in the evil period of the five
defilements
To definitely attain the supreme Enlightenment.
Hence, it is clear that Shonin, the Patriarchal Master, was an
incarnation of Amida Tathagatha.
Shaku Reni (or Reni-bo) was a native of Hitachi Province
(present day Ibaragi Prefecture). He came to Kyoto and lived with
Shinran, attending to him in his last years. So he was not a nobody,
but a very close disciple.
35

This is even in our present time the official biography of Shinran Shonin
recognized by the Hongwanji-ha branch of Jodo Shinshu. All quotes and footnotes
that follows are from Zuio Hisao Inagakis English translation printed by the Horai
Association in 2009.
36
At that time, Shinran was 84.
37
About 4 oclock in the morning.

53

We also read in the Godensho the following testimony:

The Shonins disciple, Nyusai-bo, cherished the desire to have a
portrait of Shonin. Knowing this, Shonin said to him, You can ask
the Dharma-bridge38 Jozen [who lived in Shichijo] to portray me.
Elated by the Shonins suggestion based on deep observation,
Nyusai-bo invited the Dharma-bridge to the Shonins abode. Jozen
came at once as requested. The moment Jozen saw the Shonin, he
said, Last night I had an inspired dream. The holy priest I saw in
the dream is exactly the same person as I now see before my eyes.
With profound joy and awe, he continued, Two noble priests
came to visit me.
One of them said: I wish to have a portrait of this revered
incarnated one made. Please make one, Jozen.
So I asked: Who is this incarnated one?
The priest replied: He is the founder39 of the Zenkoji Temple.
I prostrated myself on the floor with my hands joined together, and
thought to myself in the dream, He must be a living incarnation of
Amida Tathagata.
Feeling my hair standing on end, I deeply revered and paid
homage to him. The priest added: A portrait of his face will be
enough.
After the exchange of these words, I awoke from the dream. As I
now see the Shonins august countenance at this hermitage, it is not a
bit different from the holy priest that I saw in the dream.

38

The Dharma-bridge: Hokyo in Japanese, an abbreviation of hokkyo-shonin-i,

the rank of the Master of of Dharma-bridge; originally, the lowest of the three
higher ranks of priesthood, which corresponds to the older term risshi. Later, used
as a title of honor for medical doctors, painters, poets, and so on.
39
Founder; hongan no onbo in Japanese; here hongan does not mean primal vow,
but rathera founder or promoter of a temple, statue, or a Dharma meeting.

54

So saying, Jozen shed tears of great joy. The Shonin remarked,

Let my portrait be just as you saw in your dream.
Master Kakunyo commenting on this last testimony said: Jozen
portrayed the Shonins face only. Jozen had this dream in the night of
the twentieth day of the month in the third year of Ninji.40
He then concludes:
As I deeply contemplate this miraculous and portentous event, I
clearly see that the Shonin was an incarnation of Amida Tathagatha.
It follows then that the teaching he promulgated was most likely
Amidas direct exposition. Amida holds up the brilliant lamp of
undefiled wisdom to disperse the darkness of delusion in the world of
defilement; furthermore, he showers the rain of Dharma everywhere
in order to moisten the dried-up hearts of ordinary and deluded
beings in the distant future. Let us revere and entrust ourselves to his
teaching.
Here is another incident from Godensho which shows that Shinran
Shonin was not an ordinary person in his original nature. When
Heitaro of Obu village in Nakanosai County in Hitachi Province was
obliged to make a visit to Kumano Shrine (a Shinto shrine) due to his
public duty, he went there without observing the Shinto prescribed
manner concerning such a visit, didnt put on the mask of a wise
person and did not purified his body with special rituals, but kept
adoring the Primal Vow in his heart.
As the story goes,
...he reached Kumano without any incident. On that night, Heitaro
had a vision in a dream: the door of the shrine was opened and a
layman in proper ceremonial dress and hat came in and said to
40

This corresponds to 1242.

55

Heitaro, Why have you come here in such a defiled and impure
state, unafraid of the deity?
At that moment, the Shonin suddenly appeared before him and said
He practices the Nembutsu in accordance with Zenshins (Shinran)
instructions.
Thereupon, the layman held up his scepter in the proper way and
bowed deeply to show his respect to the Shonin, without saying a
word. Then Heitaro awoke. He was struck with unspeakable wonder.
On his way home, Heitaro paid a visit to the Shonin and told him
what had happened. In reply the Shonin said: That was good. This
was also an inconceivable thing.
At the end of Godensho, Master Kakunyo states:
Many miraculous stories were told about the Shonin, but it is
impossible to relate them all. I have presented only a selected few.
As we clearly saw, Eshinni, Kakushinni, Reni-bo, Nyusai-bo,
Juzen, the painter, Heitaro and Master Kakunyo are only a few names
of those who shared the belief that Shinran Shonin was the
manifestation of Amida Buddha.
Master Kakunyo is the third abbot of our school (Hongwanji-ha
and Otani-ha branch) and a very important figure in Jodo Shinshu
history. His book, Godensho, is considered even now to be the
official biography of Shinran Shonin and is included in the canon of
our school. It is always chanted in every Jodo Shinshu temple on the
occasion of Ho-onko or Shinrans memorial days (9-16 January) and
on his 750th Comemoration we attended in 2011. So, this work is not
an ordinary one.
All these testimonies, together with my own feelings, prove to me
that Shinran Shonin was in fact an emanation/manifestation of Amida
Buddha himself and of Avalokitesvara. He came to this world and
56

took the human appearance of an unenlightened person who tried at

first practices based on personal power, gave up to them, received
shinjin and preached the Dharma about Amida Buddha in such a
unique and accesible way for everybody. At the death of his illusory
body he came back to his original form, which is Amida Buddha. He
is now dwelling in the Pure Land as well as here in samsara with us,
taking many forms, always guiding us in ways known or unknown.
Shinran, the emanation of Amida Buddha and Avalokitesvara, took
not only human form but also human problems and a human
personality with its many difficulties and shortcomings, living the life
of an ordinary person in the last Dharma age in order to show that
Amidas salvation is especially concerned about such people who
cant save themselves by any self-power method. Shinran
experienced failure in his spiritual life as a monk and a self power
practicer in order to show that failure is accepted and we should not
worry about it.
He intentionaly lived the life of an ordinary person, got married
even if he was a monk, didnt preach about precepts and showed that
even hunters, fishermen, prostitutes and all hopeless people can be
saved only by faith in Amida Buddha. He did all these and lived like
an ordinary person filled with blind passions, in order to show that
Amida especially saves such beings as ourselves. I think that nothing
in Shinrans life happened accidentally, but was included in Amidas
plan of salvation. Also I think that the lives of Kakunyo, Rennyo or
other patriarchs were not accidental either.
But no matter if all Jodo Shinshu followers share or not the second
vision about Shinran Shonin that I myself share, we all have to agree
on one point, that he became a Buddha in the Pure Land of Amida,
like any person of shinjin will become at the end of his or her life.
That Pure Land is a real place and once born there through shinjin we
become Buddhas.

57

Also, no matter whether Jodo Shinshu followers believe or not that

Shinran was a manifestation/emanation of Amida and
Avalokitesvara, they have to listen and entirely accept his teaching so
that they can receive the same shinjin as his.
If for you, Shinran was just an ordinary person until death and birth
in the Pure Land, but you totally accept his teaching and receive
shinjin in your heart, then you have fulfilled everything on the Jodo
Shinshu path.
We have enough reasons and arguments to chose each one of these
visions about Shinran Shonin, so it depends on each one of us. After
all, the most important matter in Jodo Shinshu is to receive shinjin. If
you can listen openly to his teaching and entrust in Amida Buddha,
nothing else matters.
Shinran finally gave his message to the world, and in doing so he
acomplished his mission. Now, it falls upon us to keep and transmit
his message without modifying it.
Namo Amida Butsu
Homage to Shinran Shonin, the emanation of Amida Buddha and
Avalokitesvara!

58

The meaning of there are no precepts

Question:
Why does Jodo Shinshu deny and discourage the observance of
Buddhist precepts? Can I observe precepts and be a Shinshu
follower? Why it is said in Jodo Shinshu that there are no precepts?
Answer:
In Jodo Shinshu we do not deny nor discourage anybody to try to
observe precepts. We are not against precepts; we do not say that
followers of this school should not try to observe precepts or to lead a
moral life. What we say is that we should not think that trying to
observe precepts creates personal merits or that by doing this we
can add something to the salvation of Amida. We are born in the
Pure Land and become Buddhas only due to Amidas Power, not to
our own efforts in observing precepts or in doing such and such
practices.
My advice is this: as a voluntary choice and not a requirement try
your best to live a moral life, which can include not to hurt anybody
directly or indirectly, dont steal, dont engage in sexual misconduct,
dont lie, dont drink intoxicants, dont eat meat, etc., but never relate
this to your attainment of Buddhahood which comes only through
Amida Buddhas Other Power. Your success or lack of success in
voluntarily observing precepts has no connection with your
Enlightenment, so be relaxed in this matter. This is the difference
between Jodo Shinshu and other Buddhist schools.
What a Jodo Shinshu follower does is to delete once and for all the
words personal merit or personal virtue from his Buddhist
vocabulary. These concepts may have some significance in other
schools but in Jodo Shinshu they have no significance at all.
Neither Shinran Shonin nor any patriarch of our school ever said,
kill, steal, lie, cheat on your wife, etc., but rather they intended to
59

say: even if you dont kill, dont steal, dont lie, dont cheat on your
wife, etc., it doesnt mean that you are a good person capable of
attaining Buddhahood by yourself. This should be very well
understood.
Also even if it is said in the sacred texts that in the last age of the
Dharma precepts do no longer exist, this doesnt mean that we should
kill and steal as we like. The expression, there are no precepts
means that people living in the last age of the Dharma are no longer
capable of using precepts in order to advance to Enlightenment. Thus,
precepts are as good as non-existent for the last goal of Buddhist
practice. I repeat, precepts are as good as non-existent for the last
goal of Buddhist practice which means the attainment of
Buddhahood.
But still we can read in the sutras and other Buddhist books about
the precepts so we cant say they have been deleted from our written
or collective memory. We can read about them and see how the
Buddhas wants us to behave, think and talk, so we should try to guide
our lives by them as well as we can, but doing so no longer
constitutes a merit or a means to advance on the path to
Enlightenment.
This is because our capacities to truly observe the precepts both in
letter and spirit are as little as non-existent. Jodo Shinshu states that
the minds and environment of beings living in this age distant from
the physical presence of Shakyamuni are so much perverted that they
cannot advance to Buddhahood by themselves using various methods
of self improving until one day purity, perfect wisdom and perfect
compassion is achieved.
So we say that Jodo Shinshu doesnt believe in the spiritual
capacities of unenlightened beings. This is why we do not insist on
precepts. Everything unenlightened beings do in the three ways of
action41 is poisoned by ignorance and egoism, so they cant be called
41

With mind, speech and body.

60

pure or good actions useful for attaining Buddhahood. Attachment to

our so-called goodness is just another illusion among the many that
we inherit from the distant past.
That being said, I ask you again, please do not misunderstand the
teaching of our school:
- Jodo Shinshu is not an encouragement to immorality,
irresponsibility or laziness.
- Followers of this school may try their best to lead a life
based on non-harming Buddhist principles explained in the
precepts.
- Jodo Shinshu states that Enlightenment comes through
Amida Buddha and is not gained by the actions of unenlightened
beings
Jodo Shinshu believes that only Buddhas have true
merits that can be shared with others.
In short, do your best in your everyday life to live according to the
precepts but rely only on Amida for the attainment of Buddhahood.
Also, if you fail in perfectly observing the precepts, and I am certain
that you will fail, dont ever feel that you are excluded from Amidas
salvation. Dont transform your trying to observe precepts into an
obstacle blocking the nondiscriminating Compassion of Amida
Buddha.

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No self improving programs for Jodo Shinshu followers

It must be very well understood that when I speak about trying to
have good behaviour towards others in our daily lives, I do not
propose self improving programs for Jodo Shinshu followers, and I
do not say that we should do this or that good deed in order to be
born in the Pure Land.
Birth in the Pure Land on one hand, and on the other hand my
efforts, for example, of trying to not hurt people when I become
angered or not to cheat on my girlfriend when I meet with
temptations, have no connection with one another. I am saved exactly
as I am, no matter if I am calm or burst into anger, if I am a good
partner or a bad partner, sober or a drug addict, or anything else. The
Jodo Shinshu teaching is very clear on this issue. As Shinran says in
the Tannisho: No evil act can bring about karmic results, nor can
any good act equal the nembutsu.
But why not try to abstain from all these vices when no matter if I
succeed or not, I am still loved and accepted by Amida Buddha. Why
not try to try is the key word. If I change something within me even
for a second its okay, and if I fail, its okay, too.
This is, I think, the meaning of dont take a liking to poison just
because you have the antidote from Tannisho, or some letters
written by Shinran, in which he speaks about not encouraging people
to intentionally do evil. Shinran never said, go and kill everybody
because you are saved by Amida. Jodo Shinshu teaching does not
say rape, kill, and torture people.
Although Amida saves evil people, Jodo Shinshu is not an
encouragement to do evil. A mother never encourages her children to
do bad deeds, but even if they do all the evil things in the world, she
still loves them and accepts them. This is the meaning of no evil act
can bring about karmic results, nor can any good act equal the
nembutsu.
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The effect is similar to the cause difference between the Path

of self power and the Pure Land Path
The effect is similar to the cause, so when the cause and origin of
your practice is your unenlightened personality, the effect is delusion.
Similarly, when the cause and origin of your practice is Amida
Buddha, the effect is always Enlightenment and Buddhahood. This
should be very well understood.
When one relies on his own power, various obstructions appear.
These are:
1. internal obstructions caused by his own mental states and
attachments, illusions and blind passions; and
2. external obstructions caused by Maras42 and various spirits
who try to hinder the practicer from attaining the ultimate goal.
Due to these two kinds of obstructions, false spiritual achievements
may occur. They are so intense that in the mind of the practicer and
others around him these may seem to be genuine. Supernatural
powers and visions can also appear to divert him from the right path.
We cannot really imagine how easy it is to fall under the seduction of
these false powers and achievements!
The Path of Sages or the path of personal power and the Pure
Land path are two separate Dharma gates into the supreme
Buddhahood. They should never be thought of in the same way.
What one path requires, the other doesnt, and vice versa.
In Zen Buddhism for example, one often hears sayings about
killing the Buddha, which means that if during meditation a
42

Mara (often pluralized as Maras) is a celestial demon who plays with practicers
minds, distracting their attention and offering them false sensations of spiritual
fulfillment, thus stopping them from attaining true freedom or Buddhahood. Mara
also tried to stop Shakyamuni from becoming a Buddha.

63

Buddha image appears into your mind, this may be false and an
obstruction to genuine spiritual realization. Why is that? Because, in
the Zen path and any other form of self-power Buddhism similar to it,
one relies on emptiness or the ultimate nature of things, i.e. on
Dharmakaya without form.
In such circumstances, what appears in your mind can be
misleading and may suggest an attachment to forms. Also, because
with any of the methods of the Path of Sages (i.e. self-power
Buddhism) you rely on your own effort to meditate, various demons
and Maras can take the false form of Buddhas in order to misguide
you. Thus, when such visions and forms appear you have to treat
them as fabrications of the mind and go on aiming to achieve the
formless ultimate Buddhahood.
To the contrary, on the Pure Land path we accept forms and are
guided by Amida Buddha in his transcendental (Sambhogakaya)
manifestation. We do not rely directly on the ultimate Buddha nature,
but rather we take an indirect road to Buddhahood through the
nembutsu of faith and birth in the Pure Land.
On the Pure Land path, as we rely exclusively on Amida Buddha
and have faith that all spiritual realizations come only from him, we
are not in any danger of being misguided or influenced by internal or
external obstructions. If a vision appears, this is genuine too, as the
effect is similar to the cause. Because we rely on Amida (the cause)
and not on ourselves, the result (effect) is a manifestation of Amida,
not of our own unenlightened mind. Thus, what can be an obstruction
on the Path of Sages is a help on the Pure Land path.
Please do not have any fear if you have entered the Pure Land gate
of settled faith in Amida Buddha. You are secure from the very
moment you take your first step on this path. Nothing can harm you,
nothing can make you retrogress, and nothing can stop you from
attaining birth in the Pure Land of Amida and ultimate Buddhahood.

64

If shinjin (faith) has been received into your heart, all these will
come naturally. The goal of both Dharma gates is the same: supreme
Buddhahood and Nirvana - and both gates were preached by
Shakyamuni Buddha. When followers of the path of personal power
and those of Pure Land path become Buddhas they awaken to the
same ultimate Buddha nature which is beyond any form and color,
but until then, they should not misinterpret the meaning and
characteristic of these two separate Dharma gates.
The Pure Land path of exclusive reliance on Amida Buddha should
not be judged based on the criteria of the Path of personal power (also
called the Path of Sages). More than this, it should not be changed or
preached in such a way as to accommodate the Path of Sages. It is
very sad, for example, that nowadays some try to transform the
simple, faith-oriented Jodo Shinshu teaching into a more Zen-like
practice to make it acceptable to the so-called modern reader who has
no taste for beliefs related to transcendental Buddhas.
A Pure Land follower should never ask guidance in matters of his
attainment of Buddhahood from masters and teachers who follow the
Zen path, Theravada (Hinayana) methods, or any other method that
implies or teaches in one way or another some sort of reliance on
personal power, because this will only cause great confusion in his
mind.
Mixing the two separate Dharma gates at the level where we are
now as unenlightened beings is extremely dangerous and presents an
obstruction on the Buddhist path. Only a Buddha who has
transcended all methods and is completely free from delusion can
play with various practices and understand them fully, but
unenlightened beings cannot and should not imitate the behavior of
the Buddhas until they have become Buddhas themselves.
At the level we are now on, we cannot truly understand the
Oneness of all things, no matter how much we read and talk about
this, so we should stay humble and embrace the dualistic vision of the
65

one who saves (that is, Amida Buddha) and those to be saved who
have faith in him (that is, ourselves). This is all we need now as
ordinary people caught in the suffering of birth and death.

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Entering the Jodo Shinshu path

Entering the Jodo Shinshu path is like becoming a member of
Alcoholics Anonymous and recognizing: Hello, my name is Josho
and I am an alcoholic.
Jodo Shinshu doesnt state something like: My name is Josho and
I can become a Buddha, but my name is Josho and I am full of
blind passions, incapable to heal myself.
While in other Buddhist schools, an important matter is the
recognition of the possibility of every being to become a Buddha in
this life like Shakyamuni, the Jodo Shinshu path begins with the
sense of failure. When you are 100% convinced that you cannot
attain Buddhahood in this life, then you are ready for the Jodo
Shinshu path. As long as you still harbor in your mind the smallest
thought of personal merit or maybe I can kind of things, you cannot
see and enter the Dharma gate of birth in Amida Buddhas Pure Land.
Amida Buddhas Pure Land is like a country where everybody can
emigrate without the least requirement: no visas, no special
capacities, nor any other qualities. As Shinran said:
This is the way of easy practice to be followed by those of inferior
capacity; it is the teaching that makes no distinction between the
good and the evil.
Thus, the Jodo Shinshu sangha is like an idiots club or
alcoholics anonymous, in comparison with the nice and good
Buddhists, who believe they are always calm and ready to become
Enlightened and the same with Shakyamuni.
If you hope to find here some interesting quotes about detachment
or how capable people are for goodness, virtues and any kind of
spiritual realizations, then this is not the place for you. But if you
67

recognize yourself more and more in the group of spiritual alcoholics

or those incapable of any important practice which leads to perfection
here and now, in the middle of sufferings and miseries of any kind,
then this teaching would be of much help, and I wish to you a warm
welcome to the club!
I repeat, Jodo Shinshu starts with the sense of failure.

68

A bad Buddhist who entrusts to Amida

Long time ago I was in correspondence with a drug addict who
showed great interest in the Jodo Shinshu teaching. He had a hard
time trying again and again to give up taking drugs but he always
returned to his bad habit.
I said to him:
Just entrust to Amida as you are. If you can abstain, and it is useful
to try, this would be good for your health, but if you cannot, dont
worry. Jodo Shinshu is especially for people who cannot abstain, who
are incapable of any practice - for those for whom any advice or any
treatment is useless, for people whose minds are too sick to recover
from their problems, anxieties, and deviations. Its not that they
especially want to be like this, but their habitual karma is too strong
for them to overcome. After many years and even many lives of
taking the drugs of ignorance and blind passions how can one think
and act like a normal person? How can one practice Buddhism and
become a Buddha by himself?
I have met many times with alcholics and have told them the same
if they asked me questions about Buddhism. If you tried and cannot
give up, then be an alchoholic who entrusts to Amida. Be an
alchoholic nembutsu follower. Its okay and normal to be like that. Be
a bad Buddhist who entrusts to Amida. But if you are able, it is for
the sake of your own well-being to give up your bad habits.
Jodo Shinshu is the path for spiritually sick people, for those with
no hope. Its the path for alchoholics, drug addicts, and all kind of
people with strong attachments. All are equally accepted by the
Compassion and Primal Vow of Amida Buddha. So please, come as
you are.

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The miracle of Jodo Shinshu

Hokyo-bo said to Rennyo Shonin43, 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 bombu44 becomes
a Buddha through a single thought of entrusting to Amida45.46
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
like 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!
Say you are sitting in front of your computer for many hours,
surfing the internet, reading a lot of good teachings and wise
43

Rennyo Shonin (1415-1499) was the eighth descendant of Shinran Shonin and
Patriarch (Monshu) of Hongwanji, the mother temple in the Hongwanji-ha branch
of Jodo Shinshu.
44
A bombu is a being full of illusions and blind passions and who cannot attain
Nirvana by his own power.
45
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.
46
Rennyo Shonin Goichidaiki Kikigaki (Thus I Have Heard from Rennyo Shonin)

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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 zazen47, some vipassana48, etc., and then
you come back to the 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 every day
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 couldnt 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 Amidas 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.
Zuiken Sensei said:
Without being hindered by my evil karma,
I go to be born in the Pure Land
By entrusting myself to the Path of the Vow-Power,
This is the wonder of all wonders.
Without severing evil passions,
one will realize Nirvana (Shoshinge)
47
48

Zen Buddhist meditation.

Meditation in Theravada (Hinayana) Buddhism.

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Isnt this the most wonderful thing in the world?

This phrase makes us savor deep in our heart
the wonder of the Power of the Primal Vow.

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Do not have patience

I myself cannot find any satisfaction with Buddhist teachings and
practices that doesnt promise me a quick escape from birth and
death. This why I entrust myself to Amida Buddha, because I am in a
hurry to become a Buddha.
I know that some virtuous practicers might interpret my hurry as
laziness in spiritual matters or as lack of patience. I dont deny
anything, but when I deeply contemplate the rare chance of being
born a human and how easy it is to fall again in the lower realms49 or
when I see that even in this life, thoughts resembling those of
animals, hungry spirits or hell dwellers often appear in my mind and
in the mind of others, I feel that I do not want to assume any risk of
failing to quickly become a Buddha for once and for all.
To have patience on any spiritual path where personal power is
important is not at all a virtue but an illusion. It is to not be aware of
ones own lacking capacities and those of other beings living in this
last Dharma age, and to not know what it really means to become a
Buddha or a Free One. It means to not be aware of the subconscious
karmic energies which come from the distant past, from eons of
drinking the poison of ignorance and of evil deeds. It is not to be
aware of the fragility of this life and of the possibility that death
could come at any moment and could catch you unprepared, or at
least not yet entered in a stage from where you cannot retrogress.
What patience should I have when I confront myself with such
dangers? What patience can I have with myself when I contemplate
the wickedness of this world and my own inner darkness?
When I see the state of mind of my close friends who do not read
even a single Buddhist book, not to mention even practice anything,
unaware that there is a path to escape birth and death, not even
49

Birth as an animal, hungry spirit or hell dweller.

73

wanting to escape itwhen I ask myself where will these people go

after death and worry that I myself might wander in samsara still
unenlightened and not free, incapable to help them or myself, how
can I have patience?
I ask myself: Where will my parents or my girlfriend go after
death? Where are my dear grandparents now? What can I do for
them? Where will my dear animal friends go, driven by the power of
their karma? Where will my dog Rocky go, lost even in this life?
These are very important questions to me.
I am sure, dear reader, that if you love your kids, wife, husband,
parents, grandparents, friends, etc., you too ask yourself such
questions. But how can you really help them to receive true freedom
from birth and death if you do not become a Buddha, possessing
infinite wisdom and capacities?
Indeed not only for you, but also for all beings, you should follow
the Buddhist path.
So, can you afford to be unsure about your own Enlightenment, do
you allow yourself to wait many more lives until someday, who
knows when, you will attain something? Can you afford the risk of
losing again or forever the beings you love? What is more important,
the support you give to them in this life, when due to your own
ignorance, do you really know what is good or evil, useful or not
useful for them, or the gift of freedom from the suffering of repeated
birth and death?
How can you help others if you do not become a Buddha, and how
can you become a Buddha by relying on yourself? This is the most
important question. If you havent attained Buddhahood until now,
when do you think you will attain it?
Please, awaken yourself from the dream of self-satisfaction! The
ego cannot overcome itself by any method. There are many false
74

spiritual sensations and many illusory Nirvanas when you rely on

your own power, and the time seems always enough to do anything
both material and spiritual. If you lack the sense of urgency and you
are patient in the grave matter of birth and death, then you may
already have lost this chance of being reborn a human. Every day in
which you do not become a Buddha is the day you may die, and to
die unenlightened and not free is the most dangerous thing that can
happen to you.
Mara, the celestial demon, likes to play with the minds of virtuous
practicers and often whispers in their ears: do not be afraid, you
have enough time, be patient, rely on yourself alone and make
another effort. look you are almost there!.... think how many
wonderful spiritual experiences you had this week - until one day,
death comes suddenly and unexpectedly like a thief and you die the
same person, maybe a better one a small drop of water in an ocean
of poison and illusion but still not enlightened and not free,
incapable of doing something for yourself and others.
In such an outcome, Mara would certainly smile, filled with
satisfaction: how I love these virtuous practicers!

75

Dont rely on all beings will eventually become Buddhas

To think that all beings will eventually become Buddhas is a
dangerous trap for ordinary, unenlightened people who thus might
strengthen the reliance on their false ego. It is another delusory
thought of those who copy and paste the words of Enlightened
Beings without discrimination.
But the Buddha said this, someone can argue....
Yes, he said it, but the meaning is that he as a Buddha will never
stop until all beings will also become Buddhas. It is not that ordinary
people will become Buddhas by their own power at some time in the
future, but that the Buddhas will do everything in their transcendental
powers to make this aspiration come true. That sentence is the wish
and aspiration of the Buddhas, not what people will actually do
without their help.
Only if we give up trust in our self power (the power of our
unenlightened ego) and entrust ourselves to Amida Buddhas Power
(Other Power) will we become Buddhas. Otherwise, no one can
escape birth and death, with the exception of a few special beings
who are already very close to perfect Enlightenment but who have
struggled for this since timeless past, such as, for example, Maitreya
Bodhisattva50.
The time is infinite, but the Buddhas have enough patience to wait
and will always work to make all beings entrust to Amida so that all
will eventually be free from birth and death. This is because all
Buddhas sustain Amida Buddha, who is the one who provided the
best method (his Primal Vow) to make this wish come true: to bring
all beings to Buddhahood. Some methods require special capacities
on the part of beings, but the Primal Vow requires truly nothing no
50

See the chapter Equal with Maitreya Buddha

76

virtue, no special quality or ability. This is why this method is

universal: both saints and idiots can be saved through it.
If Amidas Primal Vow had not been made then the beings
wouldnt have had any chance for Liberation and the sentence that
all beings will eventually become Buddhas would have been
spoken in vain.
The Buddha, as the Supreme Doctor, knows that some are too sick
to recover: because he has infinite Compassion he does not wait until
they become capable to emerge by themselves from deep hells or
other lower realms. What mother would do such a thing to let her
child sink into hell and wait for him on the edge of the abyss until he
finally recovers? But what if he does not recover? And in fact, what
chances does anybody have to recover by himself if he sank in the
ocean of immeasurable pain of the lower realms. No Buddha whose
essence is compassion, would wait and see without doing anything.
This is why Amida made his Primal Vow and established his Pure
Land, because he didnt want to stay and wait until sentient beings
will eventually become Buddhas by their own efforts. It would have
been stupid and compassionless had he done that. He wouldnt have
been a Buddha had he done this.
So, dear friends, please do not rely on words that you cannot
understand, but keep in mind the thought of impermanence: the
impermanence of your life which can end anytime, and the
impermanence of your so-called spiritual realisations based on self
power. Please bear in mind that in the ocean of birth and death there
is no you alone who will eventually become a Buddha. The road to
the lower realms is always open for those who rely on their personal
power. There is no real spiritual evolution for an unenlightened being
like you, no today I learned someting new and made a new step
forward, no hope, nothing, just Amidas helping hand. Please accept
it.

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Faith is simple, nothing special

I noticed that some practicers from other traditions or with previous
experience in other schools, who sometimes talk with me about Jodo
Shinshu, perceive shinjin (faith in Amida Buddha) like a special state
of mind that must be attained by them and which is hard to attain.
Maybe this tendency comes from the practices they are used to within
their traditions, where something has to be attained, felt or visualized,
etc.
But shinjin is different. It doesnt necessarily imply a special state of
mind, or special thing to be felt or experienced. It is simply to
entrust in Amida Buddha.
I rely on Amida for my attainment of Buddhahood in his Pure Land.
That is all.
People, in general, are hungry for special feelings and sensations,
thinking that if they dont feel something special then maybe they
have no true spiritual realisation. But in matters related to shinjin and
the salvation of Amida Buddha, no special state of mind is necessary
in your daily life.
When faith is first experienced, the follower experiences a great
burden has been taken off his shoulders, in the sense that he no longer
needs to rely on himself to become a Buddha - a truly free One. The
burden of his liberation is carried by the Buddha called Amida, who
already crossed the Path for him.
You can be happy or feel relief when you first entrust yourself to
Amida Buddha, if attaining Buddhahood or final liberation from birth
and death is the most important matter for you, but this doesnt mean
that hour to hour, minute to minute, second to second, you will think
on Amida or feel a continuous joy as to jump in the air. Our lives are
in such a way that we can always be overwhelmed by daily problems
and worries. But its okay, its simply okay to be like this.

78

We are not compelled to always jump with joy because we are

saved by Amida. Despite this, the salvation of Amida is always
present, as our simple faith in him remains with us since we first
received it in our hearts.
I often say that faith, once received, becomes like breathing,
always being there although you dont realize it consciously every
moment.
On the Jodo Shinshu path we are relaxed because we dont need
special states of mind or special qualities, we dont need to be
different than we already are in our daily lives, that is, caught in
attachments of every kind; we dont need to be wise in short we
need to be nothing else than we already are.
This is because Amida does EVERYTHING.
Refuge in Amida, faith in Amida, recitation of his Name is
effective not because of us, of a certain state or quality we should
develop, but because of the Other Power of Amida. Once you realize
this you can be relaxed. To be relaxed in Jodo Shinshu is to leave
everything to Amida. Its the problem of Amida to save you, to make
you become a Buddha, and Amida has already accomplished this for
you many kalpas ago when he fulfilled his Primal Vow.
Faith in Amida is faith in Amida, it is not reliance on ourselves,
on what we can do, on our own feelings and states of mind. Its
faith in the Other, in the One who is already a Buddha, a completely
free One and who promised that all unworthy, ordinary people will
attain Buddhahood through him.
I repeat, (as I am not writing this chapter by accident but because
of my experience with some people who I think need it) dont think
of something special in relation to faith.
Also, dont think that something has to happen with you after you
rely on Amida, such as, for example, becoming a better or wiser
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person. Jodo Shinshu is first intended for people that remain

unchanged in their delusions and blind passions all their lives. The
Buddha has no expectation from the people for whom he made his
Primal Vow. Its normal for ordinary people filled with blind
passions to remain ordinary people filled with blind passions.
Or if it seems that you truly did something good or useful to
someone after entrusting to Amida, think this is due to Amidas
influence, but not that you are a better person because of being saved
by Amida. Dont busy yourself with virtue or non-virtue: just entrust
in Amida and do what you can in your daily life, for yourself or for
others.
Somebody told me that he cant sleep, making efforts to attain
shinjin. I told him:
Relax, shinjin means just to rely on Amida; its not something
you should create or construct in your mind. Dont stress yourself,
just entrust in Amida. Let go of the idea of feeling or creating
something. Just entrust.
The human mind is so complicatedbut shinjin is just simply to
rely exclusively on Amida for the attainment of your Enlightenment.
Doing so, when you die, you will be born in the Pure Land or
Amidas sphere of influence, and you yourself will become a
Buddha. But until then, relax and stay as you are. Everything is okay.
You dont need to construct anything in your delusional mind.
Amida does EVERYTHING and asks NOTHING from you.

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How can one know that he received shinjin if he has no access

to a temple or priest?
Question:
Because nothing physical happens or is done to the person
receiving shinjin (baptism /Dharma transmission, etc.) how can that
seeker know he/she has indeed received shinjin and attained the
rightly established state?
This question above assumes that the person or persons referred
to has no physical access to a Shinshu Buddhist temple or priest,
which is a sad reality across most of the world except for Japan.
Answer:
Fortunately, in our school there are neither gurus nor masters who
can give or confirm the receiving of faith in the heart of the practicer.
Jodo Shinshu is a personal and exclusive relation between Amida
Buddha (a real and living Buddha) and the person who has faith in
him. They are like mother and child.
Thus, the Mother (Amida) is always sending her love to the child
and she knows if the child entrusts to her while the child (the
follower) knows that he is loved and has faith in the Mother.
When someone entrusts to Amida for the first time, he/she knows
or becomes aware of this faith. He knows, without any doubt or
hesitation, I entrust in Amida Buddha for myself to attain
Buddhahood in his Pure Land. By having faith in Amida he
becomes aware of two simple things:
1. that he cannot save himself from birth and death (deep
awareness of his limitations)
and

81

2. that Amida will do this for him - he accepts Amidas

salvation (expressed in his Primal Vow) as being real and
trustworthy.
Nothing special has to happen inside the mind of the practicer or
outside of him when he receives shinjin in his heart. There is no need
to feel anything special, although the follower may experience
something like a heavy burden being lifted from his shoulders the
burden of having to reach freedom from birth and death by himself.
Also, there is no need for another person to say now I certify that
you have shinjin.
Various ceremonies and receiving of a Buddhist name are beautiful
and can be performed if the follower has access to a temple or
sangha, but if he is living in a place too far from them or he simply
doesnt want to be an official member of a certain group or
denomination, then he should not ask for such ceremonies. Alone or
in a group, all that matters is that you understand the Dharma and
receive shinjin.
The teacher is important in Jodo Shinshu but only as a messenger
of Amidas salvation. He or she is somebody who encourages you to
entrust in Amida. It would be better if you have face-to-face access to
a true teacher and a true sangha so that you can always ask questions
to clear your doubts and misunderstandings, but if the conditions are
difficult and you cannot meet anybody in particular, then use every
means necessary, the internet for example, to have this Dharma
dialogue.
Or if you dont trust in any living teacher, just read the sacred texts
by yourself, while asking Amida Buddha and Shinran Shonin to
guide you and protect your understanding. Reading the sacred texts
(with or without access to a priest or sangha) is also listening the
Dharma as now there are many good translations that can be found
everywhere in the libraries or on the internet.

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Dharma dialogue and Dharma listening is very important, no

matter whether you do it by face-to-face meetings or by internet,
letters or telephone, because only by first understanding with the head
the content of the teaching, openness toward Amidas message of
salvation, can shinjin (faith) arise in the heart.
Then you will know that you indeed rely on Amida Buddha and
have faith in him. The others can see or not see this change in your
heart, but their opinions are really not important.
The most important thing is that you know for yourself that you
entrust in Amida Buddha51 for attaining Buddhahood in his Pure
Land. You have to know this, not somebody else, because Amida
addresses each and every individual in particular. He is having a
personal relation with every one of us: it is as if only you or only I are
the only beings to exist on this planet. All sentient beings in particular
can say that the Primal Vow of Amida was made especially for him
or her. This is also what Shinran himself felt.
Your first moment of entrusting and the later moments when you
continue to savour your faith during the entire life represent your
personal and intimate relationship with Amida Buddha. Even if the
whole world is filled with false teachers and no true sanghas exist, or
if you remain the last human being on the planet, you have nothing to
worry about. You entrust in Amida and he receives you. This is all
that matters.

51

Amida as a real and living Buddha, not a symbol, metaphor or a fictional

character like some deluded priests and teachers are trying to present him. Only
with a real and living Amida Buddha one can have a relation of faith and be saved.
Metaphors, symbols or fictional characters cant save anybody and faith in them is
not true faith but a cultural and intelectual game of the mind. See the chapter:
Those who deny the existence of Amida dont have shinjin.

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Nembutsu of faith and gratitude

We often speak in our tradition about nembutsu as being the
expression of gratitude for the assurance of birth in the Pure Land by
Amida Buddha. Its a correct understanding, and Master Rennyo
especially emphasized this aspect in his letters in order to help people
not to fall into the wrong view of considering nembutsu as a self
power practice such as, for example, a wrong view that holds the
better or longer you recite the Name, the more chances you have to
be born in the Pure Land.
But at the same time as being the expression of gratitude, the
nembutsu is also the expression of faith, and one can find the same
Master Rennyo using for example, words like recitation of the
nembutsu arising from True Faith in his Goichidaiki Kikigaki (Thus
I Have Heard from Rennyo Shonin). Both aspects, nembutsu as the
expression of faith and nembutsu as the expression of gratitude
appear in Master Rennyo and Master Shinrans texts.
Namo from Namo Amida Butsu, means homage to, which
expresses gratitude and also to take refuge which expresses faith
(shinjin). It is logical that one cannot feel gratitude to Amida if he has
not received faith in him. Only because I entrust in Amida, being
convinced that his Primal Vow is true and reliable, am I able to feel
gratitude. This is why I always explain the nembutsu as the
natural expression of faith and gratitude.
It is natural because it is not forced by my will and not created by
my own power. It is natural because in reality both faith (shinjin) and
saying of the Name (nembutsu) comes from Amida.
Nembutsu is the calling of our mother, Amida Buddha, to whom
we, as her children lost in the dangerous streets of samsara, answer
immediately. It is due to the power of the Mothers call and her love
that the child is able to answer and say, Namo Amida Butsu, Namo
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Amida Butsu, thus taking refuge and expressing gratitude. The

childs answer is the mothers call that manifests like an echo in his
heart and he answers, Namo Amida Bu52, Namo Amida Bu.
*
Now there is another matter that troubles some people in relation
with the Nembutsu.
One day we say nembutsu often, while the next day we might say
it a few times. But there is no problem with this. Dont worry. The
number is not important. Faith does not increase or decrease because
we say the Name often or seldom in the same way gratitude to our
physical mother does not increase or decrease because we say I love
you, thank you often or seldom. The gratitude and faith in your
mother is there in your heart, no matter how often you express it
verbally.
If you allow me another comparison which I use we dont always
feel our breathing, but this doesnt mean that our breathing doesnt
exist. Sometimes we feel it better when, for example, we are
fascinated by the clear air of the mountains or of a beautiful morning
and we take long and deep breaths, while some other time we are too
hurried and busy in our daily life to concentrate on it.
But the breath has always been there with you since you were born,
being a part of yourself, even though you dont experience it
consciously every minute. The same applies to faith and nembutsu.
The faith is there, inside you, since the first time you entrusted in
Amida Buddha and you were born as a person of faith. No matter
what you do in your every day life, eating, sleeping, going to toilet,
spending time with your girlfriend or boyfriend, being sad or happy,
sober or drunk, the faith is there and cannot be destroyed (once fully
52

Bu is the shortened form of Butsu, used sometimes in reciting the nembutsu.

There is no difference between Bu and Butsu. Sometimes in reciting the nembutsu
Namu is used instead of Namo, but they mean the same thing.

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settled) by anything, not even by the worst of your blind passions.

From time to time you express this faith and your gratitude to Amida
Buddha by saying vocally or in your mind, Namo Amida Bu, Namo
Amida Bu.
So, dont worry about anything, relax and enjoy saying the
nembutsu of faith and gratitude whenever you like it. Amida doesnt
keep a record of how many times you say his Name

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Self-power as an obstacle to nembutsu

Question:
Quite often it seems that we want it both ways...our power and
Other Power. Could we think about it this way, self-power is an
illusion that exists within Other Power, and even this illusion cannot
obstruct the nembutsu?
Answer:
I think we should not complicate our minds. To rely on your own
power cannot lead you to Buddhahood in the Pure Land. Its as
simple as that. To rely on your own power will obstruct the nembutsu
and your birth in the Pure Land. In the true Other Power faith there is
no trace of self power. You rely on Amida Buddha or not. Mixed
faith is not true faith.
When it is said in the sacred texts that nothing obstructs the
nembutsu this means that no matter how heavy your karma, you are
saved by Amida if you fully entrust in him. In this sense, your
illusions or blind passions cannot be an obstacle to the nembutsu. But
self power simply means that you do not rely at all or not exclusively
on Amida for your attainment of Buddhahood in the Pure Land. This
is why self power is an obstacle for the nembutsu, because in reality,
the vehicle that takes you to the Pure Land is Amidas Power, not
your own power.
We also have to understand clearly the meaning of the terms self
power (jiriki) and Other power(Tariki).
They are related only with the ultimate goal of becoming a Buddha
in the Pure Land. They have nothing to do with our daily activities
related with work, family, health, business, etc. In everyday life one
can make efforts to be successful, to be a good husband, a good
doctor, a good engineer or teacher, etc, but in matters related with

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Buddhahood one should rely only on Amida Buddha and on nobody

else, especially not on himself.
To put it in the simplest terms, with Other Power your becoming a
Buddha is the doing of Amida, not you.

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Three vows of salvation

Generally speaking, Buddhist practices taught by Shakyamuni can
be classified into two groups:
1. meditative practices
2. non-meditative practices
Meditative practices include various types of meditation and
visualization that we can find in all schools of Buddhism from
Theravada to Mahayana and Esoteric Vajrayana53.
Non-meditative practices include chanting sutras, observing
precepts, abstaining from evil or doing various good acts, etc. These
non-meditative practices are said to generate merit or positive karmic
energy that help the practicer attain higher rebirths or spiritual states.
They can also be transferred or directed by the practicer toward
various goals, including his future Enlightenment.
But Shinran disagreed with this, saying that as long as we are not
enlightened and our minds are darkened by ignorance, we cannot
generate genuine merit. This is especially true in the period of the last
Dharma age (Mappo) in which we now live. Only the Buddhas, and
of course, Amida Buddha, can have true merit. Shinran considered
merit transference from the practicer toward Enlightenment as being
futile, and he said that the true merit transference actually takes place
from Amida Buddha to the devotee who has faith in him.
Thus we should give up any thought of generating or accumulating
merit and instead rely exclusively on Amida Buddhas Power of
salvation. This exclusive reliance is described in the 18th Vow found
in the Larger Sutra, called the Primal Vow. In it, Amida promises:

53

Tibetan Buddhism.

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If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the

ten quarters who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me,
desire to be born in my land, and call my Name, even ten times,
should not be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
Let us consider these words: All sentient beings that entrust to
Amida, desire to be born in his Land and call his Name, will be born
there. Nothing else is needed. No mentioning of merit or things that
the practicer should add to the power of Amida. Just wish to be born
in the Pure Land, have faith and recite the Name.
These three aspects: 1. wishing to be born, 2. faith and 3. calling of
the Name, are in fact three manifestations of the same thing, which is
faith or the entrusting heart (shinjin). This is because there cannot be
any desire to be born in the Pure Land or a saying of the Name if one
doesnt believe in the existence of Amida Buddha and his capacity to
make us be born there. We wish to be born in the Pure Land and say
the Name of Amida because we entrust in Amidas power to bring us
there.
Namo Amida Butsu means I take refuge in Amida Buddha and
to take refuge is to have faith. Saying of the Name (nembutsu) is the
natural expression of faith and is the same as faith. There cannot be
any true nembutsu i.e. the nembutsu of Other Power without
genuine faith. This is the case with the 18th Vow, the Vow by which
Amida Buddha saves all who entrust in him, old or young, good or
evil, male or female.
However, the situation is that not all practicers are able to give up
entirely the attachment to their personal power in reaching birth in the
Pure Land. They simply cannot rely exclusively on Amida but think
there is still something they need to add to his Power so that they will
deserve to be born in the Pure Land. Thus, they remain attached to
the idea of merit accumulation even if they also rely on Amida.

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This kind of faith mixed with reliance on their own merit and
personal power is not in accord with the 18th Vow, but still such
people are not abandoned by Amida. Especially for those who are not
capable to rely exclusively on him, but still wish to be born in his
Pure Land, Amida created the 19th and 20th Vows.
Lets read and understand these Vows:
(19) If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of
the ten quarters, who awaken aspiration for Enlightenment, do
various meritorious deeds and sincerely desire to be born in my land,
should not, at their death, see me appear before them surrounded by
a multitude of sages, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(20) If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of
the ten quarters who, having heard my Name, concentrate their
thoughts on my land, plant roots of virtue, and sincerely transfer
their merits towards my land with a desire to be born there, should
not eventually fulfill their aspiration, may I not attain perfect
Enlightenment.
What does Amida say in the 19th Vow? That those who do various
meritorious deeds in order to be born in the Pure Land will see Amida
Buddha at their death surrounded by many sages, welcoming them in
the Pure Land. The various meritorious deeds mean they continue to
practice many kinds of meditative and non-meditative practices. For
example, whenever they do a visualization or contemplation of
Amida in accord with the Contemplation Sutra or even when they do
other meditation techniques, when they observe precepts, do a good
deed like saving a life, abstaining from meat, etc., they think this will
help them to be born in Amidas Pure Land and actually transfer the
merit of these practices (meditative or non-meditative) toward their
future birth there.
Usually followers of various schools do meditation practices or
observe precepts, etc., in order to become a Buddha in this life, like
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Shakyamuni, but practicers of the 19th Vow change the goal of these
meditative and non-meditative practices to become a Buddha in the
Pure Land of Amida. They change the direction of their Buddhist
practice toward Amida Buddha. This is the difference between them
and other Buddhists and this difference makes them to enter Amidas
influence and guidance.
The followers of the 20th Vow make another important step further
into the Light of Amida Buddha. They do not stop at meditative and
non-meditative practices, but among all practices they chose only one
which is to say the Name of Amida Buddha.
The expression hearing my Name from the 20th Vow means to
become aware of the Name of Amida and to say it both in mind and
with ones mouth. The concentration of thoughts on the land of
Amida and the desire to be born there is done this time through
recitation of the Name. In the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amida-kyo) the
recitation of the Name of Amida is called the root of all virtues,
because among all Buddhist practices recommended by Shakyamuni,
the recitation of the Name is supreme. So, to plant roots of virtue
mentioned in the 20th Vow means to recite exclusively the Name of
Amida, i.e. to choose among all practices only this practice.
Like followers of the 19th Vow, those of the 20th Vow are also not
free of doubts and do not rely exclusively on Amidas Power to be
born in the Pure Land but consider this Name recitation to be their
own virtue and a practice that depends on their own capacities to be
done correctly. So they transfer the merits they think they
accumulated through a good recitation toward birth in Amidas Pure
Land. They are still dependent on their own power and their faith in
Amida is not absolute.
What we see from reading these two vows, the 19th and the 20th, is
that people following them are also born in the Pure Land of Amida
and escape once and for all from samsara or birth and death. Amida
especially finishes these two vows with the promise that the
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practicers fulfilling the requirements contained in them will definitely

be born in his Pure Land and if this will not happen then it means he
does not deserve to be called a Buddha or he is not a Buddha may
I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
But if we read the Contemplation Sutra on Amida Buddha we see
that among those born in the Pure Land through directing their merit
in one way or another there are various grades and differences. Not
all are equal. The more the virtues, the better the place one occupies
in the Pure Land, for example, the higher level of the highest grade,
the middle level of the highest grade, the lower level of the highest
grade, then the higher level of the middle grade, the middle level of
the middle grade, and so on, until the lowest level of the lowest
grade.
But no mention is made there about those who enter Amidas Pure
Land through faith alone as in the 18th Vow. The various levels are
established only according to the personal virtues of the practicers in
their previous life when they transferred the merit acquired through
various meditative or non-meditative practices and through nembutsu
recited in self power.
What does this mean? Why are those born through faith alone not
mentioned in any of these categories?
Shinran said this is because they immediately become Buddhas
when they are born in the Pure Land, and for Buddhas there are no
categories in which they can be classified. But those who are born in
the Pure Land through the gate of the 19th and 20th vows do not
immediately become Buddhas but due to their clinging to personal
power they continue to stay there in an unenlightened state of mind
until they overcome their doubts and attachments to the so called
merits and virtues and entrust entirely to the Power of Amida
Buddha.

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The 18th is the Vow of direct entering into the true Pure Land,
while the other two are Vows of indirect entering. It is like a house
with three doors. One door is the main one which leads directly to the
owner and in his presence you become like him (a Buddha sharing
the activity of Amida), while the second and third door are leading to
an anteroom or waiting room where you have to stay for a while until
having access to him.
This anteroom or waiting room to perfect Enlightenment in
Amidas Pure Land is called the borderland of the Pure Land or the
realm of indolence and pride, the city of doubt, the womb like palace,
etc. Birth here is not a punishment, but practicers actually keep
themselves there by their doubts and clinging to their own power.
The 18th, the 19th and the 20th Vows are the three Vows of
salvation which give deliverance from birth and death to all beings
that rely exclusively or partially on Amida Buddha, who have
absolute faith or still cling to their so called power and merit but wish
to be born in the Pure Land.
Because these three Vows and especially the 18th are
mentioned in the Larger Sutra on Amida Buddha, Shinran considered
its deliverance to be the main reason for Shakyamunis appearance on
earth, while the Contemplation Sutra where visualization of Amida,
transference of merits and the nine grade of aspirants are mentioned
and the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amida-kyo) where the recitation of the
Name alone is encouraged as the root of all virtues, are provisional
means for those who still cant rely exclusively on Amida Buddha.
Many people go through these three vows of salvation consciously
or unconsciously in their Buddhist practice. Many of us had a time
when we practiced other Buddhist methods to become a Buddha in
this life after we abandoned various religious paths or didnt have any
religion at all. Then, we heard about Amidas Pure Land and we
stopped aspiring to attain Enlightenment in this life but wanted to be
born there. Still, doubting that birth in the Pure Land is so easy, we
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felt we need to do something in order to deserve it. So we continued

to follow various practices to feel we are better people than others.
Then, we heard that nembutsu is the greatest practice among all
Buddhist practices, the root of all virtues, and we start reciting it, but
still we felt this is too easy, so again attachment to our own power
kept us prisoners of doubts.
And finally, after listening again and again to the teaching,
contemplating our true capacities and the Compassion of Amida, we
realized he is like a mother who wishes to save her children quickly
from the danger of fire and death, without waiting until they become
perfect. So, for the first time we heard the 18th Vow in which no
special virtue or capacity was mentioned in order to be born in the
Pure Land, and we received faith. Then, the nembutsu we continued
to recite was no longer the nembutsu based on self power, but the
nembutsu of faith and gratitude.
With this nembutsu of faith and gratitude we enter directly into the
presence of Amida, the Master of the Pure Land, where we too
become Buddhas and forever join his salvation work.

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Methods for the visualisation of Amida and shinjin

Question:
I was reading about the practice described in the Pratyutpanna
Samadhi Sutra and I was really impressed by the idea of experiencing
the presence of Amida Nyorai and the other Buddhas. I also read that
this sutra contains one of the earliest mentions of Amida Tathagata so
I would like to ask you about such practices.
It is true for me that some times I feel my faith becoming strong
and settled in my mind while some other times it becomes weaker so
there is still work for me till I experience true and pure shinjin in
Amida Nyorai and the Vow.
My question is, whether practices like that mentioned in the sutra
above are allowed to practicers of the Jodo Shinshu sect. The
Contemplation Sutra which I have not yet studied is said to contain
ways to visualise Amida and in Chinese Pure Land school this kind
of visualisation was widespread among priests and monks. Is it okay
if someone tries to visualise Amida in addition to chanting the
nembutsu (I do not mean chanting as a way to gain merit but having
in mind the Shinshu doctrine that it is an expression of gratitude for
Amidas Power of salvation)?
Are visualizations of Amida Nyorai and the 90 days practice in
Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra examples of reliance on jiriki? In my
opinion, such practices could be useful in strengthening the
experience of shinjin and I do believe that the results of these
visualizations and practices are made visible to us by the Other Power
and not our personal power. I mean, isnt it Amida who makes the
visions possible to us? A man of shinjin for example, could practice
visualization methods to have a look of Amida Tathagata and his
attendants.

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If I keep in my mind that the visualisations are a gift of the Other

Power and are experienced only with the help of the Other Power,
could I for example, visualise Amida and the Pure Land?
Answer:
A Jodo Shinshu follower can do any practice he wants if by that
practice he doesnt think he adds something to the salvation of
Amida. If one has firm faith in Amida Buddha and thinks that only
through the Power of Amida he is born in the Pure Land and becomes
a Buddha then he cannot deviate no matter whether he sometimes
does some meditation or visualisations.
But if one thinks that by practicing a certain meditation or
visualisation he is gaining merit, improves his chances of being born
in the Pure Land or even thinks that he improves his shinjin, then this
is not in accord with the Jodo Shinshu teaching.
In Jodo Shinshu faith is something very simple. Its just to entrust
in Amida.
If it helps you, maybe you can say this to yourself: From now on I
rely exclusively on Amida for my birth in the Pure Land and
attainment of Buddhahood. No matter what other thoughts arise in
my mind or fears or doubts, I leave them alone and rely exclusively
on Amida Buddha.
Do not try to create a special state of faith in your mind, and dont
work on that special state of faith. Just rely on Amida in a simple
manner and let other thoughts, fears or doubts arise and leave your
mind. Listen again and again to the Dharma as explained by Shinran
Shonin. Listening deeply to the Dharma opens us to Amida and
prepares us to receive shinjin.
There are many sutras and sacred texts about Amida Buddha, and
many interpretations, but Shinrans view is unique among all. In
Tannisho, Yuien-bo encourages us to adhere only to Shinrans
explanations of the sutras.
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In the sutras, Shinran said, the true and real and the
accommodated and provisional are mixed.And he continued, that
we abandon the accommodated and take up the real, set aside the
provisional and adopt the true is the Masters fundamental intent.
You must under no circumstances misread the sacred writings.
This means that the teaching about Amidas salvation is presented
in various ways depending on the sutras. Some sutras encourage
people to practice visualisations, others to keep precepts and do good
deeds in addition to aspiring for birth in the Pure Land, yet others to
recite the Name with right concentration. The Larger Amida Sutra
(Bussetsu Muryoju Kyo), which Shinran considered to be the most
important sutra preached by Shakyamuni, presents the Primal Vow in
which only saying of the Name in faith is all that matters. No other
requirements or other practices like visualisation or meditation and
following precepts are mentioned in the Primal Vow (18th Vow).
What does this mean? It means, according to Shinran, that the
methods related to visualisations presented in some sutras are only
provisional methods for those still incapable of relying exclusively on
Amida Buddha in accordance with the Primal Vow. They are not
direct means of entering the Pure Land, but practicing such methods
shows a lack of shinjin and an attachment to ones own power. Such
methods practiced without shinjin can lead only to the borderland of
the Pure Land and not to the true fulfilled Pure Land where one
becomes immediately a Buddha.
But for one who has received shinjin in his heart and knows surely
that he is born in the Pure Land only by faith in Amida and through
Amidas Power, he may enjoy such visualisations if he wishes
because he knows that success or lack of any success in visualisation
does not add something to the salvation of Amida. We can say that he
tries visualisations for fun.

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You can also give it a try if you are in the situation of the person
described above. Only the person described above is not going
against Jodo Shinshu teaching if he practices visualisation. This is
simply because he has already received shinjin a simple,
uncomplicated faith in Amida Buddha. But if something like
transference of merit is involved and suggested in the technical
description of performing that visualisation, then you, as one who
knows that you have no merit, should bypass that part.
Of course, in the end, any success of Amidas visualisation is due
only to Amidas Power and influence. You said: I do believe that the
results of these visualizations and practices are made visible to us by
the Other Power and not our personal power. Yes, this is true, but
those without faith and who rely on their own power do not realize
this, and because they cling to their so-called realisations and not on
the Power of Amida they are not born directly into the true fulfilled
Pure Land but in the borderland of the Pure Land.
But I also do not deny that after seeing Amida with their own eyes,
some self-power practicers might become aware that it is only
Amidas working who does all things and end up relying exclusively
on Other Power. So, I am not against visualisations but against the
wrong attitude of mind that does the visualisations. All that matters
is whether there is the presence of shinjin (simple faith) or the lack of
shinjin (lack of simple faith).
It is very important to know that shinjin does not become stronger
through visualisations and does not depend on visualisations. It is an
error to think that shinjin is the product of a successful visualisation
or it is strengthened by it. Shinjin is just the simple entrusting to
Amida that comes after hearing and accepting the Primal Vow in
which only faith and the nembutsu of faith are involved. In its
ultimate sense shinjin is the gift of Amida and is not dependent upon
or strengthened by any visualisation.

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About your thoughts and bad tendencies that dont stop even
after receiving shinjin
Dont busy yourself with them, just as Amida doesnt. Your
salvation has nothing to do with them. This is why Master Rennyo
said that for the person of shinjin our negative karma is as if nonexistent, in the sense that it will not become an obstacle to our
attainment of Buddhahood in the Pure Land. This is also the meaning
of we attain Buddhahood without destroying blind passions.
If bad thoughts arise in your mind, let them pass. It is not in your
power to stop them and is not even recommended that you stop your
thoughts, as this can bring mental problems. Just notice them and let
them pass. They are your karma, your karmic tendencies, conscious
or unconscious. I say they are yours because you are attached to
them, identify yourself with them and you try to fulfill them, but in
reality they are like clouds in the sky, impermanent and transitory.
Thoughts belong to nobody; they come from emptiness and go to
emptiness. So, just leave them alone: you dont need to insist on
acting on them or modifying them. Just rely on Amida and say the
nembutsu. The object of your attention should be Amidas promise
from his Primal Vow, not the various thoughts that wander in your
mind.
If you experience good moments, say the nembutsu. If you
experience bad moments, say the nembutsu. There will always be
something to happen to you or appear into your mind. Dont expect
not to experience bad thoughts after receiving shinjin (faith).
Take refuge in Amida Buddha and say his Name no matter the
state of mind you are in. Amida doesnt care that you are in a good,
special, or bad state of mind. He knows who you are and that you
need him, so dont worry. He is your best friend, asking nothing
from you.
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Here is a wonderful poem by Senmyo Wajo:

When you are alone and hurt, recite Namo Amida Butsu.
When you feel the loneliest man in the world and you are
depressed, again recite Namo Amida Butsu.
Namo Amida Butsu is for this ignorant person full of blind
passions.
When things are as they should, not good or bad, Namo Amida
Butsu.
Namo Amida Butsu is not recited for other peoples ears,
but its a Call between parent and child.
I hear Namo Amida Butsu with my ears,
Namo Amida Butsu I answer with my voice and my heart,
Namo Amida Butsu, recite even for ten times and sleep in peace!
If you suddenly die, whenever and wherever you are,
you are home in the Pure Land of Enlightenment.

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On doubts and fears

Question:
How does the person of nembutsu, who has received shinjin, deal
with the demon of doubt that resurfaces after the believer has
received and experienced the blessings of true entrusting from Amida
Buddha?
As foolish beings, our Saha world minds are prone to delusion and
doubt. That is part of our hopeless condition as bonbu. Perhaps
those who have doubt after receiving shinjin are loved all the more by
Amida Nyorai, because Amida recognizes the great need to embrace
these hopeless, helpless beings in their delusional state of doubt. A
Chinese Pure Land Master once said, You may not ever doubt
Buddha Amitabha, but, you will doubt yourself. (I realize that those
who have shinjin have Amidas own faith through his merit
transference to us, and that Amida Buddha cannot doubt himself).
At some level, most Westerners, who are converts from some form
of Christianity, know they are risking their very eternal lives
(souls?) to receive, and possibly transmit, the Dharma of our school
of Buddhism.
Could it be that all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas praise the person of
nembutsu, because of that persons stubborn reliance on the Great
Vow and belief in the sutras preached by Shakyamuni...at a
fundamental level? Are people of shinjin...heroes to all the beings
of all the worlds?
Are these children of Amida Buddha recipients of the Present
Benefits because they recognize their stupidity and know, beyond
any doubt, that the one thing they cannot do is save themselves from
birth and death?
Answer:

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A person who has received shinjin cannot doubt Amidas

salvation. To have shinjin means, in the words of Shinran, to hear the
Primal Vow of Amida without doubt. So, doubt and shinjin cannot
coexist with one another.
Of course, in terms of his personal daily life, the follower can have
doubt related with many things, like his relations, his friends, even
his own self, but he never doubts in ultimate matters like his own
birth in the Pure Land and subsequent attainment of Buddhahood.
Generally speaking, the follower who has faith in Amida should
not expect to feel special things or become a better person, to acquire
qualities that he hasnt had until then, or to overcome his ordinary
problems and fears. Simply stated, he remains an ordinary person
filled with delusions and attachments even after receiving shinjin.
But there is one big difference he knows that from now on (from
the moment of his first thought of full entrusting) a great burden has
indeed been taken off his shoulders, the burden of becoming a
Buddha by himself. He certainly knows, with no doubt, that he has
become assured of birth and Buddhahood in Amidas Pure Land
when this life comes to an end.
He knows all these, but deep inside, fears of various kinds,
delusions and difficulties might continue to coexist with this faith.
Shinjin or faith is an outside element in the heart of the believer
because it is not his creation but rather what Amida has planted inside
him.
Shinjin is also like the big and warm arms of the mother who
carries the frightened child across the turbulent waters of a flooded
river. The child continues to cry, being frightened of various things
he sees and hears around him, but he is safely kept in his mothers
embrace.

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Fears of many types are present but there is also entrusting in the
mother. For example, he might be scared when he sees a big wave
coming toward him or hears a thunderbolt in the sky or the rain
pouring over his face, but he knows he is safely carried away by his
mother to the other shore.
Fear is an instinctual habit which cannot completely disappear
from our hearts and minds until we have become Enlightened. For
example, even when we are in a big and solid house we might fear for
a moment when we hear a powerful thunder. In the same way, we
continue to fear death even if we know that when we die we go to the
Pure Land and become Buddhas. Fear of death is the manifestation of
our powerful attachment and identification with our bodies. It is the
same with fear from being injured, but I would not call these fears the
same as doubting Amidas salvation.
If we were asked to feel no fear in order to be saved by Amida,
then who would be saved? Who is free of at least one type of fear?
So, Amida Buddha does not require us to be without fear as there is
no mention in his Primal Vow of anything like this. If we read the
Primal Vow we see that he only asks us to entrust in him (saying of
the Name and aspiring to be born being the same as entrusting).
In the ultimate sense, faith in Amida is not the product of our
minds or hearts as unenlightened beings. It is said that in a forest
filled with poisonous trees, there cannot appear any tree with good
fruits. So in the hearts filled with illusions and attachments, faith in
Amida cannot appear unless Amida causes it to appear. It is the same
as the love of the mother who makes the child entrust to her. Without
the love of the mother, the child can do nothing.
The calling of the mother echoes in the childs heart and makes
him respond with faith, just as it is with Namo Amida Butsu (which
is the expression of faith). But it is the mothers love which works
inside the child to make him entrust to her. This is how I explain in

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limited verbal terms the impossible to understand concept that shinjin

comes from Amida and is not our creation.
Because shinjin comes from Amida it is called the diamond-like
shinjin, which means it cannot be destroyed by anybody, be it a
demon or a person from a different religion. Even if we hear others
tell us that because we left Christianity well go to hell, it is like
hearing thunderbolts and heavy rain from inside a big, strong and safe
house. The thunderbolts and heavy rain might sound frightful for a
moment, because we are used to hearing many threats all our life
since childhood, but we remember that we are safe in the house,
which is a metaphor of Amidas embrace.
It is the same when watching a horror movie. We can become
scared, but in the end we know we are safe and that it is only a
movie, nothing real. After all, the reality is that we are safe with
Amida Buddha and carried to his Pure Land where well become
Buddhas.
I repeat, in ultimate matters that we are saved by Amida there
can be no doubts for one who has shinjin. No matter what happens or
how he feels, sometimes good and sometimes bad or scared by
various things, he knows deep inside him, due to his faith, that he is
saved by Amida and destined to become a Buddha in the Pure Land.
There is nothing we, ordinary people, can do with our fears,
attachments and problems, so there is no need to worry that they may
remain with us for the rest of our lives. Most important is that we rely
on Amida, that we have a simple faith in him and thus be sure that
this is our last life as non-Buddhas.
Please do not forget that fear, attachments, and delusions are
different and apart from shinjin. The first are the product of your own
delusion, while the latter originates from Amida and is the assurance
that he saves you and accepts you as you are.

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People of nembutsu are praised by all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

not because they made something special through their own power,
but because they follow the most important teaching of all Buddhas
by entrusting themselves to Amida. All Buddhas know the Amida
Dharma is the supreme Dharma because it can save everybody, no
matter how great or small their spiritual capacities. The goal of all
Buddhas appearance in the world is to save all beings; and what
method is indeed saving everybody and corresponds to this goal, if
not the nembutsu of faith in Amida?
So, to be open to this Dharma, accept it, venerate it and say the
nembutsu of faith is what all Buddhas praise even if the follower does
not have anything special inside him.
It is due to Amida that persons of shinjin are praised by all
Buddhas. We are not heroes, because without Amida we can do
nothing but end in hell or other lower realms; we are not heroes,
because it is Amida who works inside us, once we have entrusted
ourselves to him, and causes us be born in his Pure Land. We can
rather say that we are the children with the most important father or
mother in the universe. If you have the most important father or
mother you can be certain that all Buddhas will praise you, even
though you are nothing special in and of yourself.
Also it is one thing to see yourself as you are in the light of your
own wisdom and another to realize your limitations once the infinite
light of Amida enters your being through faith (shinjin). It is the
difference between sitting in a dark room with a small candle on the
one hand and illuminating it with lots of modern electrical devices on
the other. Shinjin, or connecting to Amidas Light, is what causes you
to receive the ten benefits in this life and the praise of all Buddhas.
All one needs do is listen deeply to the teaching about the Primal
Vow again and again. Even if he doubts many times, he should
continue to listen, ask questions, meditate on himself and on what he
has heard, and one day he might well become open to and arrive at a
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simple faith in Amida naturally arising in his heart. Then he will be

sure of his birth in the Pure Land no matter if his mind remains as
ordinary as before.

107

I was a good Buddhist

Many Buddhist practicers are like a man staring at the sun, but
with his body in a hole full of excrement.
Here the sun represents the ideal Buddhahood to be attained
through his own power. This ideal is of course very beautiful and the
practicer always likes to stare at it and to take delight in many
beautiful words about Enlightenment, emptiness, Buddha-nature, that
we are all Buddhas-to-be, etc. The hole of excrement is his true
reality in the here and now, his deep karmic evil, his limitations,
attachments and blind passions that cover all his body and mind.
However, he likes to dream about Enlightenment: he sometimes
even thinks that this is something that can be attained in this very life.
After all, he might ask, we all have Buddha-nature, dont we?
And this dream continues as he practices in self power for 20, 30,
40 years or more, until he finally dies like an ordinary unenlightened
person, going to the next life with all his karma, attachments and his
so called merits accumulated in this life.
I often meet with people that talk a lot about the fact that we all
posses Buddha-nature and because of this there is nothing that we
have left to do but just realize this truth in our mind. They are always
full of wise quotes from Buddhist masters and sages of the past from
various schools, about Buddha-nature, emptiness, etc. Usually such
people try many types of practices, always going here and there,
never being totally satisfied with any school or teacher.
Im still searching, they say, always feeling comfortable with
this searching, behaving as though they have all the time in the world.
They enjoy good books and good meditation, until they suddenly die.
I said that they suddenly die because when death comes to them is

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like a surprise. In fact, they never seriously think about death: this is
why they enjoy their searching for truth and the right practice.
If they were really aware of the inevitability of their own death and
impermanence, the next step would be to ask themselves in what state
of mind death will find them if it comes not tomorrow, but today, at
this very hour and second. If they were to ask themselves this
question, then they could feel the smell of the excrement they are in
and awaken from the self-satisfying dream of beautiful words about
Enlightenment.
I myself was a good Buddhist, staring at the sun until the
awareness of my own death and impermanence hit me so powerfully
and awoke me from my dream of self satisfaction. I suddenly became
aware not only of the fragility of my life, but also of the fragility and
impermanence of my practice based on personal power. In that
moment I abandoned myself and took refuge in Amida. Since then, I
cannot deceive myself with my spiritual realizations.
I imagine myself like a man lying helplessly in a deep and dark
ravine with walls so steep and slippery that they cannot be climbed
given my weak body. A good man sees me and throws a strong rope
to me. But being so weak, I cannot climb myself on it, so he tells me
just to tie myself to this strong rope and let myself to be lifted by him.
He tells me not to be afraid and to have full trust in him. I do this
immediately and I am finally released from the dark ravine.
This dark ravine in which I was lying helplessly is samsara (the
world of birth and death), the good man is Amida Buddha and the
rope is his Primal Vow through which he tries to help me. His
intention is not to have a good chat with me about emptiness or
Buddha-nature, or encourage me to climb by myself up the steep and
slippery walls, because he realizes that I definitely cannot do this. His
only intention is to save me immediately, without delay and in this
very moment. He even says to me: I beg you, take this rope, take it

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immediately, there is no time! This is what we mean when we talk

about Amida Buddhas call.
The rope is so well secured that I only need to let my body be
raised by it I do not need to climb myself on it. You probably know
the kind of ropes that are launched from helicopters when injured
people are saved from various dangerous situations these kinds of
ropes are made so that injured persons can be lifted up to safety, they
do not need to climb themselves on it.
To hear Amidas call is to listen to the teaching, that is, to the
intention of his Primal Vow. To let myself be lifted by the rope
dropped to me by him is shinjin (entrusting to his Primal Vow) and
also nembutsu Yes, I rely on you and I am grateful that you have
saved me. Entrusting myself to Amida Buddha and being grateful to
him is Namo Amida Butsu. This how I understand Jodo Shinshu
teaching.

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Four misconceptions concerning the nembutsu

(impermanence, evil karma/good karma and one or many
sayings)
(A commentary on a fragment from The Essentials of Faith
Alone by Master Seikaku)
The four misconceptions concerning the nembutsu, presented by
Master Seikaku in the fragment I chose from the Essentials of Faith
Alone, refers to the wrong understanding of impermanence, bad
karma, good karma, and the matter of once calling and many callings
of the Name of Amida Buddha.
If we wish to understand a certain object we look to its qualities, to
the elements that make it up. What are the elements and fundamental
qualities of life? A body and mind which are subject to an inexorable
cycle of birth, growing, maturity, decay and death. Decay and death
. Especially these two must attract our attention in the same way
we analyze a certain object: some qualities distinguish themselves
from others and lead to the definition of the object.
In the case of life, impermanence is the fundamental characteristic.
So, what we do with an object that has impermanence as its main
quality? What is as slippery as an eel and very dangerous so that,
when it is wrongly understood and used, gives rise to suffering? This
is the most important question. All true practicers have analyzed and
will analyze this life with the same seriousness Siddhartha treated the
meeting with an old man, a sick person and a corpse. His life could
no longer be the same after these encounters.
The life of someone who is aware of the truth of impermanence is
not divided in the present moment and the moment of death, rather it
is a life in which the moment of death is lived here and now, in this
very second. My conversion happened in the moment when the
distance between me and my death was reduced to zero. Until then, I
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always felt like I had a lot of time to practice meditation, be wise,

read, etc. But in that moment I felt that I had no time. Shinjin is
sometimes received on the deathbed. At least that is how it was in my
case. This is why nembutsu from that moment continues even now,
because my first nembutsu was the nembutsu of a dying person.
But why was my conversion from a self power practice towards a
practice based on Other Power? Why not to a better practice, but
still in the realm of self power? The answer is because I felt that I
could not rely on myself. Because in the moment one feels the
fragility of his body and sees with his own eyes the corpse of a friend
or of a close relative, one cannot praise himself with his personal
capacities. In the moment of my conversion I felt that I could not be a
refuge for myself and that Amida became my only refuge. Since then
I continue to experience this truth every day. Not only the perspective
of my death but also my own personal life are constant reminders of
the necessity of getting free from myself in the embrace of Amida.
Master Rennyo said:
The teaching of Buddha Dharma is the teaching of non-ego.
In Buddhism, the teaching of non-ego is often linked with the
image of Bodhisattvas who never think of themselves but are always
dedicated to the salvation of all beings. This is true, but it is only one
aspect of it. How can we, ignorant people, understand the teaching of
non-ego? In what form do we find it emphasized it in Jodo Shinshu?
To follow the teaching of non-ego also means to abandon once and
for all any thought of merit or non-merit, for it means not to include
any personal calculation in matters that concerns our birth in the Pure
Land.
Rennyo Shonin also said:

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When a single thought of faith is awakened in us, our birth in the

Pure Land is definitely settled. It is left up to Amida Tathagata54
whether he saves us after destroying our karmic evil or not. It is
useless for us to discuss matters concerning our karmic evil. What
concerns us is that Amida saves those who entrust themselves to
him.
I see the two wrong views, corrected by Master Seikaku, about the
influence of bad karma or good karma in the act that leads to birth in
the Pure Land, in the light of the above two explanations given by
Rennyo Shonin. In the same way, Seikaku demonstrates the futility of
any attachment regarding the evil karma or good karma from the past.
To worry about our karma means to be blinded by ourselves and
not to see the Buddha. It means not to hear the teaching but to hear
the noises of our personal ego. Because what is in the essence, our
practice of reciting with faith the Name of the Buddha, if not the
escape from the dangerous traps of the ego that thinks itself to be the
center of the universe? The ego tries in vain to lie that it struggles to
transcend itself and attain Nirvana through its own efforts, when in
fact, it does nothing more than strengthen itself in a more subtle way,
i.e. putting more obstacles between it and the true Enlightenment.
I wonder, how can the ego overcome itself while still relying on
itself how can we make a mirror through polishing a brick? These
are fundamental questions in Jodo Shinshu.
Then, the question of how many times should we recite
nembutsu is also useless for someone who relies on Amida. We
must not become complicated but search to understand the essential.
For the person of faith, the Name is not separate from shinjin
(entrusting heart).
Saichi said:

54

Tathagata means Buddha.

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When someone is catching a cold he cannot abstain not to cough.

I caught the cold of Buddhas Dharma and I cannot stop coughing
the nembutsu.
Nembutsu does not appear before the awakening of faith in the
same way coughing does not produce a cold, but is an expression, a
manifestation of it. I like this simple explanation about the relation
between shinjin and nembutsu. It is very simple to deduce from here
that the number of nembutsu recitations is not important. But of
course, when we catch a cold, we cough many times. It would be
really stupid to think that a cold manifest itself only through a single
cough, even if we became aware of its existence when we coughed
for the first time. In the same way, when we rely for the first time on
Amida, we say nembutsu spontaneously, as an expression of faith.
Namo Amida Butsu! I take refuge in Amida! this is something
very natural. Then, because we became infected with shinjin, of
course we will feel the need to say nembutsu in the future.
To think how many times must a man cough who has caught a
cold or how many times must say I love you for a man who is in
love, is not something else but to philosophize on cold or love. It
means to see them from the outside. To remain aside and look from
afar at the Primal Vow, asking yourself how many times you must
say nembutsu, it means that you still havent clung to Amidas
sleeves, as Rennyo said.
We must truly let ourselves be embraced by the nembutsu, that is,
to rely completely on Amida and not be concerned about anything
else. And we must do this today, that is, here and now, on the
deathbed of today, when every useless question ceases and
nembutsu appears spontaneously.

114

The alaya consciousness and faith in Amida Buddha

In Buddhism we speak about the Eight Consciousnesses which are
generated when our senses encounter their objects: 1) consciousness
of sight, 2) consciousness of hearing, 3) consciousness of smell, 4)
consciousness of taste, 5) consciousness of touch, 6) consciousness of
mind, 7) impure (mind) consciousness, 8) the alaya (storehouse)
consciousness.
The meaning of the first five consciousnesses is easy to
comprehend, so I will not dwell upon them.
The consciousness of mind integrates the perceptions of the five
senses in concrete images and makes decisions concerning the
exterior world.
The impure (mind) consciousness is the source of clinging and so
the origin of the sense of ego as well as of the other illusions which
are born from the fact that the man takes as real something which is
merely apparent.
The alaya consciousness or storehouse consciousness is the
place where all the actions and experiences in this life and the
previous lives generated by the seven consciousnesses are stored as
karma, being the only consciousness which comes along with every
birth. This consciousness influences at the same time the workings of
the other seven consciousnesses. Let us examine this consciousness:
We take this alaya consciousness with us in all our births in the
various realms of existence. It contains the seeds of various types of
karma, and it is the storehouse of the habitual evil karmic tendencies
that we have cultivated for eons. Because of the karmic seeds
contained in the alaya consciousness one may die a premature death,
be stricken with unexpected disease or inexplicable misfortune, be
overcome by strong desires, aversions and obsessions, and can think
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and do things that one should never even imagine, etc. So strong is
the influence of the alaya consciousness. ..
When Shinran is recorded as saying in chapter 13th of Tannisho:
a person may not wish to harm anyone and yet end up killing a
hundred or a thousand people, he is in fact referring to the influence
of past karma contained in the alaya consciousness.
Here are two questions and answers related to alaya consciousness:
1. How can the influence of this alaya consciousness be annihilated
in our case, as ordinary people?
Answer:
Only through the nembutsu of faith in Amida Buddha.
2. What exactly happens with alaya consciousness after we receive
shinjin (faith in Amida Buddha)?
Answer:
After we take refuge in Amida Buddha and receive shinjin, the
alaya consciousness as well as the other consciousnesses continue to
exist as long as we are still in our bodies, but at the end of our lives,
when we are born in Amidas Pure Land or his sphere of influence, it
naturally melts and is absorbed in the Buddha nature. It is as the
comparison with ice and fire. Once the ice meets fire (birth in the
Pure Land), it becomes water (Buddhahood). Thus we can no longer
speak about alaya after we become Buddhas in the Pure Land. It
simply doesnt exist anymore.
We cant purify this consciousness during our lives, but due to
Amidas influence it becomes powerless and cannot accompany us in
the next life. By receiving shinjin55 during this present life, the seeds
55

It is important to realize that shinjin is not our creation, nor the manifestation of a
karmic seed from alaya counsciousness, but it comes from Amida Buddhas Mind.
Because it is not our creation and it does not have its source in the alaya, but in

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of our karma contained in alaya consciousness are cut, never to arise

again. It is like the struggle of the fish after it was taken out of the
water. It will still move for a while but it will surely die in short time.
Or like the flower cut and put into a vase. It still preserves its color
but will soon wither away.
Our karma stored in alaya consciousness is like this. It may
continue to influence the present life, but cannot accompany us into
the next life, because we become Buddhas in the moment we die and
are born in the Pure Land.
No other religious practices outside or inside Buddhism can
destroy the karmic seeds of the alaya consciousness so easy as the
Jodo Shinshu method. This is because in Jodo Shinshu we become
totally connected to the enlightened karmic energy of Amida Buddha
who takes care of everything related to our attainment of
Buddhahood.

Amidas Mind, shinjin cannot be destroyed by the forces of evil karma from alaya
counsciousness.

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Merit transference from Amida Buddha to the practicer

Master Rennyo said in one of his Letters:
Attaining the entrusting heart (shinjin) lies in understanding the
Eighteenth Vow. To understand this Vow means to understand what
Namo Amida Butsu is. And so, when one takes refuge, that is,
namo, in Amida in one thought-moment, making aspiration and
directing virtue is implied. This means that Amida Tathagata directs
virtue to us, foolish beings. This is taught in the Larger Sutra as
bringing all sentient beings to the attainment of virtues. So it
follows that all the karmic evil and blind passions which we have
given rise to since the beginingless past are completely extinguished
by the inconceivable Vow-Power. Hence, we dwell in the stage of
non-retrogression, or the stage of the truly settled.
Master Rennyo emphasizes here another important aspect of the
Jodo Shinshu teaching Amida Buddhas transference of merit
towards us. In the practices based on personal power the practicer
earns virtues which he transfers for his own Enlightenment. But in
the case of the Other Power way, the transference of merits takes
place from Amida Buddha to the person of shinjin. This transference
of merit is what makes the follower capable of attaining Nirvana.
There is a hymn by Shinran Shonin which says:
When sentient beings of this evil world of the five defilements56
Entrust themselves to the selected Primal Vow,
Virtues indescribable, inexplicable, and inconceivable
56

The five defilements are the five marks of decay of the world we live in: 1) the
defilement of views, when incorrect, perverse thoughts and ideas are predominant,
2) the defilement of passions, when all kinds of transgressions are exalted, 3) the
defilement of human condition, when people are usually dissatisfied and unhappy,
4) the defilement of life-span, when the human life-span as a whole decreases
according to the sutras, when it is less or close to one hundred years, 5) the
defilement of the world-age, when war and natural disasters are rife.

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Fill those practicers.

The merit transference from Amida to the practicer has two aspects:
1) the merit transference of going forth (Oso-Eko) and
2) the merit transference of going back to this world (Genso-Eko) .
The first refers to the fact that Amida transfers his entire store of
karmic merit to us, making us capable of attaining Buddhahood in the
Pure Land; and the second one means that the person who has thus
become a Buddha by sharing the same Enlightenment as Amida, is
made capable of returning to this world in order to save all beings.
The Awakening of the Bodhi Mind the aspiration to attain
Budhahood for saving oneself and all beings is fulfilled in the
Awakening of Faith in the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha. Shan-tao
said: Awake your Bodhi Mind to Amidas Compassion, that is,
aspire to your and other beings Liberation by relying on the
Compasion of Amida (his Primal Vow).
So, the Awakening of the Bodhi Mind, the obligatory condition in
Mahayana of attaining the supreme Enlightenment, appears in Jodo
Shinshu in the form of the entrusting heart (shinjin).
Shinran Shonin said in the Hymns on Patriarchs:
Faith is One Mind
One Mind is the Diamond-like Mind;
The Diamond-like Mind is the Bodhi-Mind;
This mind is given us by the Other-Power.
The One Mind represents the cause of Enlightenment. Since this is
the Bodhi-Mind, it has two aspects57:

57

The two aspects of the Bodhi-Mind are to aspire to the attainment of

Buddhahood for himself and others.

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To take refuge with One Mind in the Buddha

Of Unhindered Light Shining throughout the Ten Directions
Is the mind aspiring to become Buddha;
So says Vasubandhu, the Master of Discourse58.
The mind aspiring to become Buddha
Is the mind seeking to save sentient beings;
The mind that seeks to save sentient beings
Is True Faith endowed by Amidas Compassion.

58

Discourse on the Pure Land (Jodoron), a work whose author is Master

Vasubandhu.

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No discrimination of women in the salvation of Amida Buddha

If one reads the 35th Vow of Amida Buddha without carefully
understanding its meaning, he might come to the conclusion that
there is a prejudice against women:
If, when I attain Buddhahood, women in the immeasurable and
inconceivable Buddha-lands of the ten quarters who, having heard
my Name, rejoice in faith, awaken aspiration for Enlightenment and
wish to renounce womanhood, should after death be reborn again as
women, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
Womanhood, like manhood is just a limited form for us living
in samsara or the world of delusion and suffering. In reality, our true
nature or Buddha nature is not of women or men, so upon birth in the
Pure Land of Amida where we attain Buddhahood, we naturally
renounce our womanhood or manhood that is, we do not define
ourselves by these terms. By birth in the Pure Land we become
Buddhas and go beyond the limitations of being a woman or a man.
So, this Vow does not look down on women, as though there is
something wrong with being a woman, but it shows that women are
equally treated as men by the salvation of Amida Buddha, contrary to
some texts which promote the idea that women have fewer chances
than men to become Buddhas.
In his Letters59 Rennyo Shonin often especially addresses women.
Here are just a few quotes:
Let all women living in the present age deeply entrust themselves
with singleness of mind to the Amida Tathagata. Apart from this, they
must realize they will never be saved in regard to the afterlife,
whatever teaching they may rely upon.

59

Gobunsho or Ofumi.

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Women who have renounced the world while remaining in lay life
and ordinary women as well, should realize and have absolutely no
doubt whatsoever that there is deliverance for all those who simply
rely deeply (single-heartedly and steadfastly) on Amida Buddha and
entrust themselves to that Buddha to save them, bringing them to
Buddhahood in the afterlife. This is the Primal Vow of Other Power,
the Vow of Amida Tathagata. Once they have realized this, when they
then feel thankfulness and joy at being saved in regard to the
afterlife, they should simply repeat Namo Amida Butsu, Namo
Amida Butsu.
By just entrusting herself solely to Amida Buddha (with no
double-mindedness, with steadfast, and with the single thought that
Amida saves her in regard to the afterlife) a woman will readily
become a Buddha. If this mind is free of the slightest doubt, she will
unfailingly go to the land of utmost bliss and become a splendid
Buddha.
All women if they are concerned about the afterlife and have a
sense of reverence for the Buddha Dharma should simply entrust
themselves deeply to Amida Tathagata, cast off the sundry practices,
and rely single-heartedly and firmly on Amida to save them [bringing
them to Buddhahood] in the afterlife. They should have no doubt
whatsoever that such women will be born without fail in the land of
utmost bliss.
Especially in the letter On Women Attaining Buddhahood,
Rennyo Shonin speaks about the 35th Vow of Amida Buddha, which
he calls the Vow of Womens Attainment of Buddhahood:
Amida Tathagata himself made the supreme great Vow
concerning women who are abandoned by all other Buddhas,
thinking, If I do not save women, which of the other Buddhas will
save them?
Resolving to go beyond all other Buddhas and save women, he
meditated for five kalpas; undergoing practices for numberless
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kalpas, he made the all-surpassing great Vow. Thus it is Amida who

originated the incomparable Vow, Womens Attainment of
Buddhahood. For this reason, women who deeply rely on Amida
and entrust themselves to him to save them in regard to the afterlife,
will all be born in the land of utmost bliss.
All these passages prove that there is no discrimination against
women in the salvation of Amida Buddha. Especially because other
practices or religious systems might discriminate women, Amida
wants to reassure them that in his case, they need not worry about
anything. Although his Primal Vow already made no discrimination
among sentient beings, he wanted to make another Vow to be sure
that nobody will ever ever say that women are not included in his
salvation. Thus, we may say that the 35th Vow supports the 18th Vow
by emphasizing that all beings, including women, are born in the
Pure Land and become Buddhas if they fully entrust themselves to
Amida.

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The changing mind

What state of mind do you want?
Even if you attain the state of mind you want,
It will change again.
Do not depend on the mind which keeps changing.
Zuiken Sensei
Impermanence is the fundamental law of the world we live in and
of our spiritual realizations. If we believe in the permanence of this
world, we will lose ourselves in it, in our desires about it. If we
believe in the permanence of our spiritual realizations based on the
false ego, we will lose ourselves in a false Enlightenment.
This is why, in our tradition, we take refuge in Amida Buddha in
order to attain the true Enlightenment (birth in the Pure Land).
The ego cannot become free by himself.
Namo Amida Butsu
***
Discussion at the dojo:
Last night I felt so bad, that I wanted to be born in the Pure
Land as quickly as possible.
Answer:
Last night you wanted to go to the Pure Land so quickly because
you felt very bad, but today, when everything is okay, you do not
wish to go there too soon. It is our changing and selfish mind that
wishes to go sooner or later to the Pure Land.

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Fortunately, our birth in the Pure Land is the working of Amida,

not our working. We cannot attain Birth by relying on such a mind
that today wishes to be born in the Pure Land and tomorrow doesnt
want this any more. It is precisely because we have such a changing
mind filled with illusions that we are saved by Amida. The people
who lack the seeds of Buddhahood and feel so hard to leave this
world are exactly the people taken care of by the Primal Vow of
Amida Buddha.

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Faith and nembutsu are not our creations

The reason why in a nembutsu followers heart both the faith in the
Primal Vow and his blind passions and illusions coexist is that this
faith doesnt belong to him.
This is another important aspect of the Jodo Shinshu teaching. It is
said that in an Eranda60 forest grow only Eranda trees and not the
famous Chandana61 trees with their fine fragrance. It is a miracle if a
Chandana tree grows in an Eranda forest. Similarly, it is a miracle if
faith in Buddha flourishes in the peoples hearts. How can it be
possible that from human passions the faith in Buddha can be born?
The answer is that this phenomenon is practically impossible, and
the faith in Buddha is not due to our power but rather what the
Buddha plants in us. That is why shinjin or the entrusting heart is
called rootless faith for it has no roots in the mans mind but in
Buddhas Compassion. The same thing happens when saying the
Name expresses faith and gratefulness. Everything comes from
Amida and manifests like an echo in our souls and on our lips, just
like a child who faithfully answers his mothers calling.
A mother calls her child and the child answers immediately. The
answer of the child is due to the mothers call, not to the power of the
child. In the same way, shinjin (entrusting heart) is not our own
creation, but the natural answer to the call of Amida Buddha, the
Compassionate Mother of all beings. Because of Amida, we entrust
in Amida and say nembutsu.
Only because the mother always sends unconditional love to her
child, can he trust in and rely on her. The faith of the child is in fact,
the love of the mother which manifests in him. The mother is the one
who actually feeds and makes the child grow. A child is nothing
60
61

Trees from Asia which have poisonous fruits.

Trees from Asia with beautiful smelling flowers.

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without a mother. The power of her love makes him grow, not his
own power.
Shinjin and nembutsu are the echo manifested in us, of the
powerful call of Amida.
When one is in the mountains and shouts in a loud voice,
automatically you can hear the echo. If you do not shout, no echo can
be heard. In the same way, if Amida would not compassionately
call to us, there would be no shinjin and nembutsu.
This matter that shinjin and nembutsu comes from Amida and are
not created by us is very difficult to explain in words. In fact, it is
beyond conceptual understanding. I am using here images to cause
my mind and heart, and the minds and hearts of the readers, to
understand this important truth that there is nothing we can call to
be ours and our creation, especially shinjin and nembutsu.
I do not know if these images are the best. Just please use them, if
you consider them useful, to abandon your thoughts of personal merit
in receiving shinjin and birth in the Pure Land. Just rely on Amida
Buddha and dont think on anything else. I do not use by chance the
term receive and not the term attain when referring to shinjin.
Eiken Kobai Sensei explains in his book Understanding Jodo
Shinshu62:
The shinjin that is the acceptance of Amida Buddhas Primal Vow
and the nembutsu that we recite with our mouth, are absolutely not
things that depend on our efforts. Rather, because they result solely
from the Buddha-centered power, we refer to them as the shinjin of
merit transference based on Buddha-centered power (tariki eko no
shinjin) and the nembutsu of the merit transference based on Buddhacentered power (tariki eko no nembutsu.
62

Published in 2007 by Dharma Lion Publications, Craiova, Romania.

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Why some are saved by Amida and others are not?

There is no heart far from Amida,
But a covered bowl of water cannot reflect the moon.
Once a friend asked me the following question:
Why is that one person is ready for the nembutsu and others
obviously are not? And assumed the nembutsu comes only from the
Buddha to us, as taught by Shinran, does the Buddha choose between
those he wants to save now and those he doesnt want to save yet?
Answer:
Imagine that somebody loves you unconditionally, but you do not
care. The love of that person is always upon you, but because your
eyes are closed, you cannot feel his or her love.
There is another image, which it was also used by Master
Rennyo63: the moon is reflected in every bowl full of water, but some
bowls are covered. So, the moon is not guilty that her image is not
reflected in the covered bowl. In the same way, you can become open
or closed to the message of the Primal Vow of Amida, although
Amidas Light Compassion) is always shining on you. Amida
Buddha does not chose between those he wants to save now and
those he doesnt want to save yet, but some people are simply not
opened to his call, while some others are open.
Some might ask: what do we have to do in order to receive shinjin?

63

It is said that Zen Master Ikkyu sent the following koan to Master Rennyo:
Amida has no mercy since Amida only saves those who says His Name. Master
Rennyo answered him with the poem: There is no heart far from Amida, but a
covered bowl of water cannot reflect the moon.

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Master Rennyo said in Rennyo Shonin Goichidaiki Kikigaki (Thus I

Have Heard from Rennyo Shonin)64:
Regardless of our doubts, if we listen intently with our entire
being, we will be given shinjin because of Great Compassion. The
Buddhist teaching begins and ends in hearing.
So, in our tradition, listening to the teaching is the most important
practice. You have to listen again and again, and one day, you will
become open and you will receive shinjin. The words we will be
given shinjin because of Great Compassion shows that shinjin
comes from Amida, but the first part if we listen intently with our
entire being shows what we have to do, if we wish to receive the
gift of faith from Amida. As my nembutsu friend, Jason Ranek said
in his poem:
Uncover your cup
To receive the Dharma rain,
Then faith, and the Nembutsu,
Will naturally arise.
If somebody does not listen deeply to the teaching but is filled with
ideas of self power, he cannot receive shinjin and nembutsu (which is
the natural manifestation of shinjin). Shinjin and nembutsu are not
forcibly imposed in our hearts by Amida Buddha, so if somebody
does not show interest in the Buddhist teaching and especially in the
teaching about the Primal Vow of Amida, he cannot receive shinjin.
Things are very simple and yet very profound. My opinion is that
we should not complicate our minds, but listen to the Dharma again
and again, and faith will be given.

64

Thus I Have Heard from Rennyo Shonin (Rennyo Shonins Goichidaiki Kikigaki)
- An annotated translation by Zuio Hisao Inagaki. Published in 2008, by Dharma
Lion Publications, Craiova.

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The ten benefits in this life of a nembutsu follower

Shinran Shonin speaks about the ten benefits a nembutsu follower
receives in this present life:
1. Protected by unseen divine beings (myoshu goji)
This means that those who have shinjin are protected against
various influences from external evil forces. Thus, the nembutsu
follower has no reason to be afraid of sorcery, black magic or evil
spirits. Shinran Shonin said in Hymns of Benefit in the Present:
When we say Namo Amida Butsu,
Brahma65 and Indra66 venerate us;
All the benevolent gods of the heavens
Protect us constantly, day and night.
When we say Namo Amida Butsu,
The four great deva-kings together
Protect us constantly, day and night,
And let no evil spirits come near.
When we say Namo Amida Butsu,
The earth-goddess called Firmness
Reveres and protects us constantly, day and night,
Accompanying us always just as shadows do things.
When we say Namo Amida Butsu,
Nanda, Upananda, and the other great nagas,
Along with the countless naga-gods, revere
And protect us constantly, day and night.
When we say Namo Amida Butsu,
65

Brahma is the creator God in Hinduism, but in Buddhism he is the Lord of the
first Dhyana Heaven from the world of form.
66
Indra is the Lord of the heaven of the thirty-three gods (Trayas-trimsa).

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Yama, the king of the dead, reveres us,

And the officers who judge the beings of the five courses of
existence
All protect us constantly, day and night.
When we say Namo Amida Butsu,
We are protected by the great king of maras
Residing in the sixth heaven;
This he vowed to do in the presence of Sakyamuni Buddha.
The gods of the heavens and earth
Are all to be called good,
For together they protect
The person of the nembutsu.
There are many similar references in Kyogyoshinsho and other
writings of Shinran Shonin.
2. Possessed of the supreme virtue (shitoku gusoku)
It means that by entrusting ourselves to Amida Buddhas Primal
Vow we receive his merit and virtues that cause us to attain birth in
the Pure Land:
When sentient beings of this evil world of the five defilements
Entrust themselves to the selected Primal Vow,
Virtues indescribable, inexplicable, and inconceivable
Fill those practicers.
Shinran Shonin explained in his work Passages on the Two
Aspects of The Tathagatas Directing of Virtue:
Concerning the directing of virtue through the power of the
Primal Vow, the Tathagatas directing of virtue has two aspects: the
directing of virtue in the aspect for our going forth to the Pure Land
and the directing of virtue in the aspect for our return to this world.

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The directing of virtue in the aspect for our going forth means that
by receiving shinjin during this present life we are made to be born in
the Pure Land where we become immediately Buddhas67.
The directing of virtue for our return to this world means that as
soon as we become Buddhas in the Pure Land we return to this world
in various forms to help all beings.
Both these aspects are the transference of merit from Amida
Buddha to us which we receive in the form of shinjin (entrusting
heart) and nembutsu (saying of the Name).
In fact, every one of the benefits presented here are the
manifestation of Amidas transference of his entire store of karmic
merit to us; they are all the gifts of Amida.
Here it is a question about the merit transference from Amida and
my answer:
Question:
When I first experienced gratitude and said the Nembutsu, Paul68
wrote and said, He (Amida) not only knows your name, but he has
given to you his own store of infinite karmic merit. Does that
karmic merit only apply to what happens after this life?
Answer:
In the moment you receive shinjin, as Paul said, you also receive
Amida Buddhas store of infinite karmic merit. This means that you
have entered the stage of non-retrogression in this life (see the 10th
benefit) and you become assured of birth in the Pure Land exactly as
you are. In this way Amidas karmic merit applies in this life.
But this doesnt mean that you are free of any suffering while still
alive. You cant always experience happiness in this world

67

See the 10th benefit.

Paul Roberts, disciple of Eiken Kobai Sensei and webmaster of the Shin Ugly
Blog and the True Shin Buddhism Yahoo! group.

68

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because your mind still remains unenlightened until you die, at

which time you are born in the Pure Land.
You ask questions like why are you not happy here and now since
you have shinjin, but the answer is that you are not happy because
you are not a Buddha yet! An unenlightened mind cannot be happy,
no matter what it has and what kind of pleasant circumstances it
encounters. On the contrary, you can experience bliss and lack of
suffering when you are born in the Pure Land because then you
become Enlightened. Only an Enlightened mind can be truly happy.
Thus Amidas Pure Land is called The Land of Peace and Bliss.
Jodo Shinshu is not a path of becoming a Buddha in this life, so
you cannot become perfectly happy here. Only a Buddha can be
perfectly happy in this world, because his mind is a Buddha Mind, an
Enlightened Mind, Awakened and Free. Anywhere he goes he is free
and happy.
However, with shinjin your unenlightened mind is assured of birth
in the Pure Land this is the meaning of this second benefit.
3. Having evil turned into good (tenaku jyozen)
Due to the influence of Amida we can transform an unpleasant
experience into an opportunity to understand life as it is and the
Dharma. It doesnt mean that we will no longer have problems, or
experience lack of material things, etc., but that we can understand
these unfortunate events as being the effects of our karma, using them
to become more aware that this is samsara, the world of suffering
from which we must escape once and for all. Bad events in our lives
can thus be transformed through the light of the Dharma into useful
ones useful for our understanding.
Also this benefit refers to the fact that in the instant we receive
shinjin our karma is cut and cannot plant its seed in another life.
When shinjin enters our heart we receive the pure karmic energy of
Amida Buddha. Our evil is turned into good in the sense that it is no
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longer an obstacle for our attainment of Buddhahood at the end of

this life. No matter what we did in the past or will do in the future due
to our illusions and attachments, our evil becomes as good as nonexistent once we receive shinjin. Being an ordinary person of grave
karmic evil brings us to the special attention of Amidas Compassion.
4. Protected by all Buddhas (shobutsu gonen)
This benefit is again related with protection, like the first benefit.
It is said in the Hymns of Benefit in the Present:
When we say Namo Amida Butsu, Avalokitesvara and
Mahasthamaprapta,
Together with bodhisattvas countless as the Ganges sands or as
particles,
Accompany us just as shadows do things.
Countless Amida Buddhas reside
In the light of the Buddha of Unhindered Light;
Each one of these transformed Buddhas69 protects
The person of true and real shinjin.
When we say Namo Amida Butsu,
The countless Buddhas throughout the ten quarters,
Surrounding us a hundredfold, a thousandfold,
Rejoice in and protect us.
Protection of the Buddhas can be understood not only in the sense
explained at the first benefit, but also that shinjin cant be lost once
we receive it from Amida. This is why it is said in chapter seven of
Tannisho:
nonbuddhists present no obstruction.

69

Manifestations of Amida Buddha which accords with the particularity of each

being.

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How many Christians have tried to tell me that I will go to hell

because of being a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist! Of course such attempts
to frighten me fail not because I posses some special powers, but
because my faith (shinjin) is not my creation. It is not by accident that
in Jodo Shinshu we often meet the expression diamond-like
shinjin. That which gives power to our faith is its origin the Heart
and Mind of Amida Buddha. This
is why Jodo Shinshu followers cant be influenced by those who
follow nonbuddhist paths.
We may also say that the protection of the Buddhas means that
since the moment we receive shinjin, we safely go into the direction
of Buddhahood. All Buddhas are witnesses of this truth and praise
the wonderful salvation work of Amida.
Here it is a question about the protection of the Buddhas in this life
and my answer:
Question:
I still dont understand how a person is protected by these
various Buddhas if a persons karma cant be changed in the present
life.
Answer:
In the moment you entrust to Amida Buddha your karma has its
root cut off in the sense that it cannot plant its seeds into another life
that is, you will no longer be subject to birth and death. But in this
life you continue to experience the effects of your past actions from
previous lives or of those actions you will commit until the moment
of death. So, we should not make any confusion and think that after
we receive shinjin we should always be happy or always experience
happy circumstances.
Since, with shinjin, we are protected from rebirth in the
unenlightened states of existence, no being (visible or invisible) can
destroy our faith or divert us from the Buddhist path, and the
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attainment of Buddhahood in the Pure Land is guaranteed these are

the ways through which this benefit of all Buddhas protection
manifests itself.
5. Praised by all Buddhas (shobutsu shyosan).
All Buddhas praise those who entrust in Amida, looking to them as
to future Buddhas. It is wonderful that we have come to entrust in a
teaching so hard to be accepted in faith, as Shakyamuni himself
recognizes.
In the Larger Sutra, he said:
The one who hears and never forgets this Dharma,
But sees and reveres it and greatly rejoices in attaining it That person is my true companion.
Also it is stated in the Contemplation Sutra:
Know that the person who says the nembutsu is a white lotus
among people.
Shinran Shonin explained in one of his Letters (Mattosho):
Further, Amidas Seventeenth Vow declares that the Buddha will
not enter into perfect Enlightenment if those who say the Name are
not praised by all the countless Buddhas throughout the worlds in the
ten quarters. The passage declaring the fulfillment of the Vow states:
Such people are praised by all the Buddhas and rejoice.
.
6. Protected by the Buddhas spiritual light (shinko jogo)
I think this benefit is in close connection with the fourth.
Here we see that the protection is a spiritual one. It means that
Amida always illuminates us, making us understand our lifes events
as they are explained by the Dharma. Amidas Light causes us to
profoundly realize our limitations and how reliable the Primal Vow
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of Amida is. This twofold awareness never disappears from us

because we are embraced in Amidas spiritual Light, never to be
abandoned.
It also means that we are protected from wrong understanding of
the teaching. False teachers cant influence us and well never distort
the essentials of the Jodo Shinshu Dharma in our presentations.
7. Having much joy in mind (shinta kangi)
The receiving of shinjin is equivalent with escaping a great burden.
We know that well become Buddhas no matter our present situation.
We are able to feel this relief and joy many times in our life, no
matter that sometimes it is covered by the everyday difficulties and
sorrows.
Imagine that you are in a prison and somebody in whom you trust
100% assures you that you will be released in one year or a few
years. That one year you are still in prison is of course difficult, but
you also know for sure that your day of freedom will soon come. So
you are able to feel relief and joy remembering your assurance, no
matter how hard your everyday life in prison still remains.
8. Acknowledging His benevolence and repaying it (chion hotoku)
We become aware of what Amida does for us, freeing us from
birth and death, and we feel gratitude. We express this gratitude by
saying nembutsu and by doing many kind of activities in the benefit
of the Dharma. For example, some people become teachers and
preach the Dharma to others in order to help them receive shinjin.
Also, sharing Dharma texts or helping Jodo Shinshu sanghas, dojos
and temples, and supporting our teachers and fellow practicers are
acts of repaying the benevolence of Amida Tathagata.
Shinran said in the Hymns of the Dharma Ages:
Such is the benevolence of Amidas great Compassion,
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That we must strive to return it, even to the breaking of our bodies;
Such is the benevolence of the masters and true teachers,
That we must endeavor to repay it, even to our bones becoming
dust.
9. Always practicing the Great Compassion (jyogyo daihi)
This doesnt mean that we act like Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in
this very life. If we are already Buddhas and have Great Compassion
then it means that we no longer need the Primal Vow. So, what is the
benefit of always practicing Great Compasion?
I think that although we do not act like Buddhas in this life, by
receiving shinjin we become part of the salvation work of Amida or a
link in Amidas Great Compassion chain. We can understand others
limitations and realize that everybody is accepted as they are,
including ourselves. Especially we can benefit others by helping
them to create connections with the Dharma of Amida.
If somebody gives the true teaching about Amida to others, then he
indeed practices the Great Compassion in the sense that he acts as a
messenger of this Great Compassion.
In his Kyogyoshinsho, chapter three, section on the true disciple of
the Buddha, Shinran Shonin quotes this passage from The Sutra of
Great Compassion:
What is great Compassion? Those who continue solely in the
nembutsu without any interruption70 will thereby be born without fail
in the land of happiness at the end of life. If these people encourage
each other and bring others to say the Name, they are all called
people who practice great Compassion.

70

This nembutsu is the expression of faith. To continue in the nembutsu without

any interruption means to have a stable faith, without any doubt.

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This clearly shows that practicing Great Compassion in this life

means to encourage others to say the nembutsu of faith in Amida
Buddha71.
10. Entering the Rightly-Established Group (shojyoju ni iru)
By receiving shinjin in this life we enter the rightly established
group or those assured of birth and Buddhahood in the Pure Land.
This is also called the stage of non-retrogression. Because we are in
this special group we enjoy every other benefit. I think we may also
say that this benefit and all other benefits are given to us because of
the merit transference from Amida Buddha to us (second benefit).
The tenth benefit is the wonderful news that people like us, full of
blind passions, are saved just as they are i.e. assured of birth in the
Pure Land, if we entrust ourselves to Amida Buddha.
At the end of these explanations I wish to present you with another
three very important questions and my answers, related to the benefits
in this life. Please read them carefully.
Question:
that feeling of safety doesnt seem to apply to how we live life
in this realm of samsara, nor even how we die (suffering, pain etc)
but to the next life and rebirth in the Pure Land .
Answer:
The feeling of safety of a person of shinjin is that he feels assured
he goes directly to the Pure Land. He knows that no matter how he
dies or how he lives, he will surely go to the Pure Land. Any karma
he still creates in this life will no longer have an effect in terms of
another birth in samsara. This is an assurance he receives in this
life, not in the moment of death. (See the tenth benefit)
71

See my commentaries of the chapters four and five from Tannisho in my book,
The Path of Acceptance Commentary on Tannisho, published by Dharma Lion
Publications in 2011. For the free online edition check my blog at www.amida-jiretreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com

139

But he also knows that the remaining part of this life is the life of
an ordinary unenlightened being, so its normal that, as long as he is
not a Buddha, he still suffers. I repeat, he still suffers because he
remains an unenlightened being until his death.
To receive the merits of Amida is like entering into an infinitely
powerful stream of water. You remain as you are, an ugly piece of
wood but you are carried by the stream of water to the ocean. Maybe
this image will be helpful to you. To receive the merits of Amida in
this life through shinjin and to be protected by the Buddhas means
that you are carried safely to the other shore, while you remain as you
are.
It is like being a small and disoriented bee in the great hand of the
Buddha. The bee still suffers but she is carried to her true home and
when she reaches it, she becomes truly happy.
Or it is like a sick man carried by an ambulance. The sick person
still experiences pain on the road to the hospital (the rest of the life
you have until death and birth in the Pure Land), but when he reaches
the hospital and meets the Doctor in person (birth in Amida Buddhas
Pure Land) he is healed for ever and he becomes a Doctor himself
(becomes a Buddha and returns to this world to save others).
Question:
I am just confused about the entire premise of Buddhism leading a
person beyond suffering in this world. It sounds like youre saying
the only way out of suffering for a Shinshu Buddhist is death.
Answer:
The only way out of suffering for a Shinshu Buddhist is to entrust
in this life in Amida Buddha, which means to let himself being
carried by the ambulance of Amida and be sure that when he reaches
the Hospital (the Pure Land) and meets the Doctor himself (Amida),
he is cured. It cant be any other way.
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But this entrusting and sense of assurance that he is saved appears

during the present life. Faith and assurance do not lead automatically
to the absence of suffering from his life because he is not a Buddha
yet, as I explained before.
Question:
From what I understand in your explanations, I created all that
happens in this life and that cant be changed. I just grin and bear it
until I die, go to the Pure Land and become a Buddha. Can any
actions in this present life change how past karma is manifested in
this life?
Answer:
Yes you may alter your karma in many ways, you may arrange
your time you still have here in samsara to be more pleasant, or you
may not - this depends from person to person - but what is most
important is that you cant heal all your wounds here (that is, become
perfectly happy in this life), because you cant become a perfect
Buddha while in this present body.
Jodo Shinshu doesnt say you should do nothing to make your life
more comfortable, but it says you cannot solve the great problem of
birth and death by yourself and become perfectly happy here. And as
I said previously, you cant be 100% happy here because you are not
a Buddha yet, and only a Buddha can be 100% happy in all the
worlds, even in hell.

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Equal to Maitreya72 Buddha

A unique teaching in Jodo Shinshu is that followers who received
shinjin are equal to perfect Enlightenment, equal to all Buddhas and
equal to Maitreya Buddha.
Maitreya, now residing in the Tusita heaven, was said by
Shakyamuni to be a future great Buddha who will appear in this
world after many billion years (5,670,000,000) from his era.
Shinran Shonin explained this in letter 3 of Mattosho:
Since those who have realized shinjin necessarily abide in the
stage of the truly settled, they are in the stage equal to the perfect
Enlightenment. In the Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life those who
have been grasped, never to be abandoned, are said to be in the stage
of the truly settled, and in the Sutra of the Tathagata of Immeasurable
Life they are said to have attained the stage equal to perfect
Enlightenment. Although they differ, the terms truly settled and
equal to enlightenment have the same meaning and indicate the
same stage. Equal to the perfect Enlightenment is the same stage as
that of Maitreya, who is in the rank of succession to Buddhahood.
Since persons of shinjin will definitely attain the supreme
Enlightenment, they are said to be the same as Maitreya.
Those who entrust themselves to Amida Buddha in this life are
said to be in the stage of the truly settled or the stage of those assured
of Nirvana or in other words, the stage of non-retrogression. This
means that since faith has been aroused in their hearts they are
assured of the attainment of birth in the Pure Land which will occur
at their death. This birth in the Pure Land will be immediately
followed by the attainment of Buddhahood or perfect Enlightenment.

72

Miroku in Japanese.

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So, the stage of the truly settled or of those assured of Nirvana is

equal with that of perfect Enlightenment in the sense that those
belonging to the first state will surely attain perfect Enlightenment.
The cause of perfect Enlightenment is definitely settled when faith in
Amida arises in the heart of the followers.
Faith is the cause of Enlightenment, so both are equal in the sense
that one is the effect of the other (as in there can be no smoke without
a fire). The fire will necessary produce smoke even if the fire is not
the same with the smoke. In the same manner, a follower who has
faith in Amida Buddha is equal with the state of perfect
Enlightenment because he will become a Buddha and has the seed of
Buddhahood already planted in his heart, but is not a Buddha yet
during this life until death.
Shinran said to Joshin-bo in letter 7 of Mattosho:
You should understand that the moment of settling of those who
entrust themselves to Tathagatas Vow is none other than the settling
into the stage of non-retrogression, because they receive the benefit
of being grasped, never to be abandoned. Whether we speak of the
settling of true shinjin or the settling of the diamondlike shinjin, both
come about through being grasped, never to be abandoned. Thus is
awakened the heart and mind that will attain the supreme
Enlightenment. This is called the stage of non-retrogression, the
stage of the truly settled, and the stage equal to the perfect
Enlightenment.
He also said in letter fifteen:
The Garland Sutra states that those who have attained true shinjin
are already certain to become Buddhas and therefore are equal to the
Tathagatas. Although Maitreya has not yet attained Buddhahood, it
is certain that he will, so he is already known as Maitreya Buddha. In
this manner, the person who has attained true shinjin is taught to be
equal to Tathagatas.
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The stage of the truly settled or of those assured of Nirvana is the

same state in which Maitreya now dwells in the Tusita heaven where
he is waiting for the right moment to be born in this world and attain
Buddhahood, exactly as Shakyamuni did in the past.
In letter 18 of Mattosho, Shinran said:
the moment they realize the diamondlike mind (shinjin), they
are said to abide in the stage of the truly settled and to attain the
same stage as Bodhisattva Maitreya73.
Since persons of true and real shinjin are of the same stage as
Maitreya, they are equal to Buddhas.
[.]
Further, since Maitreya has already become one who is certain to
attain Buddhahood, he is called Maitreya Buddha. By this we know
that the person who has already realized shinjin that is Other Power
can be said to be equal to Buddhas. You should have no doubts about
this.
Shinran explains further:
The Buddhas in the ten quarters rejoice in the settling of this
mind and praise it as being equal to the hearts and minds of all
Buddhas. Thus, the person of true shinjin is said to be equal to
Buddhas. He is also regarded as being the same as Maitreya, who is
in [the rank of] succession to Buddhahood.

73

Since Maitreya is already close to Buddhahood, it is the custom in various

schools to speak of him as Maitreya Buddha, explained Shinran. So, Maitreya is
sometimes called Bodhisattva Maitreya in the sense of a person who engaged
himself in practices to become a Buddha for the benefit of himself and all beings or
Maitreya Buddha because he will surely become one in his next life.

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all Buddhas feel great joy when such a person rejoices in the
realization of true shinjin, and they proclaim, This person is our
equal. Sakyamunis words of rejoicing are found in the Larger
Sutra: The one who sees, reveres, and attains [the Dharma] and
greatly rejoices - that person is my excellent, close companion; thus
he teaches that the person who has attained shinjin is equal to
Buddhas.
As you see, Shinran based his arguments on the words of
Shakyamuni in the Larger Sutra or other sutras:
Those who attain shinjin and joy are equal to Tathagatas. This
is from the Garland Sutra and means that the person who rejoices in
shinjin is the equal of all the Tathagatas. This is also indicated in
Sakyamunis statement about those who realize shinjin and greatly
rejoice: The one who sees, reveres, and attains [the dharma] and
greatly rejoices - that person is my excellent, close companion.
The Buddhas in the ten quarters rejoice in the settling of this
mind and praise it as being equal to the hearts and minds of all
Buddhas. Thus, the person of true shinjin is said to be equal to
Buddhas. He is also regarded as being the same as Maitreya, who is
in [the rank of] succession to Buddhahood.
There is also the 17th Vow of Amida Buddha recorded in the
Larger Sutra about which Shinran wrote:
Further, Amidas 17th Vow declares that the Buddha will not
enter into perfect Enlightenment if those who say the Name are not
praised by all the countless Buddhas throughout the worlds in the ten
quarters. The passage declaring the fulfillment of the Vow states:
Such people are praised by all the Buddhas and rejoice.
The only difference between Maitreya and the followers who have
faith in Amida Buddha (and are now in the same stage as perfect
Enlightenment like him) is that Maitreya has entered this stage
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through his own power while those who have shinjin become truly
settled through the Power of Amida.
Shinran said in his letter 15 of Mattosho:
To think in self-power that one is equal to the Tathagatas is a
great error. But it is because of the shinjin of Other Power that you
rejoice; how can self-power enter into it? Please consider this fully.
This clearly shows that ordinary people become equal to the
Tathagatas (Buddhas) and equal with Maitreya not through their own
power but through the Power of Amida Buddha.
There is also another difference between Maitreya and us. If he has
to wait many more billions of years until he is born into this world
and become a Buddha, we who entrust in Amida will become
Buddhas after this life is ended. Until death and birth in the Pure
Land we remain ordinary beings filled with blind passions but
carrying in ourselves the settled cause for becoming Buddhas.
We are not equal to the Tathagatas and to Maitreya just because we
deserve it or have great merits and virtues, but rather because Amida
made us to become so. This is the meaning of they receive the
benefit of being grasped, never to be abandoned. Due to Amida
grasping us are we made capable to receive faith, enter this stage and
are assured of becoming Buddhas in the Pure Land.
It is like a person flying in the air by his own power (Maitreya) and
another one (us) carried by a plane. Both are flying (are in the stage
of non-retrogression/assured of Nirvana or the stage next to
Buddhahood, etc.) both will reach their destinations, but they travel
by different means, the first by self power and the latter by Other
Power (Amidas Power).

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Shinjin and Buddha nature

Question:
In some writings of Shinran Shonin it is said that shinjin is itself
Buddha-nature. How do you explain this?
Answer:
First, even if we say it in conventional language that we have
shinjin (faith in Amida Buddha), in reality this is not our propriety,
but what Amida Buddha awakens in us.
Second, Amida is a Buddha, which means he is one who has
became awakened to his Buddha nature. His Buddha nature is the
same with our Buddha nature, as all beings have the same innate
Buddha nature (Buddhahood) or the same potential to become a
Buddha. But unlike a Buddha, we are now living at the level of
ignorant beings, having delusional personalities which are the product
of various attachments, ignorance and karma.
Shinjin cannot be the product of our delusional personalities that
change according to karma from life to life, because this would mean
that he himself should also be subject to change and not the
diamond-like shinjin that Shinran was speaking about.
So, shinjin is only the manifestation of Amida as a Buddha: it
comes from his Enlightenment, and because Enlightenment means
the attainment of Buddha nature, we can say that in ultimate sense,
shinjin is the manifestation of Buddha nature via Amida Buddha in
his Sambhogakaya form. This is how I think we should understand
the words, shinjin is itself Buddha-nature.
Shinjin cannot come directly to us from the ultimate Buddha nature
without the help of Amida Buddha, because we cant receive
anything directly from it in the state which we are in as unenlightened
beings, due to the many layers of delusion and heavy karmic evils
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which cover our innate Buddha nature. This is why we need Amida
Buddha in his Sambhogakaya form to take us, through shinjin, to the
fulfilled Buddha nature or Buddhahood, which is to be reached once
we die and enter Amidas Pure Land.
Question:
Can we access directly our innate Buddha nature, without the help
of Amida?
Answer:
No, we cant.
In other Buddhist schools it is indeed said that followers can
directly access the innate Buddha nature through various meditation
techniques, but in Jodo Shinshu we think this is no longer possible
due to the low level of beings in this dark age.
So, without entering directly to our Buddha nature, we first come
to Amidas sphere of influence or his Pure Land through shinjin,
which is the indirect step toward Buddha nature. If we receive shinjin
in the present life, then when we die we are born in the Pure Land
where our blind passions and unenlightened personalities are
immediately transformed into fully enlightened Buddhas.

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The exclusion in the 18th Vow

Until now I havent presented to you the Primal Vow in its
entirety, especially avoiding the last sentence, because I wanted to
offer it a special chapter:
If, when I attain Buddhahood, the sentient beings of the ten
quarters, with sincere mind entrusting themselves, aspiring to be
born in my land, and saying my Name perhaps even ten times, should
not be born there, may I not attain the supreme enlightenment.
Excluded are those who commit the five grave offenses and those who
slander the right Dharma.
Many people that come into contact with the Primal Vow of Amida
Buddha experience two types of reactions: they are happy in finding
the message that is full of hope in the first part, but they become
unsure right after reading the last sentence: excluded are those who
commit the five grave offenses and slander the right Dharma.
Something seems wrong, an exclusion still exists, so after all the
18 Vow is not quite universal, there are some people that arent
received by the Compassion of Amida. But is this the way things
really are?
th

In my first days as a Jodo Shinshu follower, when I still did not

have a direct contact with anyone from our tradition I was trying
really hard to understand the purpose of this exclusion; I admit that
I got really frightened every time I read that part. It was like a lump,
like I never managed to really enjoy my meeting with Amida. What
if I committed one of those grave offenses myself?, I kept asking
again and again. I had reached for Amida Buddhas help in a very
difficult time, when I felt as though I couldnt handle my own life,
and now, after the joy of a hope, I kept hitting against this phrase that
was refusing to go away.

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But it wasnt long until the calm came into my heart: everything
is all right, how could you doubt me? seems that Amida would have
said.
We all have been admonished at least once by our mothers while
we were kids and our behavior became unbearable. Maybe we were
afraid in that moment that she will leave us or who knows what she
will do if we do not behave properly, but in the end she was always
there, no matter how we acted, admonishing us, trying her best to
change us, but always welcoming us with her love.
Amida Buddhas Compassion is like a mothers love, and the
exclusion in the Primal Vow is just an admonishment addressed to
some stupid and crazy kids, that are always ready to make mistakes.
Its not an exclusion in its own way, but a warning: some actions
are very serious, do not commit them, or else .... But that or else..
remains unfulfilled because of the first part of the Vow that proves
the unconditioned salvation of a real mother.
The Buddhist teaching must be always understood in its spirit, and
the reader of the sacred scriptures must not stop at the words but
should try instead to see beyond them. So, what is the real purpose of
the Primal Vow? Shinran said in Tannisho:
If it were only by observing precepts and upholding rules that we
could entrust ourselves to the Primal Vow, how could we ever gain
freedom from birth and death?
In chapter 16 of the same writing, while correcting the erroneous
view that nembutsu followers must go through a change of heart
every time they get angry or do something bad, Shinran said:
Suppose that attainment of birth were possible only by going
through changes of heart day and night with every incident that
occurred. In that case - human life being such that it ends even before
breath exhaled can be drawn in again - if we were to die without
going through a change of heart and without abiding in a state of
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gentleness and forbearance, would not Amidas Vow that grasps and
never abandons us be rendered meaningless?
Because Buddha has Endless Compassion and sees every being as
his own child, it would be absurd to abandon them because of their
ignorance. This attitude would be against the Bodhi Mind and the
most elementary Mahayana vows. A Buddha cant make a statement
and immediately after, deny it or state its contrary, something like: I
will save you all even if you just say my Name ten times ...but
actually, I changed my mind and I impose some hard conditions that
you wont be able to cross.
Amida Buddha knows the true capacities of human beings and he
didnt create his Vows for those capable of reaching Enlightenment
by their own power:
To destroy your blind passions means to become a Buddha and
for the one who is already a Buddha, the Vow coming from the
profound contemplation for five kalpas has no meaning.
In Shinrans opinion, this exclusion actually shows that even the
worst beings are included in the salvation of Amida, especially those
who committed the five grave offenses and slandered the right
Dharma. I think that the mentioning of these gravest offenses is a clue
that they are not wanted in the disciples behavior but, in the same
time, the effects of those offenses are annihilated by the Endless
Compassion that is received in the believers heart through the
awakening of faith. Probably, each of us, in our past lives or this life,
has committed at least once one of these offenses, driven by our
illusions or blind passions.
Something appears though in the moment of the awakening of
faith, something called change of heart, that is the fully
understanding of the hopeless spiritual situation we are in,
permanently driven by the tendencies of our negative karma and
always capable of committing any act, but also of the salvation and
indiscriminate working of Amida, manifested in his Vow and Name.
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In the moment we start to rely on Amida Buddha we experience this

change of heart, an event that completely transforms our lifes
direction, making it straight, independent of its illusions, to the
supreme Nirvana.
Although in the Sutra of Immeasurable Life appears the
exclusion mentioned above, in the Sutra of Contemplation the
situation is completely different. Here Shakyamuni Buddha tells
Ananda and Vaidehi that a man lying on his death bed that committed
the five grave offenses, the ten transgressions and every kind of evil
acts, can be born in the Pure Land if he meets a good spiritual
teacher, listens to his advices and recites Namo Amida Butsu even
ten times. Why this sutra doesnt mention the slandering of Dharma
among the evil acts which cant obstruct birth in the Pure Land? This
is a very important aspect that must be well understood. I will further
present questions and answers from Kyogyoshinsho that will bring
light upon this subject.
Question: The Sutra of Immeasurable Life states,
Those who aspire for birth are all brought to attainment.
Excluded are those who commit the five grave offenses and those who
slander the right Dharma.
The Sutra of Contemplation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life
states,
Those who have committed the five grave offenses and the ten
transgressions, and who are possessed of various evils also attain
birth.
How are these two sutra passages to be reconciled?
Answer: The first sutra speaks of committing two kinds of serious
evil act: the five grave offenses and the slander of the right Dharma.
Because of committing both these two kinds of evil act, a person is
unable to attain birth. The other sutra speaks only of committing the
evil of the ten transgressions and five grave offenses; nothing is said
of slandering the right Dharma. Because a person has not slandered
the right Dharma, he attains birth.
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Question: Suppose a person has committed the five grave offenses

but has not slandered the right Dharma. In the sutra, it is granted
that such a person can attain birth. Further, suppose there is a
person who has only slandered the right Dharma but is free of the
five grave offenses and other evil acts; if he aspires for birth, will he
attain it or not?
Answer: Although he has only slandered the right Dharma and has
not committed other evil acts, he will definitely be unable to attain
birth. How is this known? A sutra states that the person who has
committed the five grave offenses falls into great Avici hell and fully
undergoes their recompense for one kalpa. The person who slanders
the right Dharma falls into great Avici hell, and when that kalpa has
run out, he passes on into the great Avici hell of another quarter. In
this way he passes through a hundred thousand great Avici hells one
after another. The Buddha does not indicate any time when it is
possible for him to emerge. This is because slandering the right
Dharma is an evil act of extreme gravity.
Further, the right Dharma is the Buddha-dharma. Such a foolish
person has already slandered it; how can it be reasonable to think
that he would aspire to be born in the Buddha-land? Suppose the
person aspires for birth merely because he craves to be born into
happiness; this is like seeking ice that is not water or fire without
smoke. How can it be deemed reasonable that he attain it?
Question: What are the characteristics of slandering the right
Dharma?
Answer: Saying there is no Buddha, no Buddha-dharma, no
Bodhisattva, no Bodhisattva-Dharma. Deciding on such views,
whether through understanding thus in ones own mind or receiving
the ideas from others, is called slandering the right Dharma.

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Question: Taking such views only concerns the person himself.

What pain and suffering does his act inflict on other sentient beings,
that it should exceed the evil of the five grave offenses in seriousness?
Answer: If there were no Buddhas and bodhisattvas to expound the
mundane and supramundane good paths and to teach and guide
sentient beings, how could we know of the existence of benevolence,
righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity? Such mundane good
would all be cut off, and the sages of the supramundane would all
perish. You know only the gravity of the five grave offenses, and not
that they arise from the absence of the right Dharma. Thus, the
person who slanders the right Dharma is involved in the gravest
karmic evil.
I think the passage quoted above says it all about the so-called
exclusion from the Eighteenth Vow. I would though add one thing:
both sutras talk about slandering the true Dharma in the present
moment: the right Dharma is the Buddha-dharma. Such a foolish
person has already slandered it; how can it be reasonable to think
that he would aspire to be born in the Buddha-land?.
He already slandered it refers to a slander that still goes on in
that persons mind, but it does not refers to a situation when he
slandered it in the past and now, through a change of heart, he
understands the evil he did and repents about it.
Its logical to say that a person who still slanders the Dharma in his
mind can not have a sincere aspiration for birth in the Pure Land, but
that is not valid if slandering the Dharma becomes a mistake of the
past, a mistake which is now repented. So, the one who slandered the
Dharma in the past but goes through a change of heart in the present
time, admits and feels sorry for his act, then relies with sincerity on
Amida Buddhas Compassion, that person will attain birth in the Pure
Land. Its logical to be this way. In Buddhism there are no eternal
punishments except for a mind locked in mistake, which in fact
punishes itself, but the mind that changes its ways can not be the
same as the old one.
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This reminds me of a thing that happened during Shakyamunis

time: A man deeply offended the Buddha, throwing in his face every
kind of harsh words, but the next day he felt sorry and asked for
forgiveness. Going before him, he kneeled and asked forgiveness.
Buddha said: Get up, the person who stays now in front of me is not
the same as the one offending me yesterday.
The nembutsu follower who dwells in the true shinjin can not
slander Buddha Dharma and has nothing to do with any of the acts he
did before receiving faith, because he is now a new man, a born again
person in the light of Buddhas Compassion, completely separated by
the old man from this life or the past lives.

155

The Meaning of the Three Refuges in Jodo Shinshu

The Three Refuges74 are:
I TAKE REFUGE IN THE BUDDHA
Buddham saranam gacchami
I TAKE REFUGE IN THE DHARMA
Dhammam saranam gacchami
I TAKE REFUGE IN THE SANGHA
Sangham saranam gacchami
The first line means to take refuge first and foremost in Amida
Buddha who is the central Buddha in Jodo Shinshu. Only through
him can we attain Buddhahood in the Pure Land as he is the only
Buddha among all Buddhas who made the Vow of saving everybody,
no matter their spiritual capacities.
We also honor and take refuge in Shakyamuni Buddha as the
Teacher who showed us the path of Amida Dharma, his main reason
for coming into this world.
At our dojo we recite the traditional Vandana: NAMO THASSA
BHAGAVATO ARAHATO SAMMA SAMBUDDHASA (Homage
to Him, the Blessed One, the fully Enlightened One) before reciting
the Three Refuges. This is addressed to Shakyamuni Buddha in his
position as a messenger and Teacher of Amida Dharma.
To second line means to take refuge in the Dharma about
Amida that was preached by Shakyamuni Buddha and further
explained by the Masters of our tradition, especially Shinran Shonin
and Rennyo Shonin. It is the Dharma contained in the sacred texts of

74

When someone becomes a Jodo Shinshu follower in the Romanian sangha,

he/she says these refuges together with Ryogemon (Jodo Shinshu Creed) in front of
the altar and in the presence of the sangha.

156

our tradition, the sutras and commentaries, not the books of some
scholar or priest.
By taking refuge in the true Dharma, which is, I repeat, the
teaching contained in the sutras and commentaries of the Masters, we
indirectly reject false views or opinions that contradict these sacred
texts.
We reject such false views held today by many, like the denial of
rebirth, of cause and effect, or those regarding Amida as being a
symbol, metaphor, fictional character, those who misinterpret the
Pure Land as being a state of mind to be attained here and now,
etc75.
Taking refuge in the Dharma means that we make the vow of
putting the Dharma higher than our own unenlightened opinions and
ideas. We receive and transmit to others only the teaching left to us
by Shakyamuni and the Masters of our tradition.
While we respect all Buddhist methods as coming from
Shakyamuni, we follow only the teaching about Amida Buddha and
only in it do we take refuge.
The third line means that we take refuge in those (lay and
priests) who have received shinjin in the present life and whose
future birth in the Pure Land is thus assured.
By taking refuge in them we wish to be like them, we consider them
to be our fellow travelers on the path, our brothers and sisters in the
Amida Dharma.
Those who havent received shinjin yet, should look for the
company of those who are firm in shinjin, listen to their explanations,
and wish to become persons of settled faith themselves.
75

See chapters Those who deny the existence of Amida dont have shinjin,
Honen Shonin on Amida Buddha, Pure Land is not here and now, The Pure
Land in the teaching of Jodo Shinshu, from this book.

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We do not take refuge in those who share false views or views that
are not in accordance with the words and instructions of the sutras
and commentaries of the Masters.
The true Jodo Shinshu sangha (community) is composed only of
those who fully accept the teaching found in the sutras and
commentaries of the Masters and who have received shinjin or
sincerely aspire to shinjin76.
The sangha is the place where the true Dharma is shared and
transmitted so that we can receive shinjin and become Buddhas in the
Pure Land.
Only in sharing and transmitting the true Dharma does the sangha
have meaning. Without taking refuge in the living Amida Buddha and
accepting the Dharma about him as it was taught by Shakyamuni and
the Masters, there is no sangha.
Question:
How should we look to other Buddhists that are not Jodo Shinshu
followers?
Answer:
They are disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, too, just they follow
other Buddhist methods than us.

76

Those who do not have shinjin yet can also become members of the sangha, if
they sincerely aspire to shinjin and accept as true the teaching of the three sutras
and comentaries of the Masters. However, the object of our refuge is the sangha in
its aspect of shinjin, that is, practitioners who already have a settled faith. When
those who are not yet established in shinjin wish to enter the Jodo Shinshu sangha,
they take refuge in this shinjin aspect of the sangha. The three refuges are, as the
term implies, a refuge but also an engagement that from then on we will forever
take refuge in Amida Buddha, we will listen and accept the Dharma about Him, and
well become persons who entrust to Him.

158

In accordance with Master Rennyos instruction found in his

letters, we should not despise those who practice other Buddhist
teachings than the nembutsu of faith in Amida Buddha. Respect but
not follow, is the rule for treating other Buddhist schools and their
disciples. After all, Buddhists of all schools are brothers and sisters in
the Buddha Dharma and disciples of Shakyamuni. They are part of
the general Buddhist sangha, so to speak, containing all Buddhists,
but we specifically take refuge in the sangha of those who have faith
in Amida Buddha.
Question:
How should we look to other religions?
Answer:
Respect but not follow applies here, too.
Shinran Shonin insisted very much in the last chapter from his
Kyogyoshinsho, by quoting many sutras, on the fact that the disciples
of the Buddha should not take refuge in non-Buddhist teachings, or
venerate any divinities outside Buddhism, should not rely on
superstitions, lucky days, propitious or unpropitious times, etc.. Here
are a few revealing passages:
Those who take refuge truly and wholeheartedly, freeing
themselves from all delusional attachments and all concern with the
propitious or unpropitious, must never take refuge in false spirits or
non-Buddhist teachings.77
Do not turn toward other teachings; do not worship gods.78
Good sons and good daughters of pure trust must never serve
gods to the very end of their lives.79

77

Shinran quoted this passage from the Sutra of the Ten Wheels of Ksitigarbha.
Shinran quoted this passage from the Sutra of the Samadhi of Collecting All
Merits.

78

159

Also we must not mix the Buddha Dharma with various religious
systems from the past or present. Buddhism is the medicine
prescribed to us by the Buddha, who is supreme among all the
teachers in the three worlds and it is a grave mistake to mix his
teaching with those of other paths.
So, we abandon all non-Buddhist teachings and select the Buddha
Dharma. Next, among all Shakyamunis teachings we choose only
the nembutsu of faith in Amida Buddha.

79

Shinran quoted this passage from the Sutra of the Vows of Medicine Master
Buddha.

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Ryogemon (Jodo Shinshu Creed)

Ryogemon is the creed of Jodo Shinshu Buddhist teaching,
composed by Rennyo Shonin, the eight Monshu of Hongwanji. In it
we find all we need to know and accept in order to be born in the
Pure Land of Amida. By taking refuge in the Three Treasures and
accepting this profession of faith into our hearts we become Jodo
Shinshu followers, so we must fully understand its meaning. There
are a few English versions of Ryogemon, but I prefer to use the
following one, translated by Zuio Inagaki Sensei:
Having abandoned the mind of self-power to perform various
practices and miscellaneous acts, I have entrusted myself to Amida
Tathagata with singleness of heart recognizing that he has resolved
my crucial after-life problem once and for all.
I understand that at the moment such entrusting Faith arises in me,
my deliverance from Samsara is settled with the assurance of birth in
the Pure Land, and joyfully accept that recitation of the Nembutsu
which follows is to express my indebtedness to Amida.
How grateful I am that I have come to this understanding through
the benevolence of the founder, Shinran Shonin, who appeared in this
country and of the masters of the succeeding generations who have
guided me with deep compassion!
From now on, I will abide by the rules of conduct all my life.
***
Various practices and miscellaneous acts which we abandon,
include all the religious practices, teachings and actions through
which people believe they achieve something, especially perfect
Enlightenment and Buddhahood. These can be various
meditations/contemplations or non-meditative methods, observing
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precepts with the thought of transferring the merits thus gained

toward Enlightenment, etc.. Even the saying of Amidas Name can be
placed in this category if it is done while relying on personal power80.
All these practices and acts are abandoned as is the very idea that
you can do something by yourself to gain perfect Enlightenment and
Liberation from Samsara. You simply realize that you are limited and
incapable to become a Buddha by yourself and you accept that only
Amida Buddha81 can help you in this and stop your endless
wandering in the repeated cycle of birth and death.
In the exact moment you entrust yourself to Amida you are assured
of escaping from Samsara and simultaneously assured of your birth in
the Pure Land. In that exact moment (not when you die) you become
saved, your karmic destiny is fixed and you are sure to become a
Buddha in the Pure Land. Nothing which follows this moment of the
emergence of faith can in any way influence, improve or destroy your
chances to be born in the Pure Land.
You remain an ordinary person as you have always been until the
moment of your death, and even if you die unexpectedly, without
thinking on Amida or not being in a good state of mind, you will still
go in the Pure Land because you are already saved from the very
instance of your first moment of faith (shinjin). So dont worry about
anything, just entrust in Amida and all is assured for you. The saying
of Amidas Name is just the expression of faith and gratitude because
Amida saves you without asking anything from you, not even the
smallest virtue or merit.
80

For example if you think that the better you recite it, the more chances you have
to be born in the Pure Land, or that the number of recitations and the concentrated
state of mind are important, or if you imagine that you can gain merit by this
recitation which can be transferred to your birth in the Pure Land, etc.
81
If one thinks that Amida is a symbol, a fictional character, or a metaphor, as
some deluded modern scholars interpret him, then this Ryogemon is useless. Only
those who accept Amida as a real and living Buddha in accordance with
Shakyamunis description in the Larger Sutra can have true faith in him.

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You met the Dharma of Amidas salvation because of Shinran

Shonins appearance in this world and of his explanations. His
successors who were faithful to his teachings and further spread them
to the later generations, like for example, Master Kakunyo or Master
Rennyo, also provided you with the conditions to meet this wonderful
teaching. So they all, especially Shinran Shonin, deserve your
gratitude and appreciation.
The rules of conduct you engage to observe all your life when you
enter the Shinshu sangha are to be found in Rennyos Letters82. They
are reformulated by me here:
- respect other Buddhist schools and do not denigrate their
teachings or followers83
- do not belittle other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
- do not denigrate the kami (gods of Shintoism)84
82

References to these rules can be found at pages 20, 27, 32, 34, 35, 40, 41, 47, 50,
53, 71, 74, 77, 81 from Rennyo Shonin Ofumi (The Letters of Rennyo), published by
Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and Numata Center Translation and Research in 1996.
83
Rennyo said in one of his many letters referring to this aspect: Within our
tradition there must be no slandering of other teachings and sects. As the teachings
were all given by Shakyamuni during his life time, they should be fruitful if they are
practiced just as they were expounded. In this last Dharma age, however, people
like ourselves are not equal to the teachings of the various sects of the Path of
Sages; therefore, we simply do not rely on them or entrust ourselves to them.
84
We do not rely on the kami, but this does not mean that we denigrate them. As
Master Rennyo pointed out in many of his letters, some of the kami worshiped in
Shintoism were in fact manifestations of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who tried in
many ways to bring sentient beings to finally entrust in the Amida Dharma. Thus,
by receiving faith in Amida, we fulfill their wishes and aspirations, so we do not
need to worship and take refuge in them. Shinran Shonin himself forbade
worshiping of the kami and various gods, but he also never said we should
denigrate them or their followers. Also, unlike Rennyo, he never spoked in his
writings about kami as manifestations of Buddhas.
I would not go so far as to say that the important figures of all religions are in fact,
manifestations of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. We know that in Buddhism, in
general, gods are just one type of unenlightened beings among others, so we must
not conclude that Master Rennyo tried to make us see all gods from various

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- do not put on airs of a high spiritual person be humble

- do not impose our faith to others of various religions or
Buddhist schools
be careful when you talk about Jodo Shinshu teaching
with people who are not karmically mature and not open to
understand and receive it do not impose it on them; in general,
speak only when it is truly necessary and at the right time.
- do not be proud and do not become noisy, especially in
the public, with your convictions and faith in Jodo Shinshu; be
discrete, act normal, and enjoy your faith in silence and
humbleness.
do not denigrate or slight government and local
authorities because you have faith and they dont
- meet your public obligations and duties in full without fail
take the laws of the state as your outer aspect85, store
Other Power faith deep in your hearts and take the principles of
humanity and justice as essential86.

mythologies or important figures of major religions as being Buddhas or

Bodhisattvas. In his letters he specifically made reference to Shintoist kami which
other Japanese Buddhist schools also considered as having a link with the Buddha
Dharma. Also, it would be a mistake to view all spirits, all kami and all figures of
Japanese folklore as being Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In order to accomodate
Rennyos instructions with Shinrans instructions the best thing to do is to consider
that indeed some kami might be manifestations, but to be sure that we make no
mistakes and do not come to worship unenlightened spirits or gods, Jodo Shinshu
followers should concentrate exclusively on Amida Buddha and leave aside,
respectfully, all is related with Shintoism and its divine figures. Generally speaking,
we should never look to Shintoism and especially to other religions as being the
same with Buddhism.
Shinran himself quoted Nirvana Sutra in his Kyogyoshinsho, where it is clearly
stated that: the emancipation of non Buddhist ways is called impermanent, the
emancipation of Buddhist ways is called eternal. So we abandon all non-Buddhist
ways and follow only the Buddha Dharma, but in doing this we respect other
peoples religious decisions and do not denigrate them.
85
Act accordingly with the laws of the state you live in. Of course, this does not
apply to laws that are inhumane and criminal.
86
Try to be compassionate and treat all people equally no matter their differences.

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Also by becoming a Jodo Shinshu follower you automatically

promise not to distort this wonderful teaching with personal ideas and
opinions based on your unenlightened mind. Thus, you accept that
the Shinshu Dharma is the wonderful medicine given by Shakyamuni
and the Masters to save people from birth and death, and in order for
it to be effective you must not change it or alter it in any way since
you are not a Doctor or a Buddha yourself.
This is a rule of conduct which you automatically and naturally
accept when you enter this path. Its just common sense. If one
destroys or modifies Amida Dharma, then this Ryogemon becomes
useless and no salvation from birth and death can be possible. So,
please be careful when you talk about Jodo Shinshu or when you try
to transmit it to others. Indications about this general rule of conduct
are to be found everywhere in the teachings of Shinran and Rennyo,
so take it as essential when you enter the Shinshu sangha.

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Those who deny the existence of Amida dont have shinjin

some simple explanations
Unfortunately, there are many false teachers in the international
Jodo Shinshu community who support wrong interpretations of the
nembutsu Dharma - the so called modern and progressive
interpretations - but which are in evident contradiction to the teaching
of the sutras and the sacred texts. One of the most widely distributed
errors is the theory that Amida is a symbol, a metaphor, or a fictional
character.
Such interpretations prove the absence of the genuine shinjin from
the hearts of those who support them. It is simply impossible to have
the experience of faith in Amida and in the same time to consider him
a fictional character or a metaphor. On the contrary, such shinjin is
false or fictional just as how fictional the object of their faith is.
I have never heard nor read in the sacred texts about such
presentations of Amida Buddha. Not Shakyamuni, nor Shinran
Shonin or other masters of our tradition ever spoke in those terms
about Amida and his Pure Land. This is why I always say that those
who present Amida as a fictional character, metaphor, symbol or
something similar to these terms, dont have the experience of faith
and salvation.
The entrusting heart (shinjin) is the cause of our birth in the Pure
Land and of our attainment of Buddhahood, but how can faith in
something fictional be called true faith? This is something easy
enough for a child to understand. Fictional is fictional no matter how
you present it, while the real is real. Only faith in something real and
alive can be a true faith and have true results - birth in the Pure Land.
If somebody says that you, the reader of these lines, are a
fictional character, I suppose he doesnt believe that you exist.
Its as simple as that.
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It is said that trees are known by their fruits. Its impossible that
someone speaking and insisting in his entire work on such false
teachings can have a real experience of faith and guide others to faith.
Its not that I judge the faith of others, but their own words speak for
themselves. They simply dont know or dont feel or dont
understand or dont want to accept who Amida is (i.e. who the sutras
and explanations of the Masters say he is): so how can they have faith
in him?
Master Honen was recorded in the postscript of Tannisho to say
that some people dont have the same shinjin (faith) as his so they
will surely not go to the same Pure Land he goes, after death. His
shinjin and the shinjin of Shinran both came from Amida Buddha, the
real Amida Buddha, not the fictive Amida, the symbolic or
metaphorical Amida. This is the reason they had the same shinjin,
although their personal wisdom and knowledge of the Dharma
differed.
Both Shinran and Honen, but also the other Masters, accepted the
teaching about Amida Buddha as taught by Shakyamuni in the
Larger Sutra. By listening to this teaching they received shinjin and
became Buddhas in the Pure Land when their life here came to its
natural end. We, their disciples of modern times, are also different in
knowledge, experience and wisdom, but we too must accept the same
teaching they accepted in order to receive the same shinjin as they.
Birth, life and death are not fictive, symbolical or metaphorical.
Also our freedom from birth and death cant be fictive, symbolical or
metaphorical. A Buddha who is not alive and active in the world of
suffering, cannot help and guide us to the supreme, unsurpassed
Enlightenment. Faith in a fictive character, in a symbol or metaphor
does not keep warm and cannot free anybody.
If shinjin comes from Amida and is the cause of our Freedom,
what kind of shinjin do they have who do not entrust in Amida as
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being a living and active Buddha? Please use your mind and simple
logic, so that you do not fall into such illusions and wrong
understanding as theirs.
The true Jodo Shinshu Buddhism is not a rambling metaphysical
system, filled with symbols, metaphors and hidden meanings, but a
set of clear and precise teachings intended to free all beings from
birth and death through a simple faith in a living and active Buddha
called Amida.
Those who dont like or cannot accept this path are free to leave it
or forget it, but they should never try to change it so as to
accommodate it with their personal ideas and lack of faith, and they
should certainly never misrepresent it as being Jodo Shinshu
Buddhism.

168

Honen Shonin on Amida Buddha

In the Dialogue on One Hundred Forty-Five Topics, Honen Shonin
said:
Although there is one Amida Buddha, his teachings have different
interpretations. The Shingon school teaches that Amida Buddha
resides in ones own heart; they do not admit his existence outside of
ones heart. The Pure Land school, however, teaches that
Bodhisattva Dharmakara realized Buddhahood and became Amida
Buddha and now resides in the west87. These two viewpoints reflect
great differences between the two schools.
The words of Master Honen are very clear for those who have a
sincere wish to understand who Amida really is and repent for
spreading wrong views.
I especially chose this quote to show that any presentation of
Amida Buddha as being a metaphor, a myth, a symbol of ones own
Enlightened nature or ones own heart and mind, etc., is not in accord
with the Pure Land teaching of Honen and his Dharma heir, Shinran
Shonin.
The right view that a follower of our school should have about
Amida Buddha and teach to others is the one presented by
Shakyamuni in the Larger Sutra: Amida is a real and living Buddha
who resides in his Pure Land of the west (a manifestation of his vows
to save all beings). Because Amida is not something inside our heart
or mind, his Pure Land too is not inside us, is not here and now and
is not our own pure mind as some might say.

87

The Pure Land of Amida Buddha is sometimes called the Pure Land of the west.
See the chapter The reason for the western location of the Pure Land and its
wonderful description in the sutras.

169

Because Amida is a real and living Buddha outside of us, his Pure
Land too, is a real place outside us unenlightened beings who can
never have a pure mind and heart. In our own heart and mind there is
nothing else than illusion, so we cannot say that Amida Buddha or his
Pure Land is to be sought there.
There are great differences in interpreting Amida between our Pure
Land school and other Buddhist schools based on personal power.
But if we consider ourselves disciples of Honen and Shinran Shonin
we should discard the latter and take refuge in the living Amida
Buddha of the western Pure Land. Only upon birth in the Pure Land,
when we become Buddhas, will we understand fully the ultimate
nature of all things and the Pure Land.

170

The reason for the western location of the Pure Land and its
wonderful description in the sutras
Question:
Why is the Pure Land of Amida Buddha called the Western Pure
Land or the Pure Land of the West? Why is the west so much
emphasized in many of the sacred writings related with Amida? And
also why is the Pure Land described in such a fantastic way in the
sutras?
Answer:
In order to show that Amidas Pure Land is not a metaphor, but a
real place in which people can actually aspire to be born after death,
the land is given a direction and is described in great details in the
sutras.
Some say that the direction west and the marvelous descriptions
of the Pure Land are a proof for its non-existence or for its existence
as a symbol or metaphor only. But the truth is that by making the
effort to describe in many words the wonders of the Pure Land and by
pointing to a direction where to face the Pure Land when worshipping
Amida, Shakyamuni Buddha wants to emphasize its actual existence
as a place where sentient beings should aspire to be born without
worry and doubt.
It is as though I speak to you about a beautiful park I would like
you to visit. If I tell you, its there, in the west of the town and I
start describing it to you, then you will have no doubt about its
existence and you will wish to see it. Its the same with the
expression Pure Land of the West.
The exaltation with which Shakyamuni describes the Pure Land of
Amida in the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amida-kyo) without even being

171

asked to do it88, or the radiant light that emanated from his body
when he delivered the Larger Sutra in which he expounded the story
of Amida and his 48th vows89, are both an indication that his words
were true and his listeners should accept Amida as a living Buddha
and his Pure Land as a real place.

88

The Smaller Amida Sutra (Amida-kyo) is a sutra spontaneously delivered, not in

response to a question, which is a proof of the importance of the teaching about
Amida Buddha. In this discourse, Shakyamuni begins every description with great
enthusiam, repeating the name of his main listener, Shariputra, telling him the
wonders of the Pure Land and the uniqueness of Amida Buddha among all
Buddhas.
89
It is recorded in the Larger Sutra on Amida Buddha that when Shakyamuni was
about to deliver itall the senses of the World-Honored One radiated joy, his entire
body appeared serene and glorious, and his august countenance looked most
majestic. After Ananda asks him about the reason for these wonderful
manifestations, Shakyamuni reveals to him the true goal of his coming to this
world, by presenting the history of Amida Buddha, the 48 Vows and encouraging
sentient beings to aspire for birth in the Pure Land. In the same sutra, the whole
gathering listening to the discourse, including Ananda, had a vision of Amida
Buddha and his Pure Land, which is further proof that Shakyamuni speaks about
real things, not symbols or fictions.

172

Pure Land is NOT here and now

Questions:
1. I sometimes think the central theme of Buddhism is that it all
comes from Avidya (ignorance) and this makes us view the world as
samsara rather than Nirvana. I wish to know what some Buddhists
mean when they say there is no distinction between the two. Also,
related to this and bringing it back to Jodo Shinshu: Is the Pure Land
here and now or not? Or is it to be reached after death when we
become Buddhas? Personally, I think it has to be here and now or it is
nowhere. For me this is what I thought was the essence of Shinrans
teaching, and why I was attracted to it.
2. As far as the nembutsu is concerned does it have a particular form?
Or rather is it a door through which ignorance is cleared and we
realize we have always been in the Pure Land?
Answer:
Yes, ignorance makes us see samsara (the world of illusion,
suffering, birth and death) as different from Nirvana, and when
Buddhas or Enlightened Masters talk about them as being in unity
and not different they are truly able to manifest this ultimate truth,
because they became enlightened. Their understanding is not just an
intellectual one.
However I, as an unenlightened person, can speak about the unity
between samsara and Nirvana for days and nights, but I use only
mere words and still remain caught in my limited mind. No matter
how much I speak about this, I still dont become a Buddha. Only
from the Buddhas perspective (the absolute truth), are Nirvana and
samsara one, but from the perspective of an unenlightened person,
these two are different. Thus, samsara and Nirvana will remain
different as long as we are not Buddhas, no matter how much we
speak about unity.

173

And about the Pure Land:

Shinran Shonin is quoted as saying in chapter 15 of Tannisho:
According to the true essence of the Pure Land way, one entrusts
oneself to the Primal Vow in this life and realizes Enlightenment in
the Pure Land; this is the teaching I received.
To entrust in the Primal Vow of Amida in this life amounts to the
same as saying the nembutsu Namo Amida Butsu with complete
faith and gratitude in Amida. Namo means to take refuge and also
it means homage to, so its an expression of faith and gratitude.
There is no other meaning related to the nembutsu in our Jodo
Shinshu teaching.
Saved by the inconceivable working of Amidas Vow, I shall
realize birth in the Pure Land: the moment you entrust yourself thus
to the Vow, so that the mind set upon saying the nembutsu arises
within you, you are immediately brought to share in the benefit of
being grasped by Amida, never to be abandoned.
So, Shinran says that in the moment you entrust yourself to the
Vow (and because of this you say the nembutsu) you are
immediately brought to share in the benefit of being grasped by
Amida, never to be abandoned. This means that you enter into the
stage of those assured of Nirvana or the stage of non-retrogression.
What is meant by the stage of non-retrogression? It means that the
root of your karma is cut, that is, although you continue to experience
the results of past karma and to act as a being full of illusions and
blind passions until the moment of your death, your karma cannot
plant further seeds into another life in samsara.
Because of the merit transference from Amida, you are now
assured of Buddhahood, which you will attain in the moment of your
death, when you are born in the Pure Land. You are established in
174

this stage of non-retrogression, not by yourself, but by Amida

(being grasped by Amida) who will never abandon you (never to
be abandoned) this is what is mean by non-retrogression, or
assured of Nirvana.
Master Rennyo used the six-character name (NA MO A MI DA
BUTSU), although the ten-character Name90 and the nine-character
Name91 are the same in meaning with the six-character Name because
they express the same faith in Amida Buddha.
We should not forget that the Name is made to be easy to recite,
and it doesnt have any hidden meaning, whether esoteric or some
Zen meaning. It simply means to entrust in Amidas saving power.
The Name was not created in order that we be led to understand the
Pure Land as here and now. That is not why the Name was created.
For us unenlightened beings, here and now means only samsara,
the world of illusion and suffering. We can be born in the Pure Land
and become a Buddha even if we dont understand the ultimate unity
between samsara and Nirvana.
Nembutsu being the same with shinjin (this is why I always call it
nembutsu of faith), it means to be aware of and to understand two
very important things (the doctrine of the the Twofold Profound
Convictions or nishu jinshin):
1. The profound understanding of the fact that we are merely
mortals influenced by our negative tendencies with no hope of
salvation through our personal powers. This represents the deep
mindfulness of human nature just as it is; and

90

KI MYO JIN JI PO MU GE KO NYO RAI Homage to the Tathagata of

Unimpeded Light Pervading the Ten Quarters.
91
NA MO FU KA SHI GI KO NYO RAI Homage to the Tathagata of
Inconceivable Light.

175

2. The profound understanding of the fact that Amidas Primal

Vow will save us with no exceptions and that it is intended
precisely for beings like us. This represents the wholeheartedly
reliance on Amida Buddhas Compassion.
So, as you see, shinjin and the nembutsu of shinjin do not mean
that the Pure Land is here and now or to realize we have always
been in the Pure Land. Nowhere in the writings of Shinran or
Rennyo is there to be found such an interpretation, not to mention
anywhere in the Three Pure Land Sutras about Amida, which are the
words of Shakyamuni Buddha himself.
But why do some followers insist on spreading false views like
the Pure Land is here and now or presenting Amida as a symbol,
myth or fictional character? The answer is simple it is because they
cannot accept in their hearts the words of Shakyamuni and the
Masters, and because they are blinded by their own limited and
illusory opinions to which they try to adapt the Jodo Shinshu
teaching.
Such people think the Dharma must necessarily adapt to the
materialistic or so-called modern visions of a world in which they
are incapable of going beyond what they can see with the naked eye.
It is as if they are deludedly saying that our eyes, or our limited
minds, are the only criteria upon which we can judge what is real
from what is not real in the universe, and further, what we dont see,
touch or smell, etc. automatically doesnt exist.
Only in the moment of death, when through faith in Amida Buddha
we are born the birthless birth in the Pure Land and become
Buddhas, will we understand what our present minds and senses cant
understand the unity between samsara and Nirvana, the nonarising of all phenomena, emptiness, etc.

176

The Pure Land in the teaching of Jodo Shinshu

Chih-i (538-597), the founding master of the Tendai Buddhist
school in China, advocated the idea that the Pure Land exists in
ones mind, which was later transmitted to Japan. This can be found
in the Vimalakirti Sutra, a teaching belonging to a diferent Dharma
gate than the Pure Land92, and in which it is said that if ones mind is
pure then the land appears pure by virtue of the purity of the mind.
Essentially speaking, the Pure Land was understood by many
Tendai masters of the past as existing only in ones mind. Chih-i even
spoke of Amida Buddha and his Pure Land as elements of ones
consciousness to be realized in the mind.
Nowadays, many followers and so-called teachers of our school
take this idea and integrate it in various ways into their own
interpretation of the Jodo Shinshu teaching without knowing or
without wanting to accept that such ideas are against the Pure Land
teaching advocated by our Founding Masters.
We need to understand very well that contrary to the theories of
mind only or pure land is pure mind, the Jodo Shinshu teaching
recognizes the existence of many transcendental Buddhas who
preside over many realms or Buddha-lands and that it is possible, by
various methods, to be born in one of these after death. Various
examples of such Buddha-lands are, for example, Maitreyas Tusita
Heaven, Akyobhyas land, the land of Tara Bodhisattva,
Bhaisajyaguru (Yakushi) Buddhas land and Amidas land of the
west, the last mentioned of which is the best land to be born into by
those who wish to attain Buddhahood quickly.
The real existence of such Buddha-lands and especially of Amida
Buddhas Pure Land was naturally accepted by the masters of our
92

See the chapter The effect is simmilar to the cause difference between the Path
of self power and the Pure Land Path.

177

school, including Nagarjuna, Shan-tao, Honen, Shinran and others

who clearly instructed us to aspire to be born only in Amidas Pure
Land. They all embraced the idea of the Pure Land from the
viewpoint of the next life (raisejodo), which means it is to be attained
after physical death, and of Amida as a real and living Buddha.
Shinran himself lamented in the third chapter of Kyogyoshinsho
about those who embraced wrong views about Amida and his Pure
Land:
The monks and laity of this latter age and the religious teachers
of these times are floundering in concepts of self-nature and mind
only, and they disparage the true realization of Enlightenment in the
Pure Land way.
It is unfortunate that many of todays false teachers continue to
lead people into confusion with concepts that are not to be found in
our school, due to their own lack of faith in Amida Buddha and their
lack of a sincere aspiration to be born in his Pure Land.
How far they are from the words of faith spoken by Nagarjuna:
With reverence I bow my head to Amida, the Sage,
The Most Honored One, who is revered by humans and devas.
You dwell in the wonderful Land of Peace and Bliss,
Surrounded by innumerable children of the Buddhas.

178

About petitionary prayers

In the Kyosho (Essentials of Jodo Shinshu) it is said:
..we shall live expressing our gratitude without depending on
petitionary prayer and superstition.
Here we see that petitionary prayer is linked to superstition as both
are put in the same category of the things we, as Jodo Shinshu
followers, should not do.
But what does it mean to use the nembutsu as a petitionary prayer
or superstition? Simply stated it is to say the Name of Amida in order
to receive worldly benefits, like wealth, possessions, success in love
affairs, etc., or to think that by reciting it in a certain manner will
bring good luck and good fortune.
To believe in luck is in itself a superstition as this implies the
denial of the law of karma according to which one reaps what one
sows. Luck it is said to appear from nowhere, while the karma
implies that everything has a cause. One cannot be a Buddhist and
believe in luck or good fortune which comes from other sources not
related to personal karma.
So, any religious method which implies asking a higher being, a
Buddha or a god, to grant ones worldly wishes or any divinatory
practice that is believed to modify ones destiny outside the law of
karma is strictly forbidden in Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in particular
and in Buddhism in general.
I think the above sentence from the Kyosho was especially
promulgated to prevent Jodo Shinshu followers from falling in two
wrong views:

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1. to misinterpret nembutsu as a divinatory method or a

petitionary prayer for worldly benefits, and
2. to discourage wrong dependency upon various gods and
higher beings.
But what if we cry to Amida Buddha, like a child calls his mother
when he feels sad or when he is in danger? Can this be considered
wrong, too?
For example, when I was in a plane and I was passing through
strong turbulences I prayed to Amida and Avalokitesvara and asked
them to protect my life. I simply didnt care then if this was a
petitionary prayer or not, and I also think that Amida was not upset
with me.
I am an ordinary person who is afraid of death, and in times of
great sorrow or fear I may cry to Amida or Avalokitesvara: please
help me, I am afraid of this or that. I think its all right to do this.
Amida and Avalokitesvara and any Buddha we call is always present,
can hear our cries, and understands our need of protection.
One cannot ask me to suddenly have no fear of death after I entrust
to Amida. If we were supposed to have no fear after receiving shinjin
then it would mean that Jodo Shinshu is not a path for ordinary
people, as ordinary people are always capable of experiencing fear.
To be free from fear in this life means to no longer be in the category
of ordinary people. And Amida Buddha especially saves ordinary
people.
Shinran said to Yuien-bo in Tannisho that he himself was afraid of
death and did not wish to go to the Pure Land soon. Instead of putting
him outside the Dharma, this fear is exactly what assured him even
more of Amidas salvation.
Of course, it is not the fault of Amida that I suffer and have to pass
through many kinds of dangerous situations. Due to my heavy karma
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from the past I deserve to experience any injury this is the law of
cause and effect. But in the exact moment of being injured, who can
really have a calm state of mind and say to himself: I am now
experiencing the results of my heavy karma so I should stay calm and
not cry to Amida for help?
I myself cannot really promise that when facing danger I will not
pray to the Buddhas for protection. Its really impossible for me to
never say Please Amida, protect me.
I think we should not be strict when approaching Amida in our
daily lives or when we meet with problems. We can ask for help,
without becoming upset if due to causes and conditions unknown to
our limited minds: we still suffer and apparently receive no help as
we wished it. But surely we are helped and supported even if our
minds cant understand how a Buddha helps us.
My opinion is that there is no real Dharmic problem as long as we
dont think we can get money or other things through the nembutsu,
or that through petitionary prayers we are born in the Pure Land or
we become more worthy to go there.
As I said previously, I think that exclusion of petitionary prayers in
Jodo Shinshu comes from fearing that some might misinterpret the
nembutsu as a petitionary prayer or use it to transfer merits gained
from a good recitation to this or that worldly gain, or think we can
obtain material wealth ignoring the law of cause and effect by
praying to higher beings and Buddhas.
It should be very well understood that nembutsu is not a magic
formula to solve ones problems in daily life, but only the
manifestation of faith in Amida which causes our attainment of
Buddhahood in the Pure Land. Through the nembutsu of faith one
receives only the assurance of attainment of Buddhahood in the Pure
Land, nothing else.

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To end all suffering, to become a Buddha and to help others

indefinitely, this is the natural outcome of nembutsu. Once we have
received faith in our hearts and have started saying the nembutsu of
faith, our karma is cut and we are assured of birth in the Pure Land.
Having our karma cut means that it doesnt plant its seed in
another life filled with ignorance and suffering, but as long as we live
we continue to experience the results of our past actions from this life
or the endless past. It is like a flower taken from the ground it will
soon wither away and die but still it preserves its colour for a few
hours or days. Our karma is like that flower after receiving faith. We
still suffer until we die and we are born in the Pure Land, but after
death our suffering is 100% finished and we become Buddhas.
I think there is a great difference between using the nembutsu for
worldly means and crying for help in times of danger when we are
overwhelmed by fear. The latter is simply the childs cry toward his
mother (Amida Buddha) and no one can say it is not doctrinally
correct for a child to cry to his mother.
We should be relaxed in our relationship with Amida Buddha,
Avalokitesvara or any Buddha, as Buddhas are our parents, and we,
as their children, should be able to talk freely with them. How can I, a
child of Amida, not be allowed to call on him in times of great
sorrow, fear or danger? Of course, I as a child, cant always abstain
from becoming emotionally overcome with fear or sorrow and act
without wisdom. But a mother never judges a child like an adult, and
in the same way a Buddha never relates to an ordinary person like a
Buddha.
I do not know how my last moments of life would be, so I cannot
promise that I will die like a courageous person, facing death with
bravery, although I wish this so much. But no matter if in my last
breaths I ask helplessly not to die due to my unconscious attachment
to life, and I finally die, I know I will go to Amidas Pure Land and
become a Buddha myself. Shinran said in his Letters that he gives no
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special meaning to ones last moments. If one has shinjin, then he can
die in any circumstances, as he will surely go to the Pure Land after
death.
To have fear or ask for protection and help from the Buddhas in
times of great dangers and suffering is due to our own blind passions,
while to be saved as we are from birth and death is due to Amidas
Power. These two have no connection with one another.
In concluding this chapter I wish to mention one more thing. I
know that the example of Shinrans giving up the recitation of the
Pure Land sutras for the benefit of others93 is always shown as a
proof against petitionary prayers and wrong interpretation of practice
in Jodo Shinshu. But into my opinion, what Shinran tried to do when
he chanted Amida-kyo in that specific situation was transference of
merit. He hoped to achieve merits by sutra recitation which he
intended to be transferred to those in need. He then realized this
attempt is not in accord with the Pure Land teaching, and he stopped.
In comparrison with this, what I did when I prayed to Amida and
Avalokitesvara in that dangerous situation, was not a transference of
merit but just a cry of help in the hour of suffering and fear.
I am sure that faith and the nembutsu of faith can co-exist with
some cries of help in the middle of great suffering. Amida will not be
upset.

93

It is said that one day, when Shinran saw the immense suffering of peasants from
an area devastated by hunger, he secluded himself and concentrated on chanting the
Three Pure Land sutras many times in order to benefit them. But after a period he
gave up this practice realizing it was a mistake to think that he could rely on his
own power of chanting to save others. To chant sutras and transfer the merits thus
gained is a custom in many Buddhist schools, but not in Jodo Shinshu because we
think only Amida, as a Buddha, has true merits that can be shared with others.

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Death barrier
Death barrier,
what does it mean to you?94
This question is like a koan. You have to answer it, but not using
only your rational mind. You have to put all your heart into this
question. Ask yourself over and over again, death barrier, what
does it mean to me?
What does death mean to you? Do you really feel that you will die,
do you really understand impermanence? This question is addressed
to you personally; it is not a general question, not a philosophical
question, but a very intimate question. It must become very personal.
Take the thought of death in your everyday life, when you go to
bed in the evening, when you start your day in the morning, when
you are sad or when you feel happy, when it is your birthday or when
you get marry, when eating a good meal, after having sex, when you
are satisfiedinvite death to enter your mind and make you aware of
its hidden presence.
Everything you have is fragile, so feel this fragility. Fragile is a
very good word. Feel the fragility of your own body, of your relations
with others, of the environment you live in, and especially feel the
fragility of your own so-called spiritual achievements. Be aware that
you can die every day, every moment, and fear most about the place
you might go after death.
Fear most if you havent received shinjin (faith) yet, and do all you
can to be sure that your destination is certain. Dont waste the time
you have without solving the most important matters of death and
what comes after death.

94

Zuiken Inagaki Sensei.

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Master Rennyo said:

Those who do not know the importance of the afterlife are
ignorant, even though they may understand eighty thousand sutras
and teachings; those who solved the problem of the afterlife are wise,
even though they may be unlettered men and women.

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State of mind in the moment of death

Shinran Shonin said in one of his Letters (Mattosho):
I, for my own part, attach no significance to the condition, good
or bad, of persons in their final moments. People in whom shinjin is
determined do not doubt, and so abide among the truly settled. For
this reason their end also - even for those ignorant and foolish and
lacking in wisdom - is a happy one.
This is for me, one of the most important statements of Shinran
Shonin which gives me true relief and assurance in my moments of
strong depression. No matter if I die well, in my bed, or in the street
like a homeless person, no matter if I feel good or bad, if I smile and
die peacefully with the appearance of a wise person or I cry because
of pain or fear, no matter if my death makes a good impression or
not, no matter if I die of old age or in my youth, I am accepted
exactly as I am and I will be born in the Pure Land because of
Amidas Compassion.
This is because, in his Primal Vow, Amida Buddha did not
mention a special condition in which I have to die in order to be born
in the Pure Land, he just promised that those beings who trust in him,
wish to be born in his land and say his Name will be born there.
These three minds the mind who entrusts in Amida, the mind who
wishes to be born in Amidas Land and the mind who says nembutsu
are in fact one mind, the manifestations of the entrusting mind.
In Jodo Shinshu we are saved here and now, that is, we enter in the
stage of non-retrogression (truly settled) or the stage of those
assured of Nirvana, in the very moment we entrust ourselves to
Amida Buddha, and we are born in the Pure Land where we become
immediately Buddhas in the very moment we die.

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But even after we receive shinjin (faith in Amida Buddha) we

continue to live our lives like ordinary people, filled with blind
passions and illusions, and we can die like ordinary people because of
the problems of ordinary people, because we are ordinary people.
But this very ordinary person is already received and never
abandoned by the Compassion of Amida Buddha and in this way his
end becomes a happy one. He dies like an ordinary person but is
reborn as a Buddha in the Pure Land of Amida.

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Immediate Buddhahood for ordinary people, without passing

through bardo
Although it is not so well spread outside Asia, like Tibetan
Buddhism, Jodo Shinshu deserves its place among the most advanced
Mahayana teachings and practices.
I know that in Tibetan Buddhism, there are methods for attaining
complete Buddhahood quicker than in other Mahayana schools. Some
practices are hard and dangerous like those of the tantras, but some
are easier like the practice of attaining Enlightenment in the bardo or
the intermediate state between death and the next birth, in accordance
with the Bardo Thodol. Through its methods, Tibetan Buddhism
promises, if well practiced, Enlightenment in 16 lives maximum, or
even in the bardo, if one is not capable of attaining it in this very life.
It is indeed wonderful, but looking to the teaching and practice of
Jodo Shinshu, I feel even happier that through faith in Amida Buddha
I will attain supreme and complete Buddhahood in the very moment
of death and birth in the Pure Land: not in the bardo, where I still
have to practice something based on my own power, while I also
experience the manifestations of my own karma and delusions, but in
the very moment of my death.
While every unenlightened sentient being has to pass through
bardo when they die, the Jodo Shinshu practicers dont experience
this intermediate state, because of their reliance during their present
life on the Infinite Power of Amida Buddha who embraces them and
safely transforms them into Buddhas in the very moment of their
death and birth in his Pure Land.
This is extraordinary because even if you have a practice and
concrete instructions to follow in the bardo, it might still be difficult
to accomplish it, because of the fears, evil karmas, attachments and
delusions that manifest in that state. The power of every thought and
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delusion becomes ten times stronger when you are in the bardo. Lets
say you may overcome these difficulties, but what if you dont?
There is still plenty of room for errors.
But there is no possibility for failure to become a Buddha in the
Pure Land if you rely on Amida, because there is not even the
slightest trace of your own imperfect personal power involved in this
process. Among all the Buddhas, Amida made the greatest Vow,
which promises complete Buddhahood by birth in his Pure Land to
all ordinary95 sentient beings who entrust themselves to him, say his
Name and aspire to be born in his Pure Land (threefold faith).
Because this is the Promise of a Buddha, we cant doubt it. As
Master Shinran explained, those who completely entrust themselves
to Amida Buddha are born directly in his Pure Land at the moment of
their death, where they immediately attain complete Buddhahood and
start benefiting all sentient beings through their newly acquired
enlightened capacities. We die, are born in the Pure Land, become
supreme Buddhas and return to the three worlds to help all sentient
beings. Thats it no bardo, no further obstacles to overcome!
So, as you see, the method of complete entrusting to Amida
Buddha is the safest, easiest and fastest method to fulfill the
aspiration to liberate ourselves and others (Bodhi Mind). No
visualizations are required nor the slightest special capacity, and no
personal merit. It is the only method through which ordinary people,
filled with heavy karma and incapable of any practice, become
Buddhas. This method is so easy that it is almost forgotten and not
taken into consideration. And it is so simple that it becomes
95

The words ordinary sentient beings are most important in Jodo Shinshu. People
may say that other Buddhist methods also offer easy practices to attain
Buddhahood. Yes, this might be true, but it depends on what one understands by
easy. Jodo Shinshu really requires nothing from the practicer - no merit, no
virtues, no special capacities, nothing - to attain Buddhahood. Faith in Amida
Buddha is indeed the only method for ordinary people with no special capacities.

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unbelievable to many. But it is nevertheless a method preached by

Shakyamuni in the Pure Land sutras, which he himself acknowledged
is hard to be accepted in faith.
We may safely assume that Jodo Shinshu is the easiest method
among all Buddhist methods for ordinary people, even faster than
Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhist methods, leading to the same goal to
become a fully Enlightened Buddha, always active in saving sentient
beings. It is also the safest way, because there is no possibility to fall
back into samsara.
The Jodo Shinshu follower is assured of attaining Buddhahood in
the Pure Land in the very moment he entrusts himself to Amida, thus
receiving the infinite merit and virtues of Amida and entering the
stage of non-retrogression while still remaining an ordinary person.
In the moment he receives faith in Amida, he becomes carried by
Amida, like a child carried by his mother at her chest safely across
the river. Nothing can make him fall from his Mothers embrace. This
is Jodo Shinshu.

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Only for me, Shinran

Shinran Shonin said:
When I deeply contemplate Amidas Compassionate Vow, I
realize it was made only for me, Shinran.
If you dont come to the point to think that the teaching is
addressing personally to you, then it is all in vain.
Treat the Dharma as if Shakyamuni, Amida, Shinran, Rennyo and
all the patriarchs speak directly to you. Think they are before you,
addressing personally.
This is not a symbol, but the real truth. Perceive the teaching as
being an exclusive, intimate, friendly and maternal relationship
between you and Amida Buddha. He doesnt treat sentient beings as
numbers, but addresses each one individually, so his relationship with
you is like that between mother and child or between best friends.
Think that Amida Buddha addresses himself to your own personal
suffering, to all the forms that suffering manifests in your life, and
that he wishes to heal you once and for all.
Replace the word Shinran, with your own name, and say, for
example:When I deeply contemplate Amidas Compassionate Vow, I
realize it was made only for me, Adrian.

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How do I feel as a Buddhist

You dont need to do anything in order to attain Buddhahood in the
Pure Land of Amida. In Jodo Shinshu, Buddhahood is not to be
gained or deserved. Unlike other paths outside or inside Buddhism,
here the final liberation from birth and death is not to be acquired by
you.
You dont go by yourself to Nirvana, but Amida Buddha takes you
by the hand, like a child, and brings you there. He is the One who
makes you see the ultimate nature of all things, who melts the many
layers of delusions that cover your innate Buddha nature.
Once born through the gate of faith in the Pure Land of Amida or
his sphere of influence, all these transformations occur instantly and
naturally. Your journey in this life as a prisoner in samsara is over
once you receive faith, and your journey as a Buddha begins when
you are born in the Pure Land of Amida96 at the moment of death.
Faith (shinjin) and saying of the Name (which is the expression of
that faith) means that you simply let Amida Buddha bring you to
Buddhahood. You trust that he can do this for you and that you cant
do it by yourself.
There is no other path like this one. No matter how much you
study all the religions of the world and even all other Buddhist
methods, you will never find such a teaching that truly requires
nothing from you.

96

In the moment one receives faith, he immediately enters the stage of nonretrogression or assured of Nirvana and is born in the Pure Land of Amida at the
end of his life.

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This teaching of Shakyamuni about Amida Buddhas salvation is

the best expression of the infinite Love and Compassion a Buddha
can feel for sentient beings. It is the medicine to be applied when all
other medicines (methods) have proven ineffective for you.
Once I was asked:
How do you feel as a Buddhist?
I answered:
I feel loved and accepted.
I feel as though I am surrounded by warm and huge gentle hands.
I feel embraced.
I feel secure. Nothing can harm me spiritually, not even my own
blind passions and evil karma.
I see the smiling face of Buddhas everywhere. I can make jokes
with the Buddhas, I can laugh with them. When seeing a statue of the
Buddha I can touch his nose and cheeks and joke.
I feel the Buddhas never become upset with me, never judge me or
abandon me.
I feel that the essence of the entire universe is great love and great
Compassion.
I feel I walk in the Light although I am impure.
No matter how I live or die my destination is certain. All problems
have been solved for me.
This is how I feel as a Buddhist.

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Enjoy the presence of the Buddhas

One thing that I especially like in Jodo Shinshu is the feeling of
Buddhas being close to me, walking with me, seeing me in my daily
life, watching over me.
Buddhas are not just teachers. If you think of the Buddhas only in
this way, then the Buddhas will seem very far from you, somehow
secluded in their Enlightenment, while you are here to struggle alone
following their example.
But this is not the single side of the coin. Buddhas are indeed
teachers and fingers pointing to the moon, but they are also saviors,
active in your daily life. They walk with you, think of you, see you,
make plans how to make you understand important things, etc.
Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Masters are alive and active this is a
matter of extreme importance.
You can speak directly with the Buddhas, with Amida,
Avalokitesvara, Mahasthamaprapta, with Shinran, Rennyo,
Nagarjuna, etc. In your times of sorrow or in your happy times, you
may chose to speak with each one of them directly as though they are
in front of you, because they are indeed in front of you (this is not a
metaphor).
Buddhas are in your room, in your car, in the train you are
travelling with, in the bar where you drink a beer and enjoy good
times with your friends, in your solitude when you find it so hard to
endure your sorrow. Amida is always with you, so it is Shinran
Shonin.
Please remember this from time to time and I am sure that you will
find great comfort in it.

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Dont bother with what some people might say, interpreting

Buddhas only in their aspect of ultimate nature or Dharmakaya,
because Buddhas, like Amida and Shinran too, who is also a
Buddha have transcendent bodies of manifestation that can travel
and be present everywhere, and can hear and see everything.
Avalokitesvara, for example, hears every single cry of sorrow from
the tiniest little insect to humans and gods. Her name translates into
the One who Hears the Cries of the World and this name is not just
a metaphor or symbol of the Compassionate qualities that lies in the
Buddha nature, but She really hears the cries of the world, your
individual cries or your individual joys, too.
Amida is the same, He knows everything, hears everything and
sees everything. He always accompanies you together with all other
good friends you have among Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and the
Masters.
So, you are never alone, my friend.
Master Shinran said on his death bed:
If you alone rejoice in Nembutsu-Faith, remember that you are
with someone else. If you two rejoice in Nembutsu-Faith, remember
that there is still another accompanying you. I, Shinran, am that
other person.
Take these words literally and enjoy the presence of the Buddhas.

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