BUDDHISM

Shin Buddhism

NAMU AMIDA BUTSU

I take refuge in Amida Buddha

Devotional Prayer of Thanksgiving

Thank you, Amida Buddha, for your unconditional care,

For looking upon me as your own son,

And showing me the way out of calculation and self-judgement

Into the light of Diamondlike Faith and Assurance of Buddhahood.

You hold back nothing from me that I need:

Even in the deepest darkness of my blind passions

You are there, leading me onward and forward,

Out of the desert of delusion and ignorance

Into the everlasting blessedness of Nirvana at this life's end.

Thank you for your great gift each and every day:

For by it, when I ultimately go to your Pure Land

And I too become Buddha through your Vow Power

I will then foreverafter help others as you have helped me,

To see Your Light of truly Boundless Wisdom and Compassion

As revealed in the great Sutra of Limitless Life.

May I honor and bless you forever, Amida my savior!

Namu Amida Butsu

--Richard St. Clair (Shaku Egen)

The entire THREE SUTRAS of Pure Land Buddhism

SUTRA ON AMIDA BUDDHA

LARGER SUTRA ON THE BUDDHA OF ETERNAL LIFE

SUTRA ON CONTEMPLATION OF BUDDHA AMITAYUS

Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, or Shin Buddhism, is based upon the teachings and writings of Shinran Shonin (1173-1262) andRennyo Shonin (1415-1499). "Shonin" is a Japanese term that means "sage" or "master." "Jodo Shinshu" means literally "True Pure Land Sect."

Master Shinran wrote as follows:

How joyous I am, Gutoku Shinran, disciple of Sakyamuni! Rare is it to come upon the sacred scriptures from the westward land of India and the commentaries of the masters of China and Japan, but now I have been able to encounter them. Rare is it to hear them, but already I have been able to hear. Reverently entrusting myself to the teaching, practice and realization that are the true essence of the Pure Land way, I am especially aware of the profundity of [Amida] Tathagata's benevolence. Here I rejoice in what I have heard and extol what I have attained.

Master Shinran expounded the "True Pure Land Way", or the path whose "practice" is LISTENING DEEPLY to the Dharma preached by Shakyamuni Buddha in the Larger Pure Land Sutra. This practice entails total faith in and reliance upon Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life.

Then who is Amida Buddha? Amida Buddha is a "samboghakaya" buddha or "transcendental" buddha, who was revealed to the world in three great Mahayana sutras expounded by the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, who lived and taught in India ca. 563-483 BCE.

Amida Buddha began as a king, a man who sought enlightenment under the then living-Buddha of his world, named Buddha Lokeshvararaja, whom we read about in the Larger Pure Land Sutra. This king took the Dharma name of Bodhisattva Dharmakara. (A bodhisattva is a person on the brink of buddhahood who brings the Dharma to suffering beings in advance of his own enlightenment.) The name Dharmakara means "Dharma-storehouse."

Bodhisattva Dharmakara asked Buddha Lokeshvararaja to show him all the billions of buddha-lands of the cosmos. When he was granted this request, Bodhisattva Dharmakara determined to create a Pure Land containing all the virtues of the other buddhas' pure lands but without any of the evils in those pure lands. He then became moved to make 48 Vows detailing the attributes of his Pure Land which he intended and vowed to create.

Perhaps the most unusual vow of these is presented in the Larger Pure Land Sutra as Vow 18, otherwise called the Primal Vow, which reads as follows:

"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. Excluded, however, are those who commit the five gravest offences and abuse the right Dharma."

Other Buddhas vow to save all beings but through various difficult practices that only talented people can perform and only through very many lives. Dharmakara wished to create a special buddha-land where ALL beings can IMMEDIATELY be saved, male or female, young or old, good or evil, educated or illiterate. In his Buddha land (the Pure Land or Sukhavati), any sincere petitioner - even the most evil reprobates - could be reborn and attain enlightenment without the confusing and conflicting pains and distractions of mortal existence.

The other 47 vows of Dharmakara Bodhisattva are about the special features of his Pure Land and the powers of Amida Buddha once Dharmkara attained buddhahood through the fulfillment of all 48 vows.

According to the sutra, Dharmakara vowed that he would not allow himself to be enlightened until this Buddha land and all its powers were thus created. It took him five long kalpas of meditation to create the Pure Land. And at the time his Buddha land was completed, he became the Buddha, Amida (also known as Amitabha or Amitayus). This all happened over billions upon billions of years in the past.

This Primal Vow offers salvation to any person in any circumstances. In this age of Declining Dharma, or Mappo in Japanese, the Buddha Shakyamuni (the World-Honored One) explained in the Larger Pure Land Sutra the way of salvation through faith in Amida Buddha. As Master Shinran said in his SHOSHINGE (Poem of Nembutsu-Faith),

Why did the World-honored One come into this world?

To expound the ocean of Amida's Primal Vow;

In this evil world of five defilements

We should believe the Buddha's true words.

Thus Amida Buddha must be considered the greatest of all buddhas because He extends salvation from the world of suffering to all - whether good or evil, young or old, male or female - who simply take refuge in Him and attain that state of settled faith known as SHINJIN or "the mind of faith." Amida Buddha's work of saving suffering beings will not be completed until ALL BEINGS are Buddhas. This is why Amida goes by two names, AMITABHA (Limitless Light = Infinite Wisdom) and AMITAYUS (Limitless Life = Boundless Compassion).

---

Now we come to the crux of the matter:

True Shin Buddhism teaches that there is no calling greater than attaining SHINJIN, and moreover, that attaining SHINJIN is the sole objective of the Nembutsu path, reciting "Namu Amida Butsu" (I take refuge in Amida Buddha) singlemindedly and with simple gratitude for the benevolent salvation that we receive in this life with the promise of Buddhahood at the end of this life when we go to the Pure Land (jodo) of Amida Buddha.

By "attaining SHINJIN" is meant receiving the blessed gift of SHINJIN from Amida Buddha through His transferred merit to all beings who take singleminded refuge in Him. The transferred merit is through the OTHER POWER (Jp. "tariki") of Amida.

It is through SHINJIN that we are guaranteed Birth in Amida's Pure Land when this life comes to an end. Once born in Amida's Pure Land, we attain buddhahood, we become buddhas ourselves.

No self-power or calculation by the aspirant is necessary to attaining SHINJIN. In fact, self-power (Jp. "jiriki") and calculationonly get in the way of Amida's saving Other Power. To receive Amida's gift of SHINJIN one must acknowledge completely that one is incapable of achieving buddhahood through one's own self-power, and then one must take singleminded refuge in Amida Buddha.

SHINJIN therefore is attained by placing one's ENTIRE KARMIC DESTINY in the care of Amida Buddha. It is as simple as that. But people are filled with doubts, delusions, and obscurations that make it hard to believe attaining SHINJIN can be so easy. This is where it is important to have a good teacher; further, one's karmic connection to Amida Buddha must be ripening to the point where one can accept this teaching in complete faith.

The NEMBUTSU, which is pronounced "Namu Amida Butsu" in Japanese, is simply an expression of faith and an expression of gratitude to Amida Buddha. It is not a "practice" in the sense that it accomplishes any spiritual goal. It, itself, does not cause birth in Amida's Pure Land. It is simply an outflowing of thankfulness to Amida for His gift of salvation through His blessed gift of SHINJIN.

Master Shinran explained the Nembutsu as follows:

The Nembutsu, for its practicers, is not a practice or a good act.

Since it is not performed out of one's own designs, it is not a practice.

Since it is not good done through one's own calculation, it is not a good act.

Because it arises wholly from Other Power and is free of self-power,

for the practicer, it is not a practice or a good act.

[Tannisho, Part One, Section 8]

and he went on to say,

Persons who truly realize SHINJIN

As they utter Amida's Name [NAMU AMIDA BUTSU]

Being mindful of the Buddha always,

Wish to respond in gratitude to the Great Benevolence.

[Shozomatsu Wasan, no. 30]

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The Collected Works of Shinran include poems, letters, and his monumental treatise, KyoGyoShinSho ("Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Attainment of the Pure Land Way"). For a summary of some of Master Shinran's core teachings, see the Tannisho, a short book composed by his follower Yuienbo with key quotes directly from Master Shinran. Tannisho represents Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in terms of refuting specific deviations from Master Shinran's teaching which arose after his death in 1262.

The problem of deviations from Master Shinran's teachings is still a problem today, expressed in terms of doubt - and often resolute DISBELIEF - about the reality of Amida Buddha and His Pure Land. Master Shinran was completely clear and unambiguous about the true reality of Amida and His Pure Land, for he devoted an entire chapter (Chapter 5) of hisKyoGyoShinSho to "TRUE BUDDHA AND LAND."

Such doubt and disbelief is simply an expression of ego and ignorance. Unfortunately it has been expressed by some of the leading Shin scholars, and even leading Shin ministers, of our time and represents a threat to the vitality of the greater Sangha of True Shin Buddhism as set forth originally by Master Shinran and later revived by Master Rennyo.

In order for a Shin Buddhist to be a true teacher of the path of Nembutsu-faith, one must be a person of settled SHINJIN. Unless one has himself or herself already attained SHINJIN, he/she cannot understand the process of awakening to Amida's Primal Vow. And attaining SHINJIN depends upon singleminded belief and refuge in the REAL AND TRUE BUDDHA AMIDA.

It is as though a person who has intellectually studied music wanted to teach someone how to play a musical instrument. Without the experience of actually knowing how to play the instrument, it would be impossible to teach someone else how to play it. The same is true of SHINJIN. It is an experience that cannot be attained or described intellectually, no matter how many books on Buddhism one might read.

Master Rennyo wrote about the importance of understanding this attainment of faith as follows:

From today, ... seriously start to inquire into the meaning of the

Great Faith of the Other-Power and obtain the determination

of rebirth into the Land of Recompense. To receive this

Faith of our sect, nothing need to be done but simply place

deep reliance on Amida Tathagata single-heartedly.

Note Master Rennyo's exhortation to "seriously...inquire into the meaning of the Great Faith of Other-Power." Master Rennyo clearly and straightforwardly advocates understanding the meaning of this faith in Other Power. A mere simple recitation of the Nembutsu without understanding its meaning is pointless.

In order to "obtain the determination of rebirth", that is, SHINJIN, "into the Land of Recompense," that is, the PURE LAND OF AMIDA, one needs to understand that Amida Buddha made his great Primal Vow which embraces and does not forsake anyone, young or old, male or female, good or evil, who takes singleminded refuge in His Other Power.

And, in accord with the teachings of Master Shinran and Master Rennyo, one must believe, as these masters believed, in the reality of the true and real Amida Buddha and His true and real Pure Land, otherwise birth will not be possible.

Further, this belief can only come about through LISTENING DEEPLY to the Dharma of Amida Buddha to determine for oneself that the true teaching of Jodo Shinshu is indeed true. Having a teacher of settled SHINJIN is very important to helping one overcome their doubts, delusions, and obscurations.

However, the Path of Nembutsu Faith - Jodo Shinshu Buddhism - cannot be forced upon anyone. As Master Shinran, who spread Faith in Amida Buddha to countless aspirants and led them to settled SHINJIN, said, as recorded in the Tannisho:

If Amida's Primal Vow is true, Shakyamuni's teaching cannot be false.

If the Buddha's teaching is true, Shan-tao's commentaries cannot be false.

If Shan-tao's commentaries are true can Honen's words be lies?

If Honen's words are true, then surely what I say cannot be empty.

Such, in the end, is how this foolish person [namely Shinran] entrusts himself [to the Vow].

Beyond this, whether you take up the nembutsu

or whether you abandon it is for each of you to determine.

---

Master Shinran traced the tradition of Pure Land Buddhism from the the Three Pure Land Sutras (link above) which were expounded by Shakyamuni Buddha 2500 years ago, through the seven masters whom he called the Seven Patriarchs of Jodo Shinshu over a period of a thousand years from Master Nagarjuna to his own mentor, Master Honen.

These are the Seven Patriarchs of the True Pure Land Way, selected and eulogized by Master Shinran in his Koso Wasan ("Hymns on the Patriarchs") and in his Shoshinge.

Following Master Rennyo's death, a selection of several dozen letters written by him were selected from the 250 or so which survived. These letters form the collection called "GOBUNSHO" (Nishi Honganji name) or "OFUMI" (Higashi Honganji name).

The Letters of Master Rennyo explain in crystal clarity the basic tenets of Shin Buddhism and are highly recommended reading.

Both Tannisho and Ofumi have been published together for free download and in one volume by the Numata Center.

Equally interesting are the more informal quotations of Master Rennyo in the "Goichidaiki Kikigaki", a compilation of thoughts and statements attributed to Master Rennyo collected during and after his lifetime. The compilation is considered to be the work of his son Jitsugo (b. 1492) and contains a total of 314 statements in two volumes.

An anonymous treatise called "On the Attainment of Faith" or Anjin Ketsujo Sho, dating from perhaps 13-14th century Japan, is a text which Master Rennyo praised highly as a "gold mine" of reflection on Pure Land faith.

Shin Basics

Shin Buddhism was founded over 800 years ago in Japan by the religious reformer Shinran Shonin (1173- 1262). The Shin path is the latest branch of the greater 2,500 year old Pure Land tradition, established in India, by the historical Buddha. The word Shin means “heart” or “core,” so Shin Buddhism can mean Heart of Buddhism, but the original Japanese name of Jodo Shinshu means the “True Essence (Heart) of the Pure Land Way.”

The Shin religion originated in ancient Japan.

A Brief History

Originally, in the 13^th century, Shin was a lay reform movement during a decadent age of monastical spiritual materialism that focused more on power, fame and gold than the original intent of Buddhism. In those days, women, butchers, samurai, fisherman, merchants etc. were forbidden to practice the dharma. It was Shinran Shonin and others who dared to challenge the religious elites, by returning the Buddhist religion to the original intent and teachings of the Buddha who stressed universal salvation, compassion and simplicity of practice. As a result, Shin opened the gates of the Pure Land way to the suffering masses.

For a longtime after that, Shin was relegated as a minor fringe group and was even oppressed by the government and the elites. At one point, monks felt so threatened by this egalitarian movement that they even attacked and burned down Shin temples. Regardless of these set backs, during these years and beyond, the Shin movement grew in numbers, appealing to the outcasts, morally weak, poor, destitute and uneducated who were attracted to its all-inclusive attitude, egalitarianism and reliance on simple daily practices.

Shin Buddhism arrived in the USA in the late 1900s with successive waves of Japanese immigrants, who concentrated in Hawaii and California. However, due to the ensuing intense racism and later on, being incarcerated in World War II Interment Camps in the 1940s, the Shin religion had kept a very low profile on the American landscape. Since the late 1990s, with the publication of popular Shin books like River of Fire, River ofWater by Dr. Taitetsu Unno, Shin has seen an upsurge of interest across the USA and beyond. This expansion is particularly vivid in Connecticut and Massachusetts through the efforts of the Northampton Shin Sangha and the Buddhist Faith Fellowship of Connecticut. In the 21^st century, Shin has become the largest Buddhist denomination in Japan with an active membership which spans across class boundaries and is now poised to take root in the Americas.

A Buddhism for Ordinary People

Shin Buddhism is spiritual path made for busy people who have hefty work schedules and families to take care of. As a consequence, it simplifies and spiritualizes the seemingly complex and intellectual Buddhist teachings and practices, such as the Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, chanting and meditation. It makes these teachings and practices more understandable and easier for ordinary lay people so they can experience their daily lives as a practical vehicle for inner transformation. Shin has nothing to do with believing in a deity, Higher Power or God for salvation or blindly following a creed, teaching, ritual or guru, but focuses on daily practice, open-minded reflection, and the direct and personal religious experience of the transcending mystery of life, symbolized by Amida Buddha. Through the Shin path, one’s sufferings and burdens are naturally transmuted into a source of received wisdom and compassion, by which life is lived anew as a journey within beauty, enlightenment and liberation. As a natural outcome of our practice, we are enjoined by the activity of the Great Compassion to be loving, kind and gentle to ourselves and all sentient beings.

Non-hierarchical, Egalitarian and Democratic

The Shin path focuses on the everyday spiritual life of ordinary working people and is open to all regardless of capacity, belief, moral status, age, race, gender or nationality. Following the spirit of its founder, Shinran Shonin, our American Shin community is non-hierarchical, egalitarian and democratic, that is, everyone is seen as an equal member and “fellow traveler along the path.” In the Shin religion, there are no monastics, monks on nuns, but there are teachers both ordained clergy and certified lay instructors. They are not seen as above everyone else or hold the secret keys to spiritual liberation, but are ordinary people, both men and women, who are just more learned or experienced spiritual seekers. Associate teachers, ministers and other certified teachers can marry and raise a family. Family life is not seen as a hindrance to spiritual development but as a natural function of being human. As a lay fellowship, we see ourselves fully engaged in life, participating neither in the ultimate and secular worlds but at the juncture of both dimensions; this is the essence of the Buddha's Middle Way. It is for this reason, our founder, stated, “I am neither lay nor monk.”

Worldwide Adherents

Though little known in North America until just recently, Pure Land Buddhism and the Shin path are the most widely practice form of Buddhism in Vietnam, China, Taiwan,Korea and Japan and Singapore. The Pure Land tradition has the largest adherents of any type of Buddhism in the world. Moreover, Shin Buddhism, a branch of Pure Land, is the world's largest Buddhist denomination with tens of millions of adherents. Furthermore there are pockets of Shin in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico,Puerto Rico, Singapore and Great Britain.

Due to the prolific number of books and centers focusing on Tibetan, Zen and Vipassana sects in North America, this news comes across with surprise for many Americans. We must remember that in Japan, just 2% of population practice Zen, and there are only 6 million Tibetans, and as for Vipassana, it is not even a Buddhist denomination but a meditation practice that is part of Theravada Buddhism. Here, we wish not to diminish the significance of these wonderful teachings but just to put into perspective the important role of the Pure Land tradition in the rest of the Buddhist world.