Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. It
is a work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to
read the other chapters.
Shakyamuni Buddha said, in the Contemplation
Sutra,
“Those who attain birth on the highest
level of the highest grade are sentient beings who resolve to
be born in that land, awaken the three kinds of faith, and
so are born there. What are the three kinds of faith? They are,
first, sincere faith; second, deep faith; and third, the faith that
seeks birth there by transferring one’s merit. Those who have these
three kinds of faith will certainly be born there.”
In relation to the above three minds of faith in
the Contemplation Sutra, Shinran Shonin explained,
“The three minds that beings awaken are all
minds of self-benefit that are individually different and
not the mind (of faith) that is single, which arises from Amida’s
benefiting of others. They are roots of good with which to aspire
for the Pure Land that Sakyamuni Tathagata taught as a distinct
provisional means.”
Here “the three minds” are “the three
kinds of faith”. These are not aspects of true faith/shinjin
(“mind that is single”) that is given by Amida Buddha
(“arises from Amida’s benefiting of others”), and which
means a complete and total reliance on Amida Buddha in matters of
birth in the Pure Land, but aspects of a self-created
faith. As the personalities of the practitioners
of the highest level of the highest grade (as well as all grades
and levels listed in the Contemplation Sutra) differ from each
other, they have “individually different”
faiths/minds with which they go to the border land of the Pure
Land.
As this is a book that is meant
to be simple, I will try my best to offer easy to understand
explanations of these three faiths or three minds.
The sincere faith of the Contemplation Sutra means a sincere wish to go to
the Pure Land of Amida Buddha and sincerely relying partially on
Him and partially on their own spiritual capacities. For these kind
of practitioners, Amida’s Power is only an assisting power and not
the only Power that leads to birth in the Pure Land. They have a
mixed faith and a faith that is deep in the sense that they really
want to go to the Pure Land. Their deep faith is a deep
understanding of the suffering of samsara and a strong wish to go
to the Pure Land, asking for the assistance of Amida Buddha and
being deeply convinced that their so-called merits and contribution
is very important to reach that goal. Thus, they have a
“faith that seeks birth there by transferring one’s
merit”.
Contrary to the three aspects of the self-power
faith of the Contemplation Sutra, the three aspects of the genuine
faith of the Primal Vow that is presented in the Larger Sutra, are
a sincere faith in the Power of Amida as the only Power that
makes birth in the Pure Land possible. This mind of faith is a
“mind that is single” in the sense that has totally
surrendered to Amida’s Power and is uniquely oriented towards
Amida, thus saying only His Name in faith, without combining other
practices. The deep mind aspect of a genuine faith in Amida
Buddha is the twofold profound conviction which is 1) to know that
we are people of deep karmic limitations, incapable of attaining
Buddhahood through our own power and 2) that only Amida Buddha can
save us through His Vow Power without asking anything from
us.
The aspect of merit
transference in a genuine faith (shinjin) is that we rely NOT on the transference of
our pitiful merits towards birth in the Pure Land, but on Amida’s
transference of merits. A person of true faith abandons the idea of
“deserving” to be born in the Pure Land which is the main feature
of those destined to the border land and who are obsessed with
levels and grades. Unlike them, a person of total faith in Amida
Buddha knows that he cannot create anything in his samsaric and
unenlightened mind that can bring him to the Pure Land of
Enlightenment, and so he lets Amida bring Him there.
________________________________________
The Three Pure Land Sutras-
A Study and Translation from Chinese by Hisao Inagaki in
collaboration with Harold Stewart, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and Numata
Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003,
p.92
Shinran Shonin, Kyogyoshinsho, cf with
Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and
Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for
Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 212
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