Amida Buddha promised in His Primal Vow that those who
entrust to Him, say His Name and wish to be born in His Pure Land
(“sincerely entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my
land, and say my Name perhaps even ten
times[1]”)
will be born there.
The reason faith (“entrust to me”), desire to be born in the
Pure Land, as well as the saying of the Name (Nembutsu) are
mentioned in the same Vow is because they cannot be treated
separately. One who has faith in Amida Buddha will naturally say
His Name and wish to be with Him in the Pure Land. Thus, there can
be no faith separated from Nembutsu, and no Nembutsu separated from
faith. Also, there can be no faith and no Nembutsu of faith without
the desire to be born in the Pure Land.
Recently, a reader expressed the opinion that to say the Name
of Amida Buddha is secondary to “hearing the Name”. This is a grave
misunderstanding of the Jodo Shinshu teaching which cannot arise if
we properly understand the term “hearing the Name”. So, to hear
the Name means to have faith (shinjin), as Shinran clearly
explained,
"'Hear the Name': is to hear the Name that embodies the
Primal Vow. ‘Hear’ means to hear the Primal Vow and be free of
doubt. Further, it indicates shinjin
(faith)”[2]
"Hearing the inconceivable selected Primal Vow and the
Holy Name of supreme wisdom without a single doubt is called true
and real shinjin
(faith).”[3]
Also, to have faith (hear the Name) means to say the Name
(Nembutsu),
"There is no Nembutsu separate from shinjin (faith), nor
is the one moment of shinjin separate from the one moment of
Nembutsu".[4]
Master T’an-luan was of the same opinion,
“All beings, having heard Amida’s virtuous
Name,
Attain joyful faith, rejoice in what
they hear,
And call His Name even
once.'”[5]
There can be no faith (shinjin) without the saying of the
Name and no genuine saying of the Name without faith, as Shinran
said,
"Amida vowed to take into the land of bliss those who say
the Name, and thus, to entrust oneself deeply and say the
Name is to be in perfect accord with the Primal Vow.
Though a person may have shinjin (faith), if he or she does not
say the Name it is of no avail. And conversely, even though a
person fervently says the Name, if that person's shinjin is shallow
he cannot attain Birth. Thus, it is the person who both deeply
entrusts himself to Birth through the Nembutsu and undertakes to
say the Name who is certain to be born in the true fulfilled
land."[6]
Rennyo Shonin had the same understanding of the Nembutsu
(Namo Amida Butsu) being the same with faith,
"'Namo' means 'to take refuge in'; it means to entrust
yourself to Amida with the assurance of your
salvation."[7]
Logical conclusion: Hearing the Name is faith (shinjin)
and faith is to say the Name. None is secondary to another because
they cannot be separated.
Question: In relation with the above,
what is the meaning of the following sentence,
"Neither those who say the Name more than ten times nor
those who only hear the Name are omitted or excluded from birth in
the Pure
Land”.[8]
My answer: The passage above may refer to
people of faith who either live long and can enjoy vocal Nembutsu
many times, or die before saying at least one Nembutsu with their
lips. In the latter case, hearing means to hear the Primal Vow in
faith and turn one’s thought automatically towards Amida Buddha. To
think or turn one’s thoughts towards Amida is the same as
saying/reciting His Name. Thinking to Amida Buddha with thoughts of
faith equals the vocal saying of the Name in faith. Thinking is the
same with saying, as one who says the Nembutsu actually thinks to
Amida, and the one who thinks to Amida will move his lips to say
the Name if he does not die before being able to do that or if he
is not mute.
Please do not complicate your mind
unnecessarily.
[1] What
is the meaning of “say my Name perhaps even ten times” from
the Primal Vow? Shinran Shonin explained:
"In the Primal Vow are the words:
'Saying my Name perhaps even ten times'.
Know from the words 'ten times' that appear from the
beginning in the Vow itself that saying the Name is not limited to
one utterance. And the word 'perhaps even' makes it clearer still
that there is no set number of times one should say the
Name." Shinran Shonin, Notes on Once-Calling
and Many-Calling, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin
Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto,
1997, p.482
[2]
Shinran Shonin, Notes on Once-calling and Many-calling, The
Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo
Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.474
[3]
Shinran Shonin, Notes on the Essentials of Faith
Alone, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism
Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997,
p.454
[4]
Shinran Shonin, Lamp for the Latter-Ages, letter 11, The
Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo
Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.538
[5] Hymns
in Praise of Amida Buddha (Tsan ami t’o fo chieh) [composed by
Master T’an-luan], as quoted by Shinran in his Kyogyoshinsho – On
Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment III, translated by
Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research,
Kyoto, 2003, p. 88
[6]
Shinran Shonin, Lamp for the Latter-Ages, letter 12,
The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation
Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.539
[7]
Thus I Have Heard from Rennyo Shonin (Rennyo Shonin ‘s
Goichidaiki Kikigaki), translated by Hisao
Inagaki, Dharma Lion Publications, Craiova, 2008, p.18
[8]
Shinran Shonin, Notes on the Inscriptions on Sacred
Scrolls, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism
Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997,
p.506
.jpeg)
