"Tathagata's Primal Vow surpasses conceptual
understanding; it is a design of the wisdom of Buddhas. It is
not the design of foolish beings. No one can fathom the wisdom of
Buddhas, which surpasses conceptual
understanding."[1]
"Further, with regard to Other Power, since it is
inconceivable Buddha-wisdom, the attainment of supreme
Enlightenment by foolish beings possessed of blind passions comes
about through the working shared only by Buddhas; it is not in any
way the design of the practicer. Thus, no working is true
working. 'Working' that is negated refers to the calculation of the
person of self-power. Concerning Other Power, then, no working is
true
working."[2]
One who entrusts himself to Amida Buddha realizes that it is
through Amida's Power that he is saved ("true working"), and not by
his own designs and calculations or through the so called "merits"
he thinks he has accumulated until now ("no working").
The fact that foolish beings are made to attain perfect
Enlightenment after birth in the Pure Land, although they are now
possesed by blind passions, is beyond conceptual understanding
because, as Shinran said, it is related with the "inconceivable
Buddha-wisdom" and it comes about "through the working shared only
by Buddhas". This means that only Buddhas know the mechanism of
Amida's salvation and only they can understand it. All we can do is
to accept in faith that such foolish people like us, possed of
blind passions, will attain perfect Enlightenment once we enter the
Pure Land of Amida.
We are like ignorant peasants who enter a plane for the first
time. We do not know how the plane flies, but we trust the pilot
and the engineers who built it, and we are certain that they will
take us safely to the destination.
The theme of the inconceivability of Amida Buddha's
salvation is often mentioned in the sacred texts. Simply stated,
unenlightened minds cannot understand the Enlightened Minds and
the work of a Buddha, just like an ignorant peasant who never
got our of his village and who does not know how to read or write,
cannot understand planes or the flying technology.
Shinran Shonin even scolds Kyomyo-bo in a letter, that
to try to understand with his limited mind or "conceptual
understanding", the mechanism of the Vow and the Name of Amida,
will only lead to confusion:
"Once you simply realize that the Vow
surpasses conceptual understanding and with singleness of heart
realize that the Name surpasses conceptual understanding and
pronounce it, why should you labor in your own calculation?
It seems to me that with all your attempts to understand by reasoning and by learning you have fallen into confusion. It is completely in error. Once you have simply come to realize that Vow and Name surpass conceptual understanding, you should not calculate in this way or that. There must be nothing of your calculation in the act that leads to Birth.
You must simply entrust yourself to Tathagata."[3]
It seems to me that with all your attempts to understand by reasoning and by learning you have fallen into confusion. It is completely in error. Once you have simply come to realize that Vow and Name surpass conceptual understanding, you should not calculate in this way or that. There must be nothing of your calculation in the act that leads to Birth.
You must simply entrust yourself to Tathagata."[3]
We can easily read and understand the Primal Vow, which
is the call of Amida Buddha to us, because its so simple that even
ignorant peasants can get its message: "entrust yourself to me, say
my Name and wish to be born in my land". We can say the Name of
Amida, expressing our faith in Him, because its so easy to say it:
"Namo Amida Butsu" or "Namo Amitabha", "Namo Adidaphat" or "Namo
Amituofo", etc. But we cannot understand the exact supramundane
details or mechanism through which Amida Buddha makes possible our
birth in the PureLand, just like the ignorant peasant does not know
anything about flying technology.
As Shinran said, "pronounce" the Name even if its working
"surpasses conceptual understanding" and entrust to Amida Tathagata
even if He too, is beyond your capacity to understand: "You must
simply entrust yourself to Tathagata".
Another reason why we cannot conceive Amida Buddha's
salvation is because we are bound by ideas of merit and punishment.
We do not have enough love for ourselves, not to mention other
beings, so we might think that we must become worthy of such a
grandiose birth in the PureLand. However, to hear that "foolish
beings possessed of blind passions" can "attain birth in the Pure
Land" no matter they do not deserve it, and that they will "realize
Nirvana" there, although they did not "severed their blind
passions" during this life time, comes as a shock for our
ego-centered minds focused on rewards and punishment:
"Why is this inconceivable? When foolish beings possessed
of blind passions attain birth in the Pure Land, they are not bound
by the karmic fetters of the three realms. That is, without
severing blind passions, they realize Nirvana itself. How can this
be
conceived?"[4]
Trully, how can we conceive that somebody, namely Amida
Buddha, can have such an unlimited and non-discriminatory
Compassion that He devised a plan and a karmic mechanism to bring
into His Pure Land such "foolish beings possessed of
blind passions" like ourselves? But what we cannot conceive,
and we cannot do ourselves for us and others, a Buddha can
certainly do. So, we must simply let go to our calculating mind and
entrust ourselves to Amida Tathagata.
"The Pure Land teaching is the inconceivable
Dharma-teaching."[5],
and certainly, the most difficult thing in the world to accept in
faith, but also the shortest way to Nirvana for all beings,
especially the lowest of the low:
"It is the Dharma by which ordinary and foolish beings
bound by evil passions, those in the lower levels of society, such
as hunters and traders, can instantly transcend birth and death and
attain Buddhahood. This is called 'the Dharma which is the most
difficult thing in the world to accept in
faith.'”[6]
Namo Amida Butsu
related article,
The Name of Amida Buddha is the Great Practice
[1] Shinran Shonin,
Lamp for the Latter-Ages, letter 7, The Collected Works
of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu
Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.533
[2] Shinran Shonin,
A Collection of Letters, Letter 10, The Collected Works
of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu
Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.571-572
[3] Shinran Shonin,
Lamp for the Latter-Ages, letter 9, The Collected Works
of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu
Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.536
[4] Shinran Shonin,
A Collection of Passages on the Types of Birth in the Three Pure
Land Sutras in The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin
Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto,
1997, p.643
[5] Shinran
Shonin, Lamp for the Latter Ages, letter 8. The Collected
Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo
Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.535
[6] Shinran
Shonin quoted Master Yuan-chao in Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching,
Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment, translated by Hisao
Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research,
Kyoto, 2003, p. 117
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