A Reflection on Other Power

One may ask what is the fathomless power of Amida's Vow and is it genuine? To this  question I would answer with several other questions. How many countless souls have sought refuge and found solace in the Nembutsu throughout the ages? How many enlightened Dharma Masters have put aside the practices of self power and sought it's boundless grace? How many of the masters of the meditation schools have turned to the Nembutsu in their end?

Self power is only as strong as our greatest weakness and feeble will.
The Nembutsu allows us to burn away our egos in the light of infinite compassion and wisdom.
It is the gift of selflessness and fathomless solace and peace that knows no class, race, caste, color or distinction. It is Amida Buddha's gift to all sentient beings and it benefits all beings who hear or recite it.

The Nembutsu is the great medicine that heals the heart, mind and spirit through the power of boundless grace and unmitigated mercy.  The proof of the Nembutsu's power lays in the lives of the practitioners themselves. The Nembutsu dissolves the darkness of the heart and brings even wicked persons to piety. It's proof also lays in the fact that countless people have taken up Nembutsu practice and have gotten the results in proportion with their practice and many people have even received mercy far greater in proportion then they probably deserved materially speaking.

The Nembutsu has the power to turn dacoits and rogues into Dharma Kings and Princes and it can turn the hard hearted into compassionate and pious beings. The great and boundless vow of Amida Buddha embraces both saint and sinner with equanimity and all encompassing mercy.

All we can do is approach it in gratitude with hands folded in gassho. It is a gift that cannot be repaid and a ransom to free us from the clutches of despair. It was given to us because of a single sincere moment in which we embraced it, either consciously or unconsciously.

We can never repay Amida's kindness and mercy but we can share it with others.
Namu Amida Butsu

The Way of the Myokonin

Sometimes it takes a karmic slap in the face to re-evaluate what is truly important and what is psychological and emotional chaff. In the past few weeks I've had to take a personal inventory of my situation and I've come to the conclusion despite all of my best intentions we all simply at the mercy of Amida's Primal Vow.

The past few weeks I have spent more time chanting as well as reading the Pure Land Sutras, Shinran and the poems of Asahara Saichi.

Saichi's poems and insight have lead me to understand that all we can do is our best and leave the result regardless of the outcome to Amida's boundless grace. All of our worldly endeavors are but chaff in the wind and all that remains are the results of Amida's vow. The Poet Saichi wrote:

Suffering in heart, are you doubtful of Amida’s compassion?

That would truly be a great misunderstanding.

The suffering of this evil man becomes a great treasure.

Please understand the point of this teaching.

Namuamidabutsu is truly mysterious.

What is mysterious is that

Sea, mountains, food, lumber for building houses,

And everything else related to the life of an ordinary man,

All these are an embodiment of Namuamidabutsu.

Everyone, please understand this well.

This is the compassion of the Parent.

Such kindness fills me with joy!

Namuamidabutsu, Namuamidabutsu!

The Tathagata possesses a truly mysterious power:

The means to turn Saichi into a Buddha.

Namuamidabutsu, Namuamidabutsu.

~Saichi

All we can do is live simply with heart, have faith in the vow of Amida Buddha and embrace all others with the same light and compassion that Amida Buddha embraces ourselves. How can we even think we can enter the Pure Land when we treat others with less compassion then we demand of ourselves? How can we enter the Pure Land when we can't see the suffering of others as part of our own? How can we enter the Pure Land when we confuse apathy with detachment or refuse to see all sentient beings as having an equal place in Amida's heart?

Live simply, respect all and chant Namu Amida Butsu with a humble heart and see all sentient beings as being embraced in the heart and vow of Amida Buddha. Then we can be worthy of walking the path of the Myokonin, the wondrous people.

Out of the Darkness and Embracing the Light

My spiritual journey has been a long and sometimes turbulent one. I have studied many different disciplines in my 33 year long journey for truth and self realization. I have been disappointed and some times even spiritually crushed by insincere teachers and a fellow seekers on the long and arduous path called "The Search for Truth." Never the less, I have learned to carry on and to become dauntless in my search because giving up would only lead to falling into darkness. Every religion makes the claim that their religion is the true and only one and so many religious leaders make the claim that their interpretation is the true interpretation. So, how can we know for certain know which teaching is true?

The Buddha was faced with this question in the village of the Kalamas and he replied to their uncertainty this way in the Kalama Sutta :

"Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another's seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, 'The monk is our teacher.' Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'These things are good; these things are not blamable; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness,' enter on and abide in them."

There are certain common threads that all beneficent religions accept as core values: honesty, compassion, kindness, charity, respect and non-violence. The core values that make us human as opposed to simply animals are the basis of a positive human existence. We become our thoughts and actions, in short we are the sum total of our choices. So, how can we overcome the torrents of negativity and darkness in our lives in this modern age?

This question confronted Honen and Shinran Shonin in medieval Japan in the 13th century when their people and country was in the grips of almost unbearable conditions of perpetual war, famine and natural disasters. Both Honen and Shinran Shonin were greatly dedicated to finding a solution in the Buddhist scriptures to the elimination of suffering of everyday people who are leading every day lives and are engaged in trying to make a living for their families. Honen and Shinran found their answer in the Pure Land Sutras of the Amida Buddha who took on forty-eight vows to save all sentient beings in the three worlds by simply reciting his name (the Nembutsu) in sincere faith, Namu Amida Butsu (I pay homage to tthe Buddha of Infinite Light.) 

By reciting the Nembutsu with sincerity and faith Namu Amida Butsu the fires of the senses, mind and the material world are extinguished and the mind rests naturally in non-duality and the mind becomes the Pure Land. The Nembutsu Practice is the easiest way for everyday people to practice the Buddhist Dharma. Chant Namu Amida Butsu and illuminate your life.