Nembutsu

"[Shinran's] understanding of the path of deliverance begins with the recognition of one's ineradicable, passion-ridden nature, defiled by all kinds of evils, as the basis of conflict and violence.

This view is often considered negative and pessimistic, though Buddhism has always recognized the pervasiveness of egoism and ego-attachments. Shinran experienced it with an intensity that transformed the understanding of religious life and practice. I prefer to see his view as realistic as it is evidenced in my own life. Shinran called people to reflect upon themselves deeply and realize the chains that bound them spiritually. This self-reflection is stimulated by the Buddhist ideal of the absolute purity of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, but supremely Amida Buddha whose foundational story is related in the "Larger Pure Land Sutra."

Shinran perceived a dialectic in spiritual life, that the more aware one becomes of the depth of evil in oneself, the more one also perceives the compassion and wisdom that nevertheless sustains and nurtures one's life. The darkness of evil is exposed by the light of the compassion that breaks through the engulfing clouds of that evil. Shinran's understanding permits us to recognize the shadow side of ourselves, not in order to repress it, but to displace it by being grasped by a deeper ideal.

There are several consequences resulting from his view of the way of deliverance. One is that it is absolutely Other Power, not meaning that there is a power outside the self- god- that bestows deliverance, but that the power becomes manifest within the self in a new view of life, taking seriously the principle of interdependence and one's solidarity with all beings. These principles are manifested within the story of Amida's 48 Primal Vows which express in dramatic form the interdependence, and indivisibility of deliverance.

The second consequence is Shinran's recognition that religion itself is a danger to one's spiritual development. The belief that one may achieve enlightenment through one's own practice leads to comparisons, self-righteousness and the elitism that infects all religions (including later Shin Buddhism). Shinran's view of Other Power altered the understanding of religious life by transforming it from a religion of self-perfection or self-benefit to a religion of gratitude and commitment. Religious faith became an end in itself and not a tool or means to some other end. For Shinran, one becomes religious because one is aware of the compassion that embraces one's life and expresses it in gratitude and sharing. The essence of religious faith is altruism. One lives to convey compassion to others."

Rev. Dr. Alfred Bloom

The central element of all Pureland practice is called nien fo. Fo is the Chinese word for Buddha. Nien refers to a thought or impulse of the mind. Nien fo, therefore, means to have the Buddha in mind. Anything that brings the Buddha to mind is nien fo. Buddhists, therefore, have many reminders that help them to keep the Buddha in mind. They have statues and pictures and amulets and special clothes. They learn to do things in ways that remind them of the Buddha. Having Buddha in mind makes one happy. Buddhism is a cheerful religion.

Little rituals built into the day can generate a sense of beauty, peace and reverence in the midst of ordinary life. Thus, it is common for Buddhists to greet one another by putting the palms together in front of the chest in a gesture called anjali, or by saying “Namo Amida Bu”. Whatever brings the Buddha to mind is nien fo and so is Buddhist practice. Nien fo helps us to be faithful to the Buddha and his vision.

Pureland Buddhists say the nembutsu inwardly or outwardly on innumerable occasions. At first, it may feel strange saying these three Sanskrit words and initially they may not mean much to you. However, as you continue, you will build up a wealth of association with this simple gatha within which all the love, compassion, joy and peace of the Buddha is indicated. “Namo Amida Bu” ... “Namo Amida Bu”

Buddhist practice is about orienting the mind. The mind is always conscious of something. It responds to objects. Buddhism, therefore, sets up strong wholesome objects before the mind. We can refer to such wholesome mind-objects as icons. Icons may be real things, sacred art images, or purely imaginary forms. A Buddha statue, a nembutsu scroll, one's spiritual teacher, and Amida's Pure Land are all icons. Buddhist contemplation, or meditation, is defined as holding a wholesome object in mind. Contemplation, therefore, is sustained mindfulness of an icon. As Pureland Buddhists, the most important icon is the Pure Land in the West, with Amida at its centre.

Remember, nien fo means to bring Buddha Amida to mind and the method of Pureland practice is to have this wholesome object in mind as much as possible until it is there all the time without special effort. Sometimes nien fo is done sitting quietly as formal meditation. Sometimes it is done in the midst of ordinary activities as mindfulness in everyday life. The advantage of nien fo over many other Buddhist methods is that it takes only a moment to bring Amida to mind and you can build the habit of doing so into all your activity, so that Amida is always with you. Every time Amida enters your mind, the mind becomes better. When one acts with a good mind, happiness follows, “as the wheel follows the hoof”. Nien fo is a fool-proof method of practice.

The nembutsu is, in fact, like a key that unlocks the whole of Buddhism, or a window through which the whole of Buddhism can be understood. When we are with other Pureland Buddhists we can greet them by saying “Namo Amida Bu”. We can say “Namo Amida Bu” as a way of saying “Thank you”, or when acknowledging that something has happened. We train ourselves so that “Namo Amida Bu” is the first thing that comes to mind. If things go well, we say “Namo Amida Bu” to celebrate. If things go badly, we say “Namo Amida Bu” to say that it doesn't matter. In this way we learn that “Namo Amida Bu” will carry us through all the vicissitudes of life. No matter what happens to us, we invoke Amida. “Namo Amida Bu” becomes our constant companion through life. This is the core practice of Pureland. This is our way of taking refuge.

Namo Amida Bu

From the Amida Trust Pureland Introductory course

Sanbutsuge: Dharmakara's Song of Praise to His Teacher, Lokesvararaja Buddha

(A translation of the essential meaning of Shinran Shonin's interpretation of this gatha from the Larger Pure Land Sutra)

From the beginningless beginning
Of time itself, Dharma -- the true reality of suchness --
Has constantly been evolving
In its infinite way.

Our ancestor, Dharmakara Bodhisattva,
He who is the treasure house of Dharma,
Took this name
Upon realizing his true identity
After having heard from Lokesvararaja Buddha
The teachings that pierce all illusions.

At his first encounter
With the wisdom and reality
That is our fundamental nature
And the nature of all that exists,
Dharmakara Bodhisattva experienced such happiness,
Such joy,
That he abandoned his former way of life and thought.
With his whole body,
His total being,
All energy, complete determination --
He concentrated on the ultimate state
Of becoming a Buddha,
One fully awakened to the truth
Of the reality that is the same
Throughout the universe.

Again seeking out his great teacher
Lokesvararaja Buddha,
The Buddha who is always
Emancipating the world,
Dharmakara first respectfully bowed,
Placed his forehead on the Buddha's feet
And then,
Rising to walk around the Buddha three times
While he gazed in awe from all directions
At this Buddha whom he wished to become,
Feeling the Buddha's inconceivable power,
Dharmakara put his palms together in gassho
And sang in praise.

"You, like whom I wish to become,
Have a countenance radiant with a light
Of utter sincerity, a light of boundless wisdom
Which shines on all beings
Transforming vices into virtues!
Your light is the light of compassion,
The ever-burning light-source
Of peace and happiness,
Penetrating me with its warmth.

When compared to your never-failing light
That of the most precious jewels,
That of the fiercest flames,
That of the sun and brightest stars
Are like the black holes of the universe.

Your shiny countenance,
Your most excellent features,
Your color -- which embraces all colors --
Are beyond compare.
Your voice, emerging from the depths
Of your boundless compassion,
Resounds like a lion's roar throughout the universe
Proclaiming that Buddha-ness
Is my true self,
The true self of each and every being everywhere!

That sublime, most rare compassion
Arising from the wisdom-flow
Of your ceaseless activity in perfecting
Mindfulness and awareness:
Your ceaseless activity in perfecting patience,
Strength,
And reflection;
Take you beyond this world of birth-and-death
To the stage of joy and bliss
At having become the dharma.

How inconceivable that this last stage,
The fulfillment of Buddha-hood,
You, a perfected Buddha, made the choice --
Out of Great Compassion --
To return to this world as a bodhisattva
Whose dedication and yearning
Is to awaken and free each and every one of us.

In your samadhi,
So deep, so total and yet so subtle,
Having become one
With the dharma-ocean of all the Buddhas,
You fathomed its fathomless depths,
You measured its inmeasurability,
You perceived its most profound truths.

In you Abhijna, the wisdom of a Buddha
Has for all time replaced the darkness of ignorance.
In you, Mahakaruna, the compassion of a Buddha,
Has for all time replaced the darkness of lust.
In you, through selflessness, Maha-atman, the Great Self of a Buddha
Has for all time replaced the darkness
Of Self-centeredness.

Indeed, you are Bhagavat!
The Tathagata!
The world-honored one whose cosmic virtues,
Whose profound and subtle wisdom radiates
Throughout the immeasurable reaches
Of all the galaxies,
Touching the inconceivable depths of all that exists.

The impact of your enlightenment, like lightning
Striking throughout the universe,
With neither exception nor distinction transforms
All that exists in every world with Bodhi,
The innate nature of Buddha-ness,
The potential to realize what is true and real.

I, Dharmakara, yearn to experience the samadhi
Which you are experiencing.
In it, I shall open the gate of the six perfections,
The gate which includes all dharmas"
Dana-Awareness,
And the resolve to open this awareness to all:

Sila-Restraint practiced with
Ksanti, patience,
Virya, strongest effort,
Dhyana, contemplation that opens the eye of samadhi
To Prajna, the wisdom that frees and emancipates,
The wisdom of things-as-they-are.
Endlessly, without ceasing,
I shall yearn to attain
Anuttara samyak sambodhi --
The unparalleled Great Awakening
That transforms the universe
With immeasurable light and life.

This I shall carry out through my practice.
I will endure whatever must be endured
To attain this for everyone everywhere.

To all who are in need of help and guidance,
For all who are lost and confused,
Hopelessly wandering in these worlds of illusion,
I vow
They will become enabled to restore their confidence,
To awaken to their true identity,
Their great and total Buddha-ness,
Their oneness
With the Dharma that includes all dharmas,
Their oneness with me.

In every land,
Offerings to gods and buddhas are assumed
To insure the highest benefit to a devotee,
But I now establish this superior way
Of becoming a Buddha,
Which I shall follow firmly and forthrightly,
Though it is the most difficult of all difficulties.
It is a way which cannot be rivaled
Even by making offerings to gods and Buddhas
More numerous than the sand grains
In the River Ganges.

- Rev. Shoji Matsumoto and Ruth Tabrah Honolulu, 1984