Shin Ugly Blog

We’ve been talking about Master Shinran’s observation that being able to truly hear and accept the True Teaching of the Pure Land Way is “the most difficult of all difficulties”.

Here (once again) is Master Shinran speaking about this in his HYMNS OF THE PURE LAND:

It is difficult to encounter a time when a Tathagata appears in the world,
And difficult to hear the teachings of the Buddha.
It is rare to hear the excellent dharma for bodhisattvas,
Even in a span of countless ages.

It is difficult to meet true teachers,
And difficult to instruct.
It is difficult to hear the teaching well,
And more difficult to accept it.

More difficult even than trust in the teachings of Shakyamuni’s lifetime
Is the true entrusting of the universal Vow.
The Sutra teaches that it is “the most difficult of all difficulties”,
That “nothing surpasses this difficulty”.

There are a number of reasons this teaching is so difficult to hear and accept. Read the rest of this entry »

On July 2, I posted a passage from Master Yuan-chao - quoted by Master Shinran in his Kyo-Gyo-Shin-Sho - stating that the Dharma of Amida Buddha’s person and work was the most difficult thing in the world to accept by faith.

Here is Master Shinran - in his own words this time - speaking the same thing in his HYMNS OF THE PURE LAND:

It is difficult to encounter a time when a Tathagata appears in the world,
And difficult to hear the teachings of the Buddha.
It is rare to hear the excellent dharma for bodhisattvas,
Even in a span of countless ages.

It is difficult to meet true teachers,
And difficult to instruct.
It is difficult to hear the teaching well,
And more difficult to accept it.

More difficult even than trust in the teachings of Shakyamuni’s lifetime
Is the true entrusting of the universal Vow.
The Sutra teaches that it is “the most difficult of all difficulties”,
That “nothing surpasses this difficulty”.

It really IS difficult to hear this teaching well, just as Master Shinran asserts. Our delusions and obscurations - our ant’s eye view of the universe - conspire to cloud our minds so we simply cannot hear.

Because our minds are clouded, we simply cannot perceive the universe as a Buddha does. We simply cannot see - much less visit - the vast landscape of Buddha lands, each ruled over by it’s own Buddha, as Shakyamuni Buddha describes to us. We cannot see the various realms into which beings take birth, as they reap the karmic rewards or punishments of their deeds in prior lives. We cannot see the vast panorama of birth and death, the vast orchestration of arising and co-arising. We cannot even see our own past lives, and the depth of the karmic relations we have had in the past with those who are part of our world in this life.

We simply cannot see transcendental realities in the way that any Buddha always does. We are truly like the men living in darkness in Plato’s cave - who think that reality is the shadows cast up upon the wall in front of them - and cannot even conceive of the world above, filled with light and life.

And it does us no real good to have a “theoretical physics” of Buddhism to draw upon. Even though we can talk about Buddhist ideas such as EMPTINESS, and have brief glimpses of expanded consciousness when the thickness of conventional reality begins to thin out, we cannot live with such knowledge from moment to moment. As Shinran said, unequivocally, we’re simply not built that way - we’re not capable of it in this day and age.

To give an analogy by way of illustration: suppose someone studies theoretical physics, and learns all the details of how there really is no such thing as solid matter - that even the chair he sits on is empty space with the tiniest particles that are only located as probabilities in a certain place at a certain time. And then, going to work one day he gets in a terrible car crash and is horribly injured. What good would it do for the medical workers who arrive on the scene to remind him of all this emptiness? WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH HIS LIFE?

The answer is…NOTHING.

And the truth is - all these wonderful doctrines taught by Shakyamuni Buddha over the course of his lifetime have nothing to do with our lives either…not when we encounter our own version of a terrible car crash - not when our own brains are leaking out of our heads, and our life’s blood is pooling at our feet.

During such terrible times, all our Buddhist teaching and training becomes USELESS. And that is just as true for Buddhist teachers as it is for their students, and for everyone else as well.

It is only DELUSION and OBSCURATION that prevents sincere Buddhists from all the various schools from seeing this truth, even though examples of it abound.

There is a Zen story about the Zen Master whose son had died, and who was crying in his grief. His student came upon him in that state, and was astounded. “Master”, the student said, “Did you not tell us that we would be able to transcend our slavery to base human emotions by our study and practice of Zen?”

“But this was my son”, the Zen Master replied, through his tears.

My intent in sharing this story is NOT to criticize Zen, or any other branch of Buddhism. As our Dharma Masters have said, all of the self-powered forms of Buddhism will in fact work - will in fact bring beings to the point of non-retrogression…but only if they are practiced PERFECTLY in accordance with the instructions over a long period of time…not simply months or years, but decades and potentially LIFETIMES.

Apart from such perfect practice, a person is left vulnerable - just as vulnerable as you or I - to the ups and downs of life - to the threats and perils of living in a world of impermanence - to the endless knots of egoic attachment…including most of all our attachments to our own flesh and blood.

It is these attachments, Shakyamuni Buddha taught, that leave us always and ever VULNERABLE TO SUFFERING. Unless and until we can rid ourselves of these attachments, we remain vulnerable throughout our life - and throughout our many lives.

And who - among all Buddhists alive today - can rid him or herself of all these egoic attachments - not just temporarily in a good meditation session - but in a FULL and FINAL way - leaving them behind ONCE AND FOR ALL?

Master Shinran would say - and I would say as well - that there is not a single one.

But for so many people who have some sort of practice - some sort of Buddhism or Hinduism or Taoism or New Age religion - this is very, very hard to accept.

It is DIFFICULT (as Master Shinran says) to even HEAR this teaching -and even MORE difficult to accept it.

But as difficult as it is to hear and accept, it is the job of the Shin Buddhist Sangha to declare this teaching - to make it available and easy to understand - to speak it clear over and over again. Why? So that when an individual finally comes to a place of readiness, of ripeness, of karmic preparedness - he or she can actually hear the truth as it is.

So to anyone who is struggling, and happens to read these words: Your struggling will not make you a better Buddhist in any permanent way -much less a Buddha. There is really nothing you can do that will make you invulnerable to future attacks of fear, or anger, or sorrow. You really cannot tame your mind enough to prevent it from running wild on you once again in a day of darkness.

Some years back, there was a rock song that said “You might as well face it, you’re addicted to love”. Shinran would say, it might not be love that you’re addicted to - but you’re addicted to SOMETHING. Your own cravings and aversions are alive and well within you. If they are dormant right now, and you are enjoying a season of peace, they could get stirred up in an instant if your circumstances would change.

It is DIFFICULT to hear this teaching - and even MORE difficult to accept it.

But it is absolutely essential to both hear it, and accept it, in order to prepare the ground of the human heart for the pristine Dharma revealed by Shakyamuni Buddha, one day on Vulture Peak, when he answered Ananda’s question about his own transcendental glow with his narration of the Person and Work of Amida Buddha.

NamuAmidaButsu NamuAmidaBustu NamuAmidaButsu

(Note: This is cross-posted from the online Sangha located at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/true_shin_buddhism/)

Master Shinran’s great work - the Kyo-Gyo-Shin-Sho (True Teaching, Practice and Realization of the Pure Land Way) is about 90% quotes from other sources, all held together with Shinran’s own exposition. As such, it is filled with Dharma Gems. Here is a profound passage from Master Yuan-chao, quoted by our Dharma Master Shinran (emphasis in caps is my own): Read the rest of this entry »

(Note: This is cross-posted from the online Sangha located at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/true_shin_buddhism/)

Buddhism is not simply a prescription for mental health, intellectual aerobics or instruction on how to meditate.

No - to MERELY consider Buddhism on that level (as many modern Buddhist teachers do, unfortunately) is to trivialize the life work of the one we call THE BUDDHA - Shakyamuni - formerly Prince Gotama of the Shakya clan.

No - to understand Buddhism we must begin with the very CORE of Buddhism. A single idea which shines with the intensity and focus of a laser beam down through the ages: The very CORE of Buddhism is the idea, the hope, the dream of attaining enlightenment - or Buddhahood. Read the rest of this entry »

THE TRUE AND REAL WORLD OF SALVATION is Eiken Kobai Sensei’s new book on Shin Buddhism.

Eiken Sensei is - in the view of many - the greatest teacher of TRUE Shin Buddhism alive today. I am very blessed to call him my mentor and my friend.

The book is being published by Rev. Josho Adrian Cirlea, a Shin Buddhist Priest in Romania, through his publishing house, Dharma Lion Publications.

Copies will also be available within the next 10 days from the BCA Bookstore in San Francisco, CA.

We will, in the near future, also be making the book available online on Eiken Sensei’s Shin Buddhism Study Center website.

Thanks much to Adrian for his valuable service to the worldwide Shin Sangha.

Paul R.

Dharma Friends -

Rev. Josho Adrian Cirlea of Romania runs a publishing house called DHARMA LION PUBLICATIONS.

He has decided to publish Eiken Kobai Sensei’s UNDERSTANDING JODO SHINSHU.

Here’s a link to his page:

http://www.dharmalionpub.com/NEWBOOKS.html

He is also in coversation with Eiken about publishing Eiken’s new English language book, THE TRUE AND REAL WORLD OF SALVATION.

In my view, Eiken Kobai is the foremost Shin Buddhist teacher of TRUE Shin Buddhism in the world today. He is absolutely committed to share Shinran’s Rennyo’s Dharma Teaching AS IT IS - without adding or subtracting anything from the pristine Dharma teaching of our primal teachers.

I have made it my business to make sure that Eiken was introduced to the Western World, by putting his English language teachings up on the net at www.trueshinbuddhism.com . Now, our friend Adrian is taking the next step, for those who want to add Eiken’s books to their own library.

Gassho,

Paul R.

A number of people have mentioned that they’d like to have hardcopy versions of Eiken Kobai Sensei’s two books, Understanding Jodo Shinshu and Misunderstandings of Master Rennyo.

I’ve created PDF versions of them both, which you can either read onscreen, or print off on a printer.

You’ll need the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available at www.adobe.com.

Here are the links:

Understanding Jodo Shinshu is in 3 parts.

• Link for Part 1
• Link for Part 2
• Link for Part 3

Link for Misunderstandings of Master Rennyo

Modern people make the same mistake that people made in Shinran Shonin’s day, when it comes to the Dharma concerning Amida Buddha’s Vow to save all beings.

They approach it from an intellectual point of view first - which simply does not work. Period.

No - in order to gain the inconceivable benefit of SHINJIN - the faith-mind of Amida Buddha which is freely given to any and all who listen deeply to this dharma, and entrust their karmic destiny ENTIRELY to Amida Buddha - we cannot simply listen with the HEAD.

We must listen with the HEART.

The karmic preparation of the human heart for the dharma is twofold - and simple to explain. First, a deep and abiding desire arises for authentic enlightenment - the end of suffering - the end of delusion and obscuration - the end of the three poisons of greed, anger and fear - the deepest yearning of the human heart…the yearning for BUDDHAHOOD.

If that desire - that aspiration to Buddhahood - is still dormant, you can have all the understanding of all the scholars who ever studied the sutras - and it will mean NOTHING.

But there is one other part of this karmic preparation: you become acutely aware of just how immense the journey to Buddhahood really is - and how ill-equipped you are to complete it. You become sensitive to the depth of darkness in every human heart - the persistence of what is sometimes called “our reptilian brain” - our common capacity to regress to a state of atavism, individually and collectively. You live with the pain and anguish the comes from knowing that the veneer of civilization - in your life and in all our lives - is thin and fragile indeed.

This two-fold karmic preparation sets up a tremendous sense of tension in some people…bringing sincere seekers to a state of profound existential despair.

This despair - however it is expressed - is at the root of what people experience as they begin to awaken to the unsurpassed dharma teaching of Amida Buddha’s Person and Work as presented in the Larger Pure Land Sutra - and expounded most completely in the Dharma teaching of Shinran Shonin.

While it was Shinran’s karmic destiny to become the greatest expositor of this Dharma, unfolding it’s implications for all of humanity in the very pinnacle of Pure Land teaching as first described by ancient Pure Land masters, beginning with Nagarjuna…he grew up in a great Buddhist monastery entirely ignorant of this teaching.

At age 29, he had his personal existential moment of despair - yearning for Buddhahood, and convinced beyond doubt that he was entirely unsuited for the journey. And then, he was directed in a dream, to seek out the man who would become his own teacher - the Dharma Master Honen.

Some forty years prior to that, Master Honen had his own moment of great despair. Here is his description of that moment - along with the account of how Amida Buddha himself led Honen through that moment to the same blessed state of SHINJIN as his student Shinran talks about over and over again - a state of simply entrusting his karmic destiny to Amida Buddha, knowing that he too was grasped, and would never be abandoned - and gain Buddhahood in the Pure Land in the life to come.

I invite you to listen deeply to Master Honen as he talks about his own karmic preparation: his yearning for Buddhahood, and the depth of his own despair at his inability to eliminate his blind passions - and then, finally, the moment that changed his life:

The Buddhist doctrine has many facets; however, its basis ultimately lies in the Three-fold Discipline; that is, precepts, meditation, and wisdom. The Three-fold Discipline are embodied in Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, and in the tenets of exoteric and esoteric Buddhist teachings.

Upon introspection, I realize that I have not observed a single precept, neither have I succeeded in the practice of meditation.

Concerning wisdom, I have not possessed the ‘right’ wisdom to eliminate evil passions and to realize the truth.

A precept master once said, ‘One will not enter samadhi (the ultimate state of meditation) unless one becomes pure of body and mind through the observation of precepts.’

Further, the mind of the common man is easily distracted by conditions around it. It is like the monkey that flits from branch to branch, confused, vacillating, and unable to concentrate.

In what way does undefiled wisdom emerge? Without the sword of undefiled wisdom, how will we extricate ourselves from the fetters of unwholesome karma and evil passions?

Unable to sever ourselves from these fetters, how will we deliver ourselves from the bondage of transmigration through birth-and-death in the delusive worlds in order to realize emancipation?

This is indeed lamentable and disheartening.

I do not have the potential here to observe the Three-fold Discipline; namely, precepts, meditation, and wisdom.

Although I have asked various wise and learned men if teaching and practices exist which are more attuned to myself than the Three-fold Discipline, no one was able to teach or guide me.

That was Honen’s despair. Now listen deeply as he describes how Amida Buddha brought him out of that moment - to the blessed state of SHINJIN - the state of TRUE ENTRUSTING that is the gift of Amida Buddha’s own faith-mind:

In despair I (Honen) entered the repository of Buddhist scriptures and in grief I gazed upon the holy texts, taking a volume into my hands. It was the Commentary on the Meditation Sutra, authored by Master Zendo. In this volume I found the following passage: ‘…to recite single-heartedly and intently the name of Amida Buddha while walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, without regard for length of time; to engage in the recitation of Nembutsu without cessation for one’s entire life… this is called the Rightly Established Act because it is in accordance with the Original Vow of the Buddha.’

On reading this passage I was convinced that ignorant people like myself should earnestly revere this passage, rely exclusively upon this teaching, and continually recite the name of Amida Buddha for one’s entire life in order to meet the causal karma for certain attainment of Birth.

Not only was I led to believe in this teaching bequeathed by Master Zendo; I was also led to follow earnestly the Original Vow of Amida Buddha. And that passage, ‘….because it is in accordance with the Original Vow…’ was etched deeply into my heart.

Scholars often make much of the differences between Honen and Shinran…but both men declared plainly and boldly that they were teaching the exact same thing. What they taught- and teach to this day through their writings - is the so-called “Easy Path To Buddhahood” for plain people who simply do not have the capacity for self-powered transformation by the threefold disciplines commonly associated with Buddhism: precepts, meditation, and wisdom.

The Dharma Path of depending ENTIRELY upon Amida Buddha’s so-called Other Power is for those who have come to see - like Honen - that they have NO CAPACITY for any Buddhist pathwork whatsoever.

• No desire, nor ability, to commit to a lifetime of keeping PRECEPTS.
• No energy to commit to a lifetime of concentration of mind concentration in MEDITATION.
• No ability to transform reams of Buddhist knowledge into an integral part the mind so that it could rightly be called true WISDOM.

That is why the “easy path” is so difficult for human beings to grasp. Most people simply don’t awaken, in any given lifetime, to their fundamental yearning for Buddhahood. And for those who do, most of them never get to the point where they realize how impossible it is to fulfill their yearning in this life - or in a hundred more lives just like it.

And for those who do have SOME measure of dedication to the threefold discipline of Buddhism - and are committed to taking the path from one life to the next - most have no clue how precarious the journey is - and how easily even an advanced Buddhist can wreck his own little dharma raft - as we have seen many teachers do since Buddhism has come to the West.

The good news in the Dharma is that all of us - the best of us and the rest of us - get an unlimited number of “do-overs”. Buddhism is a religion in which EVERYONE ultimately triumphs over darkness and death - EVERYONE ultimately becomes a Buddha. During his lifetime on earth, Shakyamuni Buddha himself showed over and over again that underneath the worst monster’s twisted thoughts and feelings and actions lay the incorruptible seed of True Buddhahood.

It’s just that for someone like that - and for someone like you and me also - there could be another million lives of suffering before that incorruptible seed became a tree of true enlightenment in that sentient being’s life.

A million lives…a billion lives…a trillion lives.

Who knows how many lives…with how much suffering in each…awaits any of us who depend upon our own power to deal with the threefold discipline of precepts, meditation and wisdom?

It is a long, arduous journey through the unknown.

There is no need to take that terrible trip, dharma friend. If you are reading these words - and are not entirely certain that the end of this life is the end of suffering for you at last - then I urge you to ask Amida Buddha personally and directly to guide your mind into his very own EASY PATH for plain people like us.

There is only one thing you need to do: listen deeply to the Dharma of Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow. Listen deeply, with open mind, open heart and empty hands. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, young or old, a good person or a bad person, someone from the East or someone from the West.

Just listen deeply, and the light and life of Amida Buddha - which extends completely throughout the entire universe - will enlighten you as well.

That is the PROMISE of the Primal Vow Amida Buddha made countless ages ago even before he became a Buddha - as he contemplated the challenges all of us face.

May you come to share in the same experience of Honen, of Shinran, and countless others who yearn for Buddhahood, but cannot accomplish that which they yearn for…and then find in the OTHER POWER of Amida Buddha the way to Buddhahood at last.

Inconceivable SHINJIN - the faith-mind of Amida Buddha himself given in THIS life - and then Buddhahood in the next life as we complete our journey in the Pure Land where we can at last embrace the threefold discipline without distraction from within or without.

Those who have come to know this - even for one thought-moment - experience the great gratitude that comes out of our minds and hearts and mouths as NamuAmidaButsu - thank you Amida Buddha - for making a way for me who had no way of his own.

NamuAmidaButsu
NamuAmidaButsu
NamuAmidaButsu

To all my dharma friends and visitors from around the world - welcome back.

The Shin Ugly Blog was offline for awhile. One of those sad internet web hosting stories, no need for sordid technical details. You should know that posts after March 2006 were lost, however.

Bottom line: the blog has a NEW url: www.shinuglyblog.com/blog

So please update your bookmarks and links.

While the blog was offline, we’ve been having honest Shin Dharma dialogue on the Yahoo! Group TRUE SHIN BUDDHISM.

There, as here, Eiken Kobai Sensei has been both mentor and guide - so you can be sure that what’s written is really in accord with Shinran’s true teaching - and not just our own opinions.

Thanks for your patience,

Gassho,

Paul

I continue to say - because of Master Shinran’s own testimony, and Master Rennyo’s too - that there is nothing for us human beings to do in the True Pure Land Way to Buddhahood…except to listen deeply and humbly contemplate what is being taught by our dharma teachers.

The wonderful news is: the act of listening deeply is something any of us can do… Read the rest of this entry »

The experience of authentic SHINJIN is the gift of Amida Buddha to those who listen deeply to the True Teaching of Shinran Shonin. It is without parallel in all of Buddhism.

Dharma Master Shinran calls it INCONCEIVABLE.

Here is the testimony of a man who has been given the gift of SHINJIN - a man of the very same SHINJIN as Shinran himself. Read the rest of this entry »

Everything in the dharma teaching Shinran propagated for his entire life springs from something he heard about but never saw personally - something that occurred in one unequaled moment in space and time.

What moment was that? It was the moment when Shakyamuni Buddha shifted from one mode of being into another.

If you lack a strong background in Buddhist teaching, a bit of explanation is in order. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Mr Kobai -

I would like to asked you some input about the disscusion I’ve been having with my friends about the teachings of Nichiren.

They tell me that I am following a provisional Buddhism (Jodo-Shinshu), and not following the lotus sutra which Nichiren said that is the right path (Dharma) for the Mappo time.

Please can you help?

in gassho with Respect and Makoto.

Sebastian. Read the rest of this entry »

In Shin Buddhism, there is nothing else to do but LISTEN DEEPLY - which means listening with the left brain for the content, and with the right brain for the feeling - of what Shakyamuni Buddha is teaching.

There is no other practice.

Even saying Nembutsu is not a practice, as Master Shinran and Master Rennyo explain. True Nembutsu arises naturally as the expression of our gratitude. True Nembutsu is not something we do - it is something that is GIVEN - the gift of Amida Buddha in the hearts of those people who have been caused to hear because…

They have listened DEEPLY.

So let’s listen deeply, together, to Dharma Master Shinran as he begins to unfold the great mystery of the Pure Land Path to Buddhahood. Read the rest of this entry »

As 2005 draws to a close, a small band of Shin Buddhists, including clerics, scholars and laypeople, look forward to 2006 with a firm sense of great purpose.

That purpose is nothing less than to restore the dying Shin Sangha by propagating, once again, the True Teaching of Shinran Shonin.

Authentic propgation of the True Teaching was no small task in Master Shinran’s day. It was no small task in Master Rennyo’s day. And it is no small task in our day either. Read the rest of this entry »

This message is being broadcast to those interested in the True Teaching, Practice and Realization of the Pure Land Way, as expounded by both Shinran Shonin and Rennyo Shonin.

Please forward it to anyone who you think would be interested.

Some of you know that several of us have been working on a project to make the True Teaching of Shinran more widely available on the net by providing a teaching website for Eiken Kobai Sensei - one of the world’s leading scholars of True Shin Buddhism.

I’m happy to say that project is now complete. The site URL is Read the rest of this entry »

So much of the True Teaching, Practice and Realization of the Pure Land Way (literally KyoGyoShinSho) is encapsulated in the few short paragraphs of Dharma Master Shinran’s preface to that document - his most important work.

I invite you to listen deeply with me as Shinran describes the reason for his his JOY - the JOY of a person of true SHINJIN - the true entrusting that is the gift of the compassionate Buddha Amida to the hungry heart: Read the rest of this entry »

The Dharma thought of Dharma Master Shinran is at odds with the current fashion in thinking today. To discuss Shinran’s Dharma HONESTLY, we must first meet him on his own terms - rather than the terms we have been familiar with.

Then, once we have understood what he says - and what he means - we are each free to decide for ourselves whether we accept what he says as Dharma Truth. Do we believe Shinran saw clearly and spoke truly as a Dharma Master - or was he just foolish and deluded in his assertions about the most important subject of all: suffering and the end of suffering? Read the rest of this entry »

In the USA, today is the national holiday of Thanksgiving.

True Nembutsu is simply the Nembutsu of Thanksgiving.

Let’s listen deeply to Shinran, as he explains what Thanksgiving is all about for a person of the same SHINJIN

Oh, how difficult it is to encounter the strong influence of the universal Vow, even in many cycles of birth-and-death! How difficult it is to attain the True Pure Faith, even in millions of kalpas! If you are fortunate enough to attain Practice and Faith, you should rejoice at your close relationship with Amida from the distant past.

Listen deeply. Have you had Shinran’s REALIZATION in your life yet?

• Do you know how difficult is to encounter the strong influence of the universal Vow?
• Do you have any sense of how many cycles of birth and death you have gone through to meet this teaching, this way, in this moment?
• Do you know how difficult it is to attain the True Pure Faith, even in millions of ages (kalpas)?
• Have you been fortunate enough to attain Practice and Faith?
• If so, do you rejoice at your close relationship with Amida from the distant past?

If you can’t answer these questions with Shinran’s Nembutsu of Thanksgiving, you are not excluded from Amida’s Primal Vow!

All you need to do is ask Amida Buddha to show you what is TRUE and REAL - and He will.

Amida waits - for you, for me, for all of us - to lay down our own works, and our own ideas - and finally take full and utter refuge in him alone.

Shakyamuni Buddha urges you, me, all of us - to take refuge in just this way.

Bring nothing with you but your sorrow and your suffering - your delusion and your obscuration. That’s all you have. That’s all ANY of us have.

In that spirit, listen deeply to the True Teaching. Listen deeply to Shakyamuni Buddha and Shinran Shonen.

NamuAmidaButsu - I take refuge in the person and work of Amida Buddha.

NamuAmidaButsu - I come with empty hands and an open heart.

NamuAmidaButsu - I leave behind the foolish thinking that is all I am capable of.

NamuAmidaButsu - I listen deeply to what is being offered, realizing how remarkable this moment of true hearing truly is.

NamuAmidaButsu - I am so grateful - beyond what words can say - that this is my last life of suffering and sorrow - of darkness and disease and death.

NamuAmidaButsu - the Nembutsu of gratitude comes out of my mouth, because Buddhahood awaits me at the end of this life.

Thank you, Amida Buddha, for your inconceivable salvation. NamuAmidaButsu.

As I said in the last post: if you miss the very first sentence of Shinran’s great work, the Kyo-Gyo-Shin-Sho, you miss Shinran’s Dharma Teaching completely.

Here he is, saying what most needs to be said.

It is the open book - the key to everything anyone needs to know - to come to the end of suffering at last.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dharma Master Shinran begins the Kyo-Gyo-Shin-Sho with the sentence below.

If you miss this sentence, you miss Shinran’s Dharma Teaching completely. So to you who are fortunate enough to be reading this right now, I say this: Read the rest of this entry »

Anyone who’s been following the blog knows that it has one purpose: to be a vehicle for Shinran Shonen’s Dharma teaching.

After he met his teacher Honen, the rest of Shinran’s life was dedicated to sharing the revelation that Amida Buddha had given to him. He called it SHINJIN - sometimes translated as FAITH, sometimes translated as TRUE ENTRUSTING.

Whatever word you use, Shinran was not a mincer of words, nor a code-talker. On the contrary, his calling as a Dharma Teacher was to speak PLAINLY. He offered plain talk, for plain people, about suffering - and also the END of suffering. Read the rest of this entry »

Yueheng responded to my last post Two Year Anniversary with this comment:

I would like to humbly point out here that Shinran never indicated that his teachings were, to quote your words, “the ONLY dharma that can take people to the end-game”. While he was alive, Shinran classified the existing schools of Buddhism into the schools of transcendence, which promises swift results and schools that are departing which require lengthy practice with a further subdivision of lengthwise and crosswise. Shinran classified Shingon and Tendai as “lengthwise transcendence” and the Yogachara School as “departing lengthwise”. The Pure Land school naturally came under “crosswise transcendence”.

The point of this example is that if Shinran had thought that his teachings was the only true teaching, why would he have bothered to classify the other schools? While Shinran certainly thought that the nembutsu was the most appropriate dharma for this age, but he never adopted a “my way — the only way” stance.

Here is my response to Yueheng: Read the rest of this entry »

Today is the two year anniversary of my daughter Jessie’s death on November 8, 2003.

Beginning exactly one year ago, on November 8, 2004, a series of manifestations began. Read the rest of this entry »

When I consider the abysmal state of much of the Shin sangha - how so many of the clerics and scholars have left Shinran’s plain teaching behind, just as Shinran’s own son Zenran did - I’m reminded about Shakyamuni’s dialogue with Maitreya, recorded in the Larger Pure Land Sutra. Read the rest of this entry »

My dharma friend Jason writes:

I must confess that I walked away confused from our last conversation. The whole issue of doubt in Shinran’s teaching continues to plague me.

I have moments of what one could call doubt on a semi-regular basis — much of it stemming, I think, from my own psychological makeup, family conditioning and pressures, as well a mind that’s been conditioned by Academia to doubt everything that comes my way.

So, since I am a person of Shinjin, must I still bear the “consequences of doubting,” as you said in our last conversation?

Or, as you wrote to me in a blog post, does it simply not matter what happens post-Shinjin? Honestly, this is a point on which I find Shinran ambiguous.

My heart tells me that I’ve been grasped, never to be abandoned — no matter what my mind coughs up.

As a serious person, Jason asks a profound question. Here is my best reply: Read the rest of this entry »

There is a vast gulf between the true teaching of a true teacher, and the divergent teaching being offered to many westerners today in the name of Shinran.

One of the core reasons I write the Shin Ugly Blog is to make people who are interested in the True Pure Land Way of Dharma Master Shinran MORE aware of just how vast that gulf really is. Read the rest of this entry »

Shinran lived in a day when most people he encountered were “painfully and hopelessly ignorant”.

They were illiterate. They simply could not read.

They had little or no knowledge of the Dharma.

There was no one willing to take them in hand, and be a good teacher of the dharma for them.

They had been abandoned.

Listen with me to our Dharma Master Shinran, as he describes the WAY he teaches these people, and the REASON for it: Read the rest of this entry »

Shinran Shonin, whose distinct karma is was to be THE Dharma Master for this singular “path of the foolish”, was all about coming to a state of deep receptivity to Amida’s call - a receptivity that opens the door to the mystery of SHINJIN.

Let’s listen deeply to his words - together: Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the fourth anniverary of the destruction of the Twin Towers - a place I used to work - a mile from where I grew up, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. My mother was still living there - and she actually saw the second plane go in. A few short weeks ago, it was the 60th anniversary of Hiroshima. And as we watch, the destruction of New Orleans unfolds before our eyes.

All are examples of what we call “The First Noble Truth” taught by Shakyamuni Buddha. It is the truth that life is, ultimately, not satisfactory - that it is marked by suffering. Read the rest of this entry »