Here is today's podcast. It includes the "Summary of Faith and Practice", that is based on Honen Shonin's "Ichimai Kishomon". The text includes reference to a number of central Amidist teachings, some of which I shall refer to in other podcasts and some we can discuss in the on-line groups that have formed just recently. If you have not become a member of one of these groups but would like to be included in a future one, do let me know.
You can find the text at
https://eleusis.ning.com/group/buddhism/page/summary
and the Ichimai Kishomon at
http://www.jsri.jp/English/Honen/WRITINGS/ichimai.html
There is also a fine short musical and visual tribute at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfi-9R0ZQ_k
Podcast
First of all, a big congratulation to a member of our Sangha, who is now going to be DOCTOR Richard Olier having passed the assessment of his doctoral thesis “Pureland Buddhism and the Post-Secular: A study of Dharmavidya’s Summary of Faith and Practice in relation to Honen Shonen’s final work the Ichimai-kishōmon”.
Well, I feel deeply honoured that somebody has written a doctoral thesis about a piece of my work in relation to the tradition. I thought this only happens to people when they’ve been dead for a hundred years or so. Anyway, great congratulations to Richard!
Perhaps the best way to celebrating this is for me to read you the Summary of Faith and Practice:
“For those having a karmic affinity with Amitabha Buddha wishing to practice a religious life in truly simple faith, freeing themselves of sophistication and attachment to all forms of cleverness, the method of opening oneself to Amitabha’s grace is the practice of Nien Fo with body, speech and mind, particularly verbal recitation of “Namo Amida Bu”. This is not something done as a form of meditation, nor is it based on study, understanding and wisdom, or the revelation of deep meaning. Deep meaning is indeed there for the nembutsu is a window through which the whole universe of Buddha’s teaching can be perceived in all its depth, but none of this is either necessary or even helpful to success in the practice. Rather such study cultivates secondary faculties to be held separate from the mind of practice itself.
The primary practice requires only one essential: realize that you are a totally foolish being who understands nothing, but who can with complete trust recite “Namo Amida Bu”; know that this will generate rebirth in the Pure Land, without even knowing what rebirth in the Pure Land truly is. This is the practice for ignorant beings and ignorance is essential for its accomplishment. This practice automatically encompasses the three minds and the mind of contrition as a fourth. To pursue something more profound or more sophisticated, or to have a theory, or to think that understanding will yield greater enlightenment than this is to be misled and to fall back into self-power whereby the whole practice is spoilt. However wise, learned or skilled you may be, set it aside and be the foolish being completely in the performance of the practice. Nothing else is required and anything else is too much Faith and practice cannot be differentiated.
The Buddha-body is delineated by the precepts. How deficient we are by comparison! By our daily difficulty in the perceptual life, we awaken to the presence of the myriad karmic obstacles without which we would already perceive the land of love and bliss, we would be as the vow-body of Buddha. Thus, we know in experience that we are foolish beings of wayward passion. This knowledge of our condition is part of the essential basis when it gives rise to contrition. Thus, all obstacles become impediments to faith unless we experience contrition and letting go. Saving grace, as was made clear by Shan Tao’s dream and advice to Tao Cho, only comes through the sange-mon.
If you can perform the practice in this simple-minded way, Amida will receive you and you may fear for nothing since all is completely assured. Dwelling in this settled faith you may then use your secondary faculties, your knowledge and skills and accumulated experience, as tools for helping all sentient beings. But do not then think that anything of relevance to your own salvation is thereby accomplished, nor that you are making something of yourself. Whatever merit there may be in your actions of this kind, immediately and totally dedicate it to the benefit of others, that they may enter the Pure Land and that you yourself may not be encumbered by consciousness of virtue, which will only contaminate the practice. As Honen says, “without pedantic airs, fervently recite the Name.”
Namo Amida Bu
Thank you very much
Dharmavidya
David
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