Faith is the foundation of courage. The word courage comes from the word for heart (cuore in Italian, cœur in French). What saves people is not intellectual ideas, not religious institutions, certainly not the attainment of rank and status in a religious organization. What saves people is a basic attitude lodged deep in the heart; and one of the ways that this manifests in the world is as courage.
This attitude in the heart, well, it’s something of a mystery. It’s something of great simplicity, yet it is imbued with great power. A power that is actually greater than the power of the individual. All religious mysticism is concerned with it. It is the mani treasure, the wish fulfilling gem; it’s the holy grail; it’s the goal of all religious quest. One who finds it is invincible.
Another term for this in Buddhism is the Vajra or dorje in Tibetan. It indicates the Diamond, the strongest of substances. In this sense we can consider Buddhism to be a mystical religion. As it’s of great simplicity, the practice of nembutsu serves to indicate it so well. It’s a single point. For sure, the whole doctrine of Buddhism can be considered as an elaboration of this single point; but unless one has such a starting point deeply inscribed, merely elaborating the doctrine gets you nowhere. The alpha and omega of Buddhism is refuge and nembutsu is a practice that returns one to that point again and again.
This means that a choice is necessary. You have to choose it. It’s no good to be vague and wishy-washy. Faith requires commitment. In Japanese we talk about senchaku ( 選択): selection. Amidism is sentakushu: the way of selection.
Honen chose the recitation of the nembutsu. Thus, he not only pinpointed the one-stop key to the whole of Buddhism, but simultaneously established a practice that could be a source of strength for even the most illiterate peasant.
Such single-pointedness is what Shakyamuni called samadhi; dhi means view and sama-dhi is the ultimate view, which is the view of a heart that is not disordered. Buddha saw that ordinary people have scattered minds. (Sometimes this is called “monkey-mind”, the image of a monkey swinging from one tree to another in search of fruit to eat.)
We’re talking about a singularity of mind and that is the foundation of courage. It’s this that enabled Buddhist pilgrims to cross deserts, traverse continents, live in caves, face brigands and bandits and keep their cool, even in life-threatening situations. This is the essence of bodhicitta. The mind of the bodhisattva who is willing to do anything in order to serve the salvation of all sentient beings.
Reliance upon other power frees one from vacillation. It gives clarity, willingness, direction. Even though we may be plunged into the middle of the action, it maintains a peaceful and steadfast heart.
The nembutsu practitioner entrusts life itself to the practice. As Trungpa Rinpoche said on one occasion: “Either you will live or you will die. Both are good.” This is the spirit of entrustment. Courage is a mark of faith.
Namo Amida Bu
Thank you very much
Dharmavidya
David
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