QUESTION: My understanding of pure land is that we are all bombu and therefore use the nambutsu as its easy for us to understand. To practice more seems like we going against this principle by use of meditation or the use of other intellectual means. Is this right?
SHORT ANSWER: Not quite.
LONG ANSWER: Bombu means that one does not have the power within oneself to become enlightened by one's own means or effort. This does not mean that one is incapable of doing or understanding anything. Honen was one of the most intelligent and erudite people of his time. He knew all the books and had disciples in several different schools of Buddhism as well as his Pureland ones. It is important to distinguish between primary practice and secondary faculties.
Regarding primary practice, the point is not whether one is capable of other practices - one might be or one might not be depending upon temperament, etc. The point is how one regards them. As a Pureland Buddhist one regards them as auxilliary practices. If they help you to practise nembutsu, then they are good to do. Error arises if one starts to think that the other practice is going to make one into an enlightened Buddha. It won't. If one starts to think so then one has joined a different school. If one believes that one will become a Buddha (one day) as a result of turning to Amida for help then one is a Pureland Buddhist.
Regarding secondary faculties, there are innumerable things that one can do to improve life for oneself and others. Build houses, read Shakespeare, grow roses, meditate, eat a good diet, give to charity, keep fit, learn another language, etc etc. None are essential, but each has some merit. It is generally a good thing to use whatever health of body and mind one has, including the intellect, keeping them in trim and making the best contribution one can to culture and the common good. This is not a means to enlightenment, this is a natural expression of it. The Pureland schools in Japan all run universities and encourage people to make the best they can of their lives, but not to let doing so take over as one's prime purpose.
When one does things because of one's religious faith one has a wholesome and 'whole' life that all hangs together. When one does similar things instead of having faith, one's life becomes fragmented.
When one relies upon one's own power fundamentally, one has no secure refuge, but when one has a secure refuge, such powers as one has should be put to good use. Personal growth is not the meaning of life, but it is nice when it happens.
All in all, faith should open one up, not close one down, yield a vast vista, not narrow one's mind. The light if Amida penetrates everywhere. Go with that light and you will have an expansive and wonder-full life.
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