As I swim onward toward the shores of the Happy Land,
my troubled mind torments me, and panic drags me under.
Suddenly, strong arms pull me out of the water.
I find myself upon the shores, thanks to my rescuer.
He gives me 48 diamonds and send me on my way
pointing in the direction of the Gateway to Happiness.
On my way to the Gateway, beggars ask me for alms.
At first I ignored the first one, and hid the diamonds.
But a demon came and beat me up without finding any.
So the next beggar, I gave one diamond
when he chased the demon away.
This happened 47 more times.
When I come to the Gateway, I see the Gate-keeper
and apologize for not having anything to give him.
He smiles at me and welcomes me in, anyway.
"48 diamonds you did keep safe from evil beings,
and 48 diamonds you did give out of gratitude to me."
These are the 48 Vows of the Truth-keeper, Dharmakara.
These become the Primal Vow of Amida, said Shinran.
Through them we become ever mindful of Amida.
This poem reflects on the 48 Vows of Amida, as mentioned in the previous entry, The Divine Ocean of Love.
No comments:
Post a Comment