Kyo Gyo Shin Sho: What Shinran Wrote

" I, Gutoku Shinran, disciple of Sakyamuni, discarded sundry practices and took refuge in the Primal Vow in 1201. In 1205 Master Genku, out of his benevolence, granted me permission to copy his Passages on the Nembutsu Selected in the Primal Vow. In the same year, on the fourteenth day of the fourth month, the master inscribed [the copy] in his own hand with an inside title, “Passages on the Nembutsu Selected in the Primal Vow,” with the words, “Namu-amida-butsu: as the act that leads to birth in the Pure Land, the nembutsu is taken to be fundamental,” and with [the name he had bestowed on me,] “Shakku, disciple of Sakyamuni.” That day, my request to borrow his portrait was granted, and I made a copy. During that same year, on the twenty-ninth day of the seventh intercalary month, the master inscribed my copy of the portrait with “Namu-amida-butsu” and with a passage expressing the true teaching:

“If, when I attain Buddhahood, the sentient beings of the ten quarters say my Name as few as ten times and yet are not born, may I not attain the supreme enlightenment. The Buddha has now actually attained Buddhahood. Know that the momentous Primal Vow is not in vain, and that when sentient beings say the Name, they unfailingly attain birth.”

Further, since my name “Shakku” had been changed in accord with a revelation in a dream, on the same day he wrote the characters of my new name [Zenshin] in his own hand. At that time, the master was seventy-three years of age.

Passages on the Nembutsu Selected in the Primal Vow was compiled at the request of the Chancellor, an ordained layman (Lord Tsukinowa Kanezane, Buddhist name Ensho). The crucial elements of the true essence of the Pure Land way and the inner significance of the nembutsu have been gathered into this work, which is easily understood by those who read it. It is a truly luminous writing, rare and excellent a treasured scripture, supreme and profound.

Over the days and years, myriads of people received the master’s teaching, but whether they were closely associated with him or remained more distant, very few gained the opportunity to read and copy this book. Nevertheless, I was in fact able to copy it and to paint his portrait. This was the virtue of practicing the right act alone, and the manifestation of the decisive settlement of birth.

Thus, suppressing tears of both sorrow and joy, I record the circumstances that have resulted [in my compilation of this work].

How joyous I am, my heart and mind being rooted in the Buddha-ground of the universal Vow, and my thoughts and feelings flowing within the dharma-ocean, which is beyond comprehension! I am deeply aware of the Tathagata’s immense compassion, and I sincerely revere the benevolent care behind the master’ teaching activity. My joy grows even fuller, my gratitude and indebtedness ever more compelling.

Therefore, I have selected [passages expressing] the core of the Pure Land way and gathered here its essentials. Mindful solely of the profundity of the Buddha’s benevolence, I pay no heed to the derision of others. May those who see and hear this work be brought - either through the cause of reverently embracing the teaching or through the condition of [others’] doubt and slander of it - to manifest shinjin within the power of the Vow and reveal the incomparable fruit of enlightenment in the land of peace."