Meditation on Samsara and Nirvana

Samsara is not Nirvana.

Samsara is the world perceived with egosense; Nirvana, the world perceived with Amida.

Thus egosense is not Amida.

Drenched by the tears of suffering egosense sees only samsara.

Embraced by Amida, the heart-mind listens to the Name-that-calls, and hears only Nembutsu.

As listening deepens, samsara becomes flavored with glimpses of Nirvana.

Yet samsara is not Nirvana to the untrained mind.

For the heart-mind is the mind trained in deep listening, which has heard the Name-that-Calls.


Namu-Amida-Butsu!