My reasoning for blending Zen with Pure Land is the same reason the Pure Land has a Long Pure Land sutra and a Short Pure Land sutra as well as an Amida meditation sutra: I want to cover all my bases for the afterlife.
What if Zen does not end in Buddhahood in the next life? What if in the next life, I am randomly thrown into another realm, next time the hells, the time after that human, then animal, then god, then demon, then hungry ghost? If I am destined for samsara, then what good is Zen except to develop a calm mind and to carefully observe the mind, and nothing more??
For endless rebirth in samsara is worse than the Pure Land of Bliss which is OUTSIDE the Six Realms of existence.
Once I die, because I have recited the Nembutsu, my rebirth in the Pure Land is assured by Amida Buddha's Primal Vow, once I repent from the Ten Evils.
However, it is not Buddha Recitation that burns away evil karma; it is the practice of the Ten Virtues!
All Buddha Recitation does as far as karma is concerned is ensure rebirth in the Pure Land. There I shall listen to Amida preach his Dharma, practice to be a bodhisattva, return to any of the Six Realms of existence to aid hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, demons and even the gods themselves in attaining their own Buddhahood.
This is the path of the bodhisattva, and has always been the Buddhist way.
Denial of this is like disrepecting the Buddha, which is surely evil karma.
Want to erase that bad karma? Remember Buddha! How? It's simple calling the Name-that-calls!
Why? Because when I call, it is only Amida Buddha calling through me!
This is exactly why samsara is Nirvana, for Zen cure mental unrest by way of samatha-vipassana meditation.
FOr Buddha Recitation prepares us for future Nirvana in the Pure Land — not in this life — but in the afterlife of the Pure Land!
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