Imagine the flesh of someone you lust rotting away, turning into a rotting corpse, and decaying until all that's left is a skeleton of a human being.
Bring this to mind every time you lust for that person until you do not even think of the object of your desire, lest you conjure of that horrible vision of a person dying and rotting, and becoming bone.
I'm pretty sure that such an extreme meditation practice would ruin your libido for good. Indeed, it is a meditation practice for Buddhist monks and nuns. They who faithfully practice this meditation never experience sexual misconduct within a Buddhist monastery.
In a worst case scenario, this practice might be the Buddhist cure for sex addiction, except Westerners mistake meditation practice for religion & mdash; as opposed to Christianity, where a sinner may be shamed and made to feel guilty for natural sexual behavior, which purportedly causes psychological hang-ups and manufactures from one of out of every twenty-five church members a sociopath who might work his way up in the religious hierarchy.
A priest becomes a sociopath when he breaks his celibacy vows, and lies to his bishop. A bishop becomes a sociopath when he turns church bingo into a multimillion-dollar business. A Pope becomes a sociopath when he hides being a soldier in a war in his youth.
However, being gay does not stop a man from becoming a priest. It might cause him to fight for the rights of all living beings on this earth. It all depends on the man.
Perhaps this meditation could be modified for drug addiction: just imagine the worst-case scenario where you take your drugs in a homeless shelter and are prey to black boys speaking Haitian Creole.
Sure, like that's going to work.
If you believe in the fallacy that "all sociopaths are evil" when the truth is, only unsuccessful sociopaths are deemed evil by Western society when they get caught. Once caught, these people might be thrown under the bus by a few mainstream media journalists who promote a moral panic about sociopaths under the guise of responsible journalism.
Sometimes, karma is a bitch when you let lust control your life, be it for sex, drugs, and even money. Most of the time, we think the libido is normal and natural, and that repressive means of controlling it is tantamount to the abuse of a person's individual human rights.
It is not psychological abuse for Buddhist monks and nuns to practice this kind of meditation, because they do so willingly. Yet it would be abuse if such meditation practices were mandatory for unprepared people, even in a clinical setting.
This is why no Buddhist organization endorses such a practice, and rely only on the Five Precepts of the Buddhist code of ethics (abstain from killing, abstain from theft, avoid sexual misconduct, abstain from false speech, and abstain from consuming alcohol and drugs).
For this meditation practice is not for laypeople, and could potentially harm any Buddhist who practices it outside of a monastery. I do not endorse its practice, but mentioned it here to show how preposterous it would be to serve as the cure for lust.
It is safer for the Buddhist practitioner to practice the Five Precepts than to become a monk or nun in a Buddhist monastery. Indeed, it is harmless, provided the practitioner keep all the precepts and practice them diligently while repenting from minor infractions (lying, gossipping, and consuming alcohol and drugs).
Perhaps this explains the practice of Pure Land Buddhist practitioners who chant the Buddha's name (Nianfo or Nembutsu) to burn off the evil karma of past wrongful actions. In this way do they purify their mind. For this is a path of easy practice that helps them achieve peace of mind.
In my opinion, these diverse Buddhist practices of chanting and meditation are examples of sexual sublimation, and positive expressions of libido.
YMMV
References:
Five Precepts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Precepts
Showing posts with label Nembutsu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nembutsu. Show all posts
20140816
20140805
I hear you (poem)
I hear you calling to me,
and I reply quietly,
“I am here with you.”
Yet you keep calling and calling,
asking someone to help you.
It's as though you never hear my reply.
Then I realize you only hear yourself
calling for help, and not listening
to me reply quietly,
"I am here with you."
I hear you calling me! I hear you…
I hear you when I call your name. I hear you…
I hear you calling…
I hear you…
I hear you calling…
I hear you…
I hear you…
I hear you cry, “I can't live without someone to love me.”
I hear you calling!
I hear you…
I hear you calling!
I hear you…
One day I will find you nearby.
All I have to do is listen for you.
When I call your name,
it is you who answers,
"I am here with you.
Just call for me, and you will hear me!"
When I listen with my heart,
I will hear your answer to my call.
Every time I call for you,
you are here with me.
I hear you call me! I hear you...
I hear you when I call your name. I hear you…
I hear you calling...
I hear you...
I hear you calling...
I hear you...
I hear you...
I hear your cry, "My love goes out to you forevermore."
I hear you calling!
I hear you...
I hear you calling!
I hear you...
This poem is inspired by the Nembutsu, which is known to Pure Land Buddhists of the Jodo Shinshu faith as the Name-that-calls.
It is said that when the devotee recites the Name-that-calls, it is Amida Buddha calling.
In my poem, both Amida and the devotee are referred to as "I" and "you", as the lover and her beloved.
Thus the lover calls to her beloved, who replies to her wherever she may be.
This is not just Buddhist. This is also romantic. For the source of all love is unconditional love.
Originally posted on March 23, 2005 at 8:11 PM
and I reply quietly,
“I am here with you.”
Yet you keep calling and calling,
asking someone to help you.
It's as though you never hear my reply.
Then I realize you only hear yourself
calling for help, and not listening
to me reply quietly,
"I am here with you."
I hear you calling me! I hear you…
I hear you when I call your name. I hear you…
I hear you calling…
I hear you…
I hear you calling…
I hear you…
I hear you…
I hear you cry, “I can't live without someone to love me.”
I hear you calling!
I hear you…
I hear you calling!
I hear you…
One day I will find you nearby.
All I have to do is listen for you.
When I call your name,
it is you who answers,
"I am here with you.
Just call for me, and you will hear me!"
When I listen with my heart,
I will hear your answer to my call.
Every time I call for you,
you are here with me.
I hear you call me! I hear you...
I hear you when I call your name. I hear you…
I hear you calling...
I hear you...
I hear you calling...
I hear you...
I hear you...
I hear your cry, "My love goes out to you forevermore."
I hear you calling!
I hear you...
I hear you calling!
I hear you...
This poem is inspired by the Nembutsu, which is known to Pure Land Buddhists of the Jodo Shinshu faith as the Name-that-calls.
It is said that when the devotee recites the Name-that-calls, it is Amida Buddha calling.
In my poem, both Amida and the devotee are referred to as "I" and "you", as the lover and her beloved.
Thus the lover calls to her beloved, who replies to her wherever she may be.
This is not just Buddhist. This is also romantic. For the source of all love is unconditional love.
Originally posted on March 23, 2005 at 8:11 PM
20140205
Holy Anger is Righteous Anger
Holy anger is righteous because it does not affect rebirth in the Pure Land.
Suppose at service a heckler curses the priest loudly and disturbs the wa, the harmony during chanting of the Twelve Adorations.
Holy anger is when the priest stops the service and asks the heckler to leave immediately.
That kind of anger is warranted because a temple is for dharma practice, and hecklers are unwanted.
Though it is best that a member of the temple ask the heckler to leave first, because if the priest has to intervene then he'll need to calm down before carrying on with the service.
Holy anger does not affect rebirth.
Even if it is evil passion, because such anger is used to ask a heckler to begone or to awaken a napping member of the temple, it is justifiable.
As long as the priest or member does not curse or use violence, no harm or evil karma results.
Thus it is excusable, this holy anger.
20140203
Meditation - Journal Entry: September 30, 2013 at 10:02 PM
Be excellent in all
That you do, and accept
Everyone as Buddha
Without question. O!
No one is as splendid
As the bodhisattvas.
Egoless due to daily meditation,
I hold no delusions about being a god.
For what is ego but a tool to wield for liberation?
He who wields Ego wisely uses it to benefit everyone.
What is evil but utter confusion?
What is good but true understanding?
Although all of what I write
Is metaphorical, it is
For the good of us all,
Even the white lies which hold
The Truth occulted by evil karma.
Truth arises from
The pure mind, cleansed of evil
Through daily practice
Of calm abiding and
Mindful reflection on Truth.
Achieve the pure mind
By letting go of desire
Through skillful means.
All it takes is to repeat
The Nembutsu sincerely.
For the Nembutsu
Is the tool of cleansing, and
Purifies the mind.
Wield it kindly when saying
The Nembutsu, the Name-that-calls.
He who utters the Name-that-calls
Is merely moved by the Buddha
Calling to all of humanity.
With each calling his mind is
Cleansed of anger arising from
Desire until the Pure Mind
Arises, shining bright like
The moon rising after sunset,
And the sun rising in the morn.
All things in the universe
Are impermanent,
And there is no soul at all.
Instead, there is but
The Eightfold Consciousnesses.
That you do, and accept
Everyone as Buddha
Without question. O!
No one is as splendid
As the bodhisattvas.
Egoless due to daily meditation,
I hold no delusions about being a god.
For what is ego but a tool to wield for liberation?
He who wields Ego wisely uses it to benefit everyone.
What is evil but utter confusion?
What is good but true understanding?
Although all of what I write
Is metaphorical, it is
For the good of us all,
Even the white lies which hold
The Truth occulted by evil karma.
Truth arises from
The pure mind, cleansed of evil
Through daily practice
Of calm abiding and
Mindful reflection on Truth.
Achieve the pure mind
By letting go of desire
Through skillful means.
All it takes is to repeat
The Nembutsu sincerely.
For the Nembutsu
Is the tool of cleansing, and
Purifies the mind.
Wield it kindly when saying
The Nembutsu, the Name-that-calls.
He who utters the Name-that-calls
Is merely moved by the Buddha
Calling to all of humanity.
With each calling his mind is
Cleansed of anger arising from
Desire until the Pure Mind
Arises, shining bright like
The moon rising after sunset,
And the sun rising in the morn.
All things in the universe
Are impermanent,
And there is no soul at all.
Instead, there is but
The Eightfold Consciousnesses.
20140202
Forgiveness the Economy of the Heart
Forgiveness is the economy of the heart... Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits. — Hannah More
Moderation is encouraged by forgiveness. When for anger is spent, hatred is cast away, and the spirit is redeemed.
Just as gold is refined by fire, so too do we pass through the hells of life to transcend and encounter briefly the momentary joy due to the power of love, namely loving-kindness which is the wellspring of human compassion.
Due to the working of the Primal Vow, which is enabled through the power of love, it is said in Pure Land Buddhism that the Buddhist is truly assured of rebirth in the Pure Land of Bliss.
With this mantra am I reborn there: Namu Amida Butsu.
Original posted: January 7, 2006 8:56 PM
Reference:
Primal Vow: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_Vow
Moderation is encouraged by forgiveness. When for anger is spent, hatred is cast away, and the spirit is redeemed.
Just as gold is refined by fire, so too do we pass through the hells of life to transcend and encounter briefly the momentary joy due to the power of love, namely loving-kindness which is the wellspring of human compassion.
Due to the working of the Primal Vow, which is enabled through the power of love, it is said in Pure Land Buddhism that the Buddhist is truly assured of rebirth in the Pure Land of Bliss.
With this mantra am I reborn there: Namu Amida Butsu.
Original posted: January 7, 2006 8:56 PM
Reference:
Primal Vow: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_Vow
20140127
Eye of Wisdom
Having obtained the eye of wisdom,
I will remove the darkness of ignorance;
I will block all the evil paths
And open the gate to the good realms. — Bodhisattva Dharmakara
"Having obtained" refers to years of study (of the three sutras of Amida Buddha) and meditation (particularly Nembutsu or Buddha Recitation) which uncovers the "Eye of Wisdom".
"Eye of wisdom" refers to the eye that sees the Dharma and the inner spiritual world. Also known as the Dharma Eye, the Eye of Wisdom is the complement of the physical eye that sees the external material world, which is called the Worldly Eye.
"Darkness of ignorance" refers to the state of the unenlightened mind that delights in sensuous desire and the evil passions which distract the Buddhist from the spiritual journey. Evil in context with the passions refers to any confusion and distraction from that journey due to wrong action resulting in wrong-mindedness.
"Evil paths" refers to the many paths which distract the Buddhist from achieving calm abiding and peace of mind. Calm abiding refers to the mind that is content with itself and is free of evil passions.
Through regular meditation, it is possible to "remove the darkness of ignorance" and "block all the evil paths" through calm abiding and continued reflection on Enlightenment. By removing the darkness of ignorance and blocking all evil paths, confusion and distraction from the spiritual journey is dispelled. As a result, the clear mind is achieved in which calmness abides.
With calm abiding, it is possible to "open the gate to the good realms" of spiritual contentment, which prepares the way to the Pure Land of Bliss.
Juseige - Verses confirming the 48 Vows:
http://web.mit.edu/stclair/www/larger.html#Juseige%20-%20Verses%20confirming%20the%2048%20Vows
Eye of wisdom: http://www.buddhapadipa.org/dhamma-corner/the-eye-of-wisdom/
True Happiness (poem)
Most happy is the one who
Make a chaste life hers,
With unquenched desires
And wanton passion
Conquered through perseverance.
Child-like innocence
Helps in the discovery
Of the life divine
Which resists all temptation
In the name of the Buddha.
Even though she is alone,
The most happy one
Meditates upon the truth
That the Pure Mind be
Achieved through mindful practice.
Be like that small child
Who alone sits quietly,
In meditation,
Remembering the Buddha
Through careful recitation.
With each call, not alone is
She who does recite
The name of the Buddha 'til
He does call through her,
"Namu Amida Butsu."
Sincerely the child
Does recite the Name-that-calls
As the Buddha calls
Through her until her mind is
Pure and her life left divine.
True happiness is this: the love
that compassion calls
respect for your fellow man,
and the devotion
shown towards a Buddhist friend.
Make a chaste life hers,
With unquenched desires
And wanton passion
Conquered through perseverance.
Child-like innocence
Helps in the discovery
Of the life divine
Which resists all temptation
In the name of the Buddha.
Even though she is alone,
The most happy one
Meditates upon the truth
That the Pure Mind be
Achieved through mindful practice.
Be like that small child
Who alone sits quietly,
In meditation,
Remembering the Buddha
Through careful recitation.
With each call, not alone is
She who does recite
The name of the Buddha 'til
He does call through her,
"Namu Amida Butsu."
Sincerely the child
Does recite the Name-that-calls
As the Buddha calls
Through her until her mind is
Pure and her life left divine.
True happiness is this: the love
that compassion calls
respect for your fellow man,
and the devotion
shown towards a Buddhist friend.
20140122
Buddha Remembrance As Easy As Meditation
Buddha remembrance consists of Buddha recitation which is when the Buddhist laypeople gather together to chant the name of the Buddha.
If they are devoted to the Lotus Sutra as in the lay Buddhist sect of Soka Gakai then they chant "Namu myoho rengé kyo."
If they are of the Jodo Shinshu sect then they chant the Nembutsu ("Namu Amida Butsu").
By chanting the Buddha's name the devotees become mindful of the Buddha.
Thus is Buddha recitation Buddha remembrance.
It is said that Buddhist chanting is the easy path to enlightenment for all sentient beings.
For all sentient beings are destined to become bodhisattvas since such sincere devotion shown by chanting the Buddha's name is a fee definite sign that the Buddha is calling through his devotees.
Small wonder that the Nembutsu is known to the devout Shin Buddhist as the Name-that-calls.
As well, Buddha recitation is called the easy path in contrast to the hard path of Zen mediation.
Thus are there two paths to Enlightenment in Mahayana Buddhism.
20140118
My Street version of Japanese Buddhist History From Kukai to today
In this blog entry I'm going to write in my words what I learned about Buddhism in Japan on my own.
While I might meander a bit, you'll get a gist of why I might annoy people with my style of writing. >:)
You will also see why Japanese are born Shinto, live like Buddhists, and despite the current trend with those church weddings, are nominally Christian except for the whipping and the martyrdom. If you're Christian back in ancient times, you might meet up with a Buddhist or Shinto fanatic who might either beat you up or worse, force you to trample on Christian icons to prove you are Shinto.
While that does not happen anymore except when the far-right Shinto fanatic gets rowdy and so jealous of too many church weddings by gullible people who become Christianity.
So gaman, suck in your gut, and drink a bit of sake before you read this entry, because it's brutal. Man, sitting on your ass for the 99 minutes it might take you to read through it may be straight up brutal! Sorry, I kid. :)
Please note that this is a street version of Buddhism in Japan.
Due to my writing style, I am currently going to skip what I forgot and write of what I remember.
Bearing that in mind, Google "Japanese Buddhism" and look for the wikipedia entries. For the adventurous who are learning Japanese, I dare you to use the Japanese characters to find the hidden information on the Japanese version of Wikipedia. It will help you learn why we Japanese are religious, no matter whether it is Shinto, Buddhism and the occasional church weddings. :p
As for the less adventurous I have added a few references pointing to wikipedia articles used in updating this blog post.
First, we begin with Kukai and Shingon, the Vajrayana gone K-town i.e. Kyoto for political reasons. Though East Asia practices Mahayana Buddhist, Vajrayana was sufficiently compatible with Mahayana to inspire its introduction to Japan by Kukai.
Kukai's inspiration began while learning to memorize Akasagarbha Memory Retention Practice in three months whilst hiding out in Shikoku.
In ancient times, Shikoku was popular for Shinto pilgrims being the most rural of all Japan over a thousand years ago. Today, it's for Buddhist pilgrims. However, that's because the Shinto of today aren't allowed oppress Buddhists. Back in ancient Japan, the Shinto had the right to oppress others if need be due to the divine Emperor dogma.
One day a long time ago, Kukai had a dream in which the Buddha Akasagarbha appeared to him saying: "Go read the Mahavairocana sutra. It is the mother of good magic, and can protect the Emperor."
When he checked out the temple that had a copy of the sutra, Kukai found it was written in Chinese so old that even he had a hard time understanding. Obviously, whoever copied it copied what they couldn't understand as is, even preserving the Sanskrit. So it had major mojo!
On realizing this, Kukai set sail for China to find the monk who knew this sutra to teach him to read Sanskrit and improve his Chinese.
By the time he arrive in China, the monk was on his deathbed. After realizing this man was the only one who could memorize the Mahavairocana perfectly, the old man made Kukai his Successor. Many Chinese monks helped Kukai learn Chinese & Sanskrit well. Then they let him read the Mahavairocana in the raw, in Sanskrit, preserved for centuries.
Thanks to the Tang emperor, who was a Taoist fanatic and a faithful Confucian, the old monk knew esoteric Buddhism was going to die out soon. This realization was contained in the concept of Mappo, which is the Japanese Buddhist term about the Buddhist End of Days, a time when few people will wish to know what the Buddha said, his Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. That dying monk realized that Kukai was the man destined to revitalize faith in Mahavairocana.
Then the monk achieved mahaparinirvana which happens when a Buddhist priest passes away and his body is prepared for cremation, while his consciousness is said to return to the Absolute. Right after succeeding as head monk, Kukai thanked all of remaining monks and left China with the Mahavairocana memorized leaving the country without any scrolls on him.
After the old monk's death, Kukai became head monk, and other monks asked him to wrote the old man's eulogy. It was so well done the other monks helped him learn Sanskrit to faithfully translate the Mahavairocana sutra into Chinese for them. Later, he also translated the sutra into Japanese when he came home.
After that was done Kukai sailed back to Japan, and introduced the Japanese emperor to esoteric Buddhism in the Buddhist sect known as Shingon. Being a superstitious man who believed in magic keeping the empire going, and the crops and women fertile, the Emperor willingly became his best pupil.
Overall though, Shingon Buddhism didn't find popularity among the people because it was for the elite. Its mojo just couldn't be learned overnight.
Later on, Shingon would become popular for accepting a devout nobleman's family's child to a nunnery or a monastery. Pretty soon, power brokers like shoguns and their samurai security guard guards were getting into this trend.
Isn't it amazing how the laws of karma can be abuse? ;)
In ancient Japan, the elites may have originally been foreigners themselves who needed to invent a class system to separate themselves from the common people, who originally may have been the conquered people, and were destined to remain peasants.
Above them were boss men called merchants. Usually they became bosses of villages because business leads to relations with samurai, the level above that. The samurai originally body guards of Emperor, later shogun and other nobles and later merchants.
It is said that noble families were of two kinds: originally they arrived from Formosa (today's Taiwan) and possibly Ryukyu Island. Later they came from Korea — most likely from Paekche. When Kukai was born, they came from Korea, and married into the Emperor's family and his first cousins.
That's Feudalism 9th century style.
If you mention this to a knowledgeable Japanese national, then he might reply "Korea never contributed to the lineage of our Emperor, and they never appreciated all we did for them when we occupied Korea before the war." That's true, but I never said they did. It would make sense for the Imperial bloodline pure "Even so," he'll add, "that's OK now since we give all Korean musicians their big break to fame and fortune by introducing them to JPOP fans all across Japan!" What he means is, "I don't believe your BS about Japanese emperor lineage because it causes cognitive dissonance to listen to your crackpot theory about the pure line of emperors who were Japanese first! You're dissing my main god and that's not right! Oh, and you just implied the shoguns were not native to Japan!"
At this point in the conversation, it is preferable to agree politely and not argue the point. A wise man lives a long life when he is tactful when in dialogue with learned men.
Moving right along...
Even though the peasants had to produce food for the needs of each fiefdom, according to the understanding of the noblemen, it is not acceptable for peasants to learn Buddhism due to their coarse nature. It was more appropriate for Buddhist priests — usually of the noble class, and sometimes of the samurai class, provided they gave up the sword — to perform Buddhist rites for the lower classes (peasant and merchant) after accepting their offering, be it produce, food, or even their children.
In the case of Shingon, it became a respected Buddhism due to the superstitious nature of the elite.
Even the Shinto priests learn some Buddhism while gossiping over sake. That might lead to a lot of trouble like wars due to professional jealousy since Buddhism was considered a foreign religion that was not good for anything but monks on a mountain.
See what happens when a religion becomes organized? ;)
Because a few of the Japanese nobility's sons who became monks were just biding their time until they became the new power brokers, Buddhist monks on a mountain made an army of sohei (warrior priests) to protect their interests from the rival Shinto priests, who had the backing of the oldest family of samurai.
Yet Shinto priests controlled a faction that led to the myth of divine emperor, and had originally tried to drive out Buddhism because the emperor lacked faith in the Buddha and lost face when a foolish Shinto priest who adopted Buddhism didn't know the magic words and couldn't stop a small plague or even keep crops and women fertile. In response, the Shinto faction took the bell donated to the Buddhist faction and threw it into a marsh.
And thus began a rivalry with Shinto, the way of the gods, and Buddhism, the way of the Buddha that was only ended when the shogun in later times made Buddhism a school of Shinto with the Buddhist pantheon of gods, buddhas and bodhisattvas being whittled down to a more manageable handful rather than the whole thing.
In time Shingon was followed by the adapting of T'ien T'ai Buddhism from China and making it their own as Tendai Buddhism. Yet the nobleman Buddhist priest still offered himself an intercessor in the form of Buddhist priest for the common people with the usual exchanging of offerings such as food, goods or child for much-appreciated assurances about afterlife.
Other forms of Japanese Buddhism also arrived, but those warrior priests were getting feisty.
Then it happened: a monk decided that Tendai Buddhism was good for nothing because the playboy sons of samurai were biding their time in the monastery during the day and sneaking out to enjoy the usual pastimes of rich kids.
His name was Honen. He formed Jodo Shu, which represent a Buddhism around a Buddha whose early worship originated in Gandhara Kingdom of western India (1500 BCE to 11th Century CE) called Amida Buddha.
This Buddhism states that if you chant the name of this Buddha Amida you get reborn in a land of bliss where you listen to the Buddha preach the dharma until it's time to be reborn again.
One of Honen’s star pupils was Shinran. He too was fed up with the shenanigans of Tendai opening the gates to rich kids who never learned the dharma but wanted to fight with you to the death just because you wanted to learn the dharma in earnest rather than sneak out, have a few brewskies and return to the temple before the head priest locked the gate.
One day Shinran had left his life at the Tendai on a retreat at a famous temple in Kyoto. It was a Shinto temple, but had a Buddhist monk running things, because the Shinto priests were out at Nara for their own safety to cater with the nobles who were their patrons.
One night, Shinran was allowed to sleep rest after helping out with cleaning the place and other work, like explaining that there's not much difference between Buddhism and Shinto practice, because the Buddha had conquered the Shinto gods and now they work for Buddha.
That night he dreamed of Prince Shotoku who is considered an incarnation bodhisattva (angel) of of Avalokiteshvara, who has a male and a female form due to his gender-free form. He was an interesting bodhisattva that might appeal to gay Buddhists and straight Buddhists today.
Overall, in ancient times, we might view Japanese noble men and women as pansexual with limited opportunity to be heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual and of course, transgender. Even so, they had Japanese terms for sexuality and gender that are less precise than the ones the modern world uses.
In Japan, Buddhism got in the way of all that because if you sent your kids to a nunnery and a monastery, they would only know their fellow gender kind and not marry, have kids and follow their father's wishes about a career.
Shinto is all about fertility - end of story. Hence all of the gossip by Shinto priests that sometimes led to war.
In the dream, Prince Shotoku said to Shinran, "Go talk to Honen. He knows the way to enlightenment to free the common people from ritual."
So he did that, got tutored and began preaching the Nembutsu cult's message.
when the monks of Tendai heard about it through their contacts, they instructed their warrior priests to talk to these potential rivals, who preached to commoners and nobles alike, about a novel approach to salvation by chanting the Nembutsu ten times rather than making an offering to priests of Tendai, thus assuring of rebirth in the Pure Land of Bliss.
Each side of this battle claimed that the Pure Land is the land that all living beings go, but they differed in who gets to go there. Though the Nembutsu cults said that anyone can be reborn there in the afterlife if they recite Nembutsu ten times. Tendai said only a priest recite for a devoted peasant or merchant.
Most likely, they either read the sutras wrong or adapted the intercessor aspect of Tendai priest from the Shinto.
Eventually a couple pupils of Honen got executed because they were bad boys with slippery tongues, and annoyed the Tendai school and their political allies in Kyoto.
As a result of this tragic turn of events, Honen was banished mainly because by that time in Japanese history, the Buddhist precept of not killing a sentient being was considered a useful social more.
Additionally Shinran was banished because he didn't argue with the warriors priests either. There were also other students of Honen who didn't argue and thus they just carried on their own. Most of this latter group each formed their own separate schools of Nembutsu Buddhism, but later they were absorbed into both Jodo Shu and Shinran's Jodo Shinshu with most of them being absourbed into Shinran's.
Jodo mean Pure land School; Jodo Shinshu means Pure Land School of Truth or True Pure Land School. However, I think they were named much later than has been written because putting the schools' names on a temple might have annoyed the Tendai monks.
Additionally, a new rival of both Jodo Shu and Jodo Shinshu, the emperor-worshipping Nichiren became popular for his firebrand style of proselyting. After many trials with the noble court, Nichiren started to be critical of Jodo Shinshu, so the ruling elite reduced their persecution of him.
We now leave this history and segue into the modern era circa WW2.
Back then Japan's military government pressured the Japanese Buddhist community into compliance, except for the Nichiren lay Buddhist organization Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, whose leadership was jailed, including Soka Gakkai founders Makiguchi and Toda.
After the war, both men went on to make Soka Gakkai the strong humanistic Buddhism that shines around the world as Soka Gakkai International (SGI).
During the modern era, Jodo Shu and Jodo Shinshu leaders were pressured by military police to play by the rules during WW2 and not saying peace is better than war.
Anyone faithful to Amida and knew the truth about militarization (it steals boys from families and now the crops can't be picked so the elites, now secular militarists, can be well fed while the common people starve and are oppressed by the elites.
It is said the faithful Shin Buddhists had a woman who was arrested on trumped up charges for helping starving children and protecting her fellow Buddhists from paranoid military men who thought learning about Amida is a traitor's way because only Shinto would help them win the war against British India, and especially the Americans.
According to Shinto rhetoric, Buddhism might still be a foreign religion. You know how rabid fanatical military types can get in the Far East, like that communist leader Mao, who purportedly was of a son of a farmer.
So this lady suffered in prison, but survived and her followers of fellow Shin Buddhists welcomed her home. After all, by then Japan was occupied by the US.
I present the case of this lady because it shows that, contrary to propaganda in the Americas, some of the Japanese Buddhists were never enemies of peace in wartime Japan.
Returning to Buddhism proper, Mahayana in particular comes in different flavors, but it's the meditation that's been helpful when -simplified- the religious parts are filtered out, inspiring even psychotherapy such as cognitive behavior therapy & dialectic behavior therapy.
Originally posted: October 29, 2012 10:14 AM PDT
Reference:
Japanese Buddhism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Japan
Gandhara: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhara
While I might meander a bit, you'll get a gist of why I might annoy people with my style of writing. >:)
You will also see why Japanese are born Shinto, live like Buddhists, and despite the current trend with those church weddings, are nominally Christian except for the whipping and the martyrdom. If you're Christian back in ancient times, you might meet up with a Buddhist or Shinto fanatic who might either beat you up or worse, force you to trample on Christian icons to prove you are Shinto.
While that does not happen anymore except when the far-right Shinto fanatic gets rowdy and so jealous of too many church weddings by gullible people who become Christianity.
So gaman, suck in your gut, and drink a bit of sake before you read this entry, because it's brutal. Man, sitting on your ass for the 99 minutes it might take you to read through it may be straight up brutal! Sorry, I kid. :)
Please note that this is a street version of Buddhism in Japan.
Due to my writing style, I am currently going to skip what I forgot and write of what I remember.
Bearing that in mind, Google "Japanese Buddhism" and look for the wikipedia entries. For the adventurous who are learning Japanese, I dare you to use the Japanese characters to find the hidden information on the Japanese version of Wikipedia. It will help you learn why we Japanese are religious, no matter whether it is Shinto, Buddhism and the occasional church weddings. :p
As for the less adventurous I have added a few references pointing to wikipedia articles used in updating this blog post.
First, we begin with Kukai and Shingon, the Vajrayana gone K-town i.e. Kyoto for political reasons. Though East Asia practices Mahayana Buddhist, Vajrayana was sufficiently compatible with Mahayana to inspire its introduction to Japan by Kukai.
Kukai's inspiration began while learning to memorize Akasagarbha Memory Retention Practice in three months whilst hiding out in Shikoku.
In ancient times, Shikoku was popular for Shinto pilgrims being the most rural of all Japan over a thousand years ago. Today, it's for Buddhist pilgrims. However, that's because the Shinto of today aren't allowed oppress Buddhists. Back in ancient Japan, the Shinto had the right to oppress others if need be due to the divine Emperor dogma.
One day a long time ago, Kukai had a dream in which the Buddha Akasagarbha appeared to him saying: "Go read the Mahavairocana sutra. It is the mother of good magic, and can protect the Emperor."
When he checked out the temple that had a copy of the sutra, Kukai found it was written in Chinese so old that even he had a hard time understanding. Obviously, whoever copied it copied what they couldn't understand as is, even preserving the Sanskrit. So it had major mojo!
On realizing this, Kukai set sail for China to find the monk who knew this sutra to teach him to read Sanskrit and improve his Chinese.
By the time he arrive in China, the monk was on his deathbed. After realizing this man was the only one who could memorize the Mahavairocana perfectly, the old man made Kukai his Successor. Many Chinese monks helped Kukai learn Chinese & Sanskrit well. Then they let him read the Mahavairocana in the raw, in Sanskrit, preserved for centuries.
Thanks to the Tang emperor, who was a Taoist fanatic and a faithful Confucian, the old monk knew esoteric Buddhism was going to die out soon. This realization was contained in the concept of Mappo, which is the Japanese Buddhist term about the Buddhist End of Days, a time when few people will wish to know what the Buddha said, his Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. That dying monk realized that Kukai was the man destined to revitalize faith in Mahavairocana.
Then the monk achieved mahaparinirvana which happens when a Buddhist priest passes away and his body is prepared for cremation, while his consciousness is said to return to the Absolute. Right after succeeding as head monk, Kukai thanked all of remaining monks and left China with the Mahavairocana memorized leaving the country without any scrolls on him.
After the old monk's death, Kukai became head monk, and other monks asked him to wrote the old man's eulogy. It was so well done the other monks helped him learn Sanskrit to faithfully translate the Mahavairocana sutra into Chinese for them. Later, he also translated the sutra into Japanese when he came home.
After that was done Kukai sailed back to Japan, and introduced the Japanese emperor to esoteric Buddhism in the Buddhist sect known as Shingon. Being a superstitious man who believed in magic keeping the empire going, and the crops and women fertile, the Emperor willingly became his best pupil.
Overall though, Shingon Buddhism didn't find popularity among the people because it was for the elite. Its mojo just couldn't be learned overnight.
Later on, Shingon would become popular for accepting a devout nobleman's family's child to a nunnery or a monastery. Pretty soon, power brokers like shoguns and their samurai security guard guards were getting into this trend.
Isn't it amazing how the laws of karma can be abuse? ;)
In ancient Japan, the elites may have originally been foreigners themselves who needed to invent a class system to separate themselves from the common people, who originally may have been the conquered people, and were destined to remain peasants.
Above them were boss men called merchants. Usually they became bosses of villages because business leads to relations with samurai, the level above that. The samurai originally body guards of Emperor, later shogun and other nobles and later merchants.
It is said that noble families were of two kinds: originally they arrived from Formosa (today's Taiwan) and possibly Ryukyu Island. Later they came from Korea — most likely from Paekche. When Kukai was born, they came from Korea, and married into the Emperor's family and his first cousins.
That's Feudalism 9th century style.
If you mention this to a knowledgeable Japanese national, then he might reply "Korea never contributed to the lineage of our Emperor, and they never appreciated all we did for them when we occupied Korea before the war." That's true, but I never said they did. It would make sense for the Imperial bloodline pure "Even so," he'll add, "that's OK now since we give all Korean musicians their big break to fame and fortune by introducing them to JPOP fans all across Japan!" What he means is, "I don't believe your BS about Japanese emperor lineage because it causes cognitive dissonance to listen to your crackpot theory about the pure line of emperors who were Japanese first! You're dissing my main god and that's not right! Oh, and you just implied the shoguns were not native to Japan!"
At this point in the conversation, it is preferable to agree politely and not argue the point. A wise man lives a long life when he is tactful when in dialogue with learned men.
Moving right along...
Even though the peasants had to produce food for the needs of each fiefdom, according to the understanding of the noblemen, it is not acceptable for peasants to learn Buddhism due to their coarse nature. It was more appropriate for Buddhist priests — usually of the noble class, and sometimes of the samurai class, provided they gave up the sword — to perform Buddhist rites for the lower classes (peasant and merchant) after accepting their offering, be it produce, food, or even their children.
In the case of Shingon, it became a respected Buddhism due to the superstitious nature of the elite.
Even the Shinto priests learn some Buddhism while gossiping over sake. That might lead to a lot of trouble like wars due to professional jealousy since Buddhism was considered a foreign religion that was not good for anything but monks on a mountain.
See what happens when a religion becomes organized? ;)
Because a few of the Japanese nobility's sons who became monks were just biding their time until they became the new power brokers, Buddhist monks on a mountain made an army of sohei (warrior priests) to protect their interests from the rival Shinto priests, who had the backing of the oldest family of samurai.
Yet Shinto priests controlled a faction that led to the myth of divine emperor, and had originally tried to drive out Buddhism because the emperor lacked faith in the Buddha and lost face when a foolish Shinto priest who adopted Buddhism didn't know the magic words and couldn't stop a small plague or even keep crops and women fertile. In response, the Shinto faction took the bell donated to the Buddhist faction and threw it into a marsh.
And thus began a rivalry with Shinto, the way of the gods, and Buddhism, the way of the Buddha that was only ended when the shogun in later times made Buddhism a school of Shinto with the Buddhist pantheon of gods, buddhas and bodhisattvas being whittled down to a more manageable handful rather than the whole thing.
In time Shingon was followed by the adapting of T'ien T'ai Buddhism from China and making it their own as Tendai Buddhism. Yet the nobleman Buddhist priest still offered himself an intercessor in the form of Buddhist priest for the common people with the usual exchanging of offerings such as food, goods or child for much-appreciated assurances about afterlife.
Other forms of Japanese Buddhism also arrived, but those warrior priests were getting feisty.
Then it happened: a monk decided that Tendai Buddhism was good for nothing because the playboy sons of samurai were biding their time in the monastery during the day and sneaking out to enjoy the usual pastimes of rich kids.
His name was Honen. He formed Jodo Shu, which represent a Buddhism around a Buddha whose early worship originated in Gandhara Kingdom of western India (1500 BCE to 11th Century CE) called Amida Buddha.
This Buddhism states that if you chant the name of this Buddha Amida you get reborn in a land of bliss where you listen to the Buddha preach the dharma until it's time to be reborn again.
One of Honen’s star pupils was Shinran. He too was fed up with the shenanigans of Tendai opening the gates to rich kids who never learned the dharma but wanted to fight with you to the death just because you wanted to learn the dharma in earnest rather than sneak out, have a few brewskies and return to the temple before the head priest locked the gate.
One day Shinran had left his life at the Tendai on a retreat at a famous temple in Kyoto. It was a Shinto temple, but had a Buddhist monk running things, because the Shinto priests were out at Nara for their own safety to cater with the nobles who were their patrons.
One night, Shinran was allowed to sleep rest after helping out with cleaning the place and other work, like explaining that there's not much difference between Buddhism and Shinto practice, because the Buddha had conquered the Shinto gods and now they work for Buddha.
That night he dreamed of Prince Shotoku who is considered an incarnation bodhisattva (angel) of of Avalokiteshvara, who has a male and a female form due to his gender-free form. He was an interesting bodhisattva that might appeal to gay Buddhists and straight Buddhists today.
Overall, in ancient times, we might view Japanese noble men and women as pansexual with limited opportunity to be heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual and of course, transgender. Even so, they had Japanese terms for sexuality and gender that are less precise than the ones the modern world uses.
In Japan, Buddhism got in the way of all that because if you sent your kids to a nunnery and a monastery, they would only know their fellow gender kind and not marry, have kids and follow their father's wishes about a career.
Shinto is all about fertility - end of story. Hence all of the gossip by Shinto priests that sometimes led to war.
In the dream, Prince Shotoku said to Shinran, "Go talk to Honen. He knows the way to enlightenment to free the common people from ritual."
So he did that, got tutored and began preaching the Nembutsu cult's message.
when the monks of Tendai heard about it through their contacts, they instructed their warrior priests to talk to these potential rivals, who preached to commoners and nobles alike, about a novel approach to salvation by chanting the Nembutsu ten times rather than making an offering to priests of Tendai, thus assuring of rebirth in the Pure Land of Bliss.
Each side of this battle claimed that the Pure Land is the land that all living beings go, but they differed in who gets to go there. Though the Nembutsu cults said that anyone can be reborn there in the afterlife if they recite Nembutsu ten times. Tendai said only a priest recite for a devoted peasant or merchant.
Most likely, they either read the sutras wrong or adapted the intercessor aspect of Tendai priest from the Shinto.
Eventually a couple pupils of Honen got executed because they were bad boys with slippery tongues, and annoyed the Tendai school and their political allies in Kyoto.
As a result of this tragic turn of events, Honen was banished mainly because by that time in Japanese history, the Buddhist precept of not killing a sentient being was considered a useful social more.
Additionally Shinran was banished because he didn't argue with the warriors priests either. There were also other students of Honen who didn't argue and thus they just carried on their own. Most of this latter group each formed their own separate schools of Nembutsu Buddhism, but later they were absorbed into both Jodo Shu and Shinran's Jodo Shinshu with most of them being absourbed into Shinran's.
Jodo mean Pure land School; Jodo Shinshu means Pure Land School of Truth or True Pure Land School. However, I think they were named much later than has been written because putting the schools' names on a temple might have annoyed the Tendai monks.
Additionally, a new rival of both Jodo Shu and Jodo Shinshu, the emperor-worshipping Nichiren became popular for his firebrand style of proselyting. After many trials with the noble court, Nichiren started to be critical of Jodo Shinshu, so the ruling elite reduced their persecution of him.
We now leave this history and segue into the modern era circa WW2.
Back then Japan's military government pressured the Japanese Buddhist community into compliance, except for the Nichiren lay Buddhist organization Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, whose leadership was jailed, including Soka Gakkai founders Makiguchi and Toda.
After the war, both men went on to make Soka Gakkai the strong humanistic Buddhism that shines around the world as Soka Gakkai International (SGI).
During the modern era, Jodo Shu and Jodo Shinshu leaders were pressured by military police to play by the rules during WW2 and not saying peace is better than war.
Anyone faithful to Amida and knew the truth about militarization (it steals boys from families and now the crops can't be picked so the elites, now secular militarists, can be well fed while the common people starve and are oppressed by the elites.
It is said the faithful Shin Buddhists had a woman who was arrested on trumped up charges for helping starving children and protecting her fellow Buddhists from paranoid military men who thought learning about Amida is a traitor's way because only Shinto would help them win the war against British India, and especially the Americans.
According to Shinto rhetoric, Buddhism might still be a foreign religion. You know how rabid fanatical military types can get in the Far East, like that communist leader Mao, who purportedly was of a son of a farmer.
So this lady suffered in prison, but survived and her followers of fellow Shin Buddhists welcomed her home. After all, by then Japan was occupied by the US.
I present the case of this lady because it shows that, contrary to propaganda in the Americas, some of the Japanese Buddhists were never enemies of peace in wartime Japan.
Returning to Buddhism proper, Mahayana in particular comes in different flavors, but it's the meditation that's been helpful when -simplified- the religious parts are filtered out, inspiring even psychotherapy such as cognitive behavior therapy & dialectic behavior therapy.
Originally posted: October 29, 2012 10:14 AM PDT
Reference:
Japanese Buddhism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Japan
Gandhara: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhara
20140117
Perfection (satire)
Some people who know a little about nanotechnology think it could create superior human beings with greater intellect, reasoning abilities and, as a consequence, morality. However, the possible risk of death from taking a pill to cause this evolution into Homo Sapiens Magna has dampened research into the use of nanotechnology to make us smarter and morally superior to the average person.
This is because greater intellect does not preclude insanity, which is validated by schizophrenic people being of a higher intellectual capacity than a person with a mood disorder. Even though bipolar people are highly creative, their tendency toward anxiety in novel situations when not manic tends to moderate their intellect.
As for narcissistic peoples, the only thing they know about the most is themselves, so they would apply their intellect once they confirm what's in it for them, which implies the appearance of high intellect without a corresponding sense of compassion for other people. Were anyone to confront them about their past stupid mistake, things could get really ugly in no time.
Even if we were to evolve, the higher intelligence and reasoning abilities might result in the ability to learn to follow a strict moral code as well as the strong sense of compassion and mercy with the strong risk to develop schizophrenia due to sensory overload caused by too much deep thought.
While it would be cheaper to genetically engineer a human being with superior intelligence and reasoning, it would be impossible to correct the inherent genetic destiny of schizophrenia genetically since most schizophrenia is not due to a genetic predisposition but to not learning successful coping skills in response to stress.
In short, there is no gene that gives you superior coping skills. It has to be learned through experience. Thus, the superior man is not born to cope with life. Rather, he learns how to cope with life through his life experiences.
In conclusion, I reject the nanotechnology and the genetic engineering route for creating the perfect man.
Instead, all it takes is Buddhist learning to perfect the man. This includes daily meditation sessions to develop the calm mind (samatha) necessary to solving koans (vipassana).
Though, the easy way to perfect the man is to chant the Nembutsu or even the Nichiren daimoku "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo". This form of meditation is easy to do, and only requires five minutes or less of chanting daily.
Meditation itself helps Buddhists to discover that Buddha Nature inherent to their own live. Buddha Nature can be considered the perfect qualities of the Buddha which passed into the consciousness stream when he died. Superior intellect, reasoning and morality are three of those perfect qualities.
However, I won't consider this exclusive to Buddhists. Christians use the Sinner's Prayer as an aid to perfect, chanting "God have mercy on me, a sinner" out of humility. Indeed, humility is the essential key to perfection, not the science of technology.
YMMV
This is because greater intellect does not preclude insanity, which is validated by schizophrenic people being of a higher intellectual capacity than a person with a mood disorder. Even though bipolar people are highly creative, their tendency toward anxiety in novel situations when not manic tends to moderate their intellect.
As for narcissistic peoples, the only thing they know about the most is themselves, so they would apply their intellect once they confirm what's in it for them, which implies the appearance of high intellect without a corresponding sense of compassion for other people. Were anyone to confront them about their past stupid mistake, things could get really ugly in no time.
Even if we were to evolve, the higher intelligence and reasoning abilities might result in the ability to learn to follow a strict moral code as well as the strong sense of compassion and mercy with the strong risk to develop schizophrenia due to sensory overload caused by too much deep thought.
While it would be cheaper to genetically engineer a human being with superior intelligence and reasoning, it would be impossible to correct the inherent genetic destiny of schizophrenia genetically since most schizophrenia is not due to a genetic predisposition but to not learning successful coping skills in response to stress.
In short, there is no gene that gives you superior coping skills. It has to be learned through experience. Thus, the superior man is not born to cope with life. Rather, he learns how to cope with life through his life experiences.
In conclusion, I reject the nanotechnology and the genetic engineering route for creating the perfect man.
Instead, all it takes is Buddhist learning to perfect the man. This includes daily meditation sessions to develop the calm mind (samatha) necessary to solving koans (vipassana).
Though, the easy way to perfect the man is to chant the Nembutsu or even the Nichiren daimoku "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo". This form of meditation is easy to do, and only requires five minutes or less of chanting daily.
Meditation itself helps Buddhists to discover that Buddha Nature inherent to their own live. Buddha Nature can be considered the perfect qualities of the Buddha which passed into the consciousness stream when he died. Superior intellect, reasoning and morality are three of those perfect qualities.
However, I won't consider this exclusive to Buddhists. Christians use the Sinner's Prayer as an aid to perfect, chanting "God have mercy on me, a sinner" out of humility. Indeed, humility is the essential key to perfection, not the science of technology.
YMMV
Natural Highs Through Meditation Versus Chanting (satire)
Natural highs occur all the time, be it from exercise like jogging or even viewing art.
I am at this point in my meditation where even taking photos and posting them on GooglePlus gives me a brief high, which is safer than drugs but even more addicting due to the fact that nobody has ever died from taking pictures and posting them on-line.
Getting high requires no drugs, just the ability to breath deeply and hold it for 15 seconds and report for 15 minutes a day. To get good at it, read the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Also, invest in a samatha-vipassana meditation retreat when you can afford it. It beats going to the bar on Friday and waking up to a hangover Sunday.
Of course, that is the hard way of achieving a natural high. However, it will prepare your mind for the easy way of chanting.
For the easy method is to chant along with those quaint chants on YouTube with the dharani of the Buddhas when sober. In my case, I chant the Nembutsu for all sentient beings. It's called Yuzu Nembutsu.
As well there is the chant associated with the Lotus Sutra and promoted by Nichiren (Namyo rengé kyo)
Why, last night, I had to stop chanting because it made me sleepy, which is actually a natural high too.
For all getting high means is changing consciousness. However, I recommend chanting while sober.
For drugs are a dangerous shortcuts for potentially suicidal people. Like the young people I follow on twitter always tweet after someone tweets their bad trip, "Mm-mm. Drugs are bad."
I am at this point in my meditation where even taking photos and posting them on GooglePlus gives me a brief high, which is safer than drugs but even more addicting due to the fact that nobody has ever died from taking pictures and posting them on-line.
Getting high requires no drugs, just the ability to breath deeply and hold it for 15 seconds and report for 15 minutes a day. To get good at it, read the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Also, invest in a samatha-vipassana meditation retreat when you can afford it. It beats going to the bar on Friday and waking up to a hangover Sunday.
Of course, that is the hard way of achieving a natural high. However, it will prepare your mind for the easy way of chanting.
For the easy method is to chant along with those quaint chants on YouTube with the dharani of the Buddhas when sober. In my case, I chant the Nembutsu for all sentient beings. It's called Yuzu Nembutsu.
As well there is the chant associated with the Lotus Sutra and promoted by Nichiren (Namyo rengé kyo)
Why, last night, I had to stop chanting because it made me sleepy, which is actually a natural high too.
For all getting high means is changing consciousness. However, I recommend chanting while sober.
For drugs are a dangerous shortcuts for potentially suicidal people. Like the young people I follow on twitter always tweet after someone tweets their bad trip, "Mm-mm. Drugs are bad."
20140113
The Way to Practice
Q: A lot of times it seems that many monks here are not practising. They look sloppy or unmindful. This disturbs me.
It is not proper to watch other people. This will not help your practice. If you are annoyed, watch the annoyance in your own mind. If others' discipline is bad or they are not good monks, this is not for you to judge. You will not discover widsom watching others. Monks' discipline is a tool to use for your own meditation. It is not a weapon to use to criticize or find fault. No one can do your practice for you, nor can you do practice for anyone else. Just be mindful of your own doings. This is the way to practice.
-Ajahn Chah, "Bodhinyana"
Were to compare myself to other Buddhists, I would engage in the evils resulting from judging other people.
So what if a person looks like they are not practising? Who cares if they look sloppy or unmindful? It's none of my business.
For few times I have heard so-called Buddhists complaining about other Buddhists, I'd like to just tell them, "Stop comparing yourself to other people!"
Instead, I just return to quietly chanting the Nembutsu.
Originally posted: February 25, 2006 11:45 PM PST
It is not proper to watch other people. This will not help your practice. If you are annoyed, watch the annoyance in your own mind. If others' discipline is bad or they are not good monks, this is not for you to judge. You will not discover widsom watching others. Monks' discipline is a tool to use for your own meditation. It is not a weapon to use to criticize or find fault. No one can do your practice for you, nor can you do practice for anyone else. Just be mindful of your own doings. This is the way to practice.
-Ajahn Chah, "Bodhinyana"
Were to compare myself to other Buddhists, I would engage in the evils resulting from judging other people.
So what if a person looks like they are not practising? Who cares if they look sloppy or unmindful? It's none of my business.
For few times I have heard so-called Buddhists complaining about other Buddhists, I'd like to just tell them, "Stop comparing yourself to other people!"
Instead, I just return to quietly chanting the Nembutsu.
Originally posted: February 25, 2006 11:45 PM PST
20140111
With the Heart of Nembutsu
A person with the heart of the Nembutsu is like one whose body is possessed of its fragrance; the heart of Mahasthamaprapta is thus likened to a person possessing fragrance. Hence it is stated, he is called "one adorned with the fragrance of light." Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, possessing the heart of the nembutsu within his heart, is likened to a person imbued with incense. He therefore states, When at first I was in the bodhisattva stage I attained insight into the nonorigination of all existence with the heart of the nembutsu. Now in this world: now in this Saha world. I embrace persons of the nembutsu and bring them into the Pure Land: "Taking in persons of the nembutsu, I bring them into the Pure Land." - Shinran Shonin, Notes on the Inscriptions on Sacred Scrolls: The inscription in praise of Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta
"In the Surangama Sutra, Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva tells of how he gained enlightenment through Buddha recitation, or continuous pure mindfulness of the Buddha, to obtain samadhi." - Wikipedia entry on Mahasthamaprapta - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahasthamaprapta
Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta recited the Buddha's name and reached nembutsu-samadhi by chanring the Buddha's name. His example was realized by Shinran to be the way of sages, the difficult practice.
Since the Jodo Shinshu path is the easy practice, an ordinary Pure Land practitioner is ever mindful of Amida out of gratitude for establishing the Primal Vow.
Amida's Primal Vow is that all sentient beings who hear His call will be reborn in the Pure Land of Bliss.
When the Shin Buddhist utters the Name-that-Calls, he has heard Amida calling to him from the Pure Land.
For Amida and the Pure Land of Bliss are right here in the Shin Buddhist's heart-mind.
The heart-mind is the bodhi mind, the True Mind, the mind embraced by Amida, always graced by buddha-nature.>
What is the Name-that-Calls? It is the Nembutsu that I softly change to keep Indra's Net bright and strong around the whole world.
What is Indra's Net but the compassion of billions of people to help sooth the suffering of billions more?
For Amida is both the Boundless Light of Wisdom shining on the Boundless Life of Compassion and the Boundless Life of Compassion enlightened by the Light of Wisdom?
Namu Amida Butsu
Original post: February 15, 2006 11:48 PM PST
"In the Surangama Sutra, Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva tells of how he gained enlightenment through Buddha recitation, or continuous pure mindfulness of the Buddha, to obtain samadhi." - Wikipedia entry on Mahasthamaprapta - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahasthamaprapta
Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta recited the Buddha's name and reached nembutsu-samadhi by chanring the Buddha's name. His example was realized by Shinran to be the way of sages, the difficult practice.
Since the Jodo Shinshu path is the easy practice, an ordinary Pure Land practitioner is ever mindful of Amida out of gratitude for establishing the Primal Vow.
Amida's Primal Vow is that all sentient beings who hear His call will be reborn in the Pure Land of Bliss.
When the Shin Buddhist utters the Name-that-Calls, he has heard Amida calling to him from the Pure Land.
For Amida and the Pure Land of Bliss are right here in the Shin Buddhist's heart-mind.
The heart-mind is the bodhi mind, the True Mind, the mind embraced by Amida, always graced by buddha-nature.>
What is the Name-that-Calls? It is the Nembutsu that I softly change to keep Indra's Net bright and strong around the whole world.
What is Indra's Net but the compassion of billions of people to help sooth the suffering of billions more?
For Amida is both the Boundless Light of Wisdom shining on the Boundless Life of Compassion and the Boundless Life of Compassion enlightened by the Light of Wisdom?
Namu Amida Butsu
Original post: February 15, 2006 11:48 PM PST
Oyasama is Calling (poem)
When I am calling the Nembutsu
it is actually Amida Nyorai calling to me.
When we are calling the Nembutsu
it is actually Amida Nyorai calling to us all.
In this way, my calling benefits others,
and their calling benefits me.
How so? Only Oyasama knows.
Who is Oyasama? Namu Amida Butsu.
Yuzu is Amida Buddha calling
through me to help bring peace to
all of us, and us
calling to Amida to help bring peace
to me but especially all of you.
When I am calling, Amida
calls through me to the whole world.
When we are calling, Amida
actually is calling to us all.
In this way, Nembutsu truly is
the Name-that-calls, for Yuzu is
but the meritorious of Nembutsu
simple because it is the call
heard around the whole world.
When we call to Amida Buddha,
what is it but the whole world
calling out to everyone of us?
it is actually Amida Nyorai calling to me.
When we are calling the Nembutsu
it is actually Amida Nyorai calling to us all.
In this way, my calling benefits others,
and their calling benefits me.
How so? Only Oyasama knows.
Who is Oyasama? Namu Amida Butsu.
Yuzu is Amida Buddha calling
through me to help bring peace to
all of us, and us
calling to Amida to help bring peace
to me but especially all of you.
When I am calling, Amida
calls through me to the whole world.
When we are calling, Amida
actually is calling to us all.
In this way, Nembutsu truly is
the Name-that-calls, for Yuzu is
but the meritorious of Nembutsu
simple because it is the call
heard around the whole world.
When we call to Amida Buddha,
what is it but the whole world
calling out to everyone of us?
20131223
Comments on Satanism versus satanism
Preamble: this article is about Satanism as the religionists view it, and how I use the term.
My use is to point to the truth of the possibility that Christians, Jews and Muslims might be "worshipping" Satan when their doctrines lead to hate crimes committed against gays and people "living in sin".
E.g. It is satanic for Jews to cheat Gentiles. Likewise it is satanic for Salafis to kill Coptic Christians while excusing their violence as "will of God".
A religionist who kills is only exercising the will of man. That in itself is not satanic. It is when a person who errs hides behind a deity who is apart from man most of the time.
Let's first turn to Wikipedia's definition of Satanism.
May 15, 2005 1403H: Satanism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Satanism is a religious and philosophical movement whose adherents recognize Satan as an archetype who all humans have some characteristics of, and Satanists celebrate aspects of human nature represented by the Satan archetype. Many Satanists do not worship a deity called Satan, or one by any other name. Unlike many religions and philosophies, Satanism generally focuses upon the spiritual advancement of the self, rather than upon submission to a deity or a set of moral codes.
Many contemporary Satanists eschew traditional religious beliefs, attitudes and worship in favor of more egoistic worldviews and practices such as magick. Groups or individuals described in some sense or another as Satanic can largely, though incomprehensively, be described as belonging to one of two unofficial sub-groupings: Philosophical Satanism or Religious Satanism.
Commentary: Satanism is more harmless than most Christian sects.
...To the Satanist, One is One's own God, and He disdains rationalist, secular humanistic beliefs which abhor the existence of the supernatural, only to promote a sterile life grounded in the 'real world' alone and in working towards the altruistic advancement of His fellow man while neglecting His own gratification and amusement. Obviously, philosophically Satanic thought has had a long history before LaVey's Church (indeed, self-centered egotism is probably as old as civilization itself), though it was the notion of Satan as the idealistic, self-seeking black sheep which inspired the title in spite of contemporary Christianity (which views him as evil because of these qualities).
Comment: Think of Satanism as magico-religious rationalization called by Ayn Rand, "selfishness".
...the Serpent in Genesis [encouraged] mankind to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, saying "Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."*, with the clear implication, coinciding with the beliefs of all Satanists, that mankind should know what is better for itself than any God which would forbid knowledge and self-government. Because of the common position that their faiths are in fact very old, or the oldest, Religious Satanists sometimes refer to themselves as "Traditional Satanists" and Philosophical Satanists as "Contemporary Satanists".
Comment: This is symbolic of Truth.
...The existence of large networks of organized Satanists involved in illegal activities, murder, and child abuse is occasionally claimed, often by fundamentalist religious movements. Those claims have never been substantiated and are widely believed to be false. See conspiracy theories.
Comment: ritual sexual abuse however may occur within the institution of the healthcare system, along with ritual physical abuse not only by doctors and nurses, but also by people in authority. Thus, the conspiracy theory by fundamental Christians of ritual Satanic abuse is actually a repressed memory of abuse within their own denominations and within the Establishment itself.
Thus, Satanism is about the ego, rather than about rising above selfishness to try to get to know Truth in the form of Oneness with God.
The truth that Satan represents is God = Man, rather than the eternal truth that God = Man + "Life, the Universe and Everything."
While both Truths are valid, each in their own way, the Superior man will let his head be his guide on any matters of the heart arising from the synthesis of each of them.
Thesis = Truth of Oneness
Anti-thesis = Truth of Selfishness
Synthesis = Oneness and Selfishness are light and dark aspects of Truth
In various Gnostic sects, the Serpent was praised as the giver of knowledge. Sometimes Satan was also referred to, under the names Lucifer or "the light-bringer". Some Gnostics claimed that the being declared God by Christians and Jews was in fact Satan, known as the Demiurge.
Comment: this gives a less sinister view of Satan than Christians are wont to do.
The Confusion about "Satanic"
There are many groups which are commonly misconceived as Satanic. There are two common definitions of a Satanic religion:
* Any religion that does not follow the Christian religion or recognize Jesus Christ as explained in Christian dogma.
* Any religion that consciously recognizes and worships "Satan," usually referring either to a "dark" deity (similar to the Christian Satan, though usually lacking the evil or unnaturalness associated with it) or a conceptual Satan, often referring to a so-called "true" nature of Mankind.
The first definition is most commonly used by fundamentalist Christians, and is the source of much disagreement about whether a religion should be considered Satanic or not. The most common targets of these claims are Neo-Pagan religions, such as Wicca and Ásatrú.
It is also common to see Christian denominations or even Judaism and Islam referred to as Satanic based on interpretations of the first definition. Among these Christian groups are usually the less traditional ones, such as the Mormons and other smaller sects. Also, it is not unheard of for Catholics to refer to Protestants as Satanic, and vice versa, though this is more uncommon.
Comment: Ignorance is used as a tool to misuse a term out of fear. In the case of Christians using the term "satanic", this has led to a lot of really stupid things like witch hunts.
Within the limited Christian definition, I practice a New Age Satanism by calling my religious beliefs, "Shinto-Buddhist-Hindu-Christian New Age philosophy".
Update March 12, 2013 0716H
What I actually practice is a layer of traditions, none of which are Christian, Jewish or Muslim.
Update December 23, 2013 2120H
Comment: I define satanism as behavior which leads to evil karma e.g. people expressing anti-gay sentiments are behaving like homophobes. This leads to a backlash where pro-gay activists, both gay and heteronormative criticize monotheists who are conservative about sexual mores.
However, my use of the term "satanism" is actually the closest Christian term for evil karma, which arises when confusion and conflict result from actions we do.
My use of the term "satanism" is inaccurate since Buddhists do not believe in satan or God.
Indeed the closest Buddhists get to the archetypes of good and evil is with respect to karma. A person is not inherently evil to a Buddhist. Rather, what we create determines whether the karma is evil or good. Ultimately this is not a judgement call that determines one's path in the afterlife.
Evil karma does not doom a Buddhist to the Hell Realms, nor does good karma lead to the Pure Land. Why? Because one would also have to include the karmic seeds stored in the Alaya Consciousness.
According to Buddhist folklore, a tally of good and evil karma is made by Yama or a representative he chooses to determine the destination of a person after death. However, because each of us does not know the amount of good and evil karma which came with each of us at birth, it would be impossible to determine what awaits us at death.
Speculation about one's destination in the afterlife is moot. It might even keep us from attaining rebirth in a Pure Land, if we cling to the idleness of such speculations.
Hence the term "satanism" refers not to satan or God but to the evil resulting from actions which harm oneself and/or other people. Karma is not such a big deal, be it evil or good. It is more satisfying to meditate on karma than to worry about one's destiny in the afterlife.
This is why for me as a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist, my destination in the Pure Land of Bliss is guaranteed when I confirm that destination through Nembutsu practice.
Thus the use of "satanism" and "satanic" is to make it easier to understand that evil karma is not sin but the potential confusion and conflict due to the actions a Buddhist creates that harm self and/or others, such as lying, theft, hating someone, and other acts which range from childish to downright vile.
In contrast, good karma is not due to luck but rather, to the potential understanding and "good vibes" arising from moral act such as helpfulness and giving charity.
Thus it is possible for monotheists to act in a satanic manner when their proselyting against homosexuality and common-law marriage leads LGBTIQ people of the rainbow to abandon their religion of birth for a more humanistic lifestyle free of the hangups of religion i.e. conservatism.
My use is to point to the truth of the possibility that Christians, Jews and Muslims might be "worshipping" Satan when their doctrines lead to hate crimes committed against gays and people "living in sin".
E.g. It is satanic for Jews to cheat Gentiles. Likewise it is satanic for Salafis to kill Coptic Christians while excusing their violence as "will of God".
A religionist who kills is only exercising the will of man. That in itself is not satanic. It is when a person who errs hides behind a deity who is apart from man most of the time.
Let's first turn to Wikipedia's definition of Satanism.
May 15, 2005 1403H: Satanism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Satanism is a religious and philosophical movement whose adherents recognize Satan as an archetype who all humans have some characteristics of, and Satanists celebrate aspects of human nature represented by the Satan archetype. Many Satanists do not worship a deity called Satan, or one by any other name. Unlike many religions and philosophies, Satanism generally focuses upon the spiritual advancement of the self, rather than upon submission to a deity or a set of moral codes.
Many contemporary Satanists eschew traditional religious beliefs, attitudes and worship in favor of more egoistic worldviews and practices such as magick. Groups or individuals described in some sense or another as Satanic can largely, though incomprehensively, be described as belonging to one of two unofficial sub-groupings: Philosophical Satanism or Religious Satanism.
Commentary: Satanism is more harmless than most Christian sects.
...To the Satanist, One is One's own God, and He disdains rationalist, secular humanistic beliefs which abhor the existence of the supernatural, only to promote a sterile life grounded in the 'real world' alone and in working towards the altruistic advancement of His fellow man while neglecting His own gratification and amusement. Obviously, philosophically Satanic thought has had a long history before LaVey's Church (indeed, self-centered egotism is probably as old as civilization itself), though it was the notion of Satan as the idealistic, self-seeking black sheep which inspired the title in spite of contemporary Christianity (which views him as evil because of these qualities).
Comment: Think of Satanism as magico-religious rationalization called by Ayn Rand, "selfishness".
...the Serpent in Genesis [encouraged] mankind to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, saying "Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."*, with the clear implication, coinciding with the beliefs of all Satanists, that mankind should know what is better for itself than any God which would forbid knowledge and self-government. Because of the common position that their faiths are in fact very old, or the oldest, Religious Satanists sometimes refer to themselves as "Traditional Satanists" and Philosophical Satanists as "Contemporary Satanists".
Comment: This is symbolic of Truth.
...The existence of large networks of organized Satanists involved in illegal activities, murder, and child abuse is occasionally claimed, often by fundamentalist religious movements. Those claims have never been substantiated and are widely believed to be false. See conspiracy theories.
Comment: ritual sexual abuse however may occur within the institution of the healthcare system, along with ritual physical abuse not only by doctors and nurses, but also by people in authority. Thus, the conspiracy theory by fundamental Christians of ritual Satanic abuse is actually a repressed memory of abuse within their own denominations and within the Establishment itself.
Thus, Satanism is about the ego, rather than about rising above selfishness to try to get to know Truth in the form of Oneness with God.
The truth that Satan represents is God = Man, rather than the eternal truth that God = Man + "Life, the Universe and Everything."
While both Truths are valid, each in their own way, the Superior man will let his head be his guide on any matters of the heart arising from the synthesis of each of them.
Thesis = Truth of Oneness
Anti-thesis = Truth of Selfishness
Synthesis = Oneness and Selfishness are light and dark aspects of Truth
In various Gnostic sects, the Serpent was praised as the giver of knowledge. Sometimes Satan was also referred to, under the names Lucifer or "the light-bringer". Some Gnostics claimed that the being declared God by Christians and Jews was in fact Satan, known as the Demiurge.
Comment: this gives a less sinister view of Satan than Christians are wont to do.
The Confusion about "Satanic"
There are many groups which are commonly misconceived as Satanic. There are two common definitions of a Satanic religion:
* Any religion that does not follow the Christian religion or recognize Jesus Christ as explained in Christian dogma.
* Any religion that consciously recognizes and worships "Satan," usually referring either to a "dark" deity (similar to the Christian Satan, though usually lacking the evil or unnaturalness associated with it) or a conceptual Satan, often referring to a so-called "true" nature of Mankind.
The first definition is most commonly used by fundamentalist Christians, and is the source of much disagreement about whether a religion should be considered Satanic or not. The most common targets of these claims are Neo-Pagan religions, such as Wicca and Ásatrú.
It is also common to see Christian denominations or even Judaism and Islam referred to as Satanic based on interpretations of the first definition. Among these Christian groups are usually the less traditional ones, such as the Mormons and other smaller sects. Also, it is not unheard of for Catholics to refer to Protestants as Satanic, and vice versa, though this is more uncommon.
Comment: Ignorance is used as a tool to misuse a term out of fear. In the case of Christians using the term "satanic", this has led to a lot of really stupid things like witch hunts.
Within the limited Christian definition, I practice a New Age Satanism by calling my religious beliefs, "Shinto-Buddhist-Hindu-Christian New Age philosophy".
Update March 12, 2013 0716H
What I actually practice is a layer of traditions, none of which are Christian, Jewish or Muslim.
Update December 23, 2013 2120H
Comment: I define satanism as behavior which leads to evil karma e.g. people expressing anti-gay sentiments are behaving like homophobes. This leads to a backlash where pro-gay activists, both gay and heteronormative criticize monotheists who are conservative about sexual mores.
However, my use of the term "satanism" is actually the closest Christian term for evil karma, which arises when confusion and conflict result from actions we do.
My use of the term "satanism" is inaccurate since Buddhists do not believe in satan or God.
Indeed the closest Buddhists get to the archetypes of good and evil is with respect to karma. A person is not inherently evil to a Buddhist. Rather, what we create determines whether the karma is evil or good. Ultimately this is not a judgement call that determines one's path in the afterlife.
Evil karma does not doom a Buddhist to the Hell Realms, nor does good karma lead to the Pure Land. Why? Because one would also have to include the karmic seeds stored in the Alaya Consciousness.
According to Buddhist folklore, a tally of good and evil karma is made by Yama or a representative he chooses to determine the destination of a person after death. However, because each of us does not know the amount of good and evil karma which came with each of us at birth, it would be impossible to determine what awaits us at death.
Speculation about one's destination in the afterlife is moot. It might even keep us from attaining rebirth in a Pure Land, if we cling to the idleness of such speculations.
Hence the term "satanism" refers not to satan or God but to the evil resulting from actions which harm oneself and/or other people. Karma is not such a big deal, be it evil or good. It is more satisfying to meditate on karma than to worry about one's destiny in the afterlife.
This is why for me as a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist, my destination in the Pure Land of Bliss is guaranteed when I confirm that destination through Nembutsu practice.
Thus the use of "satanism" and "satanic" is to make it easier to understand that evil karma is not sin but the potential confusion and conflict due to the actions a Buddhist creates that harm self and/or others, such as lying, theft, hating someone, and other acts which range from childish to downright vile.
In contrast, good karma is not due to luck but rather, to the potential understanding and "good vibes" arising from moral act such as helpfulness and giving charity.
Thus it is possible for monotheists to act in a satanic manner when their proselyting against homosexuality and common-law marriage leads LGBTIQ people of the rainbow to abandon their religion of birth for a more humanistic lifestyle free of the hangups of religion i.e. conservatism.
20131220
Whenever / Itsudemo (poem)
私が言うときは
いつでも 念仏
教祖コール：
「ナム阿弥陀仏像」
__ Translation: Romaji __
Watashi ga iu toki
wa itsu demo Nenbutsu,
Kyōso kōru:
`Namu amida butsuzō'.
__ Translation: English __
Whenever I say
The Nenbutsu, Oyasama Calls:
"Namu Amida Butsu".
いつでも 念仏
教祖コール：
「ナム阿弥陀仏像」
__ Translation: Romaji __
Watashi ga iu toki
wa itsu demo Nenbutsu,
Kyōso kōru:
`Namu amida butsuzō'.
__ Translation: English __
Whenever I say
The Nenbutsu, Oyasama Calls:
"Namu Amida Butsu".
20130827
Yuzu / 融通
When this one chants the Nembutsu
it benefits the world
When all chant,
it benefits this one.
これは念仏を詠唱するとき
それは、世界に利益をもたらす
ときに、すべての聖歌、
それはこの1つをメリット。
Yuzu Buddhism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuzu_Nembutsu
Yuzu Nembutsu (融通念仏宗 Yūzū-nenbutsu-shū?) is a school of Pure Land Buddhism that focuses on the ritual recitation of the Nembutsu (or Nianfo), the name of the Amitabha Buddha.
Followers believe this recitation benefits not just the speaker, but the entire world as well. The sect began in the twelfth century when a monk named Ryōnin wrote commentary on rituals and hymns in practice at the time and founded the school.
The distinction of this Pure Land sect lies in its emphasis on the nature of interconnectedness amongst phenomena. The recitation of the nembutsu was not merely an individual quest for salvation in the Pure Land. A practitioner's chants of nembutsu benefitted everybody else and everybody else's chants of nembutsu benefitted the solo practitioner.
it benefits the world
When all chant,
it benefits this one.
これは念仏を詠唱するとき
それは、世界に利益をもたらす
ときに、すべての聖歌、
それはこの1つをメリット。
Yuzu Buddhism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuzu_Nembutsu
Yuzu Nembutsu (融通念仏宗 Yūzū-nenbutsu-shū?) is a school of Pure Land Buddhism that focuses on the ritual recitation of the Nembutsu (or Nianfo), the name of the Amitabha Buddha.
Followers believe this recitation benefits not just the speaker, but the entire world as well. The sect began in the twelfth century when a monk named Ryōnin wrote commentary on rituals and hymns in practice at the time and founded the school.
The distinction of this Pure Land sect lies in its emphasis on the nature of interconnectedness amongst phenomena. The recitation of the nembutsu was not merely an individual quest for salvation in the Pure Land. A practitioner's chants of nembutsu benefitted everybody else and everybody else's chants of nembutsu benefitted the solo practitioner.
20130429
Faith that removes all Doubt
Faith that removes all doubt is what Amida Buddha offers.
This is why I believe earnestly in Amida's Primal Vow —
In the Infinite Life Sutra, Amida's Primal Vow is the 18th Vow of his 48 Vows:
If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings
in the lands of the ten quarters who sincerely
and joyfully entrust themselves to me,
desire to be born in my land, and
call my Name, even ten times, should not
be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
Excluded, however, are those who commit
the five gravest offences and abuse the right Dharma.
When I recite the Buddha's Name, I do so to confirm this faith through working of this Vow and the original intent behind the 48 Vow Amida made in his incarnations as Dharmakara.
Reference:
Dharmakara: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmakara
Infinite Life Sutra: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_Life_Sutra
Primal Vow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_Vow
This is why I believe earnestly in Amida's Primal Vow —
In the Infinite Life Sutra, Amida's Primal Vow is the 18th Vow of his 48 Vows:
If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings
in the lands of the ten quarters who sincerely
and joyfully entrust themselves to me,
desire to be born in my land, and
call my Name, even ten times, should not
be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
Excluded, however, are those who commit
the five gravest offences and abuse the right Dharma.
When I recite the Buddha's Name, I do so to confirm this faith through working of this Vow and the original intent behind the 48 Vow Amida made in his incarnations as Dharmakara.
Reference:
Dharmakara: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmakara
Infinite Life Sutra: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_Life_Sutra
Primal Vow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_Vow
20130427
Amida Buddha Still Calls (poem)
If I knew good and evil like Amida does,
then I'd be Buddha.
Yet all I am is a fool
who recites the Nembutsu.
This is why a fool like me
is no good to set
an example since I call
to Amida now
and then. How slothful am I!
Even so, a fool
such as this one who writes
of the Buddha
tries to show perseverance
outdoes inconsistency.
No matter how many times
I recite the Name,
Amida Buddha still calls
through me as I chant,
"Namu Amida Butsu!"
20130417
Truth of the Name-that-calls
Calling out to Amida Buddha,
I hear Amida calling out to me
With each and every utterance
Of the Name-that-calls.
A foolish sentient being
such as this one cannot achieve
Nirvana in this Age of Decadent Hedonism.
All he can do is utter
The Name-that-calls
With the belief
that he shall be born
in the Pure Land of Bliss.
In the Pure Land
All who are born there
Sit listening to Amida Buddha
Preach his Buddhadharma,
And, according to his karma,
Aspire to become Bodhisattva.
With all the suffering
in Samsara, the Bodhisattva
vows to be reborn in
the realm where he is needed,
be it in the Hells to
rescue hell beings,
in the Hungry Ghost realm
to rescue hungry ghosts,
in the Animal realm to
rescue animals,
in the Human realm to
rescue human beings,
in the Demon realm to
rescue demons, and
in the Godly realm to
rescue the gods.
By rescuing all sentient beings
in the Realms of Desire — Samasara —
the Bodhisattva gains karmic merit
which aids his transformation
into Buddha, thus freeing him
from rebirth in the Realms of Desire.
This is why this one, devoted to Amida,
Calls out to him endlessly,
So that after this life, rebirth
in the Pure Land of Bliss is assured!
Namu Amida Butsu!
I hear Amida calling out to me
With each and every utterance
Of the Name-that-calls.
A foolish sentient being
such as this one cannot achieve
Nirvana in this Age of Decadent Hedonism.
All he can do is utter
The Name-that-calls
With the belief
that he shall be born
in the Pure Land of Bliss.
In the Pure Land
All who are born there
Sit listening to Amida Buddha
Preach his Buddhadharma,
And, according to his karma,
Aspire to become Bodhisattva.
With all the suffering
in Samsara, the Bodhisattva
vows to be reborn in
the realm where he is needed,
be it in the Hells to
rescue hell beings,
in the Hungry Ghost realm
to rescue hungry ghosts,
in the Animal realm to
rescue animals,
in the Human realm to
rescue human beings,
in the Demon realm to
rescue demons, and
in the Godly realm to
rescue the gods.
By rescuing all sentient beings
in the Realms of Desire — Samasara —
the Bodhisattva gains karmic merit
which aids his transformation
into Buddha, thus freeing him
from rebirth in the Realms of Desire.
This is why this one, devoted to Amida,
Calls out to him endlessly,
So that after this life, rebirth
in the Pure Land of Bliss is assured!
Namu Amida Butsu!
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