Chapter 15.
Faith and Practice: Shinran's Perspective
The topic we are to address in this section is
religious experience as a process of growth and development. I want to
discuss this issue because people generally view religion as some thing
fixed, static or rigid. In many cases in our society, a person's
religious understanding and insight reflect what he or she had gained by
adolescence when they probably stopped going to Sunday School. I have
been in situations in the academic world where people with very mature
views in education, etc. held rather childish views of religion. Their
spiritual growth had stopped at some point in their life.
On the other hand, there are people who are anxious
because there remains so much to learn and experience in religion. They
doubt themselves. It appears an unending quest.
Consequently, as a teacher of religion, I am
frequently confronted by childish complacency in religion or by a
baffled uncertainty in the face of the depth of religion.
In my study of Shinran, it has been a matter of great
interest that he experienced a process of growth and development in his
religious experience. Shinran's life and faith were not static and
closed. Rather, he moved through several phases of religious insight
until he reached mature, confident faith.
This should not appear so striking to us because we
know from ordinary life that we go through stages of physical and mental
development. We pass from childhood to youth to adulthood, to old age
and finally death. In most societies there are rites of passage which
highlight these important stages of life. When it comes to religion,
however, it becomes a problem to think in these terms because we have
rather narrow views about what religion is.
If religion is about life, it will reflect the
development of our life. As we mature in life, our religious
understanding should also mature. Further, if we understand that
religious faith is a process of growth, it will influence our approach
to religious education. In our school system, we have graded material to
accord with the intellectual development of the child. In a similar way,
we must develop educational materials within our temples that harmonize
with the intellectual and social levels of our people from childhood to
the adult years.
When I began to study Shinran's thought in detail in
the light of his own religious experience (so far as it could be
determined or understood from his writings), I was greatly struck by his
interpretation of the Original Vow of Amida. It appeared to me that the
system he portrays has philosophical as well as religious significance
and gives further evidence of Shinran as a creative religious thinker
from whom we might all benefit.
In order to perceive the distinctive way in which he
treated them, it is first essential to make some observations about the
Vows which are given in the "Larger Pure Land Sutra." Though in other
ancient texts the number varies, in that sutra they number 48 Vows and
represent the fullest development of ancient Pure Land mythology. Each
Vow has its own specific character of which the totality is intended to
describe the ultimate possibilities of the character of the Pure Land,
its beings, and the modes of gaining entrance there. The Bodhisattva
selected for these the highest and best of all aspects of religious
aspiration. Being thus a composite of all religious ideals for gaining
entrance to the Pure Land, the Vows of the "Larger Pure Land Sutra" are not
strictly organized nor do they have, as they are given, any implicit
relation between them except as varied aspects of the goal of Pure Land.
The feature of the appearance of Buddha at the moment of death, the
recitation of the name of Buddha and the aspect of faith and the number
of recitations implied in the 19th, 20th, and 18th Vows were fused to
provide the basis for popular Pure Land practice. In China, where it
developed earlier, Pure Land teaching was widespread and during its long
history it was mostly regarded as a subsidiary doctrine, a hoben -- a
teaching device to give hope to the suffering masses who could not carry
out the rigorous practices of the monastic orders. Pure Land was thus a
doctrine which all schools of Buddhism would teach.
Later, those
exponents who began to look upon it as a more basic and central truth of
Buddhism for the last age, formulated systems of distinctions such as
easy path versus difficult, self-power- Other-Power, Pure Land gate
versus Sage path, correct practice versus mixed practice. By the
Kamakura period in Japan, the trend in Pure Land was gradually focusing
on the centrality of the vocal Nembutsu as the main means of salvation
for the last age. This tradition came to its logical conclusion when
Honen taught the Senjakuhongan Nembutsu or the Senju Nembutsu -- the select
and sole practice of Nembutsu as the way to birth in the Pure Land. From
a doctrinal and practical point of view, Honen brought to final clarity
the centrality of Nembutsu for ordinary people. However, he did not go
beyond the traditional concepts in explaining and defending his
position.
While we have frequently mentioned the impetus given
to Shinran's thought through his own experience, coincidental and of
equal importance with this as an impetus was the impact upon his
thinking of recent developments in the understanding of Buddhism. In his
20 years on Mt. Hiei, Shinran studied in a Tendai background. According
to the Tendai system, in the final stages of Buddha's teaching in the
world, he would teach without hoben. He would give the direct truth
without mediation.
In addition, Shinran, perhaps, learned the
hongaku-hommon theory. This term refers to the Primordial Enlightenment
and original teaching taught in the "Lotus Sutra," according to Tendai
doctrine. It is the teaching of the Eternal Sakyamuni and regarded in
Tendai as the final ultimate teaching of Buddha. All other teachings are
approximations of truth or helps (hoben) to the truth.
Shinran absorbed this view and applied it to the
interpretation of Amida Buddha and his Vows. For Shinran, the Pure Land
teaching was not the highest teaching merely because of ease of practice
or the degenerated last age, but because it represented the expression
of the true mind of Amida who is ultimate reality. Against the
background of the pluralism of his age, Shinran had to discover an
absolute basis for Pure Land thought and faith. His own religious
experience, the influence of Tendai thought and reflection on the Vows
led him to the conclusion that Pure Land faith was designed to offer the
profoundest and most certain assurance to the troubled humanity not only
of his time, but of all time.
It is for this reason that Shinran's system of
"turning through the three Vows" has religious and
philosophical importance. As evidence that Shinran developed this theory
on the basis of his awakened religious consciousness, we must observe
that he presents a series of stages of which the first two are
preliminary and instrumental for reaching the third. One must travel
through the 19th Vow, which is characterized by emphasis on cultivating
roots of virtue -- presumably morality -- and being granted a vision of
Buddha at one's death moment. The 20th Vow appears to envisage the
recitation of the name as well as moral cultivation and transferring the
merit to bring birth in the Pure Land, while the 18th Vow speaks of the
sincerity and faith, and ten thoughts (or recitations) which bring
birth. If one were to believe that the Bodhisattva had foreseen this
process which Shinran depicts, when he made his Vows, the order might
have been 18 to 19 to 20 (See study helps). Rather, we go 19 to 20 to
18. This reordering suggests that Shinran's interpretation was not
already implicit in the Vows themselves, but was brought to them by him.
Previous thinkers only fused them all into a common religious view for
which the Vows justified some element.
Shinran himself gives testimony that this
understanding of the Vows represented his own experience. We cannot go
into the detailed history as to what points in his life correspond to
the individual stages. I would simply suggest that stages 1 and 2, the
19th and 20th Vows, possibly represent the totality of his experience on
Mt. Hiei when he was engaged in moral cultivation as well as Nembutsu practice in the hall of Continuous Practice. After his momentous
struggle for direction in the Rokkakudo, and his entrance into Honen's
community, he appears to have experienced great relief and it seems this
is the occasion when he felt buoyed along by the Sea of the Original
Vow. The problem is that his theological and intellectual development
did not cease. This initial moment of spiritual peace was further
deepened so that he eventually went beyond his teacher in thought. Some
scholars look for other times of conversion to match this post-Honen
development in Shinran. From an experiential standpoint this is not
necessary, for Shinran wrote concerning these events:
"I, Gutoku Ran, a disciple of Sakyamuni, through
the Sastra-writers' expositions and the masters' exhortations, had
forever left the temporary gate of the thousands of practices and
various good deeds and departed from the teaching for the Birth under
the Twin Sala Trees and, having converted to the True Gate of the roots
of goodness and virtue, I raised the aspiration for the Incomprehensible
Birth. However, I have now left the provisional True Gate and turned to
the Sea of the Best Selected Vow: having abandoned at once the
aspiration for the Incomprehensible Birth, I am now assured of attaining
the Inconceivable Birth. What deep significance is there in the Vow of
attaining the Ultimate Salvation!
"Now that I have entered the Sea of the Vow once and
for all, I deeply acknowledge the Buddha's benevolence. In order to
repay my indebtedness to his Utmost Virtue, I have gleaned the essential
passages of the True Teaching and always utter with recollection the Sea
of the Inconceivable Virtue. More and more do I appreciate it, and
particularly do I receive it with gratitude." [1]
Shinran dated this experience of moving into the 18th
Vow as 1201, when he was 29 years of age:
"I, Gutoku Shaku Shinran, abandoned the Sundry
Acts and took refuge in the Original Vow in the Kanotonotori year of
Kennin. In the Kinotono-ushi year of Genkyu, with the master's
permission, I copied his Senjaku Shu. In the same year on the fourth day
of the middle part of the early summer month, Master Genku kindly wrote
with a brush the following words on my copy: the title inside the book -
in kanji -SenchakuhonganNembutsushu, Namuamidabutsu, Ojoshigo
Nembutsuihon and Shaku no Shakku. On the same day I borrowed the
master's portrait and copied it." [2]
Shinran also testified to the deep relationship with
Honen which developed in the few years they had together:
"In the same second year, on the ninth day of the
latter part of the uru seventh month, he wrote the following words on
it: If, after I have attained Buddhahood, the beings of the ten quarters
who utter My Name, making even as few as ten utterances, should not be
born, may I never attain Perfect Enlightenment. He is a present Buddha.
It should be known that His Original Vow with the persistent desire (for
salvation) is not in vain. Those sentient beings who utter the Nembutsu
(with Faith) will unfailingly attain Birth. On the same day, he also
wrote on the portrait my new name -- Zenshin -- to which my former name 'Shakku'
was changed according to a revelation in a dream. The master was then
seventy-three years old.
"The Senjaku Hongan Nembutsu Shu was compiled at the
request of Zenjo Regent Tsukinowa-dono Kanezane (Ensho by his Buddhist
name). The essentials of the True Teaching and the profound doctrine of
the Nembutsu are contained in it. Those who read it can easily
understand its purport. It is indeed an incomparable and supreme
collection of fine passages, an unsurpassed and profound scripture. Out
of thousands of persons who received his teachings, personally or
otherwise, over many days and years, very few were allowed to read and
copy the book. However, I was allowed to copy his book and his portrait.
This is a benefit of the exclusive practice of the Right Act; this is a
sure proof of my future attainment of Birth. With tears of sorrow and
joy I have noted the above story." [3]
A footnote to the passage above suggests that going
through the three Vows in such a manner as Shinran describes his own
process does not mean that all individuals must undergo the same. It is
here that a serious theological and religious problem of the relevance
of a religious leader comes to the fore. If Shinran's experience is not
archetypical for his followers, how can he be an example or meaningful
to them? If his experience does not hold some clue for their lives, why
would anyone revere him? If it would be meant that we should follow his
pattern exactly, then we would all have to go to Hiei to practice for 20
years. Of course, that could not be the idea.
However, if we cannot
trace somewhere in the depth of our being the surmounting of egoistic
efforts and their frustration leading to a deep awareness and
appreciation of the Original Vow, then religion would only become a
matter of doctrinal assent to what somebody else had experienced and
taught. It would not be one's own. The religious crisis of our time has
been the result of people merely holding up the beliefs of the past
without identifying them in their own experience so that their inner
truth becomes clear. Therefore, saints and sages are only a matter of
the past for many people today.
Shinran perceived something more elemental in
religious life. I know of only one other theory in Buddhism that
remotely approaches his. It is Kukai's theory of 10 levels of religious
consciousness by which he rates various teachings. He does not, however,
spell out the way one grows through these stages to arrive at the truth.
They have simply a doctrinal or logical order. Shinran's uniqueness is
that he not only saw the theory of three vows as a means of
distinguishing various tendencies of Buddhist teaching, but as a process
of growth in religious insight and depth. It is for this reason that the
two prior vows are hoben -- instrumental in leading to the higher level.
In their very natures, they both leave something unresolved, unfinished
which urges the person to seek further.
According to the story in the "Larger Pure Land Sutra,"
of course, all the vows have been fulfilled. However, the incomplete
aspect is involved with the nature of the effort being validated by the
Vow or, in other words, how much cultivation of virtue would be required
in order to assure that the Buddha would arrive with his host of
bodhisattvas to accompany the individual to the Pure Land. It is this
point of anxiety that led Shinran to reject the doctrine of meeting
Buddha at death (raigo) or Last Thought (rinju Shonen). Something more,
he felt, was needed in the way of assurance. In the 20th Vow, a similar
situation presents itself. The Vow says that one may recite the name of
Buddha and cultivate one's roots of virtue which are then transferred to
bring about birth in the Pure Land. But how much will assure this? Is
this not again dualistic, and the use of finite acts to build a bridge
to infinity? So Shinran wrote:
"All the ocean-like multitudinous beings, since
the beginningless Past, have been transmigrating in the sea of
ignorance, drowning in the cycle of existences, bound to the cycle of
sufferings, and having no pure, serene faith. They have, as a natural
consequence, no true serene faith. Therefore, it is difficult to meet
the highest virtue and difficult to receive the supreme, pure Faith. All
the common and petty persons at all times constantly defile their good
minds with greed and lust, and their anger and hatred constantly burn
the treasures of Dharma. Even though they work and practice as busily as
though they were sweeping fire off their heads, their practices are
called poisoned and mixed good deeds and also called deluded and
deceitful practices; hence, they are not called true acts. If one
desires to be born in the Land of Infinite Light with these deluded and
poisoned good acts, he cannot possibly attain it." [4]
Shinran saw that it was the 18th Vow, read according
to his own interpretation, that solved the problem. Here it is not
merely a person taking up a practice, but with the mind of deep and
sincere faith given by Buddha that rebirth is assured. Thus Shinran
wrote further in the Kyogyoshinsho:
" ... The Tathagata endows His Sincere Mind to
the sea of all the multitudinous beings filled with evil passions, evil
acts, and perverted knowledge. The Sincere Mind is the true mind,
endowed by Him to benefit the beings; hence it is not mixed with doubt.
The substance of this Sincere Mind is the blessed Name of the supreme
virtue." [5]
And in the following statement, he indicates the
centrality of faith thus:
" ... The True Faith is necessarily accompanied
by (the utterance of) the Name. (The utterance of) the Name is not
always accompanied by the Faith endowed by the Vow-Power." [6]
And:
"However, for the eternally drowned common and
ignorant men and the transmigrating multitudes, the Highest, Excellent
Fruition is not difficult to attain. But the True Serene Faith is very
difficult to gain. Why is it so? Because it is attained through the
endowment of the Tathagata's power and through the Power of the
Universal Wisdom of the Great Compassionate One. If ever the Pure Faith
is obtained, it will not be perverted or in vain. Hence, the sentient
beings with extremely deep and heavy sins attain the Great Joy and
receive the great love of all the Holy Ones." [7]
We can understand Shinran's exhilaration as he
contemplated the meaning of the 18th Vow for himself, because now
salvation does not rest on accidental circumstances of intellectual and
spiritual ability, economic resources, or specific religious practices
which can become a source of pride. He wrote:
"As I contemplate the ocean-like Great Faith, I
see that it does not choose between the noble and the mean, the priest
and the layman, nor does it discriminate between man and woman, old and
young. The amount of sin committed is not questioned, and the length of
practice is not discussed. It is neither 'practice' nor 'good,' neither
'abrupt' nor 'gradual,' neither 'meditative' nor 'non-meditative,'
neither 'right meditation' nor 'wrong meditation,' neither
'contemplative' nor 'non-contemplative,' neither 'while living' nor 'at
the end of life,' neither 'many utterances' nor 'one thought'. Faith is
the inconceivable, indescribable, and ineffable Serene Faith. It is like
the agada which destroys all poisons. The medicine of the Tathagata's
Vow destroys the poisons of wisdom and ignorance." [8]
In assessing the religious and historical importance
of this process of turning through the three vows (sangantennyu)
outlined by Shinran, it becomes evident that Shinran deepened the
symbolic meaning of the Original Vows by relating them directly to his
own experience. The traditional distinction of self-power versus
Other-Power attained deeper significance when he viewed the self-power
aspect as a stage of development in the emerging awareness of
Other-Power in an individual. In that sense, Other-Power is a more
inclusive process enveloping self-power. There is no longer a dualism.
One is a stage towards, and a part of, the other. In this way, Shinran
brought hope for religious existence to limited, weak individuals by
viewing all imperfections, sins, and shortcomings in the light of the
higher process in which Amida works for the salvation of all beings.
Destructive guilt, or resignation in the face of personal weakness were
no longer barriers to a joyful religious life.
Shinran declared that for
the Nembutsu there was no superior good, nor any obstructing evil.
More reflection and interpretation of Shinran's philosophy is required
in order to heighten the symbolic character of these stages on life's
way. Further, the theory is indicative of Shinran's philosophic depth in
using his experience to clarify the centrality and reality of faith in
Pure Land Buddhism, a focus and centrality that can speak clearly and
with force to the questing, alienated, despairing people in the modern
secular, scientific, and technological world which underestimates the
importance or validity of a religious existence. It offers a wholeness,
a centerpoint for inner strength and spiritual awareness to counter the
unbearable, meaningless, loneliness that characterizes much of
contemporary life.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of the following statements best describes
the ideal relationship between religion and human life? That religion
is:
a) needed in human life, especially by
adolescents who often get into trouble b) an ongoing process of spiritual growth and
development c) a fixed view attained at some point in human life
2. The three Vows that were fused to provide the basis
for popular Pure Land Practice are the:
a) 18th, 19th, and 20th Vows b) 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Vows
c) the 41st, 42nd, and 43rd Vows
3. In China, Pure Land teaching was mostly regarded as
a hoben. This means that it was looked upon as a teaching:
a) attainable only by the scholars and priests b) that required rigorous
practice c) device for the suffering masses
4. For Shinran, the Pure Land teaching was the highest
teaching because it:
a) represented the expression of the true mind of
Amida Buddha b) was an easy form of practice c) it could be applied to the
degenerated last age
5. When Shinran described his process of going through
the three Vows, he implied that:
a) all individuals must undergo the same process b) people must simply believe in what he
taught c) people must look into the very depths of their own being
6. Which of the following best describes Shinran's
interpretation of the 18th Vow?
a) the utterance of the Name is always accompanied by
true Faith
b) salvation depends upon spiritual and intellectual ability c) True Faith is attained through the endowment of the Tathagata's
power
7. According to Shinran, awareness of evils,
imperfections and shortcomings are viewed as:
a) part of the higher process of Amida's salvation b) obstructions to the attainment of True
Faith c) acts of self-power that prevent one from participating in a joyful
religious life
8. The psychological importance that Shinran's view of
the three Vows has in modern society is that it:
a) leads to self-perfection and further striving b) leads to self-acceptance in light of the ongoing process of
cosmic growth
c) helps people repress their guilt feelings, allowing them to
concentrate on their good points
Thought Questions
1. When a person stops seeking the truth, his
understanding of religion often becomes fixed, stagnant, even somewhat
arrogant. This is particularly the case if that person thinks he or she
has attained salvation. In light of this, what can you say about the
truly religious life? About the quest for truth?
2. Why is Shinran's understanding of the vows given in
the "Larger Pure Land Sutra" unique? What makes his interpretation so
distinctive?
3. What influence did Tendai thought have on Shinran's
understanding of Amida Buddha and his Vows?
4. The author says that saints and sages are only a
matter of the past for many people today. Do you agree? Why or why not?
5. In your own words, try to describe Shinran's
understanding and experience of the process of turning through the three
vows (sangantennyu).
6. What significance does Shinran's awareness of
religious consciousness have for contemporary life?
7. Can you identify the characteristics of modern life
suggested by the text in your own experience and observations? If so,
how do you think Shinran's teaching can alleviate or resolve those
issues?
Bibliography
Yamaoka, Seigen H: "Jodo Shinshu: An
Introduction"
Ohara, Shojitsu: "Hearing the Dharma," Revs. Shojo Oi,
Kenryo Kumata, translators
Ueda, Yoshifumi and
Hirota, Dennis: "Shinran: An
Introduction to His Thought," Chapter 4
Notes
[1] Ryukoku Translation Series, "Kyogyoshinsho," pp.
197-98
[2] Ibid., p. 208
[3] Ibid., pp
209-10
[4] Ibid., p. 107
[5] Ibid., p.
105
[6] Ibid., p. 112
[7] Ibid., p.
89
[8] Ibid., pp. 113-14
