Modern Gathas of the Pure Land ...
(selected by editor)
by Richard St. Clair
2. The working of the
Great Compassion
Is the power of the Vow in action;
The object of the Great Compassion
Is the least worthy of the worthless.
3. One
mind of Faith, no mind of Self;
My self grasps the hand of the Great Vow.
I lose my mind in the One Great Mind
Of the Great Unbounded Compassion.
4.
Compassion without conditions,
Wisdom without any obstructions,
Together working through the Name
In my mind of dung and delusion.
5. “I am
free! I am free!” says the fool.
"I am chained
to the Great Compassion
As
it is chained to me, and I see
My original face — I am free!”
10. Amida
Buddha’s Light shines on all;
But the first priority of his Vow
Is the certain promise of freedom
To all entrenched in hopeless striving.
11. My
worst habit is attachment;
I am so accustomed to it
That it seems heretical to me,
The idea of letting go.
12. How
wonderful, Amida Butsu!
How pitiful and sad, my Namu!
How wonderful, this marriage of
My Namu to Amida Butsu!
15. I
fulfill the Nembutsu simply
By saying it singlemindedly
Without any calculation —
Thank you! Namu Amida Butsu!
16. I
need the Nembutsu, my friend,
Just as the Nembutsu needs me —
I am fulfilled by the Nembutsu
Just as the Nembutsu is by me.
19.
Traveling south on the
turnpike
I take the exit and go west:
A detour? No, a short-cut —
The Pure Land is just over the hill.
20. It
shines everywhere on all beings,
Penetrates the densest neutron star:
The Light of Compassion knows no limit
And discriminates against no one.
25. This
age is a spiritual one, I’ve heard,
And a materialistic one, they say;
Some call it the Mappo Era (perhaps) —
Amida Buddha has saved me, I’ve learned.
28. The
cool night air and a new season:
I did not calculate the changes of time,
I cannot calculate Great Compassion;
The Nembutsu was made for me alone.
29.
Perfection is indivisible,
Compassion is immeasurable,
Amida’s Vow is inconceivable:
Amida’s Light is too bright for my eyes.
30. Amida
Buddha’s compassion
And the stains of my defilement
Are made for each other, it’s true —
As I weep, Amida rejoices.
31.
Knowing my own entrenched defilements,
I wonder at Amida’s patience
To sit in thought for five long kalpas
For one so lost as my pitiful self.
33. The
Buddha of Immeasurable Life
Whose Compassion pervades the ten quarters
Has already made a place for me
In His wonderful Land of Purity.
35. With
every transgression I fall again;
With every Nembutsu I rise again;
Transgressions come from my self-power —
My arising from Amida Buddha.
36.
Dharmakara studied the cosmos
And found it a sea of self-striving;
He carved out an easier pathway —
No effort, just faith — to Nirvana.
41. There
is no light brighter than Amida,
There is no compassion greater than His,
There is no wisdom but Amida’s,
No power greater over karma.
43. Daily
I commit the ten misdeeds
And contrive the feeblest remorse
If I am at all mindful of it —
How great must be the Other Power!
44. How
slender must be the karmic thread
That crossed my path with Amida’s Vow;
I presume to believe I have faith
When Nembutsus come out of my mouth.
45. The
exclusion clause in the Primal Vow
Is the exception that proves the rule:
The most sinful of icchantikas
Amida Buddha’s Compassion enfolds.
46. I say
Namu Amida Butsu,
Namu Amida Butsu I say;
I am Namu Amida Butsu,
Namu Amida Butsu is me.
48.
Believe in the unbelievable!
Nothing is required of us but faith,
And even that is the Buddha’s gift
Which we but need receive with joy.
49. Five
and two-thirds billions of years
Until Maitreya becomes Buddha:
How quick is the path to the Pure Land!
How many buddhas will greet his birth?
50. Is
there a slight tear of sadness
For Maitreya Bodhisattva,
That so many will precede him
As buddhas in Amida’s Land?
51.
Blinded by the Light of Amida
I see things differently than before;
My inner eye opened to his Vow,
My dark mind ignited by his Flaming Light!
52.
Today, plunging back into the grief,
Reminded of my fragility,
I complained with an embittered heart —
Not once recalling the Nembutsu.
53. So
angry and devastated
Are the remnants of my childhood,
A karmic echo gone berserk
In the face of Great Compassion.
54. Don’t
touch me! Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!
Please touch me! Please touch me! Please touch me!
Arguing back and forth in my head,
The three poisons of my karma.
55. I’m a
bodhisattva, truth be told!
Listen to me, world, and wake up!
Don’t you know that the Great Compassion
Has already heard your pain and answered?
57.
Shakespeare wrote “What’s in a name?”
Dharmakara already answered:
“All the Buddhas will praise my Name,
Or else I shall refuse true Bodhi.”
58. “All
that we are proceeds from our thoughts”
So Shakyamuni Buddha taught us.
The thoughts of Dharmakara were pure
Throughout ten long kalpas for our sakes.
59. Self
is unreliable and vain;
Self is like the shifting desert sands;
Which will you trust: Finite self-power,
Or the Power of Great Compassion?
62. Where
there’s no Buddha, Dharma or Sangha
There is still the Original Vow
And the Name that is in the Great Vow
Leading all beings to endless bliss!
63. Can a
Sutra give me anything
I have not already been given
By Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow? —
The Vow that contains all the Sutras.
64. Do
not be afraid to give up doubt!
To accept the Great Compassion
Is to be free of questioning
And be rid of the conniving self.
65. Ask
and the answer is not given;
Knock and the door will not open;
Reason and the truth will flee from you;
Accept Amida and expect nothing.
66. Is it
for real, this Nembutsu-faith?
Even Shinran did not know that;
So, what can I add to all his teaching
Except ever to say the Nembutsu?
67. Say
the Nembutsu and mean it;
Say the Nembutsu and feel it;
Saichi and O-karu knew best —
Just say the Nembutsu and be it!
69.
Crucified on the tree of abuse,
How can I overcome hatred?
Where is salvation but Amida
For I who live in fear and anger?
70. My
designs on Amida’s Pure Land
Are selfish and self-centered, all —
What a surprise there will be for me
When I enter Sukhavati!
73.
Delicate and frail is first shinjin —
Hasten to strengthen it at all cost!
Repeat the Nembutsu thankfully
And let Amida do all the rest.
75. How can one be smug about shinjin?
The path to shinjin can be painful,
Admitting we are full of poison:
But for Nembutsu, we are nothing.
79. Amida
is the Infinite,
The Samadhi of Perfect Knowing;
This is Amida Buddha in us,
Lifting us out of our suffering!
80.
Unwisely I cling to suffering,
The Nembutsu I barely utter —
Wisely Amida clings to me,
Leading me to perfect samadhi.
81. If
Amida can wait for kalpas,
He certainly has patience for me!
Always Namu Amida Butsu,
Forever the Name of Compassion!
82. Name
in the Vow, Vow in the Buddha
The Buddha in me, Me in the Name;
It goes around and it comes around,
The Wheel of Sukhavati Dharma!
84. Light
beyond measure is Amida:
His Light fully fills the ten quarters.
All the Buddhas praise Amida’s Name —
Saying His Name, my voice joins with theirs!
85. The
train is stalled on the railway tracks,
The cars on the street are whizzing by;
Other Dharma Paths are like the Hare —
A tortoise, I ride on Amida’s Ship.
86. They
seem to attain rapid Bodhi,
So their revered masters tell them;
I take no chances — I choose the Vow,
Namu Amida Butsu is for me.
87. A
rush of wind and the train comes.
Even faster comes the great shinjin.
Time cannot be measured small enough,
The moment we are grasped by the Light!
89.
According to the cult I was once in,
The Light was an unforgiving judge —
Since then I have found the Light friendly:
Amida’s Great Compassion is for me!
91. Dark
clouds hang above the city;
Amida Buddha glows in the dark:
His Light brightens the darkest of hearts,
His Compassion cleanses our poisons!
92.
Sometime I think I just babble;
What do I know of Amida?
There is no Buddha but the Truth —
No liberation but through His Name.
96. They
say “The Pure Land is here” they say —
I’ve not yet found this to be so, Oh no —
The only purity that I hear
Is saying Amida Buddha’s Name!
97. I
entrust my life to Amida’s care;
I cannot fathom what He will do.
Dare I ask for a special favor?
Amida is not a god to be used!
98. The
Light of Amida Buddha
Shines equally on all beings:
To know this and receive it gladly
Is to be next to Buddhahood!
99. What
other people call the Right Path
Is not my concern — let them walk it.
I accept what I have been given -
Amida’s promise of Buddhahood!
100. We
create Amida in our minds
Just as Amida creates us in His —
He creates our true Buddha-nature:
This is our real self, His gift to us!
103. The
Nembutsu is the medicine,
Namu Amida Butsu, my salve,
Namu Amida Butsu, my friend,
Namu Amida Butsu, my true self!
104. No
begging bowl, no saffron robe,
No Six Perfections or Eightfold Path:
I am not worthy of the Hard Path —
Thus I have earned Amida’s Compassion!
105. In
self-delusion I sing gathas,
Fantasies of the Pure Land Sutras,
Cliches of the Pure Land Masters:
For all my falsehood, Nembutsu is real.
106. The
only blessed reality
Is to know Amida’s Primal Vow;
The only blesséd state in Samsara
Is that of the Definitely-Assured.
107. My
ripened karma is middle age:
All the habits I have developed
Are defiled as polluted air:
The only cure? Amida Buddha!
108. I
think, therefore I am deluded;
I act, and commit myriad wrongs;
I speak, and out of my mouth come lies;
I chant the Nembutsu, and I am saved!
110. I
see all things through my karmic lens,
A very unreliable means!
Through the transcendent Other Power
I see reality now — dimly.
112. The
rivers of lust and ignorance —
hate and delusion — lap at my feet:
Will I burn in one or drown in the other?
The Original Vow saves me from both.
113.
Amida, thank you for the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
The knowledge to change the things I can,
And the Wisdom to know the difference.
114. The
karma of youth is ignorance,
The karma of adults is desire.
The karma of the old — resentment;
Amida dissolves all three poisons.
115.
Un-born the Buddha is all-wise;
Un-ageing the Buddha sees clearly;
Un-dying the Buddha frees us all;
Thus means Namu Amida Butsu!
118.
Amida Buddha — other power;
Amida Buddha — higher power;
Amida Buddha — highest power;
Amida Buddha — only power.
119. What
is the meaning of it all?
There is no meaning, only All;
What then is Amida Buddha?
There is no Amida, only All.
120. What
is Namu Amida Butsu?
It is both Vow and Fulfillment,
Noumenon and Phenomenon —
It is what I am and will become.
121. My
myself and I in one Namu;
Ego, super-ego, and id
All contained in a single Namu,
Of Namu Amida Butsu!
122.
Grasped and never to be abandoned,
Even doubt does not loosen the grip —
Amida Buddha keeps his Promise:
By one true thought on Him we are saved.
123. The
exclusion clause is perplexing;
It was put there for our consciences’ sakes,
That we never take the Vow for granted
Lest the self-power Nembutsu fail us.
125. Namu
Amida Butsu, the Vow;
Namu Amida Butsu, the Name;
Namu Amida Butsu, the Call;
Namu Amida Butsu, my answer!
126. They
are little now but wait awhile:
They shall all be Buddha by and by.
We are fools who chant the Nembutsu —
Our only wisdom is embracing It!
127. The
hard part about Shin Buddhism
Is the reduction of all deeds to
Giving thanks to Amida Buddha —
The Easy Path can be hard at times!
128. No
praying for divine favors —
All is given, it is enough!
Deliverance from all my karma —
What more can there be to ask for?
130. What
a Vow, the Original Vow!
What a breakthrough by Dharmakara!
To put his own enlightenment
At risk on behalf of you and me!
131. Keep
your mind on Amida always!
If something pulls you away, come back!
Even if distracted for ten years,
Always return to Amida Buddha!
