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Shin Sutras to Live By ... page 2

Eko

After a traditional chanting of this sutra, the four syllables Na Man Da Bu are repeated six times, followed by an Eko.

Eko is the Mahayana (but not the Shin) practice of transferring any merit accruing from this sutra chanting. Since Shinran abandoned this concept of the necessity of acquiring merit, and the virtue of such chanting as a means to the end of attaining Buddhahood, strictly speaking the Mahayana Eko is not compatible with Shin Buddhism.

However, the tradition of chanting Eko has persisted for centuries in Shin temples. For Rennyo Shonin, under whose guidance Shinshu flourished in medieval Japan, the chanting of the sutra represented one's yearning to be reborn in Amida's Pure Land. The sonorous repetition of NaManDaBu represented being so reborn and the eko expressed the Shinshu concept of genso bodhisattva, returning to this world to work for the enlightenment and welfare of all.

On the next page is a new century version of Eko, in Shin terms, acknowledging the power of the Vow and its effect on one's life.

A Shin Eko

Having now received the teaching of this sutra 
Which contains and conveys the innumerable virtues 
Of Amida, the Buddha of Universal Reality, 
The Buddha of my reality, 
The Buddha whose Pure Land is our timeless home, 
I vow to open to all beings everywhere, 
Equally, 
This joyous assurance of enlightenment, 
The life-opening affirmation of wisdom and compassion 
Which unconditionally embraces myself and all others, 
None to be rejected, 
None abandoned, 
By the dynamic, transforming power of Amida's Vow.

Juseige: Affirming the Forty-Eight Great Vows

These forty-eight great vows which I, 
Dharmakara Bodhisattva,
Established for myself and all beings --
None to be excluded --
Now, 
Everywhere, 
In the ongoing timelessness of this present moment
Affirm the reality of the infinite
Within this world of birth-and-death.

Through these vows I vow 
The Vow that is primal vow of life itself. 
Until this shall be fulfilled for each one, 
Everywhere, 
I will not accept the great supreme enlightenment. 
I will not rest as Amitabha, 
Amitayus, 
Amida, 
The Buddha of universal reality, 
The Buddha of truth of things-as-they-are.

Throughout all time 
In every generation of beings, 
If my vow does not become 
The source of wisdom and compassion, 
The cause of this great awakening 
In each and every one everywhere, 
I will not accept the great supreme enlightenment. 
I will not rest as Amitabha, 
Amitayus, 
Amida, 
The Buddha of universal reality, 
The Buddha of the truth of things-as-they are.

Upon my becoming a Buddha, 
My name shall resound
Throughout the farthest reaches of the universe. 
If there is even one place 
Where my name is not being heard,
I will not accept the great supreme enlightenment. 
I will not rest as Amitabha, 
Amitayus, 
Amida, 
The Buddha of universal reality. 
The Buddha of the truth of things-as-they-are.

To attain the great supreme enlightenment 
To become the dharma teacher of gods and men, 
I shall, without ceasing, 
Practice the great practice: Brahma-carya, 
The all inclusive 
Most difficult 
And final practice 
Without the hindrance of desire, 
In the dhyana-samadhi of contemplation 
From which the purest wisdom, 
The immeasurably pure compassion 
Of the workings of my vow shall flow.

This Great Vow shall be all-penetrating, 
Universal, 
A shining light of wisdom and compassion, 
An inconceivable light 
Illuminating our inner darkness, 
Enabling us to see our ignorance, 
Our hatred, 
Our unquenchable desires, 
Our own deep, awesome true reality.

But the Vow's incomparable enlightenment rescues us, 
Just as we are! 
From the heavens of self-pride, 
The hellish torments of the worlds of illusion 
Which we constantly create.

The Vow's unfailing light replaces our blindness 
With the eye of wisdom. 
It dispels the illusions of these empty worlds 
To which we cling. 
It transforms the realms in which we suffer 
And opens to us the real world of things-as-they-are, 
The Pure Land, 
The realm of this extraordinary light. 
Amitabha, Amitayus, Infinite Light and Life 
Awakens us to a joy that never diminishes -- 
The true happiness of working for the welfare 
Of all beings everywhere, 
The true happiness of Buddha-hood, 
The universe endowment of the Vow.

For the sake of all beings, 
To all, at all times, everywhere, 
With the light of wisdom itself 
I preach the Dharma.
My vow assures this treasure of all treasures, 
The virtue among virtues, 
The inexhaustible storehouse of Dharma 
Which my Name shall convey.

I offer the flowers of enlightenment 
To all Buddhas-to-be. 
I show my reverence to each of them. 
I praise each one's virtuous roots.

As my vows become fulfilled 
I will be the champion of naturalness, 
Freed from the proud thought of 
"I am such."

A Tathagata's eye of wisdom 
Penetrates even man's self-centeredness, 
Penetrates conditioned and unconditioned equally, 
Piercing the depths of inner darkness.

I vow that the power of my wisdom will be such 
That I will become a true Buddha. 
This having become so, 
The cosmos will resound with the dharma. 
Flowers of enlightenment 
Like a rain of light 
Will adorn all beings.

-- Rev. Shoji Matsumoto and Ruth Tabrah, Honolulu, 1984

(continued on page 3)