Is Jodo Shinshu Pessimistic?
Notes on the nature of our faith

Reflections on the Faith

Some people assert that Jodo Shinshu is a pessimistic faith. We can break down the grounds on which they do so into four different categories, two of which are common to Buddhism as a whole and two of which pertain especially (though not exclusively) to Jodo Shinshu.

Pertaining to Buddhism as a whole:
Pessimism about the world and human life
Pessimism about our ability to radically change the situation

Especially pertaining to Jodo Shinshu:
Pessimism about our ability to save ourselves
Pessimism about our moral character and about the afterlife

So let us tackle these one at a time.

Pessimism about the world and human life

This is the absolute starting point of Buddhism and the teaching of Shakyamuni (the this-world historical Buddha).

This world is characterized by dukkha – suffering and lack of satisfaction. This is not pessimism, it is realism. We can ignore the facts of human existence and that is how most people get by. But the facts do not cease to exist.

Every one of us is subject to sickness, old age and death. Even if we manage to escape any serious form of the first, we will certainly not escape the other two.

And neither will those around us. Whoever is precious to us, whoever we love will be lost to us. Not may, will. Each of us will die and leave our survivors grieving.

So there is no “happy ever after” in this world. There is only “happy for a while”.

When we want something, we are desperate to have it, but when we acquire it, normally it only makes us happy for a short time and then we move on to our next craving.

Permanent satisfaction is impossible in this world because of death, and temporary satisfaction is usually very short-lived.

These are the facts of human existence that began Shakyamuni’s quest to find true happiness for all beings.

This is why our stories must always have villains or conflicts. We are not even entertained by ever-after happiness. Such a story would seem boring to most adults. In other words, on some level we don’t even want ever-after happiness in its this-world form.

Some (especially Western) Buddhists attempt to ignore the very foundations of their faith and remodel Buddhism as a psychological self-help system or a model for reforming this world, or to miscast Buddhist meditation as a “mental technology” for improving our lives in this world.

All of this is a travesty of Shakyamuni’s real teachings, which are not concerned with this world. Shakyamuni specifically instructs us to ignore speculations that have no bearing on lifting ourselves out of the dire predicament in which we find ourselves.

He did this partly because self-power Buddhism (which is the subject of the early Buddhist teachings1) and its onerous disciplines and practices leave no time for such speculations or for addressing this-worldly issues.

Pessimism about our ability to radically change the situation

This question is hardly discernible from the first. If dukkha is the fundamental fact of human life, we are clearly never going to be in a position to change it. Shaka-sama described this world as a burning house from which we must find our escape route.

Western modernists may balk at this fact, dismiss it as pessimism, and try to redefine Buddhism as something entirely different from what it is – a means of making this world and human life better. But in doing so they are merely attaching the name “Buddhism” to a relatively recent Western progressist view of the world that is in fact completely antithetical to real Buddhism.

Pessimism about our ability to save ourselves

The criticism of Jodo Shinshu made by many practitioners of jiriki (self-power) Buddhism is that it belittles the ability of people to attain Enlightenment.

It does so because Jodo Shinshu is directed toward bonbu – ordinary people.2

We are not able to open satori for ourselves. We do not have the fortitude or dedication to undertake the rigorous disciplines of the Buddhist monk.

We are enwrapped in the desires and aversions of this world, only thinking occasionally of higher Truths. We are the akunin or bad person (bad from the Buddhist perspective of total dedication) that Shinran talks of – and a word that he used to characterize himself.

But we are not offended by this characterization. How could we be when our Shinran Shounin applied it to himself? We know that we are bonbu – foolish children playing pointlessly in the world. We know that the only points in our lives that really matter are those when we turn our foolish minds to Amida-sama.

We are small, silly children of the Great Parent who watches over us, fulfilling the Primal Vow to hold us tightly, never to let us go.

We are happy whenever we turn our childlike3 minds fully to the Great Parent – not least because we realize that all the happiness in this world is short-lived.

The descriptions of the Pure Land may seem fantastical and perhaps somewhat alien, but whatever may be our true heart’s desire is present in the Pure Land.

Frithjof Schuon speaks of “the uncreated Bliss that is none other than the positive content of Nirvana”. He also explains on the same pages, that:

if Paradise4 is regarded as an intensification or exaltation of all that is perfect and lovable in this lower world, then the “supreme Extinction” must also be regarded as an intensification or exaltation of what is positive and perfect, not only in the earthly world but in the entire universe.5

Since Shinran equated the Pure Land with Nirvana itself, I think we would not be wrong in suggesting that the term “Pure Land” means nothing other than “the positive content of Nirvana” – which is to say the fulfillment of every possible True Desire.

Some may object – very reasonably – that much desire is impure and tainted. I believe we can go further and say that all earthly desire is impure because it belongs to the manifest world which has impurity woven into the very fabric of its existence.

That is why the Pure Land is “pure” – it is void of everything that is tainted by the perpetual flux of “this world” – which includes the whole of samsara.

Consequently, the desires that are fulfilled in the Pure Land are not our old earthly desires, but the pure Archetypes of those desires purged of every taint of samsaric existence.

Pessimism about our moral character and about the afterlife

While the first criticism of Jodo Shinshu is typically made by practitioners in some other Buddhist schools, this one is more typically posed by non-Buddhists and is to some extent applicable to Buddhism as a whole.

The Buddhist teaching on the afterlife is the doctrine of the cycle of birth and death and the six courses. The six courses inevitably entail terrible fates because if better karma leads us to better lives, inevitably bad karma will eventually plunge us into one of the many hells.

This is the Buddhist view, but what other views of the afterlife are possible? They break down into four types:

The four views of the afterlife

1. The Abrahamic doctrine of Heaven and Hell

2. The Dharmic doctrine of the cycle of rebirth and the inevitability of horrible fates until one is reunited with the One.

This differs somewhat between the four Dharmic religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism, but essentially they all teach the stark alternative of reunion with the One or recurring evil existences on the wheel of rebirth.

Shinran Shounin often said that if he was not saved by Amida-sama his only destination was hell. He was right, of course, because unless one is reunited with the One, one must inevitably spend time in at least one of the hells unless one is lucky enough to be born human (or human-like) again for another chance before that happens.

The human-like state is the only one of the six from which one can escape the flux of samsara.

Shinran is giving us a much-needed warning. Hearing Shinran’s words we cannot help but think “If Shinran-sama himself is destined for hell if he is not saved by Amida-sama, what will be my fate?”

Our Shounin must have intended this reaction. In his usual unique way he was finding a way to bring us face to face with our peril.

We are perhaps beginning to see here that the Abrahamic and the Dharmic religions are essentially saying the same thing in their different Spiritual “languages”.

We are faced with two straightforward and stark alternatives: re-uniting with the One or facing horrors on the wheel of samsara.

3. Modern “reincarnationism”

This has its origin – at least as currently developed – in the work of Mme Blavatsky and her circle and is deeply influenced by the Evolutionist explosion taking place at the same time in the West.6

The postulate of this new theory is that we roll relatively comfortably through a long series of lives, “learning” and thereby slowly “evolving”. We cannot be reborn as an insect or animal or anything else (except perhaps some imagined this-worldly “higher life-form”) because we have “evolved” to human status and cannot de-evolve.

All this is pure invention of relatively recent origin. It has no basis in any form of Tradition and obviously no basis in real science either.

4. Death is the end. Our consciousness ends with the cessation of our bodily functions and brain activity.

This is perhaps the most widely-held view in the modern West because it is considered “scientific”.

However, it can have no basis in science because real science restricts itself to measurable and quantifiable this-world data.

There is no data about the afterlife, which cannot be observed and is not part of the material realm studied exclusively by genuine science.

If science steps outside this most basic parameter, it ceases to be science and becomes imagination.

Scientists hold various opinions of the afterlife, but none (either “scientistic” or religious) can be called “science”, only the non-scientific opinions of scientists.

These are the only four widely and seriously held theories of the afterlife.

Of the four I would say that the most optimistic is Jodo Shinshu.

Jodo Shinshu tells us that all we have to do is trust in Amida-sama and the terrible dichotomy at the end of life is solved for us by other-power (tariki). We can be at ease in this world and happy in the next.

So to return to the question of the title: Is Jodo Shinshu pessimistic? No, it is perhaps the most optimistic of all outlooks on the world except for those based on self-deception.

Some people call the “extinctionist” position of no life after death a happy one, but who really wants to be extinguished along with all her loved ones?

Reincarnationism really offers no “happy ever after” unless it is combined with some pseudo-religion or pseudo-“spirituality”, for which there is no Traditional basis since no real Tradition accepts it.

Jodo Shinshu begins by giving us stark teachings on the inevitability of old age, disease and death. We can bury our heads in the sand and pretend this is not true, or just decide not to think about it, but who can deny that this is self-deception?

Our faith teaches us some home truths about our own character and warns us of the perils of the wrong afterlife. All this is necessary.

But looking at all reasonable theories and positions, what is more optimistic than our Jodo Shinshu?

Notes:
1 The first turning of the Dharma Wheel
2 See The “Easy Path”: A Way for “ordinary people”
3 “Intellectuals” and the Great Ones of this world – and indeed any persons not in a state of satori – are childish from the ultimate perspective.
4 Paradise: The Abrahamic term for the Uncreated Bliss, or Nirvana, equivalent to the Indian ananda, of the formula sat chit ananda translated as “being, consciousness, bliss”, which represents the unchanging reality called Brahman.
It is also interesting to note that the concept of “consciousness” (chit) here is closely related to the concept of bodhi – precisely the quality represented by the term Buddhism itself, and meaning the state created by having Awakened.
5 Schuon, Treasures of Buddhism, pp. 83-84
6 See Evolution in Western, Vedantic and Buddhist Traditions

Why Shin Buddhism?
Part 4

History of Ideas, Jodo Shinshu Basics

By the Rev. John Paraskevopoulos

The practice of Dharma consists in having kindness, generosity, truthfulness, purity, gentleness and goodness increase among the people.

King Aśoka

In the final part to this series of short essays, we will explore how Shinran’s vision of reality is applicable to us in everyday life and the way in which its teachings can enrich our existence — even when our daily circumstances are fraught and distressing. In doing so, it should become clear as to what Jōdo Shinshū isn’t, as much as what it is, given the plethora of misconceptions that plague it.

It has often been remarked that Shinran’s outlook on the world was quite severe and that he tended to neglect social issues. Indeed, the Pure Land tradition, as a whole, has been accused of not being sufficiently concerned with the problems of this life. This is hardly a fair or accurate criticism but, in any case, Rennyo would retort that we’re nowhere near concerned enough about the more important matter of the next life either.

In the Dhammapada, we are reminded to:

Overcome anger by peacefulness; overcome evil by good. Overcome the mean by generosity; and the person who lies by truth.

Even in our Pure Land scriptures, we find plain wise advice regarding how to treat others:

People of the world, parents and children, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, and other family members and kinsmen, should respect and love each other, refraining from hatred and envy. They should share things with others, and not be greedy and miserly, always speak friendly words with a pleasing smile, and not hurt each other.

Sutra on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life

Of course, there is nothing remarkable or original about such guidance but this makes it no easier for us to put it into practice! Needless to say, Shinran would concur with those sentiments. However, his solution to the predicament of our human condition was to neither ignore manifestly obvious cases of injustice nor to rush out and hastily ‘change the world’ on a whim. Rather, it was to first transform our own hearts and minds, without which no amount of worldly activism will make any enduring difference. In one of his letters, he states:

Formerly you were drunk with the wine of ignorance and had a liking only for the three poisons of greed, anger and folly but, since you have begun to hear of the Buddha’s Vow, you have awakened from the drunkenness of ignorance, gradually rejected the three poisons and have come to prefer, at all times, the medicine of Amida Buddha.

Notice that Shinran is suggesting that it’s only through a living encounter with the Dharma that we can undergo a shift in our habitual orientation. In other words, we assume a new way of being in the world that is determined by something other than the darkness of our bonno. This requires the intrusion into our hearts of the timeless, which doesn’t have its origin in our thoughts, feelings or ego. Elsewhere, Shinran says:

When people’s trust in the Buddha has grown deep, they … seek to stop doing wrong as their hearts moves them — although earlier they gave thought to such things and committed them as their minds dictated.

That which makes us want to manifest good will and concern towards others is none other than the working of the Primal Vow that seeks the liberation of all beings. This spiritual force is the embodiment of pure unconditional benevolence which is given to us when we entrust to it. We can never create this ourselves as a virtuous achievement for which we then proudly take credit. And how could we do so anyway, if we’re being honest about our limitations? Honen once remarked:

Upon introspection, I realize that I have not observed a single Buddhist precept or succeeded in the practice of meditation … In addition, the mind of the common man is easily distracted, confused, vacillating and unable to concentrate … Without the sword of undefiled wisdom, how will we extricate ourselves from the fetters of karma and harmful passions?

This is our reality as bombu, ordinary people who flounder in the ocean of samsara. How can we possibly expect to ‘reform’ others, whom we may regard as stupid or wicked, when we haven’t got our own house in order, being full of unacknowledged hatred ourselves? In the torrid culture wars that are tearing societies apart at the moment, how many of the self-proclaimed ‘virtuous’ can sincerely claim that they have observed the following injunction in a true spirit of compassion towards those with whom they disagree?

For hate is not conquered by hate; hate is conquered by love. This is the law eternal.

Dhammapada

And let us not forget that compassion doesn’t mean just pity (which is condescending) but the capacity to ‘suffer with’ others in their anguish and adversity. Before doing anything else, we need to take refuge in the unhindered light and life that is Amida, so that we may be given the Buddha-mind necessary to ‘dispel the long night of ignorance’ as Shinran would say. This is shinjin which, according to Wasui Tatsuguchi, is:

The one and only foundation upon which we are enabled to find a purpose greater than our own petty self-interests, a meaning beyond the mere satisfaction of our selfish physiological and psychological drives. It is that which saves us from ego-centrism. It transforms primitive desire into a desire that is universal.

Without wisdom, we are lost and blind. In such a state, we become slaves to disordered desires (bonno) that are severed from what is ‘true and real’. This can only create subjective distortions of reality in which we project our fears in a posture of denial. Such spiritual myopia imposes — often violently — our benighted views onto others; beliefs that are no less toxic than those we deem to be ‘heretical’ or politically incorrect, especially when they’re fuelled by anger and hostility. The Australian Shin poet Harold Stewart (1916—1995) made the following astute observation:

The ultimate aim of Buddhist doctrine and method is to enable us to transcend our humanity, not wallow in it. For sufficient unto our own egotistical self and ignorant of our innate Buddha-nature, we remain trivial and pitiful things … The conscious effort to be good or do good, is foredoomed to failure because, no matter how cleverly disguised by mankind’s talent for personal deception or public hypocrisy, it is really motivated by the vested interests of the self and inadvertently betrays a lack of faith in any power higher than the human.

It is very important to understand this point. A society populated by flawed and confused human beings, who are usually lacking in self-awareness, can never be transformed into a paradise of saints. Stewart goes on to say that:

Buddhism does not share modern Western man’s restless and aggressive attitude of self-assertion, an extroverted optimism scarcely supported by the actual conditions of worldly existence.

This is echoed by Marco Pallis (1895—1989), the Anglo-Greek scholar of Tibetan Buddhism who became drawn to Jōdo Shinshū towards the end of his life:

The pathetic hope, fostered by the mystique of ‘progress’, that by a successive accumulation of human contrivances, samsara itself will somehow be, if not abolished, permanently tilted in a comfortable direction is as incompatible with Buddhist realism as with historical probability.

It is crucial, therefore, that we begin to put first things first. What we need is an objective light to be cast into our hearts so that the stormy clouds of resentment, greed and delusion no longer impede our vision of the bright blue sky of truth. This is not to say that our bonno is eliminated; indeed, it becomes even more vivid because we see our reckless passions for what they really are when exposed to us by Amida’s working.

This realisation needs to be faced unflinchingly, even though it can be a very confronting encounter with our ‘shadow’ self, but it need not be dispiriting or melancholy. Paradoxically, it’s also an occasion of deep joy as we come to appreciate that the awareness that makes us see what we really are as unillumined beings — in all our potential cruelty and malice — is the same awareness that shows that we’re “always grasped, never to be abandoned” despite our wayward and unruly natures.

Rennyo says that this leads to a happiness that makes one ‘dance with joy’; an elation, he tells us, that is more than we can bear because it’s accompanied by a faith that’s indestructible like a diamond (kongōshin), along with the indubitable awakening that one has joined the ranks of those who are truly assured of attaining Nirvana.

Any good that we wish to do in the world will be a natural expression of this mind that is given to us by the Buddha. Our efforts to embody this joy in our relations with others may often fall short of perfection but our motivation will, spontaneously and without calculation (hakarai), be infallibly grounded in a desire to help others in a spirit of good will, kindness and concern. This is what Shōkū (1177—1247), a follower of the Seizan school of Jōdo Shū, meant when he said:

As soon as we realise our weakness in doing good, real goodness is performed.

In the end, we cannot divorce an aspiration for the sacred from our altruistic impulses. They form a bond that is mutually sustaining, which ensures an integrated life of moral well-being and spiritual health. In the words of Myōzen (1167-1242), another follower of Hōnen:

You may not go to great lengths to aid others but, if you truly aspire to part from samsaric existence, there is certain to be appropriate benefit for every other being.

◀ Return to Part Three

Evolution in the Dharmic World

Evolutionism, History of Ideas

The evolutionist explosion that rocked the West had relatively little impact on the Dharmic world.

The Vedic portion had long been used to the idea of the world – from a star to a sparrow – “unfolding” from the One, the Center of Being.
It had also been long established that the One and all the components of Being – including the Atma, or soul of sentient beings – are non-dual and ultimately the distinction between them is illusory.

On the Buddhist side the idea of the Samsara as the beginningless and endless process of being is part of the very foundation of the teaching of Shaka-sama (Shakyamuni, the this-world historical Buddha).

Also non-dualism is clearly established in the Mahayana. The distinctions between Shunya (void) and the Samsara are illusory.

In terms of Japanese history an interesting coincidence occurred. At approximately the same time that the Evolutionist revolution was sweeping the West, the early Meiji Era was unfolding in Japan.

In those early days there was a relatively brief anti-Buddhist movement in government and other intellectual circles. The slogan “Out of Asia. Expel the foreigner” was designed to signify both cutting ties with Asia and ending the foreign domination that began with Admiral Perry’s black ships.

Japan was to be a “civilized modern country” on a par with the colonizing West and superior to the surrounding Asian cultures.

In line with this, an embrace of Shinto (impeccably Japanese with strong Imperial connections) and a rejection of Buddhism (a “foreign death cult”) was promoted in government and other influential circles.

Buddhism could not compete with Shinto in terms of “Japaneseness”, but it could take on the religions of the West in terms of representing itself as a “rational system” free from theistic “superstitions”.

This “rationalist” representation has had a huge influence in the West and influenced much modernist “Shin Buddhist” thinking, again especially in the West.

In Japan, where these issues did not loom very large outside of certain circles in a certain relatively brief period, the influence was, and is, much more limited, though by no means non-existent.

Consequently, while its influence in Japan remains relatively minor, it has played a huge role in shaping current Western Shin Buddhism in a rationalist/modernist and in some cases New Age-influenced direction.1

Buddhism is in a strong position to take on the theistic traditions of the West with their strong dogmatic (in the proper theological sense) nature.

This dogmatism prohibits the asking of certain questions and the postulation of various theses such as multiple rebirths, which would negate the strict heaven and hell rhetoric (this word also in its proper sense2) of these traditions.

This has inhibited many deeper interpretations, including those of Origen, a well-established father of the Church. The early Church went through two major “Origenist crises” and those who continued to accept Origen’s work did so on the grounds that he “could not” have meant rebirth in any literal sense.

Recent modern Fundamentalist-leaning Christians see interpretations of Origen’s work that accept rebirth in any meaningful sense as New Age-influenced aberrations.

In truth, the New Age concept of “reincarnation”, rooted in the earlier ideas of H. P. Blavatsky and her circle, and strongly influenced by non-scientific “evolutionism”, has very little in common with the reality of 輪廻 (rin’ne) – ever-recurring rebirth – as taught by the Dharmic traditions and many other cultures from Egypt to Siberia to native North and South American traditions, Africa and the Far East.

The Traditional doctrine is directly comparable to the heaven and hell dogma of the Abrahamic traditions. While there is no way of expressing the inexpressible – that which transcends this world and all its possible rational and verbal theses – the practical upshot as it pertains to salvation is the same.

And salvation is all that matters. The universal Traditions in this final degenerate Age3 are, in origin, entirely concerned with rescuing those who – for the most part – are incapable of rescuing themselves, and for the few who are so capable, providing Paths suitable to these spiritually very difficult times.

The core and starting point of this rescue mission is teaching the fact that we face a stark choice in this life. Its end will lead to one of two things: salvation (or re-uniting with the One in blissful union), or a very long (possibly aeons long) exile in worlds that are mostly painful and horrifying, some bearable to partly pleasant and a few mostly happy.

This is and should be a terrifying prospect. All genuine doctrines of rebirth accept that one may – and will, many times over the course of aeons – be reborn as an animal or an insect or as something far, far worse.

This is an emergency, and one that it is the primary function of the universal Traditions in this Age to address.

The Blavatsky-influenced New Age notion of reincarnation (which now has fairly wide currency in modern culture) is based on a loose, pseudo-scientific reading of “evolution”. This idea is that once one is human, one has “evolved” to a point where one will always be born human – just as lesser life-forms evolved into humans in this world.

This is in stark contrast to all Tradition and has no basis whatever.

The state of non-regression indeed exists but this is only when one has fully and completely entrusted oneself to Amida-sama (or equivalent states in other Traditions). Non-regression is not attainable outside of a saving Tradition. It is certainly not the inevitable product of some imagined “evolution” – a concept that did not exist until relatively recently.

Frithjof Schuon writes of Christianity and Buddhism:

They consider it [the here-below] not in relation to its symbolism, which connects all things essentially, qualitatively or vertically to the divine Prototype, but solely in relation to its character of manifestation, creation, hence of non-divinity, imperfection, corruptibility, suffering and death.4

The reason Christianity and Buddhism (in many respects outwardly opposite in approach) both take this stance is that both are universal traditions made available to all people without distinction of ethnicity or culture. These are very practical traditions focused primarily on rescuing humans – especially humans whose cultures have become estranged from Tradition5 – from their deadly peril. For this reason they are more focused on the rhetoric of this peril than the less pressing Truths that more established Traditions have leisure to pursue.

The heaven-and-hell rhetoric also exists in Buddhism since there are hells and a heaven in the six courses. On a deeper level, from the Jodo Shinshu perspective, the true Heaven is the Pure Land and the true Hell is return to the endless and terrifying cycle of rebirth.

Metaphysics – and therefore symbolism – begins to be re-introduced into Buddhism with the Mahayana. This is a natural development since by that stage Buddhism is beginning to mature into a fully-developed Tradition in its own right, with the space to address the universal Truths of metaphysics.

One aspect of this re-establishment of metaphysics – especially important from our point of view – is found in the Sutras describing the Pure Land.

“Pure” is a well-chosen description. The meaning of it is “untainted by any of the elements of this world and therefore shaped by metaphysical Reality”.

Among other things the Pure Land contains many birds and other creatures. These cannot be what birds and animals are in this world – that is, beings trapped in the near-eternal cycle of rebirth. These are the pure Essences or Archetypes reflected on the earthly plane by the equivalent creatures.

With this, Buddhism rejoins the world of Plato6 and all the ancient Traditions – including, of course, the wider Dharmic Tradition.

___________

1 See “Fundamentalism vs Modernism – Enemies Joined at the Hip”

2 See this essay by Ananda Coomaraswamy for the deeper meaning of “rhetoric”.

3 Indian Kali Yuga, European Age of Iron, Christian latter days, Buddhist Dharma-ending age or mappo, Islamic end times, etc.

4 Schuon, Treasures of Buddhism, p.96

5 We may tend to think of loss of Tradition as a modern phenomenon, but even in what are relatively “ancient” times from our point of view, cultures lost contact with their original Traditions. It was largely for the peoples of such cultures that the universal Traditions came into being.

6 Plato’s work consists essentially in re-stating the sanatana dharma – the timeless and universal Tradition – in terms ingestible by the people of the latter phase of the Iron Age. His explications have held good for over two millennia and are still valuable to all who wish to explore the universal Tradition further.

___________

◀ Return to Part One

Why Shin Buddhism?
Part 3

History of Ideas, Jodo Shinshu Basics


By the Rev. John Paraskevopoulos

Nirvana is called extinction of passions, the uncreated, peaceful happiness, eternal bliss, true reality … it fills the hearts and minds of the ocean of all beings.

Shinran

This part of our discussion aims to dive into the very heart of Jōdo Shinshū by exploring its key message. In doing so, it is important to keep our language clear and accessible. We encounter much obscurity in Buddhist writing today, including our own tradition. This vagueness is usually caused by doubt, confusion or lack of confidence in what is being taught. However, it’s not enough to simply be lucid; one must also explain why the Dharma matters. What does Shinran have to say that would make any difference to our lives? If teachers and ministers cannot explain the relevance of this doctrine to our contemporaries, then they will have failed them with regard to the most important matters that concern us.

We have previously touched on some of the questions that might prompt us to want more from life than just comfort, security and pleasure. In our self-aware moments, we may sense the need to connect with a dimension of reality that is consistently fulfilling and which makes us feel whole, even when our attempts to discover this prove elusive. The frustration that is felt when we fall short of finding it can be revealing.

The Buddhist seeks for a total happiness beyond this world. Why should he be so ambitious? Why not be content with getting as much happiness out of this world as we can, however little it may be? The answer is that, in actual practice, we are not seen to be content … Our human nature is so constituted that we are content with nothing but complete permanence, complete ease and complete security. And none of that can we ever find in this shifting world.

Edward Conze (1904—1979)

If the very reason for our being, or purpose in life, was simply to secure the goods that only money and health can give us, we wouldn’t continue to feel restless when we’ve obtained them. If we were made for an ephemeral life, we would be perfectly satisfied with perishing everyday things. Our generation, in particular, can certainly boast of greater material prosperity than any before it in human history. But anguish and unhappiness appear to have never been so prevalent as they are today. So, what is going on?

The dissatisfaction that we often feel seems to indicate that the needs of our deeper self remain unmet. What are these needs? Jōdo Shinshū would say that what we hunger for most is Immeasurable Life and Boundless Light. In other words, we want to experience a fuller existence than what this transient world, with its countless pains and disappointments, can give us. This is not, of course, to condemn or renounce the ordinary joys and pleasures that help to make our difficult lives a little more bearable — just that, sooner or later, they will fall short of giving us what we really need.

If we think about it deeply, we may notice that life is simply an endless cycle of birth, suffering and death, and that most are simply engaged in a futile struggle not to die. Whatever our life span, we can choose either to resign ourselves to existing in the shadow of these inevitable truths, or to enjoy our lives to the fullest, with a confidence instilled by knowing the teaching of the Buddha. This existence is then enhanced by the brilliance of limitless life, in which death is merely a rite of passage.

Jōdo Shinshū: A Guide

Jōdo Shinshū offers to take us on a great spiritual journey in the midst of life’s hurly-burly. It promises to grant that for which we truly yearn in our very brief time on this planet. The language of our tradition speaks about this higher reality in terms of a supreme Buddha (Amida) and a realm of utmost bliss (the Pure Land). When cynical people hear such things, they will say that these are fairy tales intended for gullible people to help them deal with their fear of death. Such mockery betrays a grave ignorance, not to mention a lost and precious opportunity for attaining liberation.

All forms of Buddhism believe that Nirvana is the consummation of human life. The Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life tells us that it is “pure and serene, resplendent and blissful” and the Nirvana Sutra declares that “it is eternity, bliss, true self and purity … forever free of all birth, ageing, sickness and death”.

Attaining this is the only purpose of our existence in that it spells the end of all suffering and brings us to a state of total spiritual satisfaction. While the complete experience of this perfection is not possible in our limited human form, the Light and Life at the core of existence still permeates our world of birth-and-death.

Pure light, joyful light, the light of wisdom,
Light constant, inconceivable, light beyond speaking,
Light excelling the sun and moon are sent forth, illumining countless worlds; the multitude of beings all receive this radiance.

Shinran

Our tradition teaches that Amida Buddha and the Pure Land are manifested by the realm of Nirvana as forms it assumes in order to reach out and make itself known to us. They aren’t just bloodless symbols but the powerful presence of ultimate reality which we can encounter even in our everyday lives. Amida is the ‘personal’ aspect of Nirvana that embodies its wisdom and compassion, which seeks to give us joy and bring us to our final home. This ‘destination’ (which obviously isn’t geographical) is the Pure Land which represents the eternally blissful nature of Nirvana.

(The Pure Land) is vast in extent, unsurpassed and supremely wonderful, always present and subject neither to decay or change.

Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life

The reason why the sutra descriptions of the Pure Land aren’t just fanciful make-believe is that our longing for this realm is so intrinsic to who we are that it’s seen as something permanently grounded in the nature of things. In other words, spiritual reality is the core element of our authentic self (or buddha-nature) as disclosed to us in the experience of shinjin — the awakening, in our hearts and minds, of the benevolent light that is Amida. This realisation allows us to partake in eternity itself, despite the anxiety and confusion all around us.

Although sentient beings are impermanent, still their Buddha-nature is eternal and unchanging.

Nirvana Sutra

The fulfillment of our deepest need as human beings must, therefore, result in the experience of our most abiding joy. Shinran calls this kangi, which means to be gladdened in both body and mind, rejoicing that “one is assured of attaining what one shall attain”; namely, Buddhahood or perfect enlightenment.

If sentient beings encounter the Buddha’s light, their defilements are removed; they feel tenderness, joy and pleasure, and good thoughts arise. If sentient beings in the … realm of suffering see this light, they will be relieved and freed from affliction. At the end of their lives, they all reach emancipation.

Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life

How, then, can we come into contact with this transcendental joy in the midst of our workaday routines? Jōdo Shinshū teaches that the initiative behind our awakening to what is ‘true and real’ comes from the side of Amida, who seeks to deliver us from our ego and its torments. This ‘will’ to deliver us from spiritual darkness is embodied in the Buddha’s Primal Vow (hongan) which urges that we surrender to its working.

Entrusting is the mind full of truth, reality and sincerity; the mind of ultimacy, accomplishment, reliance and reverence; the mind of discernment, distinctness, clarity and faithfulness; the mind of aspiration and … exultation; the mind of delight, joy, gladness and happiness; hence, it is completely untainted by the hindrance of doubt.

Shinran

This call to entrust is the nembutsu, which is both the beckoning Name of Amida as revealed to us and our response to this summons in the form of saying Namu Amida Butsu, while keeping the Buddha in mind.

Sentient beings who solely think on Amida Buddha … are constantly illumined by the light of that Buddha’s heart, grasped and protected, never to be abandoned.

Shan-tao

And yet, all this happens as a result of Other-Power (tariki) when our karmic maturity is ripe and we’re able to ‘hear’ (monpo) this call for the first time. Only enlightened reality itself can bring about our enlightenment because flawed and fragile beings such as ourselves cannot contrive that which is ‘true and real’.

Faith does not arise from within one’s self;
The entrusting heart is given by the Other-Power.

Rennyo

Therefore, this can only be a gift that is offered freely, without conditions. If we can accept it, our lives become uplifted and meaningful. This is because the forceful sway of the Dharma helps us to relinquish the futile grind of self-power (jiriki), for our minds are filled with ‘snakes and scorpions’ as Shinran reminds us. This is not to end on a despondent note but, rather, to point us in the only direction where real hope can be found and the means by which our genuine well-being can be assured.

Any attempt, based on reason, to sanctify our lives will fail, no matter how hard we try. Only when we are led by the power of Amida, and by aspiration for rebirth in the Pure Land, can we conquer this life. It does not matter how bad our karma is; it does not matter how imperfect our reason is. The power of Amida purifies us and converts our evil passions into virtues. And, at the same time, a pure, real, serene and eternal life will be infused into our own life which had been miserable, false, finite and unreal. This true life will be constructed upon a framework of faith which becomes, not only the invisible foundation of our life, but also an inner power which enables us to realize purification beyond the realm of ethics. This awakening results in our reciting the nembutsu with complete thankfulness and in happiness. This is the very essence of the teaching of Shinran, a teaching he realized only after a desperate spiritual struggle.

Kosho Otani (1911—2002)

◀ Return to Part Two

Go to Part Four ▶

Greeting Amida-sama

Devotion to Amida-sama, Jodo Shinshu Basics

This is a brief note on a very simple “practice” I have discovered. I will also include the video wherein I discovered it. It is not very “intellectual”, but intellectuality will not save us, even though it may guide us on the right path.

What will save us is trust in and devotion to Amida-sama. So although this “practice” is simple and even childlike, is that not appropriate? All the intellectuality in the world will not bring us any nearer to understanding the Absolute. Only opening satori will do that, and we ordinary bonbu are not capable of that.

We are simply children of Oyasama, the Great Parent.

In Japan 挨拶 (aisatsu), often described as “greetings”, hold a very special place in life and culture. They are not just “greetings”, because they cover many situations where that English word does not apply. They are near-ritual words and phrases that echo through the whole of everyday life, used by everyone from the earliest age. In fact I would suggest that they are small rituals that play a role in shaping the life of Japanese people.

The “practice” here is simply “greeting” Amida-sama with these everyday phrases. I prefer to use the Japanese forms, but of course that is not necessary if one feels more comfortable with English. “Good morning Amida-sama” etc. are just as good.

What we are doing is building a personal relationship with the Great Parent. Coming to Amida-sama as the simple childlike bonbu that we are, without pretense to be anything more.

Anything from a household shrine to a simple picture (or even simply our imagination if nothing else is possible) can be used as our focus. We simply greet Amida-sama in gassho at the appropriate times, or of course address the Great Parent at any time when our foolish minds turn to the One who cares for us more than we care for ourselves.

When no one is near we usually feel ourselves to be alone, but we are never alone. Amida-sama is with us in every moment, fulfilling the promise never to let us go until we are safe in the Pure Land.

Therefore let us acknowledge the Eternal Love with our humble daily greetings.

Here is the video where I found this wonderful piece of spiritual advice:

Why Shin Buddhism?
Part 2

History of Ideas, Jodo Shinshu Basics

By the Rev. John Paraskevopoulos

We cannot hold on forever to those whom we love, to things we want, to the fame and fortune we have; in the end, we must part from all these. How empty the years seem as our life dwindles to a close. Think it through for yourself: even world-conquering kings cannot hold on to their high status and many treasures forever… Although we confront this kind of truth, we only pretend to understand it. Inured to a life hemmed in by desires, the ordinary person is not in the least astonished by the law of impermanence. Ah, how empty we ordinary persons are!

Zonkaku

The Dharma exists to shed light on the nature of life and to afford a true refuge amidst the many difficulties we face. If things always went smoothly and we felt no unease, the Buddha would have little to say to us. The many trials he underwent would have been in vain and his Enlightenment would have meant nothing. The Buddhist teachings, therefore, are presented as a strong remedy for what ails our hearts and minds.

So, what is the nature of our illness that requires such radical intervention? As much as we’re compelled to find fault in others, and the world generally, it’s important to see that the root of our troubled existence actually lies in ourselves. In other words, what we regard as ‘the problems of the world’ actually have their root in all of us. The human predicament is such that we are driven, at our core, by fear and dissatisfaction. As Shinran says:

Our desires are countless, and anger, wrath, jealousy and envy are overwhelming, arising without pause; to the very last moment of life they do not cease, or disappear, or exhaust themselves.

Confronted with this stark realisation, people look for ways to suppress the acute anxiety to which it gives rise. In seeking to protect ourselves from emotional vulnerability and discomfort in the face of threats to our well-being or self-regard, we often succumb to misguided reactions. When unhappy, we may project feelings of anger or inadequacy onto others, blaming them for what are — in truth — our own shortcomings. In doing so, we try to feel better about ourselves rather than take responsibility for honestly coming to grips with our lack of awareness. This is, indeed, what determines the unenlightened life of everyday people (bombu) “whose greed is profound, whose anger is fierce and whose ignorance smoulders” as Kakunyo reminds us.

Shinran spoke of the ‘snakes and scorpions’ we harbour deep within, which are part and parcel of what he referred to as bonno (disordered desires that bind us). These can be very painful so, in the absence of an enduring solution, we may attempt to anaesthetize ourselves from such feelings by seeking relief through an excessive preoccupation with food, alcohol, sex, gambling or reckless behaviours that may become addictive.

And yet, trying to ‘cauterize’ the wounds of our heart in this way does not lead to true healing. It only causes further trauma in which we continue to hurt both ourselves and others. This is because, as Shinran says, we are “possessed of defilements and wrong views”; being bereft of wisdom, we lack “a true mind and a heart of purity”. This can have tragic consequences for us and, because we often like to think that we’re successful, intelligent and ‘have it together’ (more so than others whom we then judge accordingly) we fail to see, as Zonkaku observed, that:

Common hearts of the defiled world, possessed of both the clever and fools alike, cannot be said to be very different … There are the noble and the lowly, but suffering is something that afflicts both in ample quantity. The poor and the wealthy cannot be said to be the same, but they are identical as far as not being free from distress.

The other difficulty we face is a deeper problem of which the others are but manifestations. The transient nature of life is a constant reminder that everything we know of this world will end. In the poignant words of Rennyo:

Existence is as ephemeral as a flash of lightning or the morning dew, and the wind of impermanence may blow even now. Yet we think only of prolonging this life for as long as possible, without ever aspiring for the afterlife. This is inexpressibly deplorable.

We appear to suffer from a kind of amnesia when it comes to death, as if it will never tap us on the shoulder, especially if we’re young, healthy and seemingly invulnerable. But Zonkaku observed that:

Living to do the things we plan for the day and for the morrow, attached to life’s pleasures and refusing to look suffering in the eye, we never notice the demon of Death encroaching. Busied with everything else, we never even notice the days and nights passing by in a blur.

When you think about it, it’s rather strange that we fear our own demise more than anything. If what certain secular thinkers say is true, and we’re simply made for a life that’s determined by meaningless random flux, then why are we so disturbed by its dissolution? If this is, indeed, our true nature, then why do we shudder at the ‘winds of impermanence’ when they strike us? If there is nothing left to us but having to endure what the Tannishō describes as this ‘fleeting world’, a ‘burning house’ where “all matters without exception are totally without truth and sincerity”, then why this visceral aversion to our annihilation?

This has nothing to do with with simply lamenting the loss of those things we’re attached to in our lives. Rather, it reveals that we don’t know what we really are as human beings, whose essence is deathless — an ignorance that is merely superficial as it can only mask, but never erase, our deep immortal longings which spurn the notion that our true self can ever die. This is why we sometimes feel that we’re not entirely at ease here; that we are haunted by an obscure memory of our true home, which is not of this world.

The Dharma has always recognised the precarious nature of human existence but it has never been content to simply let matters rest at that; after all, an alert child could surmise as much about the realities of life. Despite its sobering assessment of our condition, Shin Buddhism goes further. It offers a teaching of joy and illumination that can radically transform our existential plight if we surrender our inflamed hearts to its soothing waters.

Though we must suffer hardships that are inevitable given the limitations of this sorrowful world, there is always help at hand. The consolation of Amida’s compassionate embrace — that never abandons us — is a very great comfort in the midst of loss and bewilderment. The assurance that we are completely known and loved unconditionally is one that no political theory or technological marvel can ever replace.

In the next part, we’ll explore how the Buddha’s ‘medicine’ can yield great benefit, thanks to its emancipating insights that help us to finally resolve the problem of birth-and-death. When this renewal takes place in our lives, we may come to declare, as Shinran did, that:

Although my defiled life is filled with all kinds of desires and delusions, my mind is playing in the Pure Land.

◀ Return to Part One

Go to Part Three ▶

Hells and Expiation: a brief personal thought

History of Ideas, Jodo Shinshu Basics

The Rev. John Paraskevopoulos tells us that:

Buddhism assuredly has its hells (sixteen of them in fact!) but they are not eternal. Some individual karmas are worse than others and therefore require more radical expiation but, in the end, all beings are destined for the Pure Land.

On the other hand I was taught by the Rev. Shaku Shou Shin that Amida-sama regards us as beloved children. Oyasama (Amida-sama seen as the Great Parent) watches us play in the world of samsara. The Great Parent will save us without any expiation. Indeed if we could save ourselves we would have no need of Amida-sama’s salvation. We would already be able to become Buddhas or at least Bodhisattvas.

As the Rev. John Paraskevopoulos tells us, all beings will ultimately be saved, and this must be through the saving grace of Amida-sama (of course, different Traditions will use differing Names for the One, but the One by definition is One, and for us the One is only Amida-sama).

The totality of beings will never be capable of self-salvation. That is why every current tradition provides a path of salvation based on some form of Other Power.

So why do we need to be reminded of expiation and the sixteen hells? Very simply because while we can be saved without expiation, we cannot be saved without Faith.

If Faith is all that is needed, why is it necessary to mention such things as expiation and the sixteen hells?

Because in order to have faith we must be aware of what is at stake for us in this life and in those to come. If we fail to escape samsara in this life, a terrible fate assuredly awaits us. This is because we must spend time in each of the six Courses, two of which are terrifyingly harsh and the others by no means perfect (the heavenly Course alone comes close to perfection). It is not an eternal terrible fate as the rhetoric* of the Abrahamic religions has it, but a very long-lasting one.

So it is necessary to have the awareness and motivation to accept salvation in this life.

Also by making us aware of the terror we are saved from, we also become aware of the “cosmic” vastness and mystery of Amida-sama’s saving power. Thus a sense of true “religious awe”** grows in us.

Frithjof Schuon tells us that the only “unforgivable sin” is the rejection of the Divine Mercy that is offered to us.

Of course, it cannot be eternally unforgivable or all beings could not be saved, but it is “unforgivable” in terms of this “incarnation”.

Therefore it is necessary for us to know and be told what is at stake.

The Great Parent watches us play. The Great Parent knows that we are incapable of keeping Amida-sama in mind all the time. Knows that we are going to say the Nembutsu only in those moments when we half-awaken from the ensnaring illusion of the samsara.

But for the Great Parent to save us we must have those half-awakened moments and must know what is at stake. If we know that, we are able to do the one thing necessary for our salvation – and that is entrusting.

In those half-awakened moments we must give ourselves wholly to Amida-sama and say the Nembutsu, as often as we remember, with all our hearts.

Knowing that only the Great Parent can lift us out of the snare of samsara and bring us safely into the Pure Land.

Namu Amida Butsu

Namu Amida Butsu

_______

*As Ananda Coomaraswamy tells us, the term “rhetoric” originally meant the art of making Truth accessible to all kinds of people – not just metaphysical minds or “intellectuals”. Please refer to this essay.

** The term “awe” in its modern sense derives directly from the Biblical usage in relation to the Abrahamic perspective on the One – the personal creator God.

In Buddhism there is no Creator and the “creation” (samsara) simply unfolds with no apparent cause or meaning. Both views of creation contain what are theologically termed “mysteries” – things that are inexplicable and apparently illogical (if not repugnant) to ordinary thinking.

In one case the meaningless and purposeless manifestation of the samsara. In the other case the apparent cruelty and arbitrariness of a God who creates creatures whom He knows from the beginning are doomed to eternal damnation at his own hands. Or if we say that He did not know how individuals would use their “free will”, or how much suffering his created world would entail, then we also have to abandon either the traditional definition of God as omniscient or else the definition of God as good.

Christian mystics have understood and resolved this Mystery (“All manner of thing shall be well” in the words of Dame Julian of Norwich). But since the full Truth is ineffable and cannot be explained with human words or logic, they cannot express what they know.

On the Dharmic side, Enlightened ones understand the apparently causeless and meaningless nature of the samsara, but again cannot express their Enlightenment with human words or logic.

As we have noted, in the case of the Dharmic religions the “mystery” is the apparently causeless and meaningless and cruel manifestation of the samsara. Eternal damnation of course is simply the Abrahamic rhetoric, at least from the Buddhist perspective, but in a sense the samsara doctrine creates its own version of “eternal damnation” – the apparently endless presence of beings in the pain and terrors of the samsara.

Christian mystics have penetrated the contradiction, or to use the correct theological term, “mystery”, of the goodness of God, just as those in a state of Satori have penetrated the mystery of the apparently meaningless, causeless and cruel manifestation of the samsara together with the inherent implication that, in contradiction to all Mahayana teaching, all beings cannot be saved (since the samsara appears to go on forever and always contains beings).

These solutions cannot be expressed with human words or logic, as the full Dharma is inherently inexpressible.


Endless Golden Summer: Jodo Shinshu in the Light of the Anime “Air”

Japanese Culture, Reflections on the Faith

Writing about an anime may seem a little surprising to readers of this site, but anime (despite its “lowbrow” image in some quarters) is in fact a powerful and artistic medium that can explore the deepest of human experiences and sentiments.

The anime we are going to consider here is, in my opinion a true work of art. That is merely a personal opinion, of course. Others will form their own opinions.

But whether it is or is not classed as a work of art, it undoubtedly explores the depths of the human psyche and of worldly existence.

The anime series Air is one of the “Holy Trinity” of anime produced by Kyoto Studios, a high-quality anime studio and sometimes light novel publisher.

Kyoto Studios was brought to everyone’s attention in 2019 by a horrific arson incident which killed 36 staff members.

The Air anime series, however, was published long before this in 2006 and was one of the first anime series ever to be released on Blu-Ray.

As the first of the Kyoto Studios “Holy Trinity”, Air explores many of the themes that were explored further in the second two series, Kanon and Clannad.

The “Endless Golden Summer” (my phrase) refers to the hugely sentimental (懐かしい) concept – deeply rooted in modern Japanese culture and sentiment – of a golden summer of infinite promise.

In more mundane terms, it is based on the long summer vacation enjoyed by Japanese schoolchildren during their “uniformed years” from first entering public school at the age of five or six to leaving it for University and/or the world of work.

This later – post public school – stage of life may hold promise and excitement of various kinds, but endless golden magic for only a few.

In purely sound terms the name of the series’ protagonist, Yukito Kunisaki, can be read as “snow-rabbit” + “country’s end” – indicating the onset of winter and the end of the Golden Summer dream.

This refers in practice to the fact that for many fans of the series, their chance at fulfilling the Golden Summer dream is already over for this lifetime.

And on a lighter but still psycho/culturally significant note (particularly inb Japan, where the image of Alice has a huge presence in the mass psyche), her name also refers to the White Rabbit of Alice in Wonderland.

Yukito is at an age where this will be his last, or last-but-one, chance to make the Dream any kind of lived reality this time around.

This sense of the fleeting evanescence of the Perfect Dream fills the series in many different ways.

Yukito is seeking the Lady in the Sky for reasons connected with his this-world past – a story in which he gains from his mother the power to animate dolls and use them as makeshift theatre.

This is how he manages to finance his travels through this fateful attempt at the Golden Summer.

He becomes involved with one of the main female protagonists, a sick and very emotional child who is also seeking the Lady in the Sky.

Many of her characteristics are deeply significant of this psycho/cultural search. For example, she is obsessed with dinosaurs – constantly using the exclamation “Gao!” which she explains as representing a dinosaur’s roar.

When asked why, she explains that it is because they were the Rulers of this World and now are passed away.

This sense of a lost world – not only a present loss, but one stretching back over millennia- indicates that the loss is not merely “accidental” but woven into the very fabric of being.

With our grounding in Traditional philosophy we can step back from this sense of fundamental loss and see how it is a universal phenomenon rooted in the very nature of our human experience.

In the Abrahamic religions this is the loss of Paradise or of the Beatific Vision – unity with the Divine.

In the Dharmic religions this is the illusory loss of our fundamental nature.

In Vedanta Atma (the soul) and Brahman are non-dual. In other words we are not really separate from the Ultimate Reality.

We experience a “hallucination” of separateness but in fact we cannot be separate from the One that we really are.

However, from our present illusory point of view, the One is unknowable. To any definite statement we make about the One, Vedanta replies “Neti, neti” – “not that, not that”.

The One is inconceivable to us in our current state.

Similarly in Mahayana Buddhism, what we truly are is the Buddha Nature. However, the Buddha Nature is not graspable to us in our everyday state of experienced “reality”.

Any statement made about the Buddha Nature is the finger pointing at the moon. It cannot express the moon itself because the One is literally ineffable – inexpressible. Those moments in which some individuals can “see” the Moon of Absolute Reality are called the opening of Satori in Japanese.

In truth, Satori is not a “special” state of mind, but its original and true state. It is simply the state of being awake rather than in the dream of worldly illusion. The term Buddha simply means “awakened” or “aware”, coming from the Proto-Indo-European root *bheudh– “be aware, make aware.”

This word and concept is also etymologically connected to the concept of absolute Wisdom in various European traditions (for example, Woden, the God of Wisdom in the Teutonic Traditions).

Even more remarkable is that, according to René Guénon, this etymology transcends the European locality and has branches in the ancient languages of Central and South America. This would indicate the word’s ultimate derivation from the universal proto-language that underlies all human languages – the pre-Babel language in Abrahamic terminology – that speech that existed in Ages closer to “paradise” – before human language became broken and scattered into different “languages”.

Guénon gives the example of Votan, an ancient name of Quetzal cohuatl, the “bird-serpent,” and the union of these two symbolic animals is also figured by the wings and the serpents of the Caduceus (carried by the Greek Votan, Hermes).**

Guénon comments that “One must indeed be blind not to see, in such facts, a sign of the fundamental unity of all traditional doctrines.”

Focusing back on the two Dharmic Traditions we are considering – Vedanta and Buddhism – all this is important from the point of view of the “Transcendent Unity of Religions”.

Much is made of the “opposite” nature of Vedanta and Buddhism – in Vedanta the Atman (soul) is one with Brahman (the Absolute) while Buddhism preaches no-soul (Anattā) doctrine.

Doesn’t this mean that the two are opposites, absolutely contradicting each other?

Only on a very superficial level.

In the foundational Mahayana Prajñāpāramitā Sutras, Sunya is shown to be ultimately identical with the One.

Despite their “opposite” means of expression (of that which is ultimately inexpressible) they are saying, at the deepest level, the same thing, as Frithjof Schuon has also pointed out in a video interview.

They are also, at the fundamental level of their supra-Traditional roots, saying the same thing as the Abrahamic traditions and of all true Tradition worldwide.

So, returning from the sublime to the local, our anime Air, while clearly not expounding these doctrines, is rooted in the reality that they express.

Our fundamental sense of loss is the deepest thing in us. It is that which calls us back to the One.

In Air, one manifestation of the Lady of the Sky turns out to be one of the more minor characters.

When her real identity (that of a wandering sky-spirit who has attached herself to an earthly “sister”) becomes apparent she has to abandon her physical form and disappear from this world.

Her loss is felt deeply by everyone.

But it is inevitable because the dream of Reality is not the Reality itself.

The drama of love and loss – of deep human relations on every level, whose destruction is always horribly painful but always has to happen – turns out to span a millennium in Japanese history.

All the characters have lived together before hundreds of years ago in ancient Japan and part of the anime explores this period.

In reality, the experience of love, deep connection and deep loss – our root-experience – spans far more than a mere millennium.

Our return to the Endless Golden Summer still awaits us.

But if we are attached to a true Tradition, it does await us.

Some people may be able to reach it through own-power (自力 Jiriki).

Some people reach it through the saving Grace of Jesus or of Sri Krishna.

We shall reach it through the vast and mysterious power of Amida-sama and the Nenbutsu.

The very root of our existence.
_________

* If we take her name as written in Japanese without any sound-play, it would be better translated as Bunny Moonfield

** See Guénon’s article “Hermes” from Studies in Comparative Religion

Originally published in le Voile d’Isis, April 1932. Original version here.

Why Shin Buddhism?
Part 1

History of Ideas, Jodo Shinshu Basics

By the Rev. John Paraskevopoulos

Jōdo Shinshū is not a religion of goodness but a religion of truth.

Gesshō Sasaki (1875-1926)

This is a question I am asked frequently. Seeing as we find, among humanity’s religions, so many options available to people in the modern world, why should we take any notice of Shinran’s teachings? How do the insights of a Buddhist thinker from medieval Japan speak to us today? Indeed, the great number of religious perspectives available now — all making widely different claims — have led some to believe that none of them can be true. This conclusion, sadly, makes many seekers abandon the spiritual quest altogether. Can we find a way around this predicament?

It’s hard to contend that a certain belief system is authentic just because we happen to have been born into it. Of course, being culturally comfortable in one’s own tradition is important but that alone is not enough to ensure that its claims against other faiths will always be valid. Therefore, we need robust criteria to help us find a path that fulfills our deepest spiritual needs while giving us the discernment to make sense of the world.

In this four-part series of short essays, we’ll explore the value of Jōdo Shinshū in light of the major questions that weigh on the minds of many when they reflect on our perplexing existence. In today’s world, religions face serious challenges from an array of secular forces: materialism, relativism, hedonism, individualism and consumerism. As a result of these seductive, powerful influences in our society, there is now much greater confusion about matters of faith than ever before, with many of us having become more sceptical and uncertain in our convictions.

In such a fraught climate, Jōdo Shinshū has a great deal to offer humanity today just as it did eight hundred years ago. While the lives of people in Shinran’s times might seem remote from ours, they were, fundamentally, much the same because the facts of the human condition have not changed. I also believe that Shinran, while remaining a steadfast Buddhist, had some profoundly original things to say; in particular, he revolutionised the nature of spiritual practice by teaching a bold vision of ultimate reality and how awakening to it can greatly benefit our lives. There is a universal quality to his thought that can touch us deeply if we approach it with honesty, sincerity and a hunger for the truth.

Before going any further, it’s important to remember that notions such as orthodoxy (‘correct understanding’) and tradition (‘that which is handed down’) actually matter. These may seem antiquated and old-fashioned because they’re not in keeping with our fast-paced world where ideas and values are constantly changing. But this is precisely the problem. When we lack an anchor in the depths of our spiritual heritage, our efforts to make Shinran’s teaching relevant to the modern world will be in vain. This cannot succeed when we’re cut off from the nourishing sacred truths bequeathed to us by so many masters of our school over the centuries.

We should, without question, clarify how Shinran’s outlook is meaningful to us today but we must do so while remaining faithful to the insights of our tradition. Otherwise, we’ll make the teachings of Jōdo Shinshū mean whatever we want them to, in keeping with the fickle ideological fashions of our times. Inevitably, this leads to doctrinal distortions and a betrayal of the founders’ objectives.

We often read back into the sutras and commentaries of the past our own contemporary biases, in the belief that we’re somehow advancing our understanding through interpretations we think are modern and ‘sophisticated’. However, if the spiritual intentions of Shinran and his successors haven’t been properly grasped, then we’ll gain little benefit from studying them. Therefore, there’s a pressing need to acquire the mind of Shinran and put him front-and-center of our dharma outreach efforts — without, of course, sacrificing critical thinking and scholarly accuracy in our translations and studies.

Before we embark on sharing the teaching with others, we need to ask ourselves: Have we really come to grips with what Shinran is saying? Are we confident that we’ve understood him correctly? His thinking can, at times, be elusive and subtle so we need to consult reliable teachers and good dharma friends. Most importantly, though, we must recall our true end: the peace, certainty and self-knowledge that are given when our lives are touched by the presence of Amida Buddha, which is never away from us.

The many difficulties we face today have become especially acute in the political, social and educational domains. Conflict, violence and division have reached boiling point in many parts of the world without the prospect of any peaceful resolutions emerging on the horizon. Everywhere we turn, we find that fiery passions, having first seized our hearts, are then stoked incessantly by others (including political demagogues and the media).

During these times of momentous upheaval, we need to draw sustenance from the wellspring of immeasurable light and life that lies at the heart of our tradition. Only when we take refuge in that which is ‘true and real’ can we receive the unfailing wisdom that cuts through the toxic ‘lies and gibberish’ all around us, of which the Tannishō speaks so vividly.

While Shinran boldly revealed the confronting reality of our unenlightened lives, we mustn’t forget that what’s intrinsic to his message is the spiritual joy that comes with an abiding true faith, understood as the arising of Amida’s mind within us (not something that we generate). This joy cannot be granted or taken away by this world of uncertainty. In our everyday struggles to secure happiness and well-being, a life of nembutsu can bring great comfort in the awareness that we’re enveloped by the unconditional benevolence of the Primal Vow — precisely in the flawed and broken condition we find ourselves. This allows us to effortlessly partake of the Buddha’s nature which dispels our self-induced darkness and gives us freedom to live beyond the oppressive confines of our false self.

In the following parts of this essay, we’ll consider the key features of Jōdo Shinshū that make it a unique and compelling spiritual vision — one that is open to all who thirst for the wonderfully liberating transformation it offers.

Go to Part Two ▶

Fundamentalism vs Modernism – Enemies Joined at the Hip

Evolutionism, History of Ideas

Fundamentalism is a phenomenon most commonly associated with Christianity and Islam, although there is at least one Fundamentalist sect associated with Jodo Shinshu.

What is Fundamentalism and why does it exist? First of all Fundamentalism never appears in isolation. It always appears after the appearance within its particular Tradition of another phenomenon called Modernism. This is necessary because Fundamentalism grows out of Modernism and is meaningless without it.

Fundamentalism is essentially a reaction against Modernism. It is sometimes thought of as being Traditional or Orthodox, but in fact it is the very reverse. It is a reaction against Modernism that gives Modernism the advantage that everything is defined in Modernist terms. Fundamentalism does not in essence disagree with Modernism. In fact it does Modernism the favor of accepting all its basic precepts at face value even if it tries to reject them.

So what are the basic precepts of Modernism without which Fundamentalism could not exist?

  1. Regarding Religion/Tradition as a purely historical/cultural phenomenon.
  2. Regarding Religion/Tradition as a purely human invention.
  3. Regarding the basis of symbolism – on which all Traditions to some degree rest – most notably the Platonic/Theistic Western Traditions – as purely human in origin.
  4. Having a strong interest in history, because it regards all these things as being purely historical/developmental phenomena, non-different from any other historical/cultural phenomena.

In this it is hugely assisted by the Evolutionist revolution of the mid 19th century which led to the triumph of Modernism as the underlying ideology of the West.

Fundamentalism (rightly) frames its argument against Modernism as a defense of religion as something outside of and superior to the historical process.

Fundamentalism is the reaction against Modernism in its Western (here including Islamic) form.

Without Modernism it could not exist.


In this it is put at a vast disadvantage by the near-universal adoption of Modernism as the basic ideology of the West that was sealed by the Evolutionist Revolution of the mid-19th century – a coup d’état that had been several centuries in the making.


So, for example, Modernism tackles the question of the age of the earth and cites scientific evidence that it is far older than Biblical narratives suggest. Naturally this implies an extremely literalistic interpretation of Biblical and other texts.

Fundamentalists fall into the trap of defending this literalism. In fact Fundamentalism and literalism are often taken to be synonymous.

In relation to Jodo Shinshu, Modernists attack literalist interpretations of the Sutras and other texts. In this they are on good ground. Clearly they are not meant to be taken as literal statements of mere material fact.

What Modernists appear to see them as, however, is the symbolic expression of psychological and cultural phenomena – often near-devoid of any content that might realistically be called “Spiritual” or genuinely religious.

It often leads to a kind of Buddhist-tinged “social gospel” and is closely (if ironically) often associated with attempts to disengage Jodo Shinshu from anything that smacks of Christianity (or genuine religion in general) and make it conform to Western concepts of “Buddhism” that are often predicated on the so-called “scientific world-view”.

In this the Modernist position is clearly in error. Amida-sama’s vow is not to improve those rooms within the burning house that haven’t yet caught fire but to rescue beings from the burning house altogether.

That is, to rescue us from the Samsara with its Heavens, its Hells and its endless round of death and rebirth.

This is the summit to which all the Traditional/Religious Paths lead. Our Path does so via the vast mystery of the Fundamental Vow (to rescue us from the burning house) and the Nenbutsu.

I believe that our Path has become even easier than it was in Shinran Shounin’s time – just as it has in the other Traditions. But in any case it leads to the same Summit.

Amida-sama is as old as the Gods of other traditions and – from our point of view – encompasses them all. Amida-sama is not a “historical figure” – if by that we mean some being who existed at a particular time and passed on to another existence – a creature still bound by the Samsara. That is why it is so wrong for both Fundamentalists and Modernists to claim “historicity” for Amida-sama.

Amida-sama is certainly a real Buddha and for that very reason not limited by history or by the lifespan of this particular world-system.


Was the Amida-sama who made the Primal Vow countless kalpas ago a “Buddhist”?

Probably not as we now use the term.

Amida-sama is not contained within religious or other Formulas. Amida-sama is the Absolute. Our task is coming to terms with the vastness and mysterious limitlessness of the Primal Vow as it is contained in the nenbutsu.

We need not worry. All we need to do is trust.