With reverence, I remain I have written this on the 3rd day, 3rd month, 6th year of Bunmei ( 1474CE).
The men of evil that commit the Ten Major Evils and the Five Cardinal Sins, and women inherent of the Five Obstacles and the Three Reliance’s who are forgotten and cast aside, by the Buddhas of the past, present (and future) and also by the Buddhas of the Universe, are the common unenlightened individuals like you and me. However, Amida Tathágata that we mention here (being the prime source and Teacher of all the various Buddhas of the Three Worlds and of the Ten Directions) is the eternal Buddha who attained perfect Enlightenment long ago in time immemorial. This is the Buddha that established the Great Un-obstructable Vow, "I, alone, shall deliver them." "Them" meaning the unenlightened beings who for eternities will be without any virtues and the females who are inherent of the Five Obstacles and the Three Reliance’s that have been abandoned by all the various other Buddhas. Amida established the inimitable Universal Vow whereby He would deliver all sentient beings without discrimination; and after the complete establishment of these Vows, He has since become Amida Buddha. The unenlightened beings of this Degenerate Third Era do not have two or three paths that will lead them to final enlightenment. They have only one path! This is the path of sole and complete reliance upon this Tathágata! Therefore, those who understand well the Faith of the Other-Power as taught by Shinran Shonin will all, ten for ten, be reborn in the Pure Land without fail. Thus, to the question: If I should desire to receive this Faith and be reborn in Amida's Land of Recompense, how should I direct my heart and how should I believe this that is called "Faith"? I respectfully request an answer to this. In answer, I reply: The meaning of "Faith of the Other-Power" as taught by Shinran Shonin of our school is nothing other than this: A person will be embraced, without fail, within the bright Universal Light of Amida Tathágata when he (realizing how shameful an evil being he truly is) places single-hearted reliance on Amida Tathágata; discards all other practices; arrives into the state of discarding self-power; and receives the arousal (of the feeling) to rely exclusively upon the Other-Power. What I have just said describes accurately the details of our receiving the True Assurance of rebirth. What one should believe is that he will enter the ranks of those whose rebirth is decided at that simultaneous instant of his arousal of Faith with the single-hearted reliance in Amida. The Sacred Name (wherever and whenever it is repeated) is the Nembutsu to express gratitude for the Grace of Amida Tathágata for the easy manner and the assurance of our rebirth in the life to come. Such a person is said to be one who has received Faith of our sect.
With reverence, I remain Middle of the 3rd month, 6th year of Bunmei (1474CE)
Our sect has classified the various practices and the countless virtuous acts as impure practices to be looked upon with antipathy and aversion where the placement of reliance on Amida Tathágata is concerned. The basic reason for this is the Great Vow of Amida Tathágata in which He vowed that He will deliver (without regard to the depths of their evilness) any and all beings who place single-hearted reliance upon Him. Single-hearted reliance means the condition of not placing any other Buddha next to Amida Buddha for consideration. In society there is a principle to serve only one master at any one time. Thus, there is a non-Buddhist saying that goes, "A loyal man holds allegiance to only one master! A good woman is faithful to only one husband in her lifetime." Amida Tathágata is the prime-Buddha and Teacher of all the other Buddhas of the Three Worlds. How can these various subordinate Buddhas help but rejoice when we place our complete trust in that Buddha who is their Teacher also. You should believe this without any reservations. Inasmuch as the sphere of practice called "Namu Amida Butsu" completely encompasses all the guardian deities (including the various Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the countless virtues and innumerable practices), what sense of inadequateness does one feel in his heart that he should seek the merits from accomplishment of various practices or the accumulation of countless virtues? The sacred Name of Namu Amida Butsu already incorporates the total body of the countless virtues and the innumerable practices, and, as such, is completely trustworthy. Accordingly, how, does one place reliance and faith in this Amida Tathágata and be reborn in the Land of Bliss? It is nothing more than a firm belief that we are shameful beings, harboring deep and burdensome evils of the worst degree, whose abode could be no place else but Hell, and that Amida Tathágata graciously established His Vow that He alone would deliver us beings. With this firm belief and if conditions are ripe for one to receive Faith which is instantaneous with the total reliance on Amida, a culmination of related past conditions shall occur and we become recipients of the Faith of the Other-Power through the wisdom of Amida Tathágata. Thus, the mergence into one of the heart of Amida Buddha and the heart of the enlightened person is pointed out singularly, and such a person is called a follower who has received Faith. Following this reception of Faith, one should believe and express deeply the sense of gratitude owed Amida for his Great Compassionate Universal Vow; this is done through the repeated recitation of the Nembutsu while awake or asleep, in the most natural manner, and without any affectations.
Уважаемый посетитель!
Чтобы распечатать файл, скачайте его (в формате Word).
Ссылка на скачивание - внизу страницы.