Tucson shinshu sangha
Shin Buddhism
Hear the dharma, observe the self.
*
Shift in focus, change in basis
Nobuo Haneda, Director of the Maida Center in Berkeley California, says that when we meet a “power” that is outside, beyond ourselves—beyond, that is, our also-powerful, compelling, hypnotic self-love—we have a chance to hear something that would not have occurred to us if we only listened to the relentless dream-chatter of our personal minds.
We accidentally hear a sound or catch a glimpse of something unexpected. It surprises us: “What…?!” This surprise is outside the repetitive loop of ego-mind, dream-mind, survival-mind. This is like driving around a bend on a monotonous highway, in a daydream, and suddenly the vast ocean is there, and the clear blue sky. It shocks us out of our reverie. Isn’t that experience better than reverie? Isn’t that what we really wanted all along?
This kind of “wanting” is primordial. Haneda, tracking the ancient Shin view, calls it “primordial aspiration.” Something inside suddenly recognizes something outside. “What…?! Oh, that’s what I really want. That’s what I really am! Not all this chatter, this mental gibberish.”
Centuries ago the great revolutionary Buddhist thinker Shinran caught a glimpse of this view while in the presence of his teacher, Honen. In his book Dharma Breeze, Haneda writes that Honen’s spirit made a “crack” in Shinran’s “world of self-love.” Then “cool fresh air started to gush into his world.” Honen’s life, demeanor, spirit, “made Shinran realize that he had been living in a ‘garbage can’ and that the entirety of the self” had been nothing but this container of garbage. While he had, until then, believed that he could sweeten, improve, enlighten his life-inside-the-can, he now saw that this was a mistake. “He realized there was only stinkiness in the garbage can. Even what he considered purity in it was another form of stinkiness.”
Then Shinran “no longer considered the self, the garbage can, important. Now he considered the self worth forgetting.”
Being “overwhelmed and permeated” by this fresh air, "Shinran shifted his focus from the self to the spirit that Honen embodied, from the garbage can to the fresh air. In this way Shinran’s spiritual basis was totally changed.”
Haneda concludes, “When we are shaken and overwhelmed by this [primordial] power, we resonate with it and can forget our individual happiness or liberation. This self-forgetfulness is actually the realization of our true happiness or liberation.”
Hear the dharma, observe the self.
*
Shift in focus, change in basis
Nobuo Haneda, Director of the Maida Center in Berkeley California, says that when we meet a “power” that is outside, beyond ourselves—beyond, that is, our also-powerful, compelling, hypnotic self-love—we have a chance to hear something that would not have occurred to us if we only listened to the relentless dream-chatter of our personal minds.
We accidentally hear a sound or catch a glimpse of something unexpected. It surprises us: “What…?!” This surprise is outside the repetitive loop of ego-mind, dream-mind, survival-mind. This is like driving around a bend on a monotonous highway, in a daydream, and suddenly the vast ocean is there, and the clear blue sky. It shocks us out of our reverie. Isn’t that experience better than reverie? Isn’t that what we really wanted all along?
This kind of “wanting” is primordial. Haneda, tracking the ancient Shin view, calls it “primordial aspiration.” Something inside suddenly recognizes something outside. “What…?! Oh, that’s what I really want. That’s what I really am! Not all this chatter, this mental gibberish.”
Centuries ago the great revolutionary Buddhist thinker Shinran caught a glimpse of this view while in the presence of his teacher, Honen. In his book Dharma Breeze, Haneda writes that Honen’s spirit made a “crack” in Shinran’s “world of self-love.” Then “cool fresh air started to gush into his world.” Honen’s life, demeanor, spirit, “made Shinran realize that he had been living in a ‘garbage can’ and that the entirety of the self” had been nothing but this container of garbage. While he had, until then, believed that he could sweeten, improve, enlighten his life-inside-the-can, he now saw that this was a mistake. “He realized there was only stinkiness in the garbage can. Even what he considered purity in it was another form of stinkiness.”
Then Shinran “no longer considered the self, the garbage can, important. Now he considered the self worth forgetting.”
Being “overwhelmed and permeated” by this fresh air, "Shinran shifted his focus from the self to the spirit that Honen embodied, from the garbage can to the fresh air. In this way Shinran’s spiritual basis was totally changed.”
Haneda concludes, “When we are shaken and overwhelmed by this [primordial] power, we resonate with it and can forget our individual happiness or liberation. This self-forgetfulness is actually the realization of our true happiness or liberation.”
* * *
The Recognition of Impermanence
Excerpt by Shuichi Maida, translated by Nobuo Haneda
The recognition of impermanence liberates all. Liberation means becoming impermanence and working as impermanence itself. In that sense, all existing things are already liberated, just as they are, because they are already working as impermanence itself. Such things as plants, trees, fishes, and insects are already liberated. Only human beings experience (or awaken to) this liberation by recognizing impermanence. For an impermanent being to become aware of being an impermanent being is called recognition.
Thus the crucial question in life can be solved through recognition, not through actions or practice but simply through recognition. That is why it is said that liberation is not a matter of practice, but a matter of understanding. It is not in the future; it is in the present moment. Action, or what should be done, has something to do with the future. But liberation is in the eternal now. That is why I say that it is a matter of recognition. It is recognition, nothing else, that immediately enables us to cognize eternal life and thereby know that we are living in the eternal now.
When we go through the hundred-eighty degree turn in life because of recognition, a perfectly free life becomes possible. A perfectly free life is not a practice realized through our efforts; it is something that becomes possible because of recognition.
*
From the Dharma Breeze newsletter:
Buddhism talks about the two ways of transcending things such as dualistic human wisdom, deluded ideas, and blind passions: (1) transcending them by eliminating them and (2) transcending them by seeing them. Non-Shinshu teachers teach us the first way of transcending. Shinran teaches us the second way. Shinran tells us that when we receive the Buddha’s wisdom-perspective and are able to clearly see the self (i.e., human wisdom, deluded ideas, and blind passions) through that perspective, we are transcending it, although we have not eliminated it.
Here an example that shows the Shinshu way of transcending is in order. I can talk about the smallness of my house and the hugeness of the world outside it. If I only stay in my house, I cannot see its smallness; I think that my house is a huge world and all the things I do in it have great significance. For example, my occasional argument with my wife is a matter of great significance, and which one of us is right is a matter of great importance. But if I happen to see my house from an airplane in the sky, I can see the smallness of the house and all the things that take place there. Then I can simultaneously transcend my misguided view that my house is a huge world and all the things that take place in it have great significance. This transcendence, however, does not mean that I stop arguing with my wife. I still do, but there is a difference between before and after seeing the house from the sky. Before I thought everything about the house had great significance, but now I don’t think so. Although I still have my karma of arguing with my wife, I can now see it as a matter that does not have absolute importance. I can now laugh at myself and all the things that I do. This is the Shinshu way of transcending.
Shinjin awakening means the same thing. “Seeing it is transcending it.” It does not mean that we can eliminate things such as dualistic human wisdom [deluded ideas, blind passions]; it means that we clearly see their pettiness and smallness and become liberated from attachment to them.
Shinjin awakening is accompanied by a sense of both sadness and joy: the sadness of seeing the self that lives in the small world of human wisdom and the joy of seeing the self transcending the small world. This is the unique aspect of Shinran’s shinjin awakening.
Non-Shinshu teachers say that their liberation experience is accompanied by a sense of great joy at having eliminated dualistic human wisdom and becoming one with the Buddha’s wisdom or at having eliminated their blind passions. They seldom talk about the sadness of seeing the self that still lives in a small world of human wisdom or the self that still has deluded views and blind passions. But Shinran is different. He tells us that a shinjin person experiences both deep sadness at having dualistic human wisdom, deluded ideas, and blind passions and deep joy at receiving the Buddha’s wisdom that enables us to transcend them.
Shinran never places himself on the side of the Buddha’s wisdom or the Dharma. He never claims that he has become one with the Buddha’s wisdom. He always sees himself as a recipient of light; he keeps on recognizing the depth of his darkness, being illumined by the light… He experiences both the sadness of discovering the miserable reality of the self and the joy of being embraced by the Buddha’s light.
[On gratitude:]
…for Shinran, receiving the Buddha’s wisdom—the wisdom that transforms the negative into the positive—is everything in Buddhism. If a person receives the Buddha’s wisdom, all the negative things, such as sickness, poverty, an accident, a disaster, start to have positive meanings—they turn into “our teachers.” If all those negative things turn into something meaningful, they become the objects of our gratitude. Then our regular gratitude that is directed only toward positive things, such as health, wealth, and happiness, start to appear shallow. When we say, “I am so grateful,” we are usually talking about positive things, such as wonderful health, a nice family, and a nice job. We seldom feel grateful for the negative things we have in our lives.
Shinran knew that if we receive the Buddha’s wisdom alone, all things in our lives, not only the positive things but also the negative things, would become indispensable conditions for the fulfillment of our lives. That’s why he expressed his gratitude exclusively to those who guided him to the Buddha's wisdom, and did not talk about his gratitude for other things.
One of Shinran’s expressions of gratitude is as follows:
Such is the benevolence of Amida Buddha’s great compassion,
That we cannot help returning it, even to the breaking of our bodies;
Such is the benevolence of the master [i.e., Shakyamuni] and true teachers,
That we cannot help repaying it, even to our bones becoming dust.
(Nobuo Haneda, Dharma Breeze newsletter, December 2018)
*
Difficult to accept
Shin is called the “easy” path. Yet Shinran says shinjin (liberation, bodhicitta, etc.) is the most difficult of all difficulties.
Is this a contradiction? No. It’s explained by Shinran, or hinted at, in various ways. One of them is his inclusion of a quote by Master Yuan-chao:
“This must be called that which is ‘for all people of the world, most difficult to accept.’” (CWS p. 109)
This means “it is so simple that nobody believes it – that it is extremely difficult to accept it.” (Nobuo Haneda)
Comment: Liberation is our natural state. It’s prior to our thinking. Nothing is easier, or quicker, than “prior.” It is ineluctable, inescapable. We ignorantly and habitually make efforts to escape that which cannot be escaped by attaching, doubting, conceptualizing.
Shinjin is not the most difficult. It’s the easiest. But this fact is the most difficult thing for human beings to accept!
“…what all the Buddhas praise is not futile. They instruct sentient beings to hear and accept.” (Yuan-chao)
*
Not even a hair… (by Soga Ryojin)
Human beings fortunately have the faculty of association. This makes our thoughts plentiful, affords us space to move, and makes it easy to solve all difficult problems. When I want to solve a problem, I first forget logic and theory, and start associating in a desultory manner, turning my mind to things outside the problem. Interpretation lies in association, not in logic. When I can directly associate the Buddha and all things, there is salvation. As long as I insert ethics and scholarship in between, I am in the gate of self-power of the sages and not in true faith. Faith of absolute other-power can associate Buddha and common mortal so that not even a hair separates the two. This means that I directly step over from sin and evil to the great compassion of the Buddha, and return again from the Buddha’s great compassion to the common mortal of sin and evil.
All these complicated intermediary concepts are gradually skipped over, and finally only the two concepts of Buddha and common mortal remain. In this way, all conditions fall away from the concept of salvation, and unconditional salvation obtains.
*
From The Hymn of True Shinjin and the Nembutsu by Shinran:
The light of compassion that grasps us illumines and protects us always;
The darkness of our ignorance is already broken through;
Still the clouds and mists of greed and desire, anger and hatred,
Cover as always the sky of true and real shinjin.
But though the light of the sun is veiled by clouds and mists,
Beneath the clouds and mists there is brightness, not dark.
When one realizes shinjin, seeing and revering and attaining great joy,
One immediately leaps crosswise, closing off the five evil courses.
*
The Evil Person
Shuichi Maida, translated by Nobuo Haneda
"When we base our actions on the premise that we are 'evil persons'--beings deserving annihilation--there is nothing whatever to be accomplished. How terrible it is that people in this world honor 'getting something accomplished'! Do they consider it praiseworthy for an evil person to accomplish evil? It should rather be said that it is good that one does not accomplish a thing. People often say admiringly of a person, 'He is a man of strong will.' This is another terrible and unintrospective statement. Do they consider it praiseworthy to perpetrate evil with a strong will?
"There is nothing whatever to be accomplished by an evil person. An evil person deserves annihilation...Shinran said, 'For a foolish, ordinary person full of desire and suffering, all things in this ever-changing world--this burning house--are false, empty, and untrue.' ...
"The evil person might as well be annihilated. He is just like a leaf being blown by the dry wind of autumn. This light quality--being shallow, unattached, easily blown away, and exactly the opposite of 'wanting to get something accomplished'--characterizes the human being who bases his life on the premise that 'I am an evil person.'
"There is nothing serious in such a person. If the evil person were to become serious, his evil would become more and more serious. How terrible that would be! All those who wear serious facial expressions, without exception, are showing that they are making their evil more and more serious. It is a hell of a danger. Thunderbolts are about to descend."
*
Oh, Ignorence!
Haya Akegarasu, translated by Nobuo Haneda
"For a long time I wanted to know Shakyamuni's exact thought at the moment of his awakening. But I could not understand it. Initially I thought that Shakyamuni awakened to his Buddha-nature. This was probably so, but I could hardly understand that within the context of my own life.
"This year I have come to understand that Shakyamuni's exact thought at the moment of his awakening was expressed in his shout 'Oh, ignorance!' 'Oh ignorance!' means 'Oh, darkness!' When Shakyamuni said this, the devil that he saw face-to-face was not actually a devil in front of him, but was his own self. Thus his conquering the devil meant his becoming the devil. In this sense, Shakyamuni's exact thought at the moment of his awakening was his realization that 'I am the devil.' When he had this great awakening, a tremendous sphere of oneness--in which he became completely one with all things--opened up for him."
*
From "Gutoku's Notes, second fascicle":
Concerning the contrast of “within” and “without”:
Within, nonbuddhist teachings; without, Buddhist teachings.
Within, the Path of Sages; without, the Pure Land way.
Within, doubt; without, trust.
Within, evil nature; without, good nature.
Within, wrong; without, right.
Within, deceit; without, sincerity.
Within, incorrect; without, correct.
Within, falsity; without, truth.
Within, admixture; without, singleness.
Within, foolish; without, wise.
Within, provisional; without, true.
Within, hesitation; without, advance.
Within, remote; without, familiar.
Within, distant; without, near.
Within, roundabout; without, direct.
Within, difference; without, accord.
Within, conflict; without, conformity.
Within, disregard; without, reverence.
Within, shallow; without, deep.
Within, pain; without, joy.
Within, poison; without, medicine.
Within, timidity; without, strength.
Within, indolence; without, courage.
Within, interruption; without, constancy.
Within, self-power; without, Other Power.
("Gutoku," meaning something like "bald-headed fool," was Shinran's nickname for himself.)
*
From Haya Akegarasu's "Miscellaneous Notes":
If a person understands things as they really are, then whatever he does is all right. If he does not understand things as they are, then whatever he does, regardless, is worthless. A thief who has a straightforward mind is more worthy of respect than a person who simply copies the deeds of the clever. Because I can spit on the artificial wise man, I want to shake hands with the thief who is himself.
. . .
In this world, the most pitiful creatures are monks, ministers, and teachers. They cannot even sing a song in a loud voice. They cannot even feel the glow of the drink when they take a glass of wine.
In this world, monks, ministers and teachers are the most hateful. Not only do they delude society and people: they delude even themselves. I long to meet a monk who is not like monks, a minister who is not like ministers, a teacher who is not like teachers.
. . .
It’s so ridiculous and pathetic. Society is very easy to cheat, isn’t it? A man is termed a “wise man” by society even when he is cheating it.
. . .
One of these people said to me: “When I recite the Nembutsu, I really get a load off my chest.” I replied, “I really get a load off my chest when I make wind.”
(“Shout of Buddha,” p. 201-203)
*
The Recognition of Impermanence
Excerpt by Shuichi Maida, translated by Nobuo Haneda
The recognition of impermanence liberates all. Liberation means becoming impermanence and working as impermanence itself. In that sense, all existing things are already liberated, just as they are, because they are already working as impermanence itself. Such things as plants, trees, fishes, and insects are already liberated. Only human beings experience (or awaken to) this liberation by recognizing impermanence. For an impermanent being to become aware of being an impermanent being is called recognition.
Thus the crucial question in life can be solved through recognition, not through actions or practice but simply through recognition. That is why it is said that liberation is not a matter of practice, but a matter of understanding. It is not in the future; it is in the present moment. Action, or what should be done, has something to do with the future. But liberation is in the eternal now. That is why I say that it is a matter of recognition. It is recognition, nothing else, that immediately enables us to cognize eternal life and thereby know that we are living in the eternal now.
When we go through the hundred-eighty degree turn in life because of recognition, a perfectly free life becomes possible. A perfectly free life is not a practice realized through our efforts; it is something that becomes possible because of recognition.
*
From the Dharma Breeze newsletter:
Buddhism talks about the two ways of transcending things such as dualistic human wisdom, deluded ideas, and blind passions: (1) transcending them by eliminating them and (2) transcending them by seeing them. Non-Shinshu teachers teach us the first way of transcending. Shinran teaches us the second way. Shinran tells us that when we receive the Buddha’s wisdom-perspective and are able to clearly see the self (i.e., human wisdom, deluded ideas, and blind passions) through that perspective, we are transcending it, although we have not eliminated it.
Here an example that shows the Shinshu way of transcending is in order. I can talk about the smallness of my house and the hugeness of the world outside it. If I only stay in my house, I cannot see its smallness; I think that my house is a huge world and all the things I do in it have great significance. For example, my occasional argument with my wife is a matter of great significance, and which one of us is right is a matter of great importance. But if I happen to see my house from an airplane in the sky, I can see the smallness of the house and all the things that take place there. Then I can simultaneously transcend my misguided view that my house is a huge world and all the things that take place in it have great significance. This transcendence, however, does not mean that I stop arguing with my wife. I still do, but there is a difference between before and after seeing the house from the sky. Before I thought everything about the house had great significance, but now I don’t think so. Although I still have my karma of arguing with my wife, I can now see it as a matter that does not have absolute importance. I can now laugh at myself and all the things that I do. This is the Shinshu way of transcending.
Shinjin awakening means the same thing. “Seeing it is transcending it.” It does not mean that we can eliminate things such as dualistic human wisdom [deluded ideas, blind passions]; it means that we clearly see their pettiness and smallness and become liberated from attachment to them.
Shinjin awakening is accompanied by a sense of both sadness and joy: the sadness of seeing the self that lives in the small world of human wisdom and the joy of seeing the self transcending the small world. This is the unique aspect of Shinran’s shinjin awakening.
Non-Shinshu teachers say that their liberation experience is accompanied by a sense of great joy at having eliminated dualistic human wisdom and becoming one with the Buddha’s wisdom or at having eliminated their blind passions. They seldom talk about the sadness of seeing the self that still lives in a small world of human wisdom or the self that still has deluded views and blind passions. But Shinran is different. He tells us that a shinjin person experiences both deep sadness at having dualistic human wisdom, deluded ideas, and blind passions and deep joy at receiving the Buddha’s wisdom that enables us to transcend them.
Shinran never places himself on the side of the Buddha’s wisdom or the Dharma. He never claims that he has become one with the Buddha’s wisdom. He always sees himself as a recipient of light; he keeps on recognizing the depth of his darkness, being illumined by the light… He experiences both the sadness of discovering the miserable reality of the self and the joy of being embraced by the Buddha’s light.
[On gratitude:]
…for Shinran, receiving the Buddha’s wisdom—the wisdom that transforms the negative into the positive—is everything in Buddhism. If a person receives the Buddha’s wisdom, all the negative things, such as sickness, poverty, an accident, a disaster, start to have positive meanings—they turn into “our teachers.” If all those negative things turn into something meaningful, they become the objects of our gratitude. Then our regular gratitude that is directed only toward positive things, such as health, wealth, and happiness, start to appear shallow. When we say, “I am so grateful,” we are usually talking about positive things, such as wonderful health, a nice family, and a nice job. We seldom feel grateful for the negative things we have in our lives.
Shinran knew that if we receive the Buddha’s wisdom alone, all things in our lives, not only the positive things but also the negative things, would become indispensable conditions for the fulfillment of our lives. That’s why he expressed his gratitude exclusively to those who guided him to the Buddha's wisdom, and did not talk about his gratitude for other things.
One of Shinran’s expressions of gratitude is as follows:
Such is the benevolence of Amida Buddha’s great compassion,
That we cannot help returning it, even to the breaking of our bodies;
Such is the benevolence of the master [i.e., Shakyamuni] and true teachers,
That we cannot help repaying it, even to our bones becoming dust.
(Nobuo Haneda, Dharma Breeze newsletter, December 2018)
*
Difficult to accept
Shin is called the “easy” path. Yet Shinran says shinjin (liberation, bodhicitta, etc.) is the most difficult of all difficulties.
Is this a contradiction? No. It’s explained by Shinran, or hinted at, in various ways. One of them is his inclusion of a quote by Master Yuan-chao:
“This must be called that which is ‘for all people of the world, most difficult to accept.’” (CWS p. 109)
This means “it is so simple that nobody believes it – that it is extremely difficult to accept it.” (Nobuo Haneda)
Comment: Liberation is our natural state. It’s prior to our thinking. Nothing is easier, or quicker, than “prior.” It is ineluctable, inescapable. We ignorantly and habitually make efforts to escape that which cannot be escaped by attaching, doubting, conceptualizing.
Shinjin is not the most difficult. It’s the easiest. But this fact is the most difficult thing for human beings to accept!
“…what all the Buddhas praise is not futile. They instruct sentient beings to hear and accept.” (Yuan-chao)
*
Not even a hair… (by Soga Ryojin)
Human beings fortunately have the faculty of association. This makes our thoughts plentiful, affords us space to move, and makes it easy to solve all difficult problems. When I want to solve a problem, I first forget logic and theory, and start associating in a desultory manner, turning my mind to things outside the problem. Interpretation lies in association, not in logic. When I can directly associate the Buddha and all things, there is salvation. As long as I insert ethics and scholarship in between, I am in the gate of self-power of the sages and not in true faith. Faith of absolute other-power can associate Buddha and common mortal so that not even a hair separates the two. This means that I directly step over from sin and evil to the great compassion of the Buddha, and return again from the Buddha’s great compassion to the common mortal of sin and evil.
All these complicated intermediary concepts are gradually skipped over, and finally only the two concepts of Buddha and common mortal remain. In this way, all conditions fall away from the concept of salvation, and unconditional salvation obtains.
*
From The Hymn of True Shinjin and the Nembutsu by Shinran:
The light of compassion that grasps us illumines and protects us always;
The darkness of our ignorance is already broken through;
Still the clouds and mists of greed and desire, anger and hatred,
Cover as always the sky of true and real shinjin.
But though the light of the sun is veiled by clouds and mists,
Beneath the clouds and mists there is brightness, not dark.
When one realizes shinjin, seeing and revering and attaining great joy,
One immediately leaps crosswise, closing off the five evil courses.
*
The Evil Person
Shuichi Maida, translated by Nobuo Haneda
"When we base our actions on the premise that we are 'evil persons'--beings deserving annihilation--there is nothing whatever to be accomplished. How terrible it is that people in this world honor 'getting something accomplished'! Do they consider it praiseworthy for an evil person to accomplish evil? It should rather be said that it is good that one does not accomplish a thing. People often say admiringly of a person, 'He is a man of strong will.' This is another terrible and unintrospective statement. Do they consider it praiseworthy to perpetrate evil with a strong will?
"There is nothing whatever to be accomplished by an evil person. An evil person deserves annihilation...Shinran said, 'For a foolish, ordinary person full of desire and suffering, all things in this ever-changing world--this burning house--are false, empty, and untrue.' ...
"The evil person might as well be annihilated. He is just like a leaf being blown by the dry wind of autumn. This light quality--being shallow, unattached, easily blown away, and exactly the opposite of 'wanting to get something accomplished'--characterizes the human being who bases his life on the premise that 'I am an evil person.'
"There is nothing serious in such a person. If the evil person were to become serious, his evil would become more and more serious. How terrible that would be! All those who wear serious facial expressions, without exception, are showing that they are making their evil more and more serious. It is a hell of a danger. Thunderbolts are about to descend."
*
Oh, Ignorence!
Haya Akegarasu, translated by Nobuo Haneda
"For a long time I wanted to know Shakyamuni's exact thought at the moment of his awakening. But I could not understand it. Initially I thought that Shakyamuni awakened to his Buddha-nature. This was probably so, but I could hardly understand that within the context of my own life.
"This year I have come to understand that Shakyamuni's exact thought at the moment of his awakening was expressed in his shout 'Oh, ignorance!' 'Oh ignorance!' means 'Oh, darkness!' When Shakyamuni said this, the devil that he saw face-to-face was not actually a devil in front of him, but was his own self. Thus his conquering the devil meant his becoming the devil. In this sense, Shakyamuni's exact thought at the moment of his awakening was his realization that 'I am the devil.' When he had this great awakening, a tremendous sphere of oneness--in which he became completely one with all things--opened up for him."
*
From "Gutoku's Notes, second fascicle":
Concerning the contrast of “within” and “without”:
Within, nonbuddhist teachings; without, Buddhist teachings.
Within, the Path of Sages; without, the Pure Land way.
Within, doubt; without, trust.
Within, evil nature; without, good nature.
Within, wrong; without, right.
Within, deceit; without, sincerity.
Within, incorrect; without, correct.
Within, falsity; without, truth.
Within, admixture; without, singleness.
Within, foolish; without, wise.
Within, provisional; without, true.
Within, hesitation; without, advance.
Within, remote; without, familiar.
Within, distant; without, near.
Within, roundabout; without, direct.
Within, difference; without, accord.
Within, conflict; without, conformity.
Within, disregard; without, reverence.
Within, shallow; without, deep.
Within, pain; without, joy.
Within, poison; without, medicine.
Within, timidity; without, strength.
Within, indolence; without, courage.
Within, interruption; without, constancy.
Within, self-power; without, Other Power.
("Gutoku," meaning something like "bald-headed fool," was Shinran's nickname for himself.)
*
From Haya Akegarasu's "Miscellaneous Notes":
If a person understands things as they really are, then whatever he does is all right. If he does not understand things as they are, then whatever he does, regardless, is worthless. A thief who has a straightforward mind is more worthy of respect than a person who simply copies the deeds of the clever. Because I can spit on the artificial wise man, I want to shake hands with the thief who is himself.
. . .
In this world, the most pitiful creatures are monks, ministers, and teachers. They cannot even sing a song in a loud voice. They cannot even feel the glow of the drink when they take a glass of wine.
In this world, monks, ministers and teachers are the most hateful. Not only do they delude society and people: they delude even themselves. I long to meet a monk who is not like monks, a minister who is not like ministers, a teacher who is not like teachers.
. . .
It’s so ridiculous and pathetic. Society is very easy to cheat, isn’t it? A man is termed a “wise man” by society even when he is cheating it.
. . .
One of these people said to me: “When I recite the Nembutsu, I really get a load off my chest.” I replied, “I really get a load off my chest when I make wind.”
(“Shout of Buddha,” p. 201-203)
*
