tariki

In the Pure Land way, way back in time, it was said that to be "saved" one must entrust themselves fully to the Vow of Amida. Such entrusting was seen to have three aspects, i.e. sincerity, trust itself, and aspiration - these also known as sincere mind, deep mind, and the mind that aspired for birth (in the Pure Land) and for the directing of virtue. These conditions needed to be "fulfilled." Shinran (13th century) fundamentally altered this understanding by taking "sincere mind" not as the devotees "sincerity", but rather the true and real mind of Amida. Thus, a person does not "sincerely" entrust themselves, but rather the "sincere mind" of Amida is given - by grace - to the person, and this manifests as the person's entrusting and aspiration. Simply put, a Pure Lander trusts the "nature" of Amida (Reality-as-is), not their own, however directed or understood, within or without. (Or, in Christian terms, one trusts in Grace, not in the strength of ones own belief. And this is within the context of realising that which is eternally, of recognising the unchanging nature of the Divine. Such recognition grants us nothing for it is already the reality in which we "live and move and have our being." We just did not know it.) Faith does not arise Within oneself. The Entrusting Heart is itself Given by the Other Power. (Rennyo) This can be experienced to extend to our seeing of the depths of our "sin" (or, in Pure Land terms, our karmic inheritance) The only thing that brings us/allows us, to SEE the full extent of our darkness, is by the light of the infinite compassion of Amida (Reality-as-is). Thus seeing it, is the forgiveness of it. There are no mechanics or "transaction" involved i.e. seeing it, acknowledging it, repenting of it, accepting a substitute in our place to atone for it and then receiving forgiveness for it, and thus switching from being under God's wrath to being transferred to the "Book of Life". (I would just add that the "beauty" of such seeing is that it brings our hearts into line with all others. The deeper we see our "sin" the more, when the "sin" of others is seen, we - rather than judge - just react spontaneously in the sense of "yes, just like me!" ("You ARE that man!" as David was told in the Biblical story) So we have William Blake's....."mutual forgiveness of each vice opens the gates of paradise", long a favorite of mine. And all this against the Pure Land background..... The gift/grace coming from Amida is a free gift, for He/She never asks anything in exchange or in compensation. When the sinner (Japanese ki = jiriki = self-powered person) utters "namu-amida-butsu" in all sincerity they are at once made conscious of their being from the first with Amida and in Amida. There has never been any sort of alienation or estrangement between Amida and the sinner. It was all due to the latter's illusive ideas cherished about themselves. When they are wiped away, they realise that the sun has always been there and they find themselves basking in its light of infinity. (D T Suzuki, from "Notes to Saichi's Journals", an essay in "Mysticism Christian and Buddhist" )

D.T.Suzuki (who is more associated with Zen Buddhism, but had a deep affinity with the Shin - Pure Land - expression of the Buddhist Faith) wrote once of how Amida is known to those that look to him/her as the source of grace. It comes from the book he wrote (or spoke, as it is based upon lectures he gave while in New York in 1958, when Suzuki was 88 years old) .....we believe in Amida Buddha as our Oya-sama, or Oya-san, as it is sometimes called. It is the term used to express love and compassion. Oya means parent, but not either parent, rather both mother and father; not separate personalities, but both fatherly and motherly qualities united in one personality. The honorific san is the familiar form of sama. The latter, Oya-sama,is the standard form. In Christianity, God is addressed as the Father - "Our father who art in Heaven" - but Oya-sama is not in Heaven, nor is Oya-sama Father. It is incorrect to say "he" or "she," for no gender distinction is found. I don't like to say "it," so I don't know what to say. Oya-sama is a unique word, deeply endearing and at the same time rich with religious significance and warmth. Maybe this highlights the limitations of language - even worse, how language can control and direct our thoughts, even keep them in captivity. Just as a slight detour, there is the "eastern" notion of the Tao, as "defined" at the very beginning of the Chinese classic the Tao Te Ching..... The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. In the Chinese translation of St John's gospel, the word "Tao" is used for "Word"..........In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....or....In the beginning was the Tao, and the Tao was with God, and the Tao was God. It seems fairly obvious to me that a mind/heart that has lived within a culture where the ideas and expressions of the Tao Te Ching are prevalent would understand the opening of the gospel in a different light from a mind/heart in which God is often seen as "up there", "out there", even as a "man".

I see this as touching upon the heart of faith, in as much as many would seem to insist that any "segment" is an indispensable part of some sort of mechanics of salvation/enlightenment and that such enlightenment would be impossible without it. From my own perspective this points to the difference between the "word of God" and the Word of God. For me, the Word is to be found everywhere, and is everywhere, for those with the grace to see.

One thing I have come to love - about Pure Land - is the part reliance , not upon the words of a "sacred" text, but on the various anecdotes of devotees. For me this has developed into a love of biographies and autobiographies, where Reality-as-is finds its place in - and as - individual hearts and minds, becomes their life and the events within it. Like the following....... Great compassion awaits us with open arms. Namu-Amida-Butsu is the beckoning call, "Come, just as you are." This openhearted welcome is quietly described by Koshin Ogui in an article carried in the Cleveland Buddhist Temple Newsletter. He relates an experience he once had of returning home from a trip. In his absence the answering machine had recorded four phone calls from the same person. The message was, "Jesus is the only saviour. Believe in him and you'll be saved. Love him and you'll be loved. Anyone who does not believe in him will go to hell." Ogui comments..... What do you say about this message? I don't know why, but then I recalled meeting with my mother on my recent trip to Japan. I hadn't seen her for five years. As soon as I opened the door to the house where I was born, there she was standing right in front of me. She didn't say anything much, but she held my hand and with tears in her eyes, she said, "You came home." Isn't that nice, to be welcomed without any justification, whether I believe in her or not. I realize that I have always been living in her love. I am grateful. Namu-Amida-Butsu. (From "River of Fire, River of Water" by Taitetsu Unno) Sadly, when I posted much the same as this on a Christian Forum the response was that, given that I claimed to rely upon "man" and the testimonies of man, rather than relying upon "the word of God", I was "lost". Such is life. __________________

What comes to mind is the answer Mother Teresa gave to the question why she had ended up serving the homeless in Calcutta........"because I saw the Hitler within me." Just so. For me there can never be a dividing line between those who would/will become "killers" and the "rest of us" who can thus spend time reflecting upon how and why others may or may not become the next mass killer and "what we can do about it". As has been said, there is perhaps no solution, yet I think that saying that reveals in a way that the "solution" is/can be infinite in variety, just as - and because of - the fact that each of us is a unique being. "Salvation" - at least as I see it - can never be "cultural", but will always be individual. Each "works out their own salvation in fear and trembling", yet from my own experience seeking to put ones own "salvation/enlightenment" at the very centre of our path in fact reveals that, inevitably, genuine concern for others evolves from such an apparent "selfish" and insular stance My apologies if such a view does not meet with the parameters set by the OP, yet "we murder to dissect". Derek

To move on, an excerpt from a essay entitled "Shinran's Vision of Absolute Compassion". The excerpt gives a simple overview of the Pure Land understanding of Reality-as-is (Amida), of the nature of grace, and the nature of the "religious" life. (Shinran was a Buddhist who lived in 12/13th century Japan, one of the "founding fathers" of the form of the Pure Land way that developed in Japan) According to Shinran, salvation is entirely a matter of the Vow* (Grace). It does not hang on events and conditions of time and space, or the imposition of man and society. Salvation cannot rest on chance factors. Shinran makes it clear that the reality of Grace requires nothing from the side of man, including the act of faith, as the causal basis for birth in the Pure Land. Otherwise the emphasis on the Vow (Grace) would be devoid of meaning and significance. Our residual karmic bondage may influence the point in our experience when we become aware of Amida's compassion, but it is not a factor in determining whether or not we actually receive that compassion. We are suggesting that from the standpoint of Grace (the Vow) all are equally saved even now, despite the presence or absence of the experience of faith itself. The reason for this is that salvation depends on Grace and not on any finite condition. Someone may ask then what is the point of being religious, if we are saved in any case? This is an important question. However, it reflects the virtually universal notion that religion is a means to an end. We get the benefit of salvation from being religious. For Shinran, however, religion becomes the way to express gratitude for the compassion that supports all our life. It is not a tool for ego advancement or gaining benefits. The point of being religious for Shinran is that when we come to have faith in the Original Vow (Grace) and live in its light, we truly become free to live a full and meaningful existence in this life. Shinran's perspective permits a person to see deeply into their life to detect the springs of compassion which sustains it; it allows them to participate and associate with all types of people despite their unattractiveness or difficulty because they understand the potentiality that works in their very being. In perceiving the compassion that embraces all life, the person of faith can themselves become an expression of that compassion touching the lives of others. (From "Shinran's Vision of Absolute Compassion" by Alfred Bloom, contained within "Living Within Amida's Universal Vow" ) Such words explain from a Pure Land perspective why an "act of faith" - or a choice to "believe" - is seen to be an act of self-power, if such act is considered to be decisive for "salvation"......if seen as initiating a transition from "lost" to "saved".....if seen as determining the attitude of the "divine" towards us in any way.........if seen as transforming such an attitude (of the Divine) from "wrath" to "love and acceptance".......etc etc etc. In fact, a refutation of "Born Again" Conservative Christianity. And just to illuminate the words further, the following.... ......again from the pen of Shinran, from "Hymns of the Pure Land Masters", verse 95...... My eyes being hindered by blind passions, I cannot perceive the light that grasps me; Yet the great compassion, without tiring, Illumines me always And for my Christian friends, from Julian of Norwich on the same theme...... If there be anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love. (P.S.* "The Vow" can be understood as the Primal Will of Reality-as-is that ALL will come to enlightenment, and of the tireless working within - and as - each unique human heart within space and time of that will, to bring it to fruition) __________________

Joseph, the significance of "acceptance" - at least for me - runs throughout all of Reality. Pure mindfulness reveals how I have spent - and spend - much time seeking to become, yet it is not to become, but to be. And paradoxically, genuine transformation seems to come from pure recognition/acceptance, rather than contorted attempts to change.

I would agree that, given that some scholars (not many according to my own reading) still argue/believe that the four Canonical Gospels were written by Matthew, Mark etc, then yes, it would aid clarity for those who do not think so to make such totally clear in their own writings.

To just use the term "Pure Land" is a simplification, as there are many expressions, and Pure Land itself is just one of various expressions of Mahayana Buddhism, which is itself just one of the various expressions of Buddhism itself. And "Buddhism" itself is really just a "western" term stuck onto the Buddhadharma (The way of the Buddha). The West loves its "isms" and "ologies", even its "ainities"...... What is it that attracts me? I find in many Pure Land writings an identification with an honest admission of failure, a recognition that we cannot - and will not - make it alone, yet all embraced by Infinite Compassion. It is this dual perspective, its existential reality, that draws me to the Pure Land! Darkness "illuminates" light, light illuminates darkness. This all - for me - revolves around "acceptance", acceptance of ourselves and acceptance of others. Perhaps to illuminate my own words, and to expand upon them, I would really need to tell my auto-biography. Each of us is a unique individual, and possibly what would draw one towards a particular expression of the Universal would repel another - as Jung has said "there is absolutely no truth that does not spell salvation to one person and damnation to another. All universalisms get stuck in this terrible dilemma." My own path weaved through Fundamentalist Christianity, Atheism and then a very liberal Christianity, then Theravada Buddhism (when I began meditating following a two year bout of severe depression) - and these are only the main sign-posts. Yet there came a point where the questions posed by my own "individuality" seemed to demand another course. I remember at one time posting on the Buddhist forum that I had a growing disatisfaction with certain Theravada teachings, basically because in my eyes it was fundamentally monastic in origin and therefore, at heart, had very little to say to lay people and the lives they lived from day to day. Someone responded at that time, telling me a lot about the Theravada teachings for lay people, and advising me to look them up. I only found out later that this poster was in fact a "Pure Lander", and I found this deeply moving, that he had seen my questions not as an opportunity to "push" his own choice and preference, but had answered instead according to what he understood to be my own need. Anyway, gradually I learned more and more concerning the Pure Land path and found that, being fundamentally lay based and also totally egalitarian (I've always had a hang up concerning so called "masters" and the "need" for them in Buddhism) it spoke to me. I suppose for me the Pure Land way combines certain Christian teachings concerning the efficacy of "grace" and "other power" with all that I have found illuminating in the Dharma. It also explicitly teaches a "universal" salvation with no "double destiny". Again, it understands enlightenment in such a way as to be illuminated itself by the experience of many Christian mystics such as Meister Eckhart and St John of the Cross.............I suppose this appeals to my own heart-felt desire for unity and peace between the Faiths. To become even more personal, a few years ago I identified the need for "trust" in my life. The words of Shinran ( one of the "founding fathers" of Pure Land Buddhism), where he spoke of "self-power" practices as being obstructions to true surrender, seemed to make a great deal of sense. As an experiment - and with a great deal of trepidation -I ceased meditation, and began to say the nembutsu. The rest is silence! (I would just say that now I find that my reading is often a "meditation" in itself - some sort of "compensation mechanism". Often a word, or a short phrase, will initiate a long period of contemplation where the intent of the words sinks in and finds its rest within) Anyway, enough for now. If this is of interest to anyone, so be it. If not, so be it. I will continue to post bits and pieces........

On other forums I have run threads on Pure Land Buddhism. My memory has been playing tricks with me, as I did think that I had done so here. The idea came to me to add the "tos and fros" on another forum (a more "Orthodox/Conservative" one where my posts met with what could be termed "objections"...... ) to the end of the thread I had thought I had run here. However, on looking, such has not been the case. So I will begin a thread and anyone interested can post comments. I have mentioned the Pure Land (Shin) form of the Buddhist faith many times - and now I see without specific reference. I see no reason why I should not cut and paste from my posts on the other forum...............so here we go.

Hopefully all have had a happy and loving Christmas. My own enduring memory will be of my 10 month old grandson, fresh from the opening of his many many presents - most of the "press this" and see what happens push along variety - settling down instead with a sparkling bracelet that was a present for his mum, shaking it deliriously with supreme joy for ten minutes or more. And of course, the fact that for the whole day he would head away from his new toys and crawl straight for the cabinet on which the most expensive ornaments stood........ Anyway, back to Talking Circles. Maybe some here are not aware that I choose to identify more as a Buddhist than anything else, even if labels seem more and more redundant these days. Long ago I "accepted Christ as my own personal Savior" - as the saying goes - but the road leads on and on, and for me, away from any form of Conservative Christianity. Basically I have no belief at all that any "sacred" book is "the one", no belief that any transcendent Being has communicated supremely in just one Book and no other. From my own observation of today's world, and knowledge of history, such a claim and belief has been, and is, the source of untold misery, suffering and conflict between human beings. For me, it is more surrender to the Ground of Being (not to a "being"), the Ground in which we live and move and have our being. Rather than "truth" being found in one book - or ANY book - all reality seeks to open us to Reality-as-is. i bring fullness and satisfaction to the world, like rain that spreads its moisture everywhere. Eminent and lowly, superior and inferior, observers of precepts, violators of precepts, those fully endowed with proper demeanor, those not fully endowed, those of correct views, of erroneous views, of keen capacity, of dull capacity - I cause the Dharma rain to rain on all equally, never lax or neglectful. When all the various living beings hear my Law, they receive it according to their power, dwelling in their different environments..... ..The Law of the Buddhas is constantly of a single flavour, causing the many worlds to attain full satisfaction everywhere; by practicing gradually and stage by stage, all beings can gain the fruits of the way. (The Lotus Sutra, Parable of the Dharma Rain) So, I have had my say in the Talking Circle.

Paul, having saved everyone from another "Clipping" you may well have earned the right to sit back.............. I agree with your sentiments regarding this Forum, though I do see a place for a more robust form of dialogue. But as I indicated elsewhere, at the moment I seek peace. I also concur with a few words by dusktilldawn that revolved around the rather slow pace of things here, yet that such allows for much that can be lost when in the blink of an eye many posts are slung at a topic and the thread either veers off-topic or ends in so many counter claims that my poor old mind staggers away in incomprehension! All the best Derek

On another Forum someone began a "Talking Circle" and it has continued for many hundreds of posts and thousands of views. The thread has been peaceful and welcoming to all. The Talking Circle has been in existence for centuries in Native American Spirituality as a way of resolving problems,disputes and opening to new thoughts and viewpoints, and of understanding that of others. For further background, please try typing "Talking Circles" into Google and a whole host of sites will be offered. I have found it worthwhile to go to some and read a few of the descriptions of the history of the idea as well as much else. Maybe we could try to begin one here? From many introductions it appears there are many seeking to "escape" old thought-forms and embrace a more open way of seeing/being. Yet then, often, there is silence. This is not to say or imply that I believe that the search has ended for anyone, yet it seems that there is greater, possibly unfilled potential, on a Forum such as this, where almost any view can be expressed without fear of censure or flaming, for dialogue and finding new horizons. So of anyone wishes to begin talking, about anything or nothing.................. ........and if there is silence, I threaten a further "random mystical clipping" from my Kindle to start the ball rolling....

......so................from "Sons and Lovers" by D.H.Lawrence, Paul loved to sleep with his mother. Sleep is still most perfect, in spite of hygienists, when it is shared with a beloved. The warmth, the security and peace of soul, the utter comfort from the touch of the other, knits the sleep, so that it takes the body and soul completely in its healing. Paul lay against her and slept, and got better; whilst she, always a bad sleeper, fell later on into a profound sleep that seemed to give her faith. Which, at least for me, conjures up some lines from Auden, from "Lullaby"..... Lay your sleeping head, my love, Human on my faithless arm; Time and fevers burn away Individual beauty from Thoughtful children, and the grave Proves the child ephemeral: But in my arms till break of day Let the living creature lie, Mortal, guilty, but to me The entirely beautiful. So possibly we can reflect upon the loudness of snores, or how our beloved always seems to grasp the lions share of the covers in cold weather............or rest with the "living creature".

hi glint, In the distant past I read the book mentioned myself but like you have only vague memories of its content - only that it had little to do with zen or maintenance, motorcycle or otherwise! Anyway.....................back to the "random mystical clippings"......

Time for another couple of Clippings, these from "Who can Stop the Wind" by Notto Thelle. This was the first time it dawned upon me that faith could separate me from life, or rather, that speculations and pious explanations could build walls that shut out reality. Judging by many of the introductions on this forum, such an awareness has dawned on many here. And....... The voyage into another faith is also a voyage into one's own faith.

Hi David, Welcome to the Forum. I would not worry over much about "seeing" whatever new version of Christianity is on the horizon. As I understand it, it is more a case of being than seeing; as the Divine is not so much that which "knows", as that which is. Living - as much as we are able - in the freedom of that which is, the future and its shape will take care of itself. Anyway, again welcome. Derek

Hi Don (if I might be so informal) Well, as a Zen master once said......."A single fitting statement is an eternal donkey tethering stake."

A more lighthearted clipping (if "lighthearted" be the right word....... ) comes from "Wuthering Heights" where a particular character is described as follows...... He was, and is yet most likely, the wearisomest self-righteous Pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself and fling the curses to his neighbours.

Annie, thanks. Well, looking again at the Clippings there are some words from Rainer Maria Rilke, from "Letters to a Young Poet". A young man had sent Rilke one or two of his own poems, asking for advice. Quite a few exchanges followed which have all been gathered together in the book of letters. Works of art are of an infinite loneliness and nothing can reach them so little as criticism. Only love can grasp them and keep hold of them and be just to them. Always trust yourself and your own feelings as opposed to any such analysis, review or introduction; if you should be wrong, then the natural growth of your inner life will lead you slowly and in time to new realisations. Allow your judgements their own quiet, undisturbed development, which like all progress must come from deep within you and cannot be forced or hastened by anything. The whole thing is to carry the full time and then give birth; to let every impression and every germ of a feeling consummate itself entirely within itself, in that which is dark, inexpressible, unconscious and unattainable by your own intelligence, and to await the hour of the delivery of a new clearness of vision. That alone is to live an artistic life, in understanding, as in creating. For me, such relates to all life. An over conscious attempt at control, relating everything back to the centre of a perceived "self" is for me a life that is faithless. Faith rests in the Divine, however understood. Just as many talk always of the need to "accept Christ", an act of the self that has "made its decision" and thus, among other things, can now see the way clear to condemn those who have chosen otherwise! Yet we are told that we have been chosen before the foundation of the world (Ephesians); it is we who are chosen, we do not choose - only recognise that which already is if we just allow it to be/become. That seems to be the way of it, "east" or "west". The more we seek to be in control, the more that we think we are, and the more of our own choices we rely upon, then the more conflict between us all. When we rest in such a way the choices we then make take on a certain spontaneity.

I have had an enforced absence from the forum due to my laptop imploding on me! There was a splattering buzz, the screen went black and all the lights went out. A PC doctor at work has told me that the fan got jammed, plus there were loose connections on one or two memory blocks...........which sounds familiar in other circumstances...... Anyway, I have invested in a brand new Laptop and have got it up and running - which seems very easy these days, you just need to press the power button and the PC tells you what it is doing! So it is back to my Clippings file and I have found the following, drawn from a little book by Jane Hirshfield called "The Heart of Haiku" where the author speaks of the spirit of the Haiku, and speaking further of one of its most famous exponents, Basho, says....... A wanderer all his life both in body and spirit, Basho concerned himself less with destination than with the quality of the traveller's attention. Which for me has much to teach concerning how we live our lives. As a taster, here are one or two Haiku's drawn from a small anthology I have on my Kindle. I dip into it at odd moments. These are by a guy called Issa (1763-1827) and immediately I get a connection of sorts with another human being who lived far away in both time and space..... Ah, the butterfly! flying as if the world had no purpose In the flowers they play hide and seek - the little sparrows This morning - no doubt! - a solitary leaf fell into silence

Browsing again through the various "Clippings" I find another drawn from "War and Peace"..........which seems to draw upon the "ha ha ha" (now called "insanity"...... ) in AnnieG's quote....... Pierre's insanity consisted in not waiting, as he used to do, to discover personal attributes which he termed "good qualities" in people before loving them; his heart was now overflowing with love, and by loving people without cause he discovered indubitable causes for loving them. Just musing on such words, what has come to mind is a sermon by the Christian mystic Eckhart where he speaks of "all creatures being the Word of God". Which leads to another clipping, this from "A Book of Hours" which itself is a selection from the various writings of Thomas Merton (or words written about him, as in this case)...... Merton knew well that the Word of God is not only being uttered in the sacred scriptures, but more primordially in creation, more existentially in history, more imaginatively in works of art, more immediately and personally in human experience. Because he perceived the dimensionality of the Word of God he understood how to read it in all its myriad forms.

Annie, your quote from "War and Peace" made me think of the words from the NT spoken by Jesus....."You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."

You raise a good point George. As I see it, everything has been done to simulate on the EReader the experience of a real book. So why should we not be able to download (i.e. loan) any book we have purchased to another? No restriction is put on the loan of any "real" book to another. Once bought, surely it is ours to do what we like with? I see no difference between letting another have a real book I have bought and downloading an ebook to another except that in the latter case two copies then exist.So perhaps that is it?

George. I was understanding your "un-loanability" as regarding the Kindle owners ability to loan a book- or not - from the initial seller, not as loaning a book to another kindle owner. I would think that though one can download from one device to another (this according to a computer geek I know) , I would assume books loaned on the Prime system would have some sort of "block" built in to prevent this.