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FACE TO FACE | EASTERN HORIZON 29

is to say the Name of the Tathagata of unhindered light. Ages), Shinran offers a stark description of human
This practice, embodying all good acts and possessing nature: “A foolish being is by nature possessed of blind
all roots of virtue, is perfect and most rapid in bringing passions, so you must recognize yourself as a being
them to fullness. It is the treasure ocean of virtues that of karmic evil.” Shinran’s spirituality of imperfection
is suchness or true reality. For this reason it is called therefore relies upon the working of Amida’s Primal
great practice.” We receive the nembutsu as the working Vow which is beyond the limited ego-self.
of a power beyond the self which is the source of shinjin.
The Name is the activity of enlightenment that is always This dynamic relationship between an individual and
moving towards us and our saying of Namo Amida Amida Buddha is the heart of the Shin Buddhist path,
Butsu is our cry in response to this compassion. Shinran which according to the late Shin Buddhist scholar
also writes, “…Amida grasps beings with the Name. Takamaro Shigaraki, means that “The Buddha’s great
Thus, as we hear it with our ears and say it with our compassion does not exist apart from our realization
lips, exalted virtues without limit grasp and pervade our of our own defiled passions and karmic sins. Great
hearts and minds. It becomes ever after the seed of our compassion exists, necessarily, when it takes in our
Buddhahood, all at once sweeping away a koti of kalpas karmic sin.” This acknowledgment and acceptance of
of heavy karmic evil, and we attain the realization of the our imperfections is the heart of Shin Buddhism which
supreme enlightenment.” It is this realization of Amida’s opens up the possibility for spiritual transformation
compassion working in his life that Shinran was grateful and change.
for, and which formed the basis of his thought.
Shinran saw himself as an icchantika, a hopeless one
A Buddha making itself known in the world of who is bound by their blind passions and unable to
suffering for the sake of sentient beings is the highest follow the Buddha’s path. This is why in Shin Buddhism
ideal of Mahayana Buddhism and aptly describes the we do not take precepts as in other traditions humbly
compassionate activity of Amida Buddha that Shinran acknowledging our own limitations. It was only through
experienced. This is why nembutsu is not a practice to becoming aware of his true nature that Shinran realized
attain enlightenment but rather is a grateful response he was already within Amida’s compassionate embrace.
to the fulfilled promise of awakening made possible This arising of shinjin leads to a life of responding in
through Amida’s Vow. gratitude to the Buddha’s benevolence in which we
naturally cultivate a sense of karmic responsibility
How is Karma understood in Shin Buddhism if by being mindful of our thoughts, words, and actions
salvation is through Amida Buddha rather than benefiting self and others.
through one’s own efforts?
Does Shin Buddhist practice include meditation like

The ultimate spiritual reality for Shinran is the all the other Buddhist traditions?
realization that human beings are karmically burdened
and limited in their capacity for attaining enlightenment Formal meditative practice is not part of the Shin
and thus are embraced by the compassionate activity Buddhist tradition. However, a contemplative life is
of Amida Buddha. In the Mattōshō (Lamp for the Latter cultivated through the practice of chanting and deep