Pure
Land Buddhism and the Philosophy of Honen and Shinran
By
Mark Unno
Pure Land school.
Advocates of the Pure
Land teachings can be identified quite early in Chinese Buddhist
history, but Pure Land Buddhism emerged as a major force in the T'ang
Dynasty along with Zen. While both arose partially as a reaction
against the metaphysical excesses of the philosophical schools, Zen
focused on awakening through monastic practice, while Pure Land
focused on attaining birth in the Pure Land of the Buddha Amitabha
through practices that were accessible to lay people.
Pure Land Sutras.
Three of the most
prominent sutras of the Pure Land schools of East Asian Buddhism are
The Larger Sutra of Eternal Life, The Amida Sutra (Smaller Sutra of
Eternal Life), and The Meditation Sutra. Like many other Mahayana
Sutras such as the Lotus, Flower Ornament, and Vimalakirti, these
sutras were compiled near the beginning of the Common Era. At the
center of these sutras is the story of the Bodhisattva Dharmakara, a
former king who decides to set out to seek enlightenment. In the
process of doing so, he establishes the Western Pure Land; when
sentient beings accumulate sufficient virtue, they are born there,
and due to the ideal conditions, immediately attain enlightenment. In
later developments, especially in Japan, the Pure Land becomes
virtually synonymous with ultimate reality, emptiness, nirvana.
Practitioners aspiring to
birth in the Pure Land visualize the jewelled paradise of the Buddha
Amitabha, where the evil karma of his or her past is transformed into
the Pure Land and the virtue of its Buddha. Ultimately, even the Pure
Land is transcended, and the practitioner attains awareness of the
non-origination of things, a virtual synonym of emptiness.
Amitabha Buddha.
Bodhisattva Dharmakara
eventually becomes the Buddha Amitabha, the Buddha of infinite light.
Amitabha is also known as Amitayus, the Buddha of Eternal Life, hence
the title of the Larger Sutra. In China and Japan, these two names,
sometimes referring to distinct Buddhas in the Indian context, are
referred to singularly as A-mi-t'o in Chinese and Amida in Japanese.
Furthermore, although male in the Indian context, Amitabha becomes
increasingly referred to in female, maternal terms in East Asia. The
distinctive characteristic of Amitabha is compassion.
The Name of Amida Buddha.
In the Meditation Sutra,
it is stated that, for those who are unable to achieve the meditative
visualization of the Pure Land, the recitative invocation of
Amitabha's name is sufficient to attain birth. In China, and
especially Japan, this becomes the most widespread form of practice,
known as the nembutsu, in which the repetition of the name, Namu
Amida Butsu (I take refuge in Amida Buddha), is the very
manifestation of Amida. Philosophically, to take refuge in Amida
Buddha is to abandon ego-centered, attached thinking and to entrust
oneself to the infinite wisdom (light) and infinite compassion (life)
of Amida. Since the ultimate body, or dharmakaya, of Amida is
formless, one attains formless reality through the name.
Kannon.
Kannon, the bodhisattva
of compassion, is an emanation of Amida. Originating as a male
bodhisattva in India, Avalokiteóvara, this bodhisattva became female
in East Asia and has been one of the most popular deities of
devotion.
Honen (1133-1212).
Exponent of Pure Land
Buddhism. Honen broke with the traditional views of other Buddhists
who looked to a variety of teachings and instead advocated the
single-minded recitation of the nembutsu, Namu Amida Butsu. Honen was
known for his broad and deep philosophical understanding, the purity
of his observance of the precepts, and his ability to cultivate
various states of meditation including visualizations.
Self-power and
other-power.
However, he abandoned
ritual observance of all of these practices at the age of forty-three
and turned his attention solely to the nembutsu. His conclusion was
that, no matter how skillful he may have appeared outwardly, inwardly
it was impossible to become free from thoughts of attachment,
conceit, and insecurity. The failure of this self-effort or
self-power (jiriki) opened up the realm of other-power (tariki), the
formless reality of the highest truth taking shape in the wisdom and
compassion of boundless light, Amida Buddha, embodied in the name.
The two ideas of self-power and other-power are complementary.
Without seeing the one, the other cannot be seen; they are like the
clouds and the sun that shines through them.
Foolish being.
Honen states, "In
the path of the Pure Land one attains birth by returning to an
ignorant fool." One aspect of this indicates the foolishness of
sentient beings, the other aspect the wisdom of one who is aware of
foolishness, a kind of beginner's mind. Thus the same being who
attains awareness of his or her foolishness is also regarded as
"equal to the buddhas."
Pure Land beyond form.
The Pure Land no longer
refers to a jewelled paradise here; it refers to the realm of
emptiness in which all beings and phenomena are grasped in their
suchness. When a disciple asked Honen near the end of his life,
"Master, what is the importance of visualizations," Honen
replied, "At first I, Honen, also engaged in such frivolities,
but no longer. Now I simply say the nembutsu of entrusting."
"Even if one is able to see the jewelled trees [of the Pure
Land], they could not be more beautiful than the blossoms and fruit
of plum and peach trees [found in this world]."
In a sense, the Pure Land
can be understood to be the realm of emptiness. Honen taught that the
unfolding of Amida's compassion and wisdom was felt in this life, but
birth in the Pure Land in the next. This parallels the relationship
between nirvana and Parinirvana in the life of Sakyamuni. As long as
one has attachments, it can be misleading and dangerous to say that
emptiness is already present. However, at the very end of is life,
when a disciple asked Honen if he would be born in the Pure Land, he
replied, "Since I have always been in the Pure Land, that will
not happen."3
Shinran (1173-1262).
Exponent of Pure Land
Buddhism who studied with Honen. His form of Pure Land Buddhism is
often referred to as Shin Buddhism, reflecting his expression,
Jodo-shinshu, the true teaching of the Pure Land. Like his teacher,
he emphasizes the awareness of the foolish being who, endeavoring to
free him or herself from the cycle of ignorance and attachment, sees
more and more clearly his or her own foolishness.
Shinjin.
Like Honen, Shinran
advocated the recitation of the nembutsu. Whereas Honen emphasized
simply repeating the name constantly, Shinran emphasized the
simultaneous awareness of foolishness and the awareness of boundless
compassion. The term for this is shinjin, which is often rendered as
true entrusting, a letting go of all attachments which enables the
natural unfolding of compassion and wisdom. One who attains the
wisdom of true entrusting is regarded as the equal of buddhas. Since
the heart of the nembutsu, as is the case in all forms of practice
which are thought to embody highest truth, is beyond distinctions,
Shinran states, "In the nembutsu, no meaning is the true
meaning."4 At the same time, Shinran cautions, "If you talk
about [this] too much, then 'no meaning' will appear to have some
kind of special meaning."5
Naturalness.
The foolish being is
always contriving or calculating to reach a goal dualistically,
whether that goal is material, such as worldly success or health, or
is spiritual such as enlightenment or birth. The one who becomes
aware of this foolishness and is receptive to the compassion of Amida
is led beyond this contrivance to a realm of spontaneous freedom.
This spontaneity, in contrast to the contrivance of the foolish
being, is called jinen honi, the suchness of spontaneity, or more
simply, naturalness.
The Vow of Amida.
Shinran understands Amida
Buddha in terms of two aspects of the dharmakaya, or dharma-body:
dharmakaya-as-emptiness and the dharmakaya-as-compassion. The
awareness of dharmakaya-as-compassion leads to the realization of
dharmakaya-as-emptiness. The process of being led to the life of
spontaneity through the dharmakaya-as-compassion is expressed as
entrusting oneself to the Vow of Amida, the vow to lead all sentient
beings to buddhahood by awakening them out of their foolishness
