by Donald Lopez
Chinul: First let us take sudden awakening. When the ordinary man is deluded, he assumes that the four great elements are his body and the false thoughts are his mind. He does not know that his own nature is the true dharma-body; he does not know that his own numinous awareness is the true buddha. He looks for the buddha outside his mind. While he is thus wandering aimlessly, the entrance to the road might by chance be pointed out by a wise adviser. If in one thought he then follows back the light [of his mind to its source] and sees his own original nature, he will discover that the ground of this nature is innately free of defilement, and that he himself is originally endowed with the non-outflow wisdom-nature which is not a hair’s breadth different from that of all the buddhas. Hence it is called sudden awakening.
Next let us consider gradual cultivation. Although he has awakened to the fact that his original nature is no different from that of the buddhas, the beginningless habit-energies are extremely difficult to remove suddenly and so he must continue to cultivate while relying on this awakening. Through this gradual permeation, his endeavours reach completion. He constantly nurtures the sacred embryo, and after a long time he becomes a saint. Hence it is called gradual cultivation.
This process can be compared to the maturation of a child. From the day of its birth, a baby is endowed with all the sense organs just like everyone else, but its strength is not yet fully developed. It is only after many months and years that it will finally become an adult.
Question: Through what expedients is it possible to trace the radiance of one’s sense-faculties in a single thought and awaken to the self-nature?
Chinul: The nature is just your own mind. What other expedients do you need? If you ask for expedients to seek understanding, you are like a person who, because he does not see his own eyes, assumes that he has no eyes and decides to find some way to see. But since he does have eyes, how else is he supposed to see? If he realizes that in fact he has never lost his eyes, this is the same as seeing his eyes, and no longer would he waste his time trying to find a way to see. How then could he have any thoughts that he could not see? Your own numinous awareness is exactly the same. Since this awareness is your own mind, how else are you going to understand? If you seek some other way to understand, you will never understand. Simply by knowing that there is no other way to understand, you are seeing the nature.
Question: When the superior man hears the dharma, he understands easily. Average and inferior men, however, are not without doubt and confusion. Could you describe some expedients so that the deluded too can enter into enlightenment?
Chinul: The path is not related to knowing or not knowing. You should get rid of the mind which clings to its delusion and looks forward to enlightenment, and listen to me.
Since all dharmas are like dreams or phantoms, deluded thoughts are originally calm and the sense-spheres are originally void. At the point where all dharmas are void, the numinous awareness is not obscured. That is to say, this mind of void and calm, numinous awareness is not obscured. It is also the dharma-seal transmitted without a break by all the buddhas of the three time periods, the successive generations of patriarchs, and the wise advisers of this world. If you awaken to this mind, then this is truly what is called not following the rungs of a ladder: you climb straight to the stage of buddhahood, and each step transcends the triple world. Returning home, your doubts will be instantly resolved and you will become the teacher of men and gods. Endowed with compassion and wisdom and complete in the twofold benefit, you will be worthy of receiving the offerings of men and gods. Day after day you can use ten thousand taels of gold without incurring debt. If you can do this, you will be a truly great man who has indeed finished the tasks of this life.
Translated by Robert Buswell from Susim kyŏl. The translation appears in his The Korean Approach to Zen: The Collected Works of Chinul (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1983), pp. 143–5.
42
RECITING THE NAME OF THE BUDDHA
It is prophesied in numerous texts that the teachings of the Buddha will one day disappear from the world. The prophecies differ on how long the dharma will remain after the death of the Buddha; some say only five hundred years, some say two thousand. But all describe a gradual process of decline, not in the quality of the doctrine but in the quality of the disciples; the monks will be lax in their maintenance of their vows, the laypeople will be complacent, and the general fortitude and intelligence of practitioners will decline.
In China, Buddhists often despaired of their ability to make sense of the mass of disparate texts, doctrines and practices that reached them from India. From the fifth century onwards, the decline of the dharma became a consistent concern of Chinese Buddhist thought and practice. Some concluded that they were living in the last stage of the decline of the dharma and thus were constitutionally incapable of making progress on the path that the Buddha had set forth.
Perhaps the most influential response to the disappearance of the dharma in East Asia was Pure Land practice. Devotion to Amitābha and the prayer to be reborn in his pure land was a common element of many Chinese Buddhist schools. However, in the sixth century, some monks began to argue that in the time of the decline of the dharma it was no longer possible to follow the path traversed by the great arhats and bodhisattvas of the past. The monk Daozhuo (562–645) said that there were two paths: the path of sages and the path of rebirth in Amitābha’s Land of Bliss (see Chapter 8). Only the latter was accessible to beings living in the degenerate age because Amitābha had made a vow to deliver all who sincerely sought it.
The central practice in China was called nianfo, a term that means ‘buddha contemplation’, ‘buddha intonation’, and ‘buddha invocation’. It is a translation of the Sanskrit term buddhānusmṛti, literally ‘mindfulness of the Buddha’. This practice had clear Indian antecedents and took a number of forms. The Sūtra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life (Guan wu liang shou jing) – presented as an Indian sūtra, but in fact of Chinese or Central Asian origin – prescribes ‘ten moments of single-minded and sustained recitation of the Buddha’s name’. Popular preachers such as Shandao (613–681) extolled the practice and organized mass recitations of Amitābha’s name in the capital.
In Japan, the practice of reciting Amitābha’s name (called nembutsu in Japanese) was one of a number of meditative and ritual practices to secure rebirth in his pure land espoused by the various Buddhist sects. Hōnen (1133–1212), a learned monk of the Tendai sect, inspired in part by reading Shandao, became convinced that the recitation of the name (in the phrase namu-amida-butsu, ‘Homage to Amitābha Buddha’) was the most appropriate form of Buddhist practice for the degenerate age. He set forth his views in a work called On the Nembutsu Selected in the Primal Vow (Senchaku Hongan Nembutsushū) selections from which appear here. The title refers to the vow made aeons ago by the bodhisattva Dharmākara (called Dharma-Repository here) that he would become the buddha Amitābha, create the Land of Bliss, and deliver there those who called upon him.
Hōnen cites Shandao on a number of important points. For example, he contrasts ‘right practice’ and the ‘practice of sundry good acts’. The former are all forms of worship of Amitābha, the most important of which is the recitation of his name. The latter are ordinary virtuous deeds Buddhists are enjoined to perform, but which clearly lack the efficacy of ‘right practice’, an efficacy that derives from the grace of Amitābha. Indeed, the power of his vow is so great that those who sincerely recite his name do not need to dedicate their merit towards rebirth in the Land of Bliss (although both the shorter and longer sūtras seem to say so); recitation naturally results in rebirth there. Hōnen goes on to explain that each bodhisattva makes specific vows about the particular practice that will result in rebirth in his buddha-field. Some buddha-fields are for those who practise charity, others for those who construct stūpas, others for those who honour their teachers. Amitābha, while he was the bodhisattva Dharmākara, compassionately selected a v
ery simple practice that would lead to rebirth in his Land of Bliss: the recitation of his name.
Hōnen regarded these teachings to be dangerous if widely espoused and instructed that this work not be published until after his death. He allowed only his closest disciples to read it and copy it. His teachings gained popularity in a number of influential circles, but were considered anathema by the existing sects of Buddhism in Japan because of his promotion of the sole practice of reciting the name. His critics charged him with denigrating Śākyamuni Buddha, with neglecting virtuous deeds other than the recitation of the name, and with abandoning the meditation and visualization practices that should accompany the chanting of the name. Some years after Hōnen’s death, the printing blocks of the text were confiscated and burned as a work harmful to the dharma. However, by that time the teachings of Hōnen had gained a wide following among both aristocrats and the common people.
On the Nembutsu Selected in the Primal Vow
Daozhuo established the division of the Buddhist teachings into two gateways: the path of the sages and the path of birth into Amida Buddha’s pure land. His intent was to encourage people to abandon the former and pursue the latter. There are two reasons for this. First, we are now far removed from the time when the great sage Śākyamuni was alive. Second, the truth is profound, but the capacity of beings to apprehend it is now meagre.
The master Shandao states that although numerous forms of practice may lead to birth in the pure land, they may all be distinguished as either ‘right practice’ or ‘practice of sundry good acts’.
Right practice may be grasped by first disclosing it as five specific forms of practice, then grouping these into two basic types. The five forms of right practice are: recitation of Pure Land scriptures; contemplation of Amida and the pure land; bowing in worship; utterance of the name of Amida; and praise of Amida’s virtues and making offerings….
The two basic types of right practice are the right action and the auxiliary actions. The right action is utterance of the name, the fourth of the five forms of right practice; it is called the act by which attainment of birth is truly determined, for it is in accord with Amida Buddha’s primal vow….
Question: Why is only one of the five forms of right practice – saying the nembutsu – taken up as the truly determining act?
Answer: Because saying the nembutsu is in accord with Amida Buddha’s primal vow. It is the practice taught in the vow. Hence, if one performs it, then carried by the Buddha’s vow one will unfailingly attain birth….
The distinction between right practice and practice of sundry good acts may be clarified using a fivefold contrast:
(1) Intimate versus distant. ‘Intimate’ means that persons who perform the truly determining act and the auxiliary actions are in a relationship with Amida Buddha of great closeness and intimacy. Shandao states:
When sentient beings give rise to practice and constantly say Amida Buddha’s name with their lips, Amida hears them. When they constantly worship and revere Amida Buddha with their bodies, Amida sees them. When they constantly think on Amida Buddha with heart and mind, Amida apprehends them. When sentient beings are mindful of Amida, Amida is mindful of them. The acts of the Buddha and beings in each of the three modalities – bodily, verbal and mental – are mutually inseparable. This is what is meant by ‘intimate’.
‘Distant’ refers to the performance of sundry good acts. When sentient beings do not say Amida Buddha’s name, Amida does not hear them. When they do not worship Amida Buddha with their bodies, Amida does not see them. When they do not think on Amida Buddha with heart and mind, Amida does not apprehend them. When sentient beings are not mindful of the Buddha, the Buddha is not mindful of them. The acts of the Buddha and beings in the three modalities always stand isolated from each other. This is characterized as ‘distant’.
(2) Near versus separated. ‘Near’ means that persons who perform the truly determining act and the auxiliary actions are right beside Amida Buddha. Shandao states in his commentary, ‘When sentient beings aspire to see Amida Buddha, Amida, in response to their thoughts, appears before their eyes. Hence, “near”.’ ‘Separated’ refers to the practice of sundry other good acts. When sentient beings do not aspire to see Amida Buddha, Amida does not appear before them….
(3) Uninterrupted versus discontinuous. ‘Uninterrupted’ means that persons who perform the truly determining act and the auxiliary actions are mindful of Amida Buddha without interruption…. ‘Discontinuous’ means that persons who perform sundry good acts always interrupt their mindfulness of Amida Buddha….
(4) No necessity of directing one’s merit versus the necessity of directing merit. For persons who perform the truly determining act of saying the name and the auxiliary actions focused on Amida Buddha, these naturally become acts resulting in birth in the pure land even though the practitioners do not undertake the directing of the merits towards that end. Hence Shandao states:
The Contemplation Sūtra states, ‘Performing ten voicings of the Buddha’s name’. Such utterance of ‘namu-amida-butsu’ is possessed of both the aspiration and the practice that are requisite for fulfilling the path – both accomplished tenfold. How does this come about? ‘Namu’ manifests the taking of refuge in Amida’s vow. It signifies awakening aspiration for birth and turning one’s heart to the pure land. ‘Amida-butsu’ manifests the practice. Because the nembutsu possesses this meaning, persons who say it unfailingly attain birth.
‘The necessity of directing one’s merit’ means that, for persons who perform sundry good acts, these acts become the cause resulting in birth in the pure land only when they deliberately undertake to direct the resulting merits thus. If they do not purposely direct their merits towards birth in the pure land, their good acts do not become the cause for attainment of birth there….
(5) Authentic versus commingled. ‘Authentic’ means that, for persons who perform the truly determining act and the auxiliary actions, these are purely the practice for birth in the land of bliss. ‘Commingled’ means that the acts are not practices purely for birth in the land of bliss. They are common to birth into the realms of human beings and devas, and also into the conditions of the three vehicles. They are also common to birth into the various pure lands of the buddhas throughout the ten quarters. Hence such practice is said to be ‘commingled’. Consequently, practitioners who aspire for Amida’s land in the western quarter should abandon practice of sundry good acts and perform the truly determining act of saying the name.
The Larger Sūtra states: ‘If, when I attain buddhahood, the sentient beings of the ten quarters, with sincere mind entrusting themselves, aspiring to be born in my land, and saying my name even but ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain the supreme enlightenment.’
In his Methods of Contemplation on Amida Buddha, Shandao interprets this passage in a paraphrase: ‘If, when I attain buddhahood, the sentient beings of the ten quarters aspire to be born in my land and say my name even ten times, entrusting themselves to the power of my vow, and yet should not attain birth, may I not attain the supreme enlightenment.’…
Each buddha makes two kinds of vows, those common to all and those specific to themselves. Those in common are the four universal vows. The specific are, for example, the five hundred great vows of Śākyamuni or the twelve superior vows of Medicine-Teacher Buddha. The forty-eight vows are the specific vows of Amida….
The Large Sūtra of Amida Buddha states: ‘The buddha World-Sovereign [Lokeśvararāja] selected qualities from the good and bad of the devas and humans in all the twenty-one billion buddha-lands and from the comeliness and disagree-ableness of the lands themselves in order that bodhisattva Dharma-Repository [Dharmākara] might select the vows for what he desired in his heart.’…
The term ‘select’ in this passage implies adopting, on the one hand, and discarding, on the other. The bodhisattva Dharma-Repository [who became Amida Buddha] discarded the reprehensible qualities of the humans and dev
as of the twenty-one billion pure lands of the buddhas and adopted their good qualities; he discarded the disagreeable qualities of the lands and adopted their comeliness….
The meaning of selection and adoption may be discussed with regard to each of the forty-eight vows…. Concerning the eighteenth vow of birth through the nembutsu, among the lands of the various buddhas, there is one for which charity is the practice resulting in birth there, and another for which it is observance of precepts. There is a land for which patience is the practice for birth there, another for which it is perseverance, another for which it is meditation, and yet another for which it is wisdom…. There are lands for which erecting stūpa-towers and creating buddha-images, or alms-giving to mendicants, or filial piety and veneration of teachers and elders are each the practice resulting in birth there….
Thus, a variety of practices result in birth in the different lands; it is impossible to state them in detail. The bodhisattva Dharma-Repository selected out and discarded the various practices mentioned above – charity, precepts, filial piety and so on – and selected out and adopted the wholehearted saying of the Buddha’s name. Hence the term ‘selection’….
Question: It is reasonable that in each of the vows the bodhisattva Dharma-Repository should discard what is coarse and reprehensible and adopt what is good and excellent. But why, in the eighteenth vow, did he discard all the diverse practices and select and adopt only the single practice of saying the nembutsu, making it the primal vow of birth in his land?