Shinran Shonin, the founder of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, lived in Japan from 1173 to 1263. Like ourselves, he lived in a time of war, anxiety and great human suffering. In order to bring the freedom and emotional release of the Buddhist message to the ordinary lay people of his day, he greatly simplified the Buddhist teaching.
Following the lead of his honourable teacher, Honen Shonin, Shinran taught that Buddhist “Enlightenment” could be attained through the “Easy Path” of reciting the Name of Amida Buddha, “Namo Amida Butsu”, with a sincere mind aspiring for birth. The “birth” he spoke of was “Birth in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha, at the time of our human death. Shinran taught that conditions in the human world has become so corrupt that it was no longer possible for ordinary people to achieve enlightenment through their own efforts. Monks and holy sages might be able to carry out sufficient religious practices to attain Enlightenment in the “Dark Age of Mappo” (the Age of Decline); but most of us, including Shinran himself, could not. We must rely on the “Transferred Merit” coming to us across aeons of time from the “Great Practice” of Amida Buddha.
Thus the religious stories of Shin Buddhism all emphasize that there is no “self effort” practice necessary for us to be born into the Pure Land at our human death, or to experience the Pure Land Mind during our human life. All that is required is the recitation of Namo Amida Butsu, entrusting oneself to the Power of the Primal Vow.
Contemporary life in North America, at the beginning of the Second Millenium, is becoming more and more stressful. We realize that if we blindly follow the cultural expectations of our consumer society, our lives will be endlessly frantic, uptight, harried, and superficial. North Americans are increasingly looking to Asian methods of meditation to calm their minds and harmonize their lives.
Traditionally, Shin Buddhism has limited its meditation practices to sutra chanting and recitation of the “Nembutsu”; Namo Amida Butsu. Today, however there is an increasing demand from within our temples and from those wishing to join us, for “quiet sitting” meditation instruction in addition to chanting meditation.
One of the main teachings of Buddhism is that we have two levels of mind - our everyday rational mind and our underlying “Wisdom Mind”. The Wisdom Mind is the deeper intuitive part of ourselves that can be experienced during meditation. This mind is not part of ourselves, but belongs to Amida Buddha. If we compare our mind to a deep lake, the ordinary mind is the surface water subject to waves and storms. Our “Bodhi Mind” ; Pure Mind of Buddha, however, is like the calm water at the bottom of the lake.
Ordinary mind is compared to monkey chatter, endlessly filled with compulsive thoughts and insatiable cravings. Living solely within our ordinary common sense mind is like living as a hamster, endlessly spinning around on his exercise wheel in his cage never getting anywhere. This everyday mind is useful for analysis, problem solving and managing our day-to-day affairs; however, everyday mind can never give us a deeply fulfilling human life. If we give in to its endless craving, our lives become very unsatisfactory, and we pass away at our death with a deep sense of regret.
The ancient meditation methods, originally coming to us from India, represent different methods of distracting our everyday analytical mind so that we can experience the Bodhi Mind that lies underneath. Meditation practice allows us to touch our inner consciousness of “pure awareness”, from which springs tranquility, wisdom, compassion and a sense of the Oneness of all things.
Meditation also teaches us perseverance and patience. If we imagine an untrained mind as being like a tightly filled balloon, it explodes apart easily and loudly when hit. A daily meditation practice acts to soften our emotional reaction time, just like a soft balloon does not break when hit. A soft balloon accepts an outside blow, as a temporary indentation, and then responds slowly. Similarly, a person who meditates regularly does not react angrily and rashly toward outside influences. He receives his challenges thoughtfully and with careful self reflection; then responds from his Higher Self.
