Can’t take the credit myself

Hi all,

I am still working on getting the pictures up but I am delayed somewhat due to other activities we’re doing with friends and family. However, in the meantime, I wanted to post about something I was thinking about on the third day after visiting the Nishi Honganji temple, a major Jodo Shinshu temple.

While taking the bullet train home, somehow I got to thinking about this passage from the Tannisho, section 13:

Good thoughts arise in our minds due to the effect of past good, and we are made to think and do evil because of the working of karmic evil. The late master said, “We should know that even as trifling a thing as the speck of dust on the tip of a rabbit’s hair or a sheep’s fleece is the product of past evil karma.” At another time he asked me. “Would you agree to anything I say, Yui-en?”

“Of course, I will,” I replied.

“Are you sure that you won’t disobey me?,” he repeated, and when I again agreed, he continued, “Go, then and kill a thousand people and your birth in the Pure Land is settled.’

“Even though that is your order,” I protested, “and even with the capacity for evil within me, I cannot kill even a single person.”

“Then why did you just say that you would not disobey what I, Shinran, said?” And then he went on, “By this we know that if we could act according to our thoughts, we could kill a thousand people for the sake of birth in the Pure Land if so required. We do not kill, not because our thoughts are good but because we do not have the karma to kill even a single person. Yet, even though we do not want to injure anyone, we may be led to kill a hundred or a thousand people.”

The gist of this statement is that when we think good thoughts, we think we are good; and when we think evil thoughts, we think we are evil, not realizing fully that it is not these thoughts but the inconceivable power of the Vow that makes our salvation possible.

I always thought this was a strange and fatalistic passage, but then I realized that it kind of states something obvious: we’re a product of our environment, our environment is a product of our past karma. If we do good it’s because we grew up in a nurturing environment that fostered this, and if not it’s due to a difficult environment.

But I realized there’s also more to it. In Western thought, the notion of good and evil is dealt with as absolutes, and as such, we’re inclined to believe ourselves as either bad or good, but this runs against the Buddhist notion of no static, separate identity.

Because all things are “empty” in Buddhist parlance, they exist only in relation to one another. A tree cannot exist without the sun, soil and moisture that made it so. If it grew up in a windy environment, it’s branches will be shaped accordingly. The tree exists as a composite of all these things.

In the same way, one exists as a composite of all the experiences in their lives, and whatever positive or negative habits we have are a result of this. Thus we are a composite of positive and negative habits, rather than overtly good or bad. Of course, some folks have acquired particularly destructive habits, or particularly positive ones. But the issue isn’t whether someone is good or bad, but how they transform themselves as they are now by cultivating positive habits and wisdom, and uprooting the negative. I remember Rev. Tagawa in his book about Yogacara/Hossō Buddhism teaching almost exactly the same thing, though using the Yogacara terminology of seeds rather than habits, but the meaning is the same.

But Shinran is also warning people not to get conceited about whatever positive habits they have too, as these are not our own product. It is said in Jodo Shinshu Buddhism that if we encounter a friend of the Dharma, it is due to the working of Amitabha Buddha, and so rather than taking pride in our own good, we should reflect and be grateful to those who instilled these positive habits. This goes all the way back to the ancient Buddhist formula of “not me, not mine”, for getting beyond selfish, egotistical thinking.

I say this as I can be my own harshest critic at times, and no doubt you are too, but this is somewhat deluded, dualistic thinking. Othertimes, I can really let things go to my head on the other hand. But you and I as we exist presently are composite beings, and have acquired a series of habits, and habitual thinking, some positive, some negative. They are not who we are, and we cannot take fully take credit for them either. However, at the very least, through objective self-reflection and acceptance as you are now, can you take the steps necessary to transform negative habits and thinking into positive ones, and also develop a deeper sense of gratitude toward life for that which has helped us so far.

It is said in the Immeasurable Life Sutra:

“If, sentient beings encounter his [Amitabha Buddha's] light, their three defilements are removed; they feel tenderness, joy and pleasure; and good thoughts arise. If sentient beings in the three realms of suffering see his light, they will all be relieved and freed from affliction. At the end of their lives, they all reach emancipation.

Or from the Amitabha Sutra:

“Shariputra, why do you think this teaching is called ‘the Sutra of Protection by All Buddhas’? Shariputra, all good men and women who hear the Name of Amida Buddha expounded by all the Buddhas and the name of this sutra are protected by all the Buddhas and dwell in the Stage of Non-retrogression for realizing the highest, perfect Enlightenment. This is why, Shariputra, you should accept my words and the teachings of all the Buddhas.

Thus, if one cannot transform these particular negative aspects themselves, or lacks the confidence to do so, then at the very least take refuge in Amitabha Buddha’s Light, and worry no more. As we are not static beings, even the worst person can be transformed into a Bodhisattva given the right conditions.

Namu Amida Butsu

P.S. I getting close to getting the first pictures up from Kyoto/Nara and hope to get the post out by Wednesday at the latest. Thanks all for your patience!