lotusinthemud

Appeal in aid of Amida India

Download Amida India Appeal 7th July

Below you will find a message from ITZI and the Amida Trustees, who are fundraising in support of our sangha in Delhi.

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We, the trustees of ITZI*, would like to tell you about the Amida Sangha in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

The Sangha began over thirteen years ago, when Rev Sahishnu and Acharya Modgala were invited to go to Delhi to carry out an educational programme which taught English to Dalit children on the streets of Delhi. The Dalits – or so-called ‘Untouchables’ – are the lowest caste in the Indian system and have been subject to the most extreme prejudice, seen as less than human, worthy of no respect and restricted to work regarded as unclean. Dalits generally live in great poverty and often fear for their lives, especially if they challenge the system. The Dalit community told Dharmavidya that learning English is an essential first step to improve the prospects of Dalit children.

The educational programme was a great success, teaching English to many dozens of street children and their Dalit families, and helping to gain respect from the local authorities.

The Delhi sangha grew as the fruit of this work. Children and their families asked for classes in Buddhism and then became Buddhists, inspired particularly by the legacy of Dr Ambedkar’s Dalit Buddhist Movement, which sees Buddhism as a way out of the Dalit predicament.

When Rev Sahishnu retired in 2014, Rev Suvidya, a local member of the Dalit community, was ordained as a full minister and took over the leadership of the project, to great success. A local organisation, the Amida Buddhist Association (ABA), was set up at the same time and now oversees the work of the project. In 2016, new premises were rented to become the sangha’s first Dharma centre.

Rev Suvidya runs three busy weekly children’s classes in three different locations, teaching English and Buddhism, as well as leading two adult/mixed family services. He also makes regular pastoral visits to Buddhist families and others needing support.

Since 2014, Amida Trust has supported Rev Suvidya in his work by providing him with a modest allowance and paying the Dharma centre rent. However, the Trust now needs to find additional donations to maintain the level of financial support needed to sustain this wonderful project. Given the financial impact that COVID-19 continues to have in the Dalit community...

We need your help. 

Please help us to support Suvidya, Suando, Sudoshin and the community by making a donation today. 

No matter how small, your contribution will make a difference and help us secure the future of this project. 

We would particularly welcome regular monthly contributions.
Even £5 per month would have a significant impact.

 

Donate Help Bestow Contribute http://www.amidatrust.com/india/donate-now

Read individual stories http://www.amidatrust.com/india/ 

More Info  https://www.facebook.com/AmidaDelhi/ 

Contact Susthama [email protected]

Yours gratefully, 

The trustees of ITZI: 

Dharmavidya David Brazier, Cordelia Grimwood, Rachel Joyce-Gibbons, Geeta Chari, Susthama Kim

The trustees of Amida Trust:

Tony Danford, John Croxon, Pam O’Brien, Ian Summers-Noble

*The International Zen Therapy Institute, ITZI, is a consortium of trainers and centres around the world dedicated to the development and dissemination of education in Buddhism, Buddhist Psychology and related approaches to spirituality, therapy and personal growth.

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Dharmavidya writes: (with reference to the podcast he sent out today):  It concerns a topic upon which there was a good deal of discussion in the Zoom groups last weekend.

These podcasts go out to members of Amida Shu and over a hundred other people who have requested to receive them.  They, and the associated zoom meetings, are all offered free of charge.  If, however, you would like to make some donation, I would prefer that you send it to support Amida work in India.  (:: link)  I hope you will give generously to this request for funds as there is a great need and the more resources they have the more they can do.

Dharmavidya's Buddhist Podcasts and Zoom groups

Dharmavidya writes, on issuing today's podcast:

A full list of podcasts in June is :: here

To receive the podcasts  :: contact Dharmavidya


GROUPS NEWS

There are  three "friendship, support and learning" zoom groups.. All three meetings are 90 minutes long.  Do come and join in.

Amida Shu Interest Group
On Sunday at 11am Rome time (11.00)
This group is open to anybody, but will be most relevant to people who receive these podcasts.  There is often a talk about a topic related to one of the recent podcasts, plus time for discussion in break-out groups and for questions and sharing in the whole group. This group meets each week at the same time.

Amida Shu Friendship Group
On Sunday at 8pm Rome time (20.00)
A similarly open group with a more conversational style.  Topics include podcast themes, current affairs and Pureland practice. This group meets each week at the same time.

Amida Shu Refuge Group
On alternate Saturdays and Mondays at 2pm Rome time (14.00)
This group is for Amida Shu members and others who have taken refuge and is primarily a sangha building group.  This group meets on Saturdays once per fortnight and on Mondays in the intervening week.

If you would like to attend any of these groups (or to receive the podcasts) :: let Dharmavidya know and he will send you the join code if you don't already have it.

There is now an Amida Interest Group meeting on Thursdays at 6pm (Rome) in Italian!  Contact  Angela Romani or myself for details.  And if you prefer Dutch, do contact Vajrapala, or I can put you in touch.  Also I'm still trying to find a few more people in the east (Asia/Australia) who might be interested in a fortnightly Buddhist Psychology interest group.

OTHER STUFF
On the ecological problem and how to solve the dilemmas that this creates for society, there are some good ideas in this little film from BBC
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p08hppxt/how-the-dutch-are-reshaping-their-post-pandemic-utopia
As she says, the "Doughnut idea" only really defines the problem; it does not, in itself, provide the answers.  Nonetheless, changing goals and changing the way we think about things can yield results eventually and help policy makers.

Namo Amida Bu
Dharmavidya

Echoes of Amida: Podcast by Dharmavidya David Brazier

Dharmavidya's podcast of 22 June 2020 (see below for details of podcasts and how to sign up for them)

Transcription thanks to Tineke Osterloh:

Though others kill, we shall be kind.
And by being kind we shall heal the world.

Though others steal and exploit, we shall be generous and hospitable.
And by doing so, we shall make a refuge for the world.

Though other spit forth hatred and incite to cruelty, we shall speak words of peace and understanding. And by that truth we shall cool the fire that is burning the world down.

Though others cheat and lie, we shall be truthful and honest.
And by doing so there will be an oasis of sanity amidst the madness.

Though there be some who seek to profit from anger and greed, we shall be content with what we have and use it for the greater good of all beings.
And by doing so we shall transmit a lamp in the great darkness.

And we shall do these things and be so, not through our own cleverness or special virtue, but simply by the power of faith.

By the power of faith, we can recognize the darkness that is in ourselves also, and by that modest self-appraisal we shall effortlessly and necessarily become a mirror for the Dharma.

For it’s not the arrogant who cool the fire of the world.

It’s not those who grow fat and rich who feed the hungry.

It is not those greedy for power who bring peace and reconciliation.

Sometimes it is good to shout out loud in the cause of goodness.
But shouting cannot go on all day.

On Being Busy ~ Dharmavidya

Dharmavidya:

Amida is always busy

Always be busy with Amida.

Make all business Amida Nembutsu

 

Be busy with the thought of Amida

Be courageously busy supported by Amida Light

Be busy supporting Amida

Be busy praying for the Pure Land of Amida

Grateful

Don’t be late

Saigyo ~ Dharmavidya

Dharmavidya writes:

Saigyo (1118-1190) was a wandering poet monk in Japan.  He is one of the most famous Japanese poets.  He wrote more than fifteen hundred poems, many of which became famous.  His poetry reflects his life as a rather solitary wanderer, often spending the winter in the mountains in a thatched hut far from civilisation.

The name Saigyo means “westward journey”.  The implication is “travelling toward Sukhavati, the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha” since Sukhavati (J. Jodo) is said to be “in the west”.  Saigyo was not closely affiliated to any particular school of Buddhism, though he was quite fond of Shingon.

His poetry had a strong influence upon poetic style in Japan.  His free expression of emotion, his willingness to deal with mundane as well as approved subjects, his terse style that packs a lot of meaning into very few words,  and his mastery of the “yugen” mood of bitter-sweetness, all provided a model that liberated poetic expression.

He writes of love, longing, and loneliness, he paints word pictures of mountain and snow scenes, and he describes fragments of his life.  He lived in times when the political order was breaking down.  The power of the emperors waned and there was civil war.  Eventually a military government was established at Kamakura, beginning a new period of Japanese history. 

He came from an upper class military family and at a young age was part of the emperor’s elite guard troop, but at the age of twenty-two he gave it up and became a Buddhist monk, turning away from the secular world which was in increasing chaos and decline.  The Japanese of that time believed that Mappo, the final stage in the decline of the Dharma, had started, according to their calculation, in the year 1052.  In the period of Mappo, the only hope of salvation was to turn to Amida Buddha.

Fishermen
by a rocky shore,
winds blowing wildly,
in a boat unmoor -
such is our condition

 

Saigyo adopted a life in which his spiritual practice included pilgrimage, visiting many shrines, both Buddhist and Shinto, as well as writing poetry, interspersed with periods of mountain asceticism.  Here is a poem that he wrote on one of his travels when visiting the shrine of Tsukiyomi, the Shinto goddess of the moon.

Shining from the sky
over the tall peak
of Eagle Mountain,
the groves of Tsukiyomi
filtering, softening its rays.

 

There is a lot encoded in this little poem.  The sky is associated with shunyata, the Buddhist principle of emptiness, that also has an association with heaven.  Eagle Mountain is the location in India where Shakyamuni Buddha proclaimed the Lotus Sutra.  The Lotus Sutra is widely taken, in Japan, to be the quintessential Buddhist Sutra - the Bible of Japanese Buddhism.  So beyond the simple celebration of the beauty of a moonlit night at the Moon goddess’ shrine, there is here the philosophy of honji suijakuaccording to which the gods and goddesses of Shinto were emanations of the celestial Buddhas and bodhisattvas of Buddhism.  This was a philosophy that reconciled and somewhat merged the two religions.  Buddhism generally does not regard local religions as heresies to be eliminated, but rather as steps on the way to the Dharma, or, as Saigyo is indicating here, ways of making the sublime and ultimate teachings of Buddhism more accessible to ordinary folk.

A poem of Saigyo’s that became famous is

Let me die in spring
under the blossoming trees
let it be around
that full moon
of Kisaragi month.

 

Now, the full moon of Kisaragi was, according to Japanese belief, the date of Nehan, the anniversary of the death of Shakyamuni Buddha, so this poem is saying, let me die close to the same day as the Buddha.  Spring is a time of new life when everything is awakening.  In Buddhism, there is a certain association between death and spiritual awakening.  Spiritual awakening is a kind of dying to the crazy world, just as Saigyo himself had given it all up.  The poem became doubly famous when, many years later, Saigyo did indeed die on the day after Nehan.

 

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The translations of Saikyo poems in this piece are from Burton Watson's book Saigyo: Poems of a Mountain Home published by Columbia University Press, New York 1991.  

:: link to original post

Clarifying Nembutsu Practice ~ Dharmavidya

QUESTION:  I’d like to be clear about what nembutsu practice is. It’s seems from what I can glean from your writing you are saying Amida Buddhism is the work of compassion in the world in the play of opposites. So practice begins with some kind of descent into what has been disowned. So I enjoyed the way you framed the practices of Chih Quan and Nei Quan as two koans. And the three kinds of mind seem to describe a larger picture of what Amida Buddha practice entails. 

So as I understand it, the nembutsu practice is the last step, maybe practice isn’t a word you would use to describe it since it seems to be an activated prayer based on faith in the unconditional love of Amida Buddha. So do you simply chant “Namo Buddha Bu”, like a mantra? Are you visualizing Amida Bu when you do this, or holding him in your heart and imagination. This seems to be both an act of faith and trust in the underlying love of the universe which supports us all, and a  act of imagination, as our Bodhisattva vow is as well. 

I’d appreciate any direction you could send me in to help me do some of this practice for myself.

 

SHORT ANSWER: Just say “Namo Amida Bu” in simple faith.

LONG ANSWER:  Thank you, great question. Yes, hold the Buddha in your heart and imagination. But even if, sometimes, you just say the words, it is still powerful. The nembutsu does its own work.

Nembutsu is an expression of refuge.  Understanding and entering into the deep and true meaning of refuge is the core of the Buddhist religion and it is a life long practice.  So a Buddhist is somebody who chooses to take refuge in Buddha and keeps on doing so in deeper and deeper ways as understanding and experience broaden and deepen.  In the Pureland forms of Buddhism, of which Amida Shu is one, the Buddha we take refuge in is Amida Buddha, on account of his all-acceptance.  This goes with the Pureland emphasis upon humility in the practitioner - even if one is the lowest of the low, Amida will accept you just as you are.  So the form of taking refuge in these branches of Buddhism is “Namo Amida Bu” or an equivalent in local language. 

In the larger Pureland Sutra it says that Amida accepts anybody who thinks upon him with sincerity and “thinking upon him” is, for practical purposes, taken to mean calling his name.  therefore, the most fundamental form of nembutsu practice is to call the Buddha to mind by saying his name - in this case “Amida” or “Amitabha”, usually “Namo Amida Bu”. This is called the nembutsu. (nem=mindfluness, butsu=Buddha, hence “mindfulness of Buddha” or “bringing Buddha to mind”). To call one Buddha is to call all Buddhas.

So nembutsu practice is simply to say the nembutsu in simple faith on all occasions, formally or informally, singly or in congregation, to oneself or out loud.  Nothing needs to be done in advance of this.  Choosing the nembutsu is the key action and commitment.  To entrust oneself to the nembutsu is called shinjin.

Several things, inessential but useful, follow, in no particular order:

1/ The nembutsu is a window through which all of Buddha’s teachings may be seen.  It gives one a perspective on the Dharma. Once one has chosen nembutsu as one’s key practice, all other practices become forms of nembutsu.  Why is one bowing, offering incense, reading scriptures, sitting in zazen, etc? In order to deepen refuge and so make the nembutsu more real and sincere.

2/ The nembutsu, in effect, is the planting of Buddha seed in one’s heart.  One becomes a Buddha womb.  This seed will grow, just as an embryo grows in the womb of the mother, but the mother does not make the baby grow; one does not need to do anything about it.  The process is unconscious.  All the mother needs to do is avoid anything dangerous or damaging.  Just so, a nembutsu practitioner should maintain good general spiritual health, but does not need to worry.

3/ Although subjectively one has the sense of having selected the nembutsu by oneself, in reality, the arising of the urge to do so is Amida’s grace. It is the Buddha who has planted the seed, not oneself.  It is not really that one has done something so much as that one has been “seized by Amida”.  This is not, therefore, a practice in which one strives to achieve something, so much as one in which one entrusts to a process more powerful than oneself and celebrates this grace that has come into one’s life.

4/ Consequently, many Buddhist teachings come to be seen “the other way around”.  there is a kind of reversal.  The eightfold path is an outcome, not a means.  Salvation, enlightenment, samadhi and so on are not things to be achieved.  They may be given, but it is all out of one’s hands.

5/ There are practices such as nei quan and chi quan which can deepen one’s appreciation of nembutsu in an experiential manner.  One can come to understand better “Who or what is it that calls the Buddha’s name?”  “Who has the Buddha called?” One can have experiences of the grace of Buddha descending into one’s frame.  This deepening can also come through such simple practices as having gratitude, appreciating nature, simplifying one’s life and so on. 

6/ There are also practices that can amplify the nembutsu experience. Thus

   a/ visualisation.  One can visualise Amida Buddha or the attendant bodhisattvas Quan Shi Yin (Kanzeon), or Tai Shih Chi (Mahasthamaprapta), or one can do the series of visualisations described in the Contemplation Sutra for visualising the Pure Land, and so on. 

   b/ circumambulating or prostrating to a stupa, relic or Buddha rupa while reciting the nembutsu

   c/ ceremonies, litanies, etc.

7. There can be many psychological spin-offs from the practice since one develops faith and confidence, preoccupations fall into perspective, fear of death is dissolved and self-defensiveness tends to fall away.  Accepting that we are all foolish beings, one feels fellow-feeling for others so empathy becomes more natural.

Many of the above can be done individually or in a congregation.  It is important to stress, however, that they are all anciliary to the core practice of just saying the nembutsu as often as possible, on all occasions, inwardly or outwardly, and trusting that this does the trick without need of any additional aid since it invokes the power of the Buddhas.  One might, when reciting, coordinate the chanting with the breath.  If this helps one to keep going, very good.  Or one might use a mala - I recommend it - but it is not essential.

Nembutsu can be chanted, like a mantra, or it can be said in the course of daily life, whatever happens. Good things happen: “Namo Amida Bu”, bad things happen: “Namo Amida Bu” - meeting a fellow practitioner: “Namo Amida Bu” - stopped at the traffic lights: “Namo Amida Bu” - looking at clouds in the sky: “Namo Amida Bu” - holding up a flower: “Namo Amida Bu”.  Calling Buddha to mind in association with everything that happens saturates one’s being with grace and blessings and generates samadhi.

There is an endless amount one could say, but the basic practice is extremely simple. Namo Amida Bu.

 

:: link to original post

Amida Shu Basic Definitions ~ Dharmavidya

Dharmavidya writes: 

What are the Basic Teachings of Amida Shu Buddhism?
Added by Dharmavidya on July 19, 2008
 
Amida Shu is a form of Buddhism that affirms

* (together with all Mahayana Buddhsim) the threefold nature of Buddha (ultimate Buddha, spiritual Buddha, Buddha in the world),

* adheres to the Pureland Buddhist emphasis upon the ‘bombu’ nature of the practitioner (that we do not have the power to become enlightened unaided), and

* adopts as its core practice the ‘nembutsu’ (calling upon Amida Tathagata).

These three constitute the core teachings of Amida Shu. Different members of Amida Shu may interpret these teaching in different ways. Amida Shu is in favour of personal spirituality and regards these three teachings as a framework within which individuals pursue their spiritual quest. The nature of faith, the real meaning of a ‘spiritual Buddha’, the value of particular practices, and so on are things for the practitioner to find out through experiential immersion, experiment, and reflection. Amida Shu is thus a school of Buddhism with much scope for enquiry and is not a ‘hand-me-down’ set of dogmas, even though it does provide a simple frame within which enquiry can proceed.

Broadly, Amida Shu differs from many other schools of Buddhism in seeing many of the elements of Buddhist teaching as ‘outcomes’ rather than as ‘means’. Thus, it is common for Buddhism to be presented as a means to attain enlightenment and the ‘eightfold path’, for instance, will then be presented as the method by which one can practice so as to arrive at the spiritual goal, whereas in Amida Shu the eightfold path will tend rather to be seen as the outcome of a spiritual life. This gives a particular flavour to this kind of spirituality making it celebratory rather than goal oriented. The emphasis on 'bombu nature' similarly eliminates any kudos in being 'spiritually advanced' and facilitates a spiritual relaxation into a sense of assured grace.

The Amida Shu understanding of faith is ‘other power’ but not passive. We believe that by associating ourselves with a Buddha we become part of that Buddha’s work. The outcome of ‘taking refuge’ is therefore an active life, not ‘in order to’ gain salvation  - Buddha will look after that for us - but rather as a result of one’s affinity to a Buddha whose sole wish is to benefit all beings. Amida Shu thus offers an ‘engaged’ Buddhism in which the engagement flows naturally from the basic teaching. To be a Pureland Buddhist is to be engaged in creating Pure Lands wherever one may be.

Amida Shu asserts the value of Buddhist ethics and encourages non-killing, vegetarianism, honesty, sexual responsibility, non-theft, abstinence from intoxicants and a scrupulous life generally. These are seen as intrinsic goods. The more spiritual a life a person lives the more likely they are to conform broadly to such standards. Pureland, however, is by no means puritan and does not assert either that it is possible to keep such precepts completely nor that it is possible for an individual to achieve a life that is pure or free from implication in the troubles and evils of this world. Pureland is aware of the richness of life, the joy of experience and the necessity of being involved in a robust way if one is to do any good. Creativity inevitably implies some destruction.   

The Amida Shu perspective is essentially pluralistic. Mahayana Buddhism, of which it is one form, asserts the existence of many Buddhas. By associating with one Buddha - Amida - we do not exclude the merit of associating with other Buddhas - whether ‘Buddhist’ or not. It thus offers a frame within which one can be at ease with the diversity of religions and religious practices in the world and Amida Shu generally supports inter-faith harmony and co-operation.

How Does Pureland Differ from Christianity or other Religions?

On the one hand, Pureland has, as just mentioned, no difficulty with accepting Christianity or any other religion as a valid means of spiritual practice. On the other hand, we would assert that what matters is whether or not what one puts at the centre of gravity of one’s life is what we call a Buddha or not. If the God or being or messiah or avatar or saint that one worships is compassionate and wise then that may be a Buddha. If he, she or it is warmongering, condemnatory, exclusivist or punitive, then that is probably not a Buddha. From this perspective, some Christians might seem to be engaged in a wholesome spiritual path while others might seem to be in spiritual danger from a Pureland perspective. 

***

Three Fundamentals
Posted by Dharmavidya on March 22, 2009

We say that there are three fundamental teachings in Amida Shu:
The threefold nature of Buddha
The twofold nature of the practicer
The singular nature of the practice.

The Buddha is the object of refuge and source of grace in three ways: as absolute truth, as spiritual presence and as physical manifestation.
The practicer is 'bombu' in being fallible and vulnerable.
The practice is singular in that nembutsu encompasses all.

Taking refuge in Buddha we choose the nembutsu as our single practice and, when we have done so, all practice becomes nembutsu.

• 
  We take refuge because we realise that we are fallible and vulnerable and incapable of saving ourselves from spiritual danger by our own power unaided.
• 
  We are able to take refuge because we attain faith by perceiving with our own senses, by having that faith enhanced by spiritual realisation, and by grounding it upon the intuition of absolute truth that lies beyond our immediate comprehension. 
  
  This summary encompasses the whole doctrinal and practice basis of Pureland.
  
  
  Why Chant?
  Posted by Dharmavidya on November 26, 2008
  
  Everything in life depends upon causes and conditions. Set up the right conditions and the right things happen. Buddhism teaches the right conditions for spiritual growth. A person is what they do. If a person acts with right intention they transform spiritual dangers into opportunities. Buddha taught that times of change (birth, illness, loss, gain, conjunction, separation, and encounter) are occasions of danger that can also be opportunity. However, a person is seldom able to take hold of such opportunity by their will-power alone. Will-power alone tends to be self-defeating because even when it achieves something it gives rise to pride over and attachment to those results. There is a more effective and subtle path to wholesome transformation via the deeper mind and the most effective way of activating such change is to chant.
  
  Actions are conditioned by mind and mind by actions. Since actions are conditioned by mind and mind is also conditioned by its objects, holding a wholesome object in mind conduces toward a wholesome life. Since the most wholesome object is a Buddha, keeping a Buddha in mind is the key to transformation. Since mind is conditioned by actions, the action of calling the Buddha deeply impresses this most wholesome object upon the mind, like a seal pressed into wax. The Buddhas are constantly trying to help us, but generally we resist their help. By calling out to them we open the door to our inner being through which they can help us and, through us, help others.
  
  Actually, the Buddhas are always calling to us. Amida Buddha is calling each of us. Amida’s light penetrates the deepest part of us, but unless we also call we remain closed. Once we begin a practice of chanting, however, a process of transformation begins. Something subtle starts to happen. Each person who chants becomes a vehicle for Amida’s compassionate work in the world, whether they are aware of it or not. Mostly, in fact, one is not aware of Amida’s action until one looks back over a period of time and sees that one’s life has changed. One has become more trusting and more effective in many ways and obstacles that used to seem big now seem manageable or small. We do not chant in order to change. We do not chant in order to help others. We chant in order to call the most loving presence into our life and to make ourselves available to it, but the effect is that we do change and others are benefited.
  
  Auxilliary Practices: Nei Quan and Chih Quan
  Posted by Dharmavidya on January 1, 2009
  
  The primary practice of Amida Shu is nembutsu, the verbal utterance of "Namo Amida Bu" or its equivalents. Nothing else is required for salvation. Nonetheless, the auxilliary practices of Nei Quan and Chih Quan do have intrinsic merit and they can expand one's appreciation, both intellectually and exprientially, of the importance of the nembutsu in our life.
  
  Nei Quan (inner reflection) derives from vipassana and refers to the first half of the nembutsu, that is, to reflection upon "Namo" - what is the nature of this creature that calls out? It’s nature is 'dependently originating nature' - we therefore reflect upon 'What have I received?' 'What has supported me?' 'What burden has my existence placed upon other things and other beings?' 'What have I done in return?' This kind of reflection can be targeted on a particular relationship or upon a situation or a time period. In a nei quan (Naikan in Japanese) intensive one might review one's whole life bit by bit - 'What did I receive from my mother in the first five years of my life?' '... between five and ten?' etc '...from my father...' and so on. Gregg Krech has written a nice book called Naikan. The practice generates many emotions and insights. It does not require formal meditation posture (in fact formal posture may hinder). Some people like to write or draw as part of the practice. It is a spiritual exercise that is not aimed at generating a particular state of mind, but rather a shift in one's orientation to life and feeling for others. It tends to generate gratitude, generosity and fellow-feeling, but each time one practises, new things may be discovered.
  
  Chih Quan (reflection on cessation) derives from samattha and refers to our experience of the second half of the nembutsu, Amida's grace. In this practice one imaginatively offers everything to Amida - all feelings, thoughts, sensations, imaginings, circumstances - whatever comes up. If one does Chih Quan after Nei Quan then one probably starts with feelings and thoughts generated by one's inner reflection. Offer them to the Buddha. Imagine that the Buddha receives them with a smile, joyfully (which is not actually just imagination). Whatever we offer to the Buddha, whether it is something that we think is good or bad, worthy or shameful, whatever, the Buddha has a way of using and transforming it. So we can give to the Buddha in a sense of confidence and assurance. There is no judgement from Buddha, only delight. As Buddha receives, so we feel peace - the Buddha's grace - descending through our being. You can feel it physically in the body.  We experience that joy and ease of which the sutras speak. As we feel that joy and ease we can simply dwell in it. Dwelling in that joy and ease, or deep peace, we are actually in the second (or a higher) dhyana. If something (a thought, sensation etc.) comes along that disturbs that peace, then we simply offer it to the Buddha and so continue.
  
  Through Nei Quan we gain a deeper sense of ourselves as bombu, dependently originated beings. Through Chih Quan we receive a taste of the Buddha's grace bestowed. Insight and grace make up facets of the nembutsu. When they are totally unified it is called nembutsu samadhi. This unification, however, is not something one can work at or achieve. From one's own side one can merely utter the nembutsu in faith. The two auxilliary exercises, Nei Quan and Chih Quan can, however, give one a stronger sense of oneself as bombu and of the Buddha as gracious and this makes utterance of the nembutsu more meaningful for the practitioner. These two exercises are not salvation nor do they lead to salvation, but they are the joy and ease that is the rightful heritage of practitioners, given to us by the Buddhas, that have been treasured by the faithful throughout the ages.
  
  Amida Shu Definitions
  Posted by Dharmavidya on October 20, 2008
  
  Q: What is Amida Shu
  A: Socially engaged Pureland Buddhism, a generic, religious spirituality animated by the energy of Amida Buddha. Amida Shu has three basic teachings: the trikaya nature of Buddhas, the bombu nature of adherents and the nembutsu as principle practice. The core teachings of Amida Shu are found in the Three Pureland Sutras. Amida Shu is an other power spirituality.
  
  Q: What is other power?
  A: Other power refers to the Buddha's teaching of 'dependent origination', according to which all things arise in dependence upon causes and conditions. This means both that the causes in our karmic history will always cause us to be bombu and also that there are other causes that can, nonetheless, empower our spiritual life. All of these - our own karmic history and our openness to the healing power of Buddhas - are outside of ('other' than) our present self. We are both victims and beneficiaries of other powers. When we take refuge in the healing power of a Buddha it is as though a seed were planted within us that will then grow by itself. We then become a tathagatagarbha, or 'buddha-womb' within which the seed of Buddha gradually matures. Calling upon Amida Buddha is thus like allowing oneself to be impregnated by the Buddha's healing power which will then grow of its own accord. At some time in the future, a Buddha will be born.  Amida Shu thus relies upon a subliminal process.

Q: What are the Three Pureland Sutras?
A: The Smaller Pureland Sutra, also called the Amida Kyo; the Larger Pureland Sutra or Sutra of Immeasurable Life; and the Contemplation Sutra.

Q: What does the Larger Pureland Sutra say?
A: In brief, it is the story, told by Shakyamuni Buddha to his disciple Ananda, of a bodhisattva called Dharmakara who establishes a Pure Land and thereby becomes Amida Buddha. Included are Dharmakara's prayers that describe the nature of that land as a place where there are no hells or places of punishment, no discrimination or disadvantaging of particular social groups, no war or oppression, only opportunity for spiritual advanement and enjoyment. Dharmakara also promises that he will bring to his realm anybody who sincerely calls upon or takes refuge in him. The beings in Amida Buddha's Pure Land are all either shravakas or bodhisattvas. Thus the sutra specifies the calling of Amida's name as the means by which an affinity is created between oneself and the Buddha and also provides an archetypal example of how, in the case of Dharmakara bodhisattva, such a connection eventually ripened into the creation of a Pure Land and full Buddhahood.

Q: What is a shravaka?
A: The word means 'listener'. Somebody who listens to the Buddha's teaching and enjoys the benefit. Merely listening is enough for the Buddha seed to become lodged within one. All shravakas will eventually be Buddhas after many lifetimes or after a long period in Amida's Pure Land..

Q: What is a bodhisattva?
A: Somebody who 'serves all Buddhas' and thereby dedicates their life to the spiritual assistance of others. Those who are powerfully inspired by Buddhas, but are not yet Buddhas themselves, are called bodhisattvas. Bodhi is the vision of things that is held by a Buddha. While bodhisattvas do not yet fully embody that vision, they have some of its spirit at work in their lives.

Q: What does trikaya nature mean?
A: Tri means three. Kaya means body or manifestation. Trikaya is a Buddhist teaching that Buddhas have concrete, spiritual and absolute manifestation. A Buddha acts in the mundane world, appears in our spiritual life and embodies the absolute truth of unconditionality. This means that Buddhism is a spiritual, not merely a moral teaching.

Q: What does 'bombu' mean?
A: This is a Japanese term referring to the fact that we are vulnerable, limited, unenlightened beings subject to conditions. We have various delusions, are affected by greed, hate, and a variety of other wayward passions. To recognise one's bombu (or 'guchi') nature is to adopt a realistically modest assessment of what it is to be an ordinary human being.

Q: What is nembutsu?
A: Nembutsu means to be mindful of Buddha - to bring Buddha or Buddhas to mind. To conceive of the unconditioned and make it sacred in your life makes one a Buddhist. This is called taking refuge. The unconditioned is embodied by Buddhas, described in their Dharma teachings, and works itself out in the life of the Sangha. All Buddhists take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. These are called the Three Jewels. Taking refuge in the Three Jewels is the act that makes one a Buddhist. This refuge may be focussed upon a particular Buddha. In the case of Amida Shu the particular Buddha is Amida Buddha.

Q: Why Amida Buddha?
A: Amida Buddha is the Buddha that most completely manifests unconditionality. Amida Buddha made a paradise called Sukhavati for everyone who calls upon him. This means that if we put Amida Buddha at the centre of our life we shall create a karmic connection with that Pure Land and this will be so irrespective of what spiritual or moral level we have reached. Amida loves us unconditionally, just as we are, already.

Q: What is social engagement?
A: Social engagement means to resist oppression, assist the afflicted and demonstrate an alternative, individually and/or collectively, and to apply Buddhist ethics at a social as well as a personal level. It includes social action, relief work, education, psychological and pastoral assistance, community building, alternative lifestyle, eco-awareness, life simplificaion, and participation in specific projects, campaigns, communities, or programmes intended to contribute to a Pure Land in the world. There are many ways of being socially engaged and different people contribute in different ways. Shravakas listen to the Buddha's teaching and put it into practice in their personal life, thereby allowing the seed of the teachings to grow secretly. Bodhisattvas more openly dedicate their lives to the cause taking on the task of assisting all sentient beings. Both are welcome in Amida's Pure Land.

Q: What is sangha?
A: Sangha is the term for the Buddhist community - all those who have taken refuge in the Three Jewels. The sangha aims to be the ideal community that demonstrates an alternative way of life and faith that avoids the extremes of consumerism and self-indulgence on the one hand and those of fundamentalism or puritanism on the others.

Q: What is Pureland Buddhism?
A: Buddhism is the spiritual tradition deriving from Shakyamuni Buddha who lived in India 25 centuries ago. It is a religion of personal and social peace and harmony based upon the creation of karmic affiliation to a Buddha or Buddhas through an act of 'taking refuge'. 

Q: What is a Buddha?
A: A being who is awakened to the power of the unconditional: unconditional love, unconditional wsidom, unconditional goodness, unconditional generosity, unconditional patience, unconditional energy, unconditional presence. Buddhas support the unconditionality of one another - Buddhas are inspired by Buddhas. We who are not Buddhas are also inspired by Buddhas.

Q: What is meant by the unconditional?
This is the principle of willingness and complete acceptance. A Buddha loves each person just as he or she is. A Buddha does not condemn. Ordinary people are not capable of doing this, but they can grasp the principle.

Q: What is spirituality?
A: Spirituality has a number of meanings. Amida Shu is spiritual in being (a) a relationship with what is sacred, (b) a personal and individual form of devotion and religious exploration as well as a collective one, (c) a relationship to Amida Buddha who is commonly experienced as spirit, appearing in dreams and at death, not merely as a historical existence, and (d) centred on religious feeling and devotion.

Q: What is meant by religion?
A: Amida Shu is a religion inasmuch as it is an organised communion of fellow spirits. Religion generally refers to the institutional aspect of the spiritual life. Buddhism takes a middle position on religion - not too organised and not too anarchic. A degree of organic organisation is necessary if a group of people are to have any effect in the world. Since Amida Shu has an acknowledgedly utopian vision to create 'Pure Land in this world' some organisation is necessary. Amida Shu is therefore a communion of people of common faith in the Pure Land of Amida, working together for a better world, supporting one another as a mutually caring family, and thereby demonstrating an alternative way forward in which diverse people care for one another and co-operate in the service of a better vision.

Q: What is meant by saying it is a 'generic' spirituality?
A: The basic principles of Amida Shu define a simple structure within which a person can live a spiritual life. All that they have to do is recognise their own limitations, recognise the unconditional ideal, and adopt a practice that relates the two in their consciousness. This latter, whatever form it takes, will be a form of nembutsu. The framework of Amida Shu is thus of more or less universal application for people with a spiritual outlook. Thus, it is easy for an Amidist to relate to the other major religions by simply assuming that their gods are Buddhas. So long as your god is a Buddha - i.e. embodies unconditional love - then your religious practice is a form of refuge and parallel to Buddhism. Buddhism claims no exclusivity. (Problems in inter-faith dialogue generally derive from claims to exclusivity, but Buddhas do not claim exclusivity because what they teach is universal.) So Amida Shu is universalistic both in the sense of recognising the validity of other spiritualities and being able to talk about them in its own language as well as theirs and also in being a simple structure of doctrine that persons of any faith background can readily utilise.

 

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Shock and Grace ~ Dharmavidya

Dharmavidya:

Humans press on forward.  It is like an automatic car.  The basic state of such a car is to move slowly forward.  To get it to stand still while the engine is running one actually has to apply a brake.  It will not come to a stop of its own accord.  Humans are the same.  When you learn to drive a car, the first thing to learn is how to apply the brake.  The spiritual life is the same, first learn to apply the brake.

For a long time in psychology it was thought that a person’s instincts were always trying to bring the person to a halt.  Needs were met in order to end the state of neediness and this end of neediness would be a halt. 

Then some people decided to test this out.  If there is a basic instinctive need to return to rest, total rest should be blissful.  Experiments were done using sensory deprivation.  Subjects were put into float tanks where they received minimal sensory input.  This was as near to complete stasis as can be contrived.  Subjects were paid to stay in the tank.  They had a button they could press when they wanted to get out.  The vast majority of subjects found it intolerable after a short time.  Even though they were being paid to spend time doing absolutely nothing they soon asked to be let out.  Returning to zero is not bliss for most people.  They are all itching to complicate their lives.

The Buddha realised this.  If you are to simplify your life and discover real bliss, this will not happen by just indulging your feelings.  If one goes with the flow, life gradually becomes more and more complicated until something breaks down.  If people have capacity - time, space, money, attention - they get a hankering to use it.  

You can see this operating in many areas of life.  For instance, it causes economic cycles.  When times are good people invest.  In order to invest they borrow.  Others lend.  Lending is one simple way of investing.  Demand grows.  Lenders gradually make more and more risky investments.  As people push for more and more the whole structure becomes increasingly fragile. Eventually some shock to the system tips the balance.  Some borrowers fail to pay their debts.  This leads to a “loss of liquidity” - in other words, the people that they borrowed from now do not have the money to pay their debts either.  There is a general loss of confidence that anything will get paid.  Investment dries up.  The crisis ripples through the whole system very quickly and there is a crash. Then it all starts all over again.

These kinds of cycles involve pain.  One can see that it is all rather unnecessary, but it is not so easy to avoid.  On top of one’s own tendency to get involved in things one does not need, there is the fact that everybody else is doing it too, so we egg each other on.  Surveys have suggested that most people think that they would be happy and content if they just had 25-30% more income than they currently have.  This stays true however big the income is.  It is thus apparent that whatever they currently think, they will never actually be happy.  They will always want that next increment.  Many career structures have increments built in.  On the one hand, this means that people have an incentive to stay in the job. On the other hand, it also means that the cost of keeping them gets higher each year.  Organisations that use such a system - and most big bureaucracies do - thus have to have a “restructuring” - an artificial crisis - every so often so as to get rid of the staff who are now costing more than they are worth.

Although it is easier to see these cycles and their effects when we look at large scale social structures, the same is true in individual lives.  When life becomes simpler it is more blissful, but there arises also the hankering to complicate it - a new relationship, a bigger car, a new house, a better job, or, simply, get a dog - there is always an urge for more, an incessant irritation.

So the Buddha said that unless there arises a revulsion for this aspect of oneself, one will stay tied to the cycle.  Samsara will just keep going round and round.  The key to liberation is restraint.  If your relationship has ended, don’t immediately go onto a dating site and find a new one - enjoy the liberation of having some space in your life.  If your events cancel, don’t immediately fill up the time with new commitments - enjoy the free time.  If you have this kind of attitude, nothing is a disaster.  If the car breaks down and you have to walk, enjoy the exercise.

It has all become worse since we increasingly live in urban environments.  Most people no longer live close to nature.  If you do, cherish it.  Take time to stop and stare.  Smell the flowers, listen to the birdsong, hug a tree.  Observe the cycles of nature.  You will see that they have a similar pattern, but you can stand outside of it and watch.  In an urban environment one is surrounded by things that advert toward complication.  Buy this.  Get one of those.  Don't miss out.  Don't be late.  And so on and on, endlessly until the crash. Birth, old age, disease and death.     

At the present time, we are at a point in the cycle where quite a lot is breaking down due to the arrival of the corona19 virus.  People are staying at home rather than going out.  Many are obliged to “self-isolate”.  This is like sending half the population on a religious retreat.  Some people find it hard to bear, though it means that they are living much as I do most of the time.  Sartre said "Hell is other people," but many find it a kind of hell just to be on their own.  Yet what could be easier?

Eventually the crisis will pass and things will “return to normal”, but normal is not a steady state. Normal is a constant pushing forward - shop til you drop.  For sure, when the present crisis is over, there will be some kind of rebound.  Not everything will be the same as before.  During the crisis people will have learnt new ways of doing things and some of these will stick.  But the point to notice is that the crisis creates space and the rebound fills it up again.  Better to keep some of the space free. 

Spiritual teachers teach restraint - he who does not know contentment will never have enough.  Do not complicate your life unnecessarily.  Enjoy the freedom that you have and hold back from filling it up with new stressful commitments.  Every loss is also a freedom regained; don’t squander it.

To do this there has to be some countervailing force to the urge to ever press on.  This force has two components.  The first is paravritti - the revulsion for the samsaric hamster wheel.  The second is grace - allowing the bliss of spiritual sustenance in.  Amida’s light is always everywhere if we will allow it.  To fulfil the spiritual life, both of these elements need to be present.  Commonly this means that enlightenment arrives when shock and inspiration coincide.  Right now we are in a time of shock, but will one allow the inspiration to enter or is the itch to get back to "normal" irresistible?

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I am a Religious Buddhist ~ Dharmavidya

Dharmavidya:

A little while ago I answered a knock on my door and found myself in conversation with two Jehovah’s Witnesses.  I told them I was Buddhist.  They immediately asked if I was a religious Buddhist or a philosophical Buddhist.  I replied, without hesitation, that I was a religious Buddhist.  We had a pleasant conversation and found some commonality of concern about various issues such as the current ecological crisis.  They then went on their way. 

Afterwards, I reflected that they would probably have made a more determined effort to convert me if I had answered the first question differently.  The person without religion is in a more vulnerable position and soon likely to admit to some uncertainty and anxiety. I also thought about why I had had no hesitation in answering the question as I did.  Many people who identify with Buddhism these days do not identify with religion.  What is the real point at issue here?

The fundamental definition of religion is that it is a system of thought, philosophy, culture and practice within which the core element is a distinction between the mundane and the sacred.  We could also term these poles the finite and the infinite, the conditioned and the unconditioned, the here-and-now and the eternal-beyond, the mortal and the deathless, or any other parallel set of terms. In the West they have come to take on the form of the mortal and the divine.

On this definition, secular or philosophical Buddhism is not really a religion because it lacks a sense of the beyond.  It is Buddhism minus nirvana.  If you had asked Shakyamuni about this, however, he would surely have said that Dharma without nirvana is not Dharma.  It is like a one legged man or a one wheel bicycle - it is a precarious balancing act that easily tumbles without the application of unwearying vigilance, contortion or extra props.

According to secular Buddhism, only the here and now exists, the only benefits available are mundane ones, and the only way to proceed is with the pursuit of this-worldly results.  This type of thinking is considered progressive.  However, it is fragile.  Those following such an approach, if they do so in a serious rather than dilettante manner, are liable to get burnt out, because this-worldly goals offer no permanent succour, no real solution: they are just more of the same. Many “modern” people find this very difficult to grasp. Consequently they never escape from their stress and anguish. They set up a goal of this worldly perfection and then come unstuck because there is no such perfection here to be had.

The original teaching - the Dharma - aimed at salvation from this world while within it, not mere transient happiness or pleasure.  Happiness within it might often be a spin off, but was incidental to the original purpose.  Nor is Dharma really about self-development.  Again, a good deal of character reform may well occur as a spin off - sila and samadhi develop from prajña - but the core is right view and right view is lokavid, the ability to see beyond.  We might like the idea of perfecting ourselves, but we all remain bombu.

In the Ariya Pariyesana Sutta (MN26), Buddha says:

Bhikshus, before my awakening, while I was still only an unawakened bodhisattva,

9. I, too, being myself subject to birth, sought what was also subject to birth; …
subject to decay, sought what was also subject to decay; …
subject to sickness; …
subject to death; …
subject to sorrow …
being myself subject to defilement, sought what was also subject to defilement.

Then, bhikshus, I thought thus:

‘Why should I, being myself subject to birth, seek what is also subject to birth; …
subject to decay; …
subject to sickness; …
subject to death; …
subject to sorrow; …
being myself subject to defilement, seek what is also subject to defilement?

Suppose that I, being myself subject to birth, having understood the danger in what is subject to birth, were to seek the unborn supreme security from bondage, nirvana.
Suppose that I, being myself subject to decay …
subject to sickness …
subject to death …
subject to sorrow…
subject to defilement, were to seek the undefiled supreme security from bondage, nirvana.’

If we recouch this in Pureland terms we get:

Formerly I, a bombu, sought that which is also bombu,
being a foolish being, sought that which is also foolish,
being subject to wayward passion, sought that which is also wayward.
being an impermanent mortal, sought that which is also mortal and impermanent.

Then I thought, why do I do this?

Suppose that I, a bombu, seeing the danger in it, were to seek refuge in what is not bombu;
suppose that I, a foolish being, seeing the danger in it, were to seek refuge in what is not foolish;
suppose that I, a being subject to wayward passion, seeing the danger in it, were to seek refuge in what is pure;
suppose that I, being mortal and impermanent, seeing the danger in it, were to seek refuge in what is not mortal, not impermanent.

What if I were to call out to what is beyond this mundane samsaric merry-go-round. What if I were to call out to Amida.

At a philosophical level, secular Buddhism is propped up by the wooden leg of non-duality.  A great deal is made of this notion, but it is quite clear here that the Buddha has a critically important duality in mind, namely that between the being who is limited by birth, sickness, death, sorrow and defilement on the one hand and, on the other, the unborn, the deathless, that which is not subject to sickness, sorrow and defilement. In the Dharma of Buddha, not everything is impermanent.

This is the same distinction as that between the bombu being and Amida.  Buddhism occurs when the limited being reaches out to the limitless, the finite to the infinite, the measured to the immeasurable.

One does not cross this divide, for one remains a mortal being, but one takes refuge in the other shore.  In the here and now, one calls out to the eternal. In this very life, one calls out to the beyond. In this perilous situation, one pleads for help  - “Tai Shi Chih, aid me now!”.

Such calling is nembutsu. “Namo Amida Bu”.  Then, amazingly, it comes to you. This is the meaning of Tathagata (Nyorai, in Japanese).

It is said that the difference between Jodo Shu and Jodo Shin Shu is that Jodo Shu places the emphasis upon the calling and Shin Shu places the emphasis upon it coming to you.  These, however, are two aspects of the same movement.

This is religious consciousness giving rise to a religious act with a spiritual result - the religious act that is the core of all true religion, whatever the names or terminology may be, and the result that is the reason why religious movements have had such influence and sway in human affairs.

As long as one, a mundane being, continues to call out only for an improved mundanity, one has not grasped the Dharma nor been grasped by it and so one does not get the result.

Only when, as a mundane being, one nonetheless calls out to what is ultimately sublime, beyond this tawdry sphere, does one grasp at the real Dharma and create the condition within which one can be grasped by it.  This is why it is important not to be ashamed to be religious.  Without religious consciousness one is eternally vulnerable and lost because, however much effort one makes, one is still dependent upon things that are as vulnerable, impermanent and unreliable as oneself. 

Buddha said that few would be able to get this.  He was right, but there are some with but little dust in their eyes.  Don’t let them waste for want of the Dharma.

For me personally, it makes complete sense.  Even if I were the only person left on the planet who saw this, it would still deeply satisfy.  Furthermore, it is what Shakyamuni taught.  This is original Buddhism and universal Dharma.

If Jodo Shu is “Please” and Shin Shu is “Thank You” then Amida Shu is Please and Thank You together, the complete set of cosmic good manners. Learn these good manners and use them on all occasions. Then you will be welcomed to the feast where all the Buddhas dine.

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What Keeps Buddhist Activists Sane?

Satya writes:

In January, I co-facilitated a weekend retreat for Buddhists from different traditions who are involved in eco-activism. Various themes and questions emerged during our time together. There were questions about how arising anger could be used in the service of activism, and how this fitted with Buddhist ethics. There was frustration about Buddhist colleagues who were in denial about the climate and ecological crises, and how they might be skilfully influenced. There was a lot of despair and grief.

One of the themes that arose repeatedly was the immensity of the task ahead and the inadequacy of our efforts. One colleague came up with a beautiful metaphor for this. He described himself as a drop of water, surveying a vast lake. The lake had been whipped up into fierce waves and he was trying to decide exactly where to add his drop of water in order to calm the whole thing.

This struck me very deeply as I have been wrestling with a similar dilemma. My life is already quite full. I run a Buddhist temple with my husband, which involves wearing various hats: landlord, celebrant, marketing executive, accountant, gardener. I work as a psychotherapist to earn my living, and I make space for writing books as a way to feed my soul. How can I fit my new role as an eco-activist into this busy schedule without overloading myself and becoming useless as a holder-of-space and as a guide for others. In the precious time I do have available, exactly what should I be doing? The fate we are facing is so terrifying, I also wonder why I don’t just relinquish all of my other roles, as some of my friends have done, and sign up for full-time work with Extinction Rebellion.

We sat with these questions as they swirled inside us. It was helpful to know that others sat with them too. It was also helpful to study a beautiful text by Akuppa* on how to be a Shambhala warrior, with sage advice for Buddhist eco-activists including simplifying our lives, remembering we can’t save the world on our own, and balancing outer activity with inner sustenance. Still, I was left feeling daunted and overwhelmed by the task ahead.

On the second morning I offered a piece of our liturgy to the group. As a Pureland Buddhist, my primary relationship is with Amitabha Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. Amitabha (or Amida) is flanked by two attendant bodhisattvas—Quan Shi Yin, also known as Guanyin, Avalokiteshvara, or Kannon, and Tai Shi Chih, also known as Mahasthamaprapta. The piece I shared was the Tai Shi Chih Prayer, written by our teacher Dharmavidya David Brazier, and set to a very simple melody.**