the tree of life sangha

A difference between Honen and Shinran

A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HONEN & SHINRAN

 

Honen was the founder of the Jodo School in Japan. His successor was Bencho. Later, there emerged the Jodoshin School, often called Shin Buddhism, which claimed Shinran as its founder. Jodo and Jodoshin are two of the three most popular forms of Buddhism in Japan, the third being Nichiran. Shinran was, in fact, a disciple of Honen, but in some ways his teaching differs a little from that of his master. For instance, Shinran taught that the Pure Land of Amitabha is identical to nirvana, whereas Honen followed the great Chinese teacher Shan Tao who said that “Reaching there (the Pure Land), our lotus flower will open and we can listen to the 妙 (graceful, marvelous, wondrous) dharma (that Amida preaches). Then the ten (bodhisattva) stages of  vows and practices will naturally reveal themselves clearly.” Shan Tao saw the Pure Land  as a place where one hears the Dharma more clearly and can practise it more easily and so be assured of not falling back, but not as the same as the ultimate goal of nirvana. A Buddhist prays for rebirth in a life in the presence of a Buddha - in Pureland, the Buddha Amitabha - where the conditions for practice will be optimum. Karma is inexorable, so cannot be wiped out in a magical way, but conditions can make a big difference. Even within this life, we pray to be in conditions where there is support for faith & practice, which is why we take refuge in a teacher, a sangha and the great love that has been transmitted from the time of Shakyamuni. Many Japanese do believe that in the next life everybody automatically becomes a Buddha, but this is somewhat at variance with traditional Buddhist teaching. I do not want to become embroiled in a debate between these two great teachers, but reflecting upon their different views can help us to clarify our sense of the Dharma. As a Pureland practitioner, I hope to enter Sukhavati, but I also have a deep sense that it is important to be willing to go wherever and to receive and accept whatever comes. It is all Namo Amida Bu in the end.

 

~ Dharmavidya

Buddha's Rules for Conversation

1/ Listen carefully
2/ Don’t talk to an unwilling audience.
3/ Only say what will be useful or interesting to the other party.
4/ Avoid gossip. Don’t disparage others.
5/ Don’t add to quarrels.
6/ Facilitate peace.
7/ Speak words that inspire faith & confidence.

~ Dharmavidya

Global Sangha

:: Dharmavidya David Brazier:

Global Sangha came into being during the period of the pandemic as a number of people gathered around my presentation of the teachings. Some were already my disciples (shravakas), and we held a small ceremony to allow some others to take this step. Others simply came to receive teachings or participate in events and the life of the sangha. I started sending out five minute podcasts of Dharma teachings of which there have now been well over 200. Around this time the book The Dark Side of the Mirror: Forgetting the Self in Dogen's Genjo Koan came out and this was soon followed by The Oxford Handbook of Meditation (Farias, Brazier & Laljee) and a volume of poems, It Is As It Is (Brazier & Lee). I also wrote a Commentary on the Summary of Faith & Practice for private circulation. So there was plenty to study. I do what I can to provide access to the Dharma for all who are interested. The success of the sangha, however, is primarily due to the core practice of  nembutsu and the extension of the teaching into Buddhist psychology. The sangha now embraces a number of mini-sangha groups formed around particular practices & activities - the Sunday service, the early morning chanting sessions, the Friday service, the tutors' group, some of the peer learning groups of BP students and other buddy groups - all of these act as important supports to faith & practice ~ :: link. If you would like to be more involved, some of these groups are open to new members. If a zoom code is given in the :: Global Sangha Newsletter, do just come along to a meeting. However, not everybody wants to be a member of a group and some practitioners are solitary yogis relating exclusively to me directly or to other teachers within our community. There are many possibilities. Each person is on her or his path and, as in the time of the Buddha, different practitioners need different avenues. 

:: Dharmavidya

:: Global Sangha Newsletters

UNDERSTANDING THE DHARMA

 

Dharmavidya David Brazier:

 

Buddhism has many scriptures (sutras). These derive from the teachings and conversations of the Buddha Shakyamuni. The texts have been passed down through some eighty five generations and along the way many different interpretations have emerged. With the arrival of Buddhism in the West, we see a further generation of new interpretations. Arguably, some of these take us further away from the original intention of the founder and some closer. I have myself advanced some proposals for how best to understand the Dharma and some of these differ from what is commonly read and taught these days.

 

Four Truths for Noble Ones:

At the heart of Buddhist teachings are what are generally called the Four Noble Truths. Commonly these are presented as a road to the ending of suffering. In my book The Feeling Buddha and elsewhere I suggest that this is a misinterpretation. Dukkha is such situations as  birth, aging, disease and death, separation, confinement and failure and we have to suffer these. What counts is how one does so. The "eightfold path" is not a route toward enlightenment, it is the path that issues from awakening to the real situation. The correct interpretation is that there are basically two ways to respond. One, the path of ego, just goes round in circles, generating more dukkha situations. The other, the way of nirodha - basically faith & practice - opens onto the (eightfold) spiritual path. Noble practitioners meet adversity in ways that are wise and compassionate. Worldly people meet them with selfishness, distraction and bitterness. Practise nirodha and the path opens naturally. This is the meaning.

 

Mindfulness:

The noble option of nirodha involves keeping Buddha & Dharma in mind, which is to say, in one's heart, in all situations. To do so is mindfulness in the true Buddhist sense. This is not a psychological technique of staying in the present moment. It is, rather, protection against what may happen if, in the present moment, one meets corruption, adversity or temptation. In this true sense, mindfulness is faith & practice. In Japanese it is called nembutsu, literally "keeping the Buddha in mind". If, in all situations, one sustains one's refuge in Buddha, one will not go far wrong.

 

Dharma:

It is often taught that the term Dharma has two (or more) meanings and these are often distinguished in translations by using upper or lower case initial letters which do not appear in the original language. It is said that Dharma is the teaching of Buddha and dharma are the manifold things in this world. I suggest that dharma, with or without a capital, has but one meaning and that is "fundamental truth", or, we could say, what is really real. Buddha's "teaching" is him pointing out reality and what we need to know about the phenomenal world is to discern whatever is fundamental. Much Buddhist teaching is concerned with the fact that ordinary experience is often based upon mere appearance that often turns out to be fake news. To live a spiritual life, one needs to address what is actually so, rather than superficial forms.

 

When we take these (and some other) key terms in this way, we receive a Buddhism that is coherent, clear and practical yet profound. It is fundamentally true that life for a sentient being includes many unavoidable dukkha situations and it is also fundamentally true that in this very existential situation a noble life is possible if one meet those situations mindfully in the above sense of the word. Doing so constitutes nirodha and the outcome of doing so is marga, the eightfold path, a truly spiritual life. The great diversity of Buddhist practices and teachings are all designed to assist and contribute to this.

 

Namo Amida Bu.