Hongaku Jodo

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"Hongaku Jodo" translates as Original Nature Pure Land...our Buddha Nature....our Pure Land. The temporal concept of attainment is the Tendai doctrine of original enlightenment (Hongaku) according to which all beings, because they possess Buddha-nature as their innate reality, are inherently enlightened. As Pure Land practitioners we therefore acknowledge the T'ien T'ai historic bonds and the lineage tying us to the great Patriarch Chih-i through the founder of the Compassionate Lotus Tradition in the U.S.A., Master Dokyo Chozen, and to its present leader and Haiku Master, Ven. Tasogare Shinju. The Presiding Abbot of Hongkau Jodo Compassionate Lotus is Ven. Taicho.

As Compassionate Lotus Pure Land practitioners, we follow the simple teachings of Master Chozen who saw the potential in all paths for making Dharma available to each person according to expedient means, and turning away no one who wishes to grow in the knowledge of the Dharma. Nor did he see any reason to belittle others for their beliefs. Indeed, he taught that all previous preconceptions of other WAYS should be left behind and the mind thrown open to Dharma, pure and simple, without ourselves accidentally falling into the mind-trap of sectarianism. Therefore, reaching out to all sentient beings, the Hongaku Jodo Compassionate Lotus sangha is dedicated to Buddha's mission of alleviating suffering by awakening to our Original Nature & by experiencing "oneness" with the Source.

In Pure Land Buddhism, this concept of Source is referred to in Japanese as Oya-sama, the all-inclusive PARENT from which all things arise, THAT which is love and compassion. It is also known as "Thusness" or "Suchness". Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Light (Amitabha) and of Life (Amitayus) is the manifesting aspect(s) of the Living conscious Power, and is the universal form-giver. To experience our oneness, the ALL, we practice and teach the Pure Land meditation method known as the "Name Recitation" the "Nembutsu", the chanting of the name "Amida, Amitabha, Amitayus", the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life. This is a simple and straightforward way of calming the mind and bringing about spiritual awakening. It is a method anyone can use at any time, anyplace. We affirm what Buddha taught: that there are 84,000 "dharma gates"...many ways to awaken to our Original Nature. These dharma gates are provided to serve the needs of many different people in diverse circumstances. Buddha encouraged each of us to use those expedient means which suit our own capacities, temperaments and needs.

Dharma:

Regardless of what others, or our own ego, would have us believe, there is only one reason for our present circumstance, and only one way to change it. That is to reconnect with Buddha...which we call Amida: our source, our true self, our Original Nature. Enlightenment does not come through the right sect. It does not come through the right organization, lineage or priesthood. It does not come from belonging to the right church, synagogue or temple. It comes from you. It is your gift to yourself. It is your inheritance. It is yours . No organization or person can give it to you. No priesthood or ordination can ensure it. Books, Services, Sermons, Ways and Practices have no more value than a pointing finger, no more reliability than your own sense of direction.

Realize that reaching your goal is your responsibility, and it belongs to no one else. If you think otherwise, or if someone or some sect tells you otherwise - and you believe it - there is no one to blame in the end but yourself for your delusions and dissatisfaction. If this were not so, the world would be overrun with fully enlightened Buddhists, purely sanctified Christians, Moslems, and Jews, with Holy men and women of all persuasions crowding the marketplace. Many claim to be, yet very few are since even the priesthoods of these disparate "forms" can not agree on much of anything. If the leaders can not agree, how can their followers?

Yet the reality is simple: You are the Door. Open it!

Choose your Way, and be responsible for your choice. Then practice! Be loving and be compassionate towards others, regardless of their 'form', for as you think and do, so will your creations be. Most of all, be loving and compassionate with yourself. Everything begins and ends with you. This is the cultivation of ORIGINAL NATURE, the liberation of ENDLESS LIGHT. This is the essence of all Dharma.

ORIGINAL NATURE

AMIDA BUDDHA - OUR ORIGINAL NATURE

We, as individuals and as an organization, are devoted to experiencing our Original Nature...or "oneness" with the Source.

This concept of Source is also known as Amida (Amitabha) Buddha, and is referred to in Japanese as Oya-sama, the all-inclusive PARENT, which is love and compassion. We see this as being the same as saying "Thusness" or "Suchness"..

We seek to experience our Enlightenment in the context of fulfilling our compassion for all things, based on the promise that recitation of the NAME aids in the process, being particularly valid in this time of Karmic and Dharmic difficulties.

We do not necessarily view Amida Buddha as an actual existing personage, but we see him as the Personification of all that is, oneness, the Endless Light and the Endless Life which is spoken of in many spiritual traditions.

In this way, when we participate in what is called "Nembutsu," the recitation of the phrase Namu Amida Butsu (Japanese) or Namo Amito-fo (Chinese), we are consciously participating in an expression of Oneness with that from which we spring, that which gives us Life. This is Oya-sama, the loving, compassionate Parent which is neither male nor female, which is all things yet no thing, and from which all have life and being.

In addition to expressing gratitude and Oneness with Amida, the act of reciting the Name helps the mind focus in the same way various other types of meditation help to focus and empty the mind.

NEMBUTSU

Regarding Nembutsu (recitation), NAMU (NAMO) indicates the self. It has to do with self-power, which indicates awareness of the self's importance in the scheme of things in this world of relativity. It implies, when used in recitation, one's seeking refuge in a Power outside of or greater than one's own "self". Amida Butsu (Amitabha Buddha) encompasses what is known as Other-Power, that which makes everything possible, in the past, present and future. It is that which is the primal stuff, original will, the guiding blueprint, the Light, the Intelligence - all that which is one's Protection and Guide, taking on forms familiar and unfamiliar, visible and invisible, conceivable and inconceivable - that which is all things but is no thing.

Such is the reality that when performing the recitation we send forth this word-power as an expression of gratitude for the universal compassion which is us, is in us, around us, of us, and in which we find existence. The practice of Nembutsu, of performing recitation of the Name, puts into effect this taking of refuge. As the Reverend Hozen Seki says, "we come into this world with Oya-sama as the source of joy, hope, gratefulness." Oya-sama is the source of all "Thusness. " It is all "Thusness". Nembutsu is our acknowledgment of this fact.

What IS Pure Land, this place known as the "Land of Ultimate Bliss", this place "in the West"?

As Sakyamuni Buddha said, there are 84,000 paths (as many paths as there are people) leading to Supreme Enlightenment (Buddhahood). And there are 84,000 (innumerable) answers to the questions asked above. There are 84,000 (countless) delusions of which we must become fully aware in order to successfully fill ourselves with Light so as to rid ourselves of thoughts, feelings, and intuitions derived from our delusional, limited, finite, and karmic-bound being. Then we can experience the 84,000 joys abounding, which amounts to, one might say, THE PURE LAND ACHIEVED.

Another way of saying it might be this: Once we begin to realize that ALL duality (good-bad, up-down, in-out, me-not me, subject-object, etc.) is illusion, a constructed world of mere words and brain concepts, tempered and infused with our personal emotion, all based on experiencing through the body's senses, the organs from which all delusion finds life, we can then allow the Light of Wisdom to illuminate these delusions. This immediately strips them and makes them transparent and powerless. When this happens it becomes possible to experience our Original Nature while still experiencing the delusional, dualistic world through the limitations of the five senses. This is enlightenment, experiencing things as they really are, and in this state we are overwhelmed with the desire to bring all sentient beings to the same realization.

LIGHT

Light, in all spiritual disciplines, is symbolic of Wisdom and of the SOURCE. In Buddhism this Light is called Amitabha, the BUDDHA OF INFINITE LIGHT. This Light which always functions in a compassionate form, produces an environment that the Buddhists also call Amitayus, the BUDDHA OF INFINITE LIFE. Wisdom, Light and Enlightenment, brings about a life free, potentially, of the negativity produced by delusional ignorance, and such a LIFE in turn allows for the production of more LIGHT - Light & Life begetting Light and Life. The two become inseparably one, and so these two names, all-encompassing potentially, have been consolidated into the single Name (experience), AMIDA BUDDHA. This is brought to life through the utterance of Namu-Amida-Butsu, which seems to cry out "In pure Life and Light I seek my sustenance, my wisdom."

As Taitetsu Unno says in the introduction to D. T. Suzuki's book, BUDDHA OF INFINITE LIGHT, "when we are made to see our delusions by virtue of compassionate light, we have been touched by reality. No longer are we lost or confused, afraid or angry, insecure or fearful - not because these states have vanished, but because they are revealed to us more clearly, securely cradled within the great compassion of the Buddha of Infinite Light. Each repetition of Namu-Amida-Butsu liberates us from our delusions..."

COMPASSION

The dictionary defines compassion as a state of feeling sorrow and pain as a result of another's misfortune or suffering, and is accompanied by the strong desire to alleviate pain and remove its cause. Therefore, when it is said that Amida's Primal Vow may be summarized simply as His wanting to save all beings, without exception, we are seeing compassion at work on a cosmic scale. In the scope of humanity, it is the recognition of suffering and the desire to find a way to do away with it that must be our goal, since if we have no awareness of the fact that we are suffering in this Saha world we call home, we will have no desire to put a stop to it.

D. T. Suzuki speaks of the Primal Vow as being, in fact, Primal Will, an altruistic force at work which might be part and parcel of the very nature of what some call Oya-sama, some call God, & what others might call SOURCE. Primal Will may be a Force inherent in the nature of all things. When the Bible refers to God as LOVE, an inference might be made that love is, by its nature, compassion. Or perhaps compassion is love expressing, since in God's self-consciousness ( The Divine's awareness of "Thusness") love desires that all its aspects experience peace and joy, and a feeling of true oneness in its fullness of Self.

This would be accomplished only when everything is aware of its one complete Self- nature, its Oneness. In this sense the Christian's experience of "the Kingdom of God" is no different than the Buddhist's "attaining the Pure Land." It is having awareness of who and what we are in relation to all else. For in this awareness of our interconnectedness, how could we not be cognizant of the pain and suffering brought on by the ignorance and blindness of our fellow sentient beings? And how, in our own Enlightenment, can we not wish to wipe out the cause of the suffering of all sentient beings? And how could Amida Buddha NOT have stated that it was his Vow and desire that all beings be reborn in his country, the Pure Land, attaining all bliss found in the act of achieving Bodhi Mind in all its magnificent ramifications, while using the recitation of Namu-Amida-Butsu as the focal point in the pursuit of one-mindedness?

Seen in this way it may be said that the very nature of the universe propels us toward our own recognition of our Supreme Enlightenment. In any case, in this sense Name Recitation is very similar to Zen practice, but with the added benefit of achieving non-retrogression, rebirth, bliss and all the other benefits which the Pure Land offers.

BIRTH AND DEATH

Pure Land writings speak of our dying and being reborn into the Pure Land. Some practitioners will take this literally and plan their life and death in the hopes of an afterlife which will include an actual, real place called the "Pure Land" which is somewhere West of where the practitioner happens to be at the moment. This concept is very similar to the Christian's expectation of "going to heaven" after death, at which time the deceased will perhaps meet God, Jesus, Mary, angels, various saints, family members, etc. Exactly what one expects depends on what religious dogmas have been distilled into the body of one's beliefs.

However, when one achieves a self awareness and becomes cognizant of the actual reality of "Thusness", it becomes evident to most that rebirth into these other places (Heaven for the Christians, Pure Land for Buddhists) might actually mean simply the obtaining of Enlightenment, the purifying of our Substance.

Death, in the Pure Land sense, can refer to the act of passing from the old unenlightened body-state (with the brain's propensity for delusional thought) into a newly clothed, spiritually quickened body, whose senses have probably been altered somewhat to accommodate the changes wrought by the LIGHT which manifests in myriad new ways. In this sense, the Pure Land is here and now, as is the Christian's "Kingdom of Heaven". It is always potential in its actuality, and dependent for manifestation on the true state of being of each and every individual seeking it. And even though we think of them as being exalted lands, Pure Land might be, upon clear perception, almost a first-stop way-station on the road to Perfect or Supreme Enlightenment since it is only with the first stages of awareness of the pitfalls of relativity that one seems allowed to achieve Pure Land status, the place described as containing no stain of relativity, a place free of defilement and incorrect thinking, a place where no actions or reactions occur.

Pure Land is described as a place where even remnants of relative experiences (Karmic influences) will become almost nonexistent. It seems to be here that one in fact begins the serious journey towards Supreme Enlightenment, having attained enough positive qualities that Karmic influences can be refashioned, and relativity can be dealt with as it really is. With a state of being which frees one from these mundane influences, Perfect Enlightenment can then in fact have a chance of being achieved without retrogression being a constant worry and threat.

The paradox is that Enlightenment is necessary for achieving Enlightenment. The reality is that everyone has the same opportunity for achieving something, or everything, or nothing. Being one with the Source creates the certainty that that we wish to attain is only dependent upon the sincerity of our efforts. We received our Enlightenment when Oya-sama experienced Enlightenment and we only have to rediscover it, reinvigorate it, realize it. Since all things are ONE, all things ultimately interact as one interrelated whole. It can thus be truly said that the saving of all beings, in whatever form, in whatever configuration, is OUR business, OUR only business. OUR collective reason for Being, for in saving one we save the all.

REALITY-MIND

Our current problem with existence is simply recognizing the fact that we do not recognize the facts of true reality. Our senses, and the interpretations derived from them, is not reality, but only an intellectual creation which we think of as being the real thing.

Since we tend to depend almost completely on what is called the Outer Mind, while generally ignoring the urges of the Inner Mind as it speaks to us of its needs for nurturing, we allow our outer delusional self to bury the Inner Mind's voice, even to the point of forgetting that it even exists. We think that the Outer Mind is really the true self, even though it actually functions only on the surface of reality.

Thus, when we do give thought to the Inner Mind, we do so usually thinking the Outer Mind is the reality, the one doing the thinking about the existence of the one being thought of. It is the dualistic pattern of observation, "subject and object", delusion wishing to divide the indivisible into what appears to be Truly-Me and Not-Truly-Me. But Amida, being ourselves expressed in Otherness, enables us to understand ourselves, truly and without distortion. This amounts to a very large job of relearning our true natures, of undoing lifetimes of habit, reacting against eons of Karmic forces.

The idea behind the recitation of the phrase "Namu-Amida-Butsu" is that we awaken the inner self, and in the process of doing it, do away with the sense of self consciousness in order that we begin to correctly perceive the non-dual nature of reality. Since "subject and object" grow out of an area within us where there is actually no subject or object, the goal is to re-form things so that consciousness is aware that "subject and object" do not really exist We must come to know that the world which we take for granted, and which is intellectually constructed by us, is not the REAL world. As the author of Buddha of Infinite Light, D. T. Suzuki, says, "We reconstruct this world [with our senses and brain] and believe that this fabrication is the real thing."

The goal of all Buddhism is to reach the inner self and eradicate the superficial and misleading relativity which we take for reality, and at the same time realize that doing so does not create another relativity, but simply returns us to a state which is undivided in relative terms. In essence, our goal is to transcend relativity, and return to a state of pure being while still living with the appearance of duality.

It is when we are finally able to consciously transcend "subject and object", relativity and non-relativity, Beingness and non-Beingness, that Amida, Oya-sama, God, Source, etc., finally merges with our inner self (or our inner self merges with it) and the two identify as one. It is when Inner self and Amida merge that we can say that we are in the Pure Land. This is Enlightenment, a step forward ostensibly powerful enough that our retrogressive tendencies are put to a stop.

ENLIGHTENMENT

It should be understood that Enlightenment is a process and not an end in itself. It is a method involving many small steps. Achieving Pure Land is just one of the first of many steps in the journey towards true awareness. Each step is only a movement in a never-ending process, having neither beginning nor end. And realizing this, one sees the potential for unlimited quest of which Bodhi Mind, Buddhahood, Supreme Enlightenment, may only be first steps.

The great gift one can give to one's self while developing the Bodhi Nature is to LIVE life. One needs to always keep in mind the fact that enlightenment does not actually change the living of life, but only changes the perceptions we have about its reality. The enlightened person will still have to do the things tomorrow that he had to do today and yesterday, but in doing them they will be performed with a shift in perception. There is no difference between the worldly life and the spiritual life. The secular life IS the spiritual life, and the spiritual life IS the secular life. In this regard, Shinran's statement , "Once the Name is pronounced, that is enough to make you born in the Pure Land" takes on significance which is not usually apparent, or which on its face seems far-fetched.

Since our misconceptions regarding reality are self-created, we must of our own self-power recreate the true vision of reality. It is up to us to do the work (self-power) at which time Amida Buddha (Other-power) takes over and allows for completion (Oneness).

STUDY

We use study materials which are readily available to help us reach our goals. It is necessary for all students who wish to follow the Hongaku Jodo path to allow their minds to filter judiciously, glean the important things of the moment, learn never to throw away as useless that which is not needed now. Truth comes from all sources. The student must learn the important points for mirroring, for practice, for ritual, for behavior, for thought, for communications, for enlightenment. The student must learn the universality of the WAY. We must learn that it simply IS, and must search for our own language to describe it.

So, for students who might find difficulty in the presentation of any study materials, consider this: If something is not entirely clear on first encounter, perform as many subsequent readings as necessary to bring clarity. Education of any sort is not a one-shot deal, and its undertaking should not be mistaken for disguised entertainment. Your very future depends on your understanding this fact. This warrants serious thought.

Study must be done in conjunction with Nembutsu, with meditation, with introspection, and all of this presupposes correct mental attitude. Enlightenment is always a result of small steps. It is awareness growing within awareness. It is movement, slow but sure, until suddenly the cultivator realizes quite fully that a large distance has in fact been traversed. All of life must be used as focus for cultivation, even when doing the most mundane daily tasks. No thing, no time, no experience, is unimportant in the unfoldment of the awareness of the Self. All masters have learned this in their plodding, day by day, experiences. All future Buddhas are learning it the same way.

AN EMERGING WESTERN PURE LAND TRADITION

There can be developed a Pure Land tradition that is natural to our culture. A literature will blossom. A Dharma understanding and practice that feels entirely at home and is comfortable in our culture will become a reality. This will happen because each and every serious practitioner will help along the way in the process of creating this "language", just as over 2,000 years of Asian mentality and activity have brought the message to its present form where it is now being presented to us as a loving gift of their labors and lives.

The gift is ours to begin to fully appreciate, to see its wonder and beauty, to examine it through our own eyes, to touch it with our own lips, to breathe it with our own lungs, and to adapt it to our own potential. There is always a risk of disfiguring the message. We must always keep in mind that if we fail, it is the lack of light in our own understanding that causes our problems. That is our own doing, however, and this fear must not stop us from reaching out and experiencing these paths.

THE EARLY DAYS OF THE PURE LAND PATH

At the same time that Mahayana Buddhism was establishing itself in the Asian cultures, the Pure Land tradition had also established itself in India. There are few substantive historic materials extant, but early scriptures of this tradition (which later became known as the Triple Sutras) appeared during the initial period of the Mahayana movement. Two of them are of Indian origin and date from about the first century B.C. The third scripture, which dates from about the fourth century, exists only in a Chinese version. It first appeared in what T. Unno describes as the "Central Asian and Northern Chinese cultural sphere". Their basic message centers on the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha to bring all who call upon his name to full awakening.

By the fourth century, Pure Land was spreading throughout China in various manifestations. By the fifth century over two hundred Buddhist texts mention the name of Amida as the source of power for release from the bondage of our suffering. The great Chinese Patriarch Chih-i, T'ien T'ai founder, made the use of Name Meditation an integral part of his great thought, practice, and writings.

Although the Pure Land tradition matured in China, it reached a very active state of development in Japan as a result of the work of Honen and Shinran. They realized that Buddhism is ineffective when treated as a mere intellectual pastime, rational discipline, or ritual ceremony. Rather, Buddhism is only effective when practiced as a direct Way that engages the whole being...a spiritual Path that is not dependent on academic learning, cultural or intellectual sophistication, or elaborate rituals.

It was in the sixth century that Japan was introduced to Buddhism, and with it the Triple Sutras. Monks and Nuns were gradually attracted to Pure Land devotional practices as they found their other practices to be generally unfulfilling and lacking in spiritual consolation. At that same time, the general population was effectively excluded from the Path because Buddhism had become essentially elitist, a way followed by the nobility and by the monastics of the time.

The twelfth century was a time in Japan of great social unrest, natural calamities, and of inner and outer turmoil. It was in this time, in the year 1175, that the Japanese Tendai monk Honen created what effectively became an independent Jodo, or Pure Land School, in response to the spiritual hunger of ordinary, average people, He was also responding as well, as others had before him, to his own inner needs.

Honen's way consisted of exclusive reliance on the Primal Vow of Buddha Amida, made real in his own life experience by faith as he recited or chanted Amida's name. This recitation, called the Nembutsu, consists of the phrase "Namu Amida Butsu", which means "Homage to Amida Buddha". It is something anyone can do, and does not require either education, or many hours of free time. It can be done any time, any place.

Honen reached beyond the confines of monasticism to begin the Bodhisattva task of helping everyone to achieve Enlightenment. It was then that Amida's Primal Vow began to play a full and crucial role in Japanese society, opening the door to Pure Land Buddhism for anyone and everyone.

Honen's efforts attracted other monks, including Shinran (1173-1263). Shinran was also a Tendai monk 40 years Honen's junior. He became Honen's student, and together they spread the message of Amida's Primal Vow, and the way of entrusting in that vow by reciting the Nembutsu, the hallmark of the Pure Land path.

As was written at that time, "This is indeed the true teaching which is easy to practice even for ordinary people. Of all the lifetime teachings of the Great Sage, nothing surpasses this ocean-like virtue. Those who wish to leave this defiled world of samsara and aspire for the Pure Land, those who are confused about religious practices and faiths, those who are dark in mind and lacking in wisdom, and those who are burdened with heavy evil karma and many hindrances - should, by all means, esteem the Tathagata Shakyamuni's exhortation and follow the supreme direct path to Enlightenment; they should exclusively hold fast to the this practice and only uphold Faith".

Shinran had learned, as Honen had before him, that in the Nembutsu there was a direct way of entrusting themselves to the Primal Vow of Amida to bring all beings to an Awakening.

This is the great gift given to the world in the Pure Land path.It was the gift originally given by Shakyamuni. It was the gift extended by our master Chih-i, and it was the gift personified by Amida. Pure Land is the most widespread school of Buddhism in the world.

THE PURE LAND PATH - A GIFT FOR US TODAY

If Pure Land Buddhism is presented plainly in the language of any people in any culture, it can be as effective today as it was in earlier times. It is this gift which we encourage each person to consider carefully when searching for a "way" to awaken to one's Original Nature.

If we understand that all beings are already in possession of Buddha Nature, then it is our duty and privilege to rediscover our Original Mind, and understand the part played by our physical senses in it's loss. This is what Enlightenment is all about. Enlightened is what we already are, naturally, and all we have to do is rediscover it. The word "HONGAKU" deals with this insight and comes to us through the Tendai doctrine of Original Enlightenment. In it we discover the truth of Endless Light, of Boundless Life, of All-encompasing Compassion, of Great Wisdom, Great Strength, of Great Powers of Attainment.

We are these things. Because we possess Buddha-nature as our very nature, we are inherently enlightened even in our greatest darkness. It is only because we have lost sight of our true nature and have become fiercely attached to a false sense of ego-self that we fail to realize this. This state of non-understanding is called delusional thinking. Once we are able to recognize our delusional state, we then can return quite naturally to the non-delusional, inherently enlightened, state of being which is our natural condition...our Original Nature.

Amitabha invites awareness of this Original Nature by the simple process of entrusting ourselves to Amida and to the potential of the Primal Vow, and to its awakening potential for all beings. In recitation, in chanting the Nembutsu - this Mantra of Amida - our faith in action unfailingly opens the door to awakening as we practice with sincerity and diligence.

It is with love and admiration of the countless lives which have preceded ours, lives which turned the great Wheel of Dharma in all areas of Asia, that we identify ourselves with the Pure Land heritage and say: Namu Amida Butsu--Namo Amito-Fo--Namo Amitabha Buddha.

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