What is Shin Buddhism?
by Rev. Nobuo Haneda
The
more ripe a cluster of rice becomes, the lower it
bows down its head. Shin Buddhism, or the
teachings of Shinran (1173-1262), teaches us the importance of humility, the
most important universal virtue. Many people think that the ultimate goal in
Buddhism as well as human life is to become good.
But according to Shinran, it is to become humble. Being good is not
good enough; we must become humble persons.
We must know our evilness, the existence of our ineradicable egoism. We must
know our ignorance, the limitations of our intellects. We must become humble
persons who can say, “I’m evil and ignorant.” In
order to explain that Shin Buddhism teaches us the importance of humility, let
me first discuss the two stages of life that Shinran experienced. Two Stages in Shinran’s
Life The most important event in
Shinran’s life was his meeting with Honen (1133-1212), the founder of the Jodo
School, when Shinran was twenty-nine. This event divided his life into two
stages: the period before the meeting was the first stage and the period after
it was the second stage. When
Shinran met Honen, Shinran realized that he had had a shallow view of Buddhahood.
His thoughts on the subject went through a total transformation. Before Shinran
met Honen, Shinran thought that a Buddha was a “good” and “wise”
person—a holy person who was possessed of wonderful virtues. In order to
become such a Buddha, Shinran attempted to
purify himself by eliminating evil passions. But he could not attain
Buddhahood. Not only was he unable to become
a Buddha, he was feeling more and more depressed and miserable. His goal of
Buddhahood seemed far away. He could not understand what was wrong. When
Shinran met Honen, Shinran saw a Buddha in him. But the Buddhahood that he saw
in Honen was totally different from what he had anticipated. More than anything
else, Shinran was moved by the fact that Honen was a humble student. Honen
identified himself only as a student of Shan-tao (613-81), a Chinese Pure Land
master. Honen said that the only important thing for him was to learn from his
teacher. This way Honen embodied the spirit of a Buddha by the name of Namu
Amida Butsu (Bowing Amida Buddha). Namu
(Bowing) is a part of the Buddha’s name. The Buddha’s name symbolizes
the humblest human spirit. Before Shinran met Honen, he had thought that a
Buddha was a teacher, a respected and worshipped person. But now, having met
Honen, he realized that a Buddha was actually a student, a respecting and
worshipping person. Further,
before Shinran met Honen, he had thought that a Buddha was a “good” and
“wise” person. But now Shinran realized that such an understanding of
Buddhahood was a shallow one. He realized that he had been seeing Buddhahood
only objectively, from outside. He had not known the subjective reality of
Buddhahood—what a Buddha would say about himself. Although people would see a
Buddha from outside and describe him by saying, “He is good
and wise,” a Buddha would describe himself by saying, “I’m evil and
foolish.” Having met Honen, who had deep insight into his own evilness and
ignorance and said, “I’m evil and foolish,” Shinran realized that the true
essence of Buddhahood was humility—deep insight into one’s own evilness and
foolishness. Thus
in the first stage, i.e., before he met Honen, Shinran thought that a Buddha was
a “good” and “wise” person and Shinran made efforts to become such a
Buddha. But in the second stage, i.e., after he met Honen, Shinran realized that
the essence of Buddhahood was humility—studentship and insight into evilness
and ignorance. Thus,
having been moved by Honen’s humble spirit, Shinran also became a humble
student. He recognized that he had ineradicable egoism at the basis of his being
and that he had no goodness that he could rely on as the basis of his
liberation. Thus he stopped his practices designed to transform himself into a
holy person. He realized that a wonderful Dharma tradition had already been
given to him and that the only thing necessary for him was to listen to it. This
realization was his liberation. Growing and Maturing Let me further discuss the
two stages, calling the first stage “the growing stage” and the second stage
“the maturing stage.” Human
beings must grow up first; we must learn and experience all kinds of things. We
must strive to be good, better, and best; we must pursue infinite possibilities.
But when our growing stops, we must enter the maturing stage. We must reflect
upon ourselves, know our evilness, ignorance, and ineradicable egoism, and
become humble. The
growing stage is the stage of self-betterment and self-enhancement; it is a
stage of self-affirmation. Whereas, the maturing stage is the stage of
self-reflection and self-understanding; it is a stage of self-negation. Shin
Buddhist teachings concern the maturing stage. Shin Buddhist terms such as
“evil” and “foolish” are all connected with the discovery of our
ineradicable egoism, with our becoming humble. Terms such as “evil” and
“foolish” should be understood only within the context of our individual
self-understanding. They should be used only within the grammatical context of
the first person singular, as in “I’m evil,” or “I’m ignorant.” The
evilness or ignorance of other people is not an important issue in Shin
Buddhism. The
essence of Shin Buddhism is the discovery of the evilness, ignorance, and
ineradicable egoism in our beings. In the sphere of religion people usually
believe that they deserve liberation or salvation and seek it. But Shin Buddhism
teaches us that we, being helplessly egoistic and having no goodness as any
basis for liberation, cannot possibly deserve any liberation. Having
discovered ineradicable egoism in his being, Shinran said, “As I am incapable
of performing any religious practice, Hell is my only home.” (Tannisho,
Chap.2). He also identified
himself as an icchantika (one who is
totally devoid of any good). However, the discovery of his impossible reality
was his liberation. This experience of liberation is a paradox that can be
described only with the expression, “No liberation is liberation.” When
Shinran recognized that he had no “goodness” that he could rely on as the
basis of his liberation, his religious self-reliance was totally shattered. This
total negation of self-reliance, however, was actually his liberation. Now he
became a totally humble person, which was his liberation. Rev. Haya Akegarasu
(1877-1954), a Shin teacher, described this paradoxical experience of liberation
in his article ‘The Last Person Remaining”: “Our liberation does not exist
in our becoming liberatable and liberated; it exists in our knowing that we are
totally unliberatable.” In
his article, “Self-Despising and Self-Respecting,” Rev. Manshi Kiyozawa
(1863-1903), another Shin teacher, described the liberation of the humble person
by saying, "The person who has entered the gate of religion sees ‘zero’
value in himself. Far from slighting or respecting the self, he does not
recognize any value in the self. Generally speaking, our anguish and grief exist
because of our sense of self-importance. If we have already lost our sense of
self-importance, we do not feel anguish and grief, if we have already lost it,
we do not mind whether others despise or honor us, or whether they slight or
respect us. We can do all things calmly, leaving others to respect or despise us
as they like.” Once
a Dharma school teacher asked me, “Can Dharma school children comprehend
Shinran’s deep self-awareness?” I answered, “No, I don’t think children
can fully comprehend Shinran’s deep
self-awareness, because it belongs to the maturing stage. Children are still in
the growing stage.” Growing
must come first. We must let children grow up first. It is only after they
finish growing up that they start to mature. When they enter the maturing stage,
they can understand what Shinran says about himself. It is exactly the same with
academic education. No matter how important graduate education may be, we cannot
skip grammar school and junior high school. Thus Shinran called the growing
stage the “Necessary Gate (yo-mon).” It
is a preparatory stage. It is only after we go through the growing stage that
the maturing stage can begin. Another
Dharma school teacher asked me, “Is it all right for children to have
ambition? Should we Dharma school teachers encourage or discourage children’s
ambition?” I answered, ‘1’here is nothing wrong with children having
ambition. It is important that they have ambition.” Let
children have as much ambition as possible. Let them pursue whatever goals or
ideals they have. Let them strive to become
great scholars, scientists, artists, and sportsmen. If, after having pursued
their ambition and become adults, children start to reflect upon themselves and
see their limitations, then their maturing stage has begun. While they are
attempting to realize their ambitions, their arrogance will grow, too. But if
they start to recognize their own arrogance, then their maturing stage has
begun. Let them grow up first. Let them grow up as big as possible. We should
not make bonsai trees—miniature
Shinran trees—out of children. In a photo such a bonsai tree may look like a huge Shinran tree. But it is not the
real Shinran. Shinran was a gigantic tree. In his growing-up stage, Shinran grew
up to be a huge tree. If a ten-year
old boy says, “I’m evil and ignorant,” there is something wrong with him.
If Dharma school teachers are attempting to make children say that, they are
creating monsters. Then,
what can Dharma school teachers do for children? The only thing they can do is
to prepare children for the maturing stage in their future. The teachers must
tell them that becoming good is not good enough—that the ultimate goal in
human life is to become humble. They must tell them that humility is the most
important universal virtue and that only a humble person can have the greatest
happiness and joy. More
than anything else, Dharma school teachers themselves must learn to be humble;
they must learn to gain insight into
the pettiness of their being and have deep respect for the Dharma. If Dharma
school teachers simply attempt to teach
ideas and concepts to children, they fail to
be good teachers. But if they can manifest humility, deep respect for the
Dharma, they are good teachers. Children will eventually forget most of the
ideas and concepts that their teachers have taught them, but they will remember
the humble attitude and respect that they have seen in their teachers.
A Japanese proverb