Yuki Sugahara

09/07/2026

(6)

Rennyo Shonin said:

“‘Namo’ means ‘taking refuge.’ To ‘take refuge’ means the arising of the entrusting heart in which we entrust ourselves completely to Amida Buddha.

‘Aspiring and directing virtue’ means that Amida Buddha immediately bestows great goodness and great virtue upon those who entrust themselves to Amida.

The essence of this is none other than Namo Amida Butsu.”

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This passage seems to be a concise expression of Shinran Shonin’s explanation of the six-character Name Namo Amida Butsu found in the “Chapter on Practice” of the Kyogyoshinsho.

Regarding “aspiring and directing virtue,” Shinran Shonin states, “It is the mind of the Tathagata, who, having already established the Vow, gives sentient beings the practice necessary for their birth.” In other words, the direction is not from us toward Amida Buddha. Rather, it is from Amida Buddha toward us: what is necessary for our birth is directed to us from the side of the Tathagata.

Rennyo Shonin then says, “The essence of this is none other than Namo Amida Butsu.” As we discussed two passages ago, entrusting heart is the manifestation of Namo Amida Butsu working within our hearts, while the Nembutsu is the manifestation of Namo Amida Butsu emerging from our mouths. Namo Amida Butsu reaches our hearts and becomes our entrusting heart.

Regarding entrusting heart (shinjin), according to Shinran Shonin, entrusting heart is “the heart free of doubt.” Therefore, we simply receive, just as it is, the calling voice of Amida Buddha within Namo Amida Butsu: “I will unfailingly save you. Entrust yourself to me.”

Nanmandabu

09/07/2026

(5)

Rennyo Shonin said:

“Hang the object of reverence so often that it becomes worn, and read the sacred writings so often that they become worn from use.”

He expressed these two teachings as a pair.

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When someone gives us something precious, don’t we sometimes treasure it so much that we put it away somewhere safe, out of sight, and eventually stop using it altogether?

However, Rennyo Shonin tells us that precisely because these things are precious, we should “hang the object of reverence until it becomes worn, and read the sacred writings until they become worn.” Perhaps he is telling us to place the Dharma at the center of our everyday lives.

The Dharma is not simply something that makes our everyday lives better. Rather, we are enabled to live each day together with the calling voice of Amida Buddha, “Namo Amida Butsu.” Illuminated by the teaching, we reflect upon ourselves, look to Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow, and walk the path of the Nembutsu in gratitude.

Nanmandabu

09/07/2026

(4)

When someone said to Rennyo Shonin,

“I do not understand what is meant by 念声是一 nenshō zeitsu—‘nen and voice are one,’”

Rennyo Shonin replied:

“There is a saying, ‘When a thought is present within the heart, it naturally reveals itself outwardly.’

In the same way, if we understand that the manifestation of having received entrusting heart is itself Namo Amida Butsu, then what is expressed by the mouth and what is present in the heart are one.”

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Originally, the expression 念声是一 nenshō zeitsu arose in connection with Master Shan-tao's interpretation of the words 乃至十念 naishi jūnen (“even ten nen”) in the Eighteenth Vow as 下至一声geshi isshō (“even down to a single utterance”). Master Hōnen explained that the meaning of 念 nen and 声 sho (voice) is that they are one and the same. In other words, both nen and voice refer to the utterance of the Nembutsu.

For this understanding, Master Shan-tao relied on the passage concerning the lowest level of the lowest grade of birth in the Contemplation Sutra: “the one is made to keep one's voice uninterrupted and, completing ten nen, to say Namo Amida Butsu.” On this basis, “voice is nen, and nen is voice.”

However, what Rennyo Shonin discusses here is the relationship between the heart and the voice. This raises a question: Is Rennyo Shonin speaking of something somewhat different from the original meaning of nenshō zeitsu?

If we ask where we find an understanding of nen as referring to the heart, we can turn to the “one thought-moment” (一念 ichinen) in the Fulfillment Passage of the Eighteenth Vow. Shinran Shonin understood the “one thought-moment” in the Fulfillment Passage as the one thought-moment of entrusting heart, and Jodo Shinshu has traditionally understood this ichinen as referring to entrusting heart.

From this perspective, perhaps we can understand Rennyo Shonin’s words here as a reinterpretation of nenshō zeitsu in terms of the relationship between entrusting heart (nen) and the Nembutsu (voice).

Entrusting heart is the manifestation of Namo Amida Butsu working within our hearts, while the Nembutsu is the manifestation of Namo Amida Butsu emerging from our mouths.

Whether as nen or as voice, both are the precious manifestation of Namo Amida Butsu working upon us.

Nanmandabu

09/06/2026

(3)
During a service, Rennyo Shonin once forgot to lead the next verse in the chanting.

After returning to the South Hall, he said:

“The wasan recommended to us by Shinran Shonin was so deeply moving, so deeply moving that I simply forgot to lead the next verse.”

He then lamented:

“Few are those who entrust themselves to this precious teaching of Shinran Shonin and attain birth in the Pure Land.”

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Perhaps Rennyo Shonin really did simply forget what came next.

But even something like that became an opportunity for him to share the Dharma. I think this passage shows us Rennyo Shonin’s wonderful wit and wisdom.

But there is more to this passage. At the end, Rennyo Shonin laments that although we have encountered the precious teaching of Shinran Shonin, there are so few who attain birth in the Pure Land through the working of Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow.

So, how about us?

Through these short words, I feel as though Rennyo Shonin is asking each one of us that very question.

Namo Amida Butsu🙏

09/04/2026

(2)

During the morning service, the wasan beginning with,

“Among the five inconceivabilities that are taught,”

and continuing through,

“The unhindered light that fills the ten directions
Illuminates the darkness of ignorance;
Those who rejoice in the arising of the one thought-moment
Will unfailingly attain nirvana,”

were chanted.

Later, during his Dharma talk, Rennyo Shonin explained the meaning of these verses by relating them to the passage from the Contemplation Sutra:

“The light shines throughout the worlds of the ten directions,”

and also to the following poem:

“There is no village
the moonlight does not reach,
yet it is in the heart
of the person who gazes upon the moon
that the moon comes to dwell.”

The profound gratitude we felt was beyond words.

After Rennyo Shonin had left, Lord Kitadono [Jitsunyo Shonin] reflected on the Dharma talk from the previous evening together with the Dharma talk of that evening. He said,

“How grateful, how grateful! It is truly beyond words.”

As he said this, he was moved to tears. The depth of his emotion was beyond description.

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Just as the light of the moon reaches every village, the light of Amida Buddha reaches everyone. And when we say “everyone,” that means that the light reaches even me, a person filled with afflictions.

And when the poem says that the moon comes to dwell in the heart of the person who gazes upon it, I understand this as the working of Amida Buddha’s light, which works within this very heart of mine, filled with afflictions,

Amida Buddha is the Buddha who will not abandon me precisely because I am such a person. Whenever I realize this, whenever I am reminded of this, that sense of gratitude touches me deeply.

Namo Amida Butsu.

09/02/2026

Rennyo Shonin Goichidaiki Kikigaki

(1)

On the first day of the first month of 1493, Dōtoku of Kanshūji Village came before Rennyo Shonin. Rennyo Shonin said to him:

“Dōtoku, how old are you now? Dōtoku, say the Nembutsu.

The Nembutsu of self-power means saying the Nembutsu many times and offering it to the Buddha, thinking that through the virtue accumulated by saying it, the Buddha will save you.

Other Power means that, when the entrusting heart that relies on Amida arises in a single thought-moment, one immediately receives Amida’s saving working.

After that, saying the Nembutsu is simply to say, ‘How grateful I am to have been saved! How grateful I am!’ Rejoicing with this heart, one simply says, ‘Namo Amida Butsu, Namo Amida Butsu.’

Thus, Other Power means ‘the power of the Other.’ This entrusting heart that arises in a single thought-moment continues throughout one’s life until its end, and one attains birth in the Pure Land.”

Thus Rennyo Shonin taught.
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These are the words found in the first passage of Rennyo Shonin’s Sayings Recorded During His Lifetime (Goichidaiki Kikigaki).

Here, when Rennyo Shonin speaks of “the power of the Other,” the word “Other” does not vaguely mean the power of just anyone other than ourselves. The “Other” specifically refers to Amida Buddha. In other words, Other Power is the compassionate working of Amida Buddha to bring us to liberation.

Here, Rennyo Shonin also explains the difference between self-power and Other Power. This does not mean, for example, that twenty percent self-power and eighty percent Other Power would be good enough. Other Power means entrusting ourselves one hundred percent to the working of Amida Buddha. In Jodo Shinshu, we do not mix self-power and Other Power together.

Kōgatsuin Jinrei, an Edo-period scholar-priest of the Ōtani-ha tradition, once used an interesting analogy. He explained that both daikon radish and Korean ginseng are considered good for the body, but if they are taken together, the combination can actually be harmful.

Practices based on self-power are not necessarily meaningless within the Buddhist path. However, on the path in which we are saved through Amida Buddha’s Other Power, if we bring our own practices and merits into it as conditions for our salvation, that self-power itself becomes an obstacle.

Therefore, we do not try to add our own power to the working of Amida Buddha. Rather, we simply entrust ourselves to Namo Amida Butsu. This is the path of Other Power that has been opened for us.

nanmandabu🙏

08/26/2026

One of the Five Practices for Calming the Mind in Buddhism

"Anger → Contemplation of Loving-kindness
Cultivating the wish for the happiness and well-being of others helps calm anger and hatred."

When I reflect on my daily life, I realize that there are many times when I get angry. This happens especially when I see drivers on the road who do not follow the rules.

When I find myself getting angry, however, I try to think, “Maybe there is a pregnant woman in the car,” “Maybe someone they love is in critical condition,” or “Maybe they desperately need to get to a restroom!”

Strangely enough, I may still feel angry, but I am no longer completely consumed by that anger.

However, I do not think this kind of perspective arises because I am a good person. Rather, when anger arises within me, I find myself hearing the call of Namo Amida Butsu:

“It is precisely because you are such a person that I will never abandon you.”

It is not that my anger simply disappears or that I somehow become a compassionate person. Rather, through the working of Namo Amida Butsu, I am made to see myself, and the person I am angry with, from a different perspective.

Namo Amida Butsu has a compassionate working that can completely turn our perspective around, allowing us to see what we could not see before.

nanmandabu🙏

08/14/2026

Five Flower Kicks from Ng Fa Pow of Ying Jow Pai
鷹爪翻子拳「五花豹」という套路の中の五花腿

#武術 #鷹爪翻子拳

08/10/2026

08/07/2026

This might give us a glimpse of what shinjin is. To put it simply, shinjin is not a state in which we possess something of our own; rather, it is the absence of doubt concerning the working of Namo Amida Butsu. Shinjin is Namo Amida Butsu working upon us and coming to be present in us.

Please see the explanation below by the late Rev. Jitsuen Kakehashi, from his lecture text Senshōsha Honkō “Yuishinshō Mon’i.”

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p. 84
Whether we say “free of doubt,” “there is no doubt,” or “this is called shinjin because it is untainted by the hindrance of doubt,” these are all negative expressions. They do not describe some positive state or entity that exists in itself. In other words, “entrusting” indicates the absence of doubt; it does not point to some independently existing thing.
The three aspects of teaching, practice, and realization each have an explanation identifying their essential substance. Concerning teaching, Shinran Shōnin states, “To reveal the true teaching: It is the Larger Sutra of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life.” The concrete reality of the true teaching is the Larger Sutra. In the case of practice, he states, “The great practice is to say the Name of the Tathagata of unhindered light.” Thus, the great practice is the saying of the Name. In this way, its substance is clearly identified. Then, in the “Chapter on Realization,” he states, “To reveal, with reverence, the true realization: It is the wondrous state attained through Amida’s perfect benefiting of others; it is the ultimate fruition of supreme nirvana.” “Realization,” then, refers to the ultimate fruit of Buddhahood. Thus, the meaning of the word “realization” and the concrete reality designated by it are clearly distinguished, and that reality is explicitly identified. In the “Chapter on Shinjin,” however, there is no such explanation identifying its substance.
p. 85
The “Chapter on Shinjin” begins immediately by praising the virtues of shinjin in twelve different ways, saying, “Great shinjin is the superlative means for attaining longevity and deathlessness. It is the wondrous way to awaken aspiration for the pure and rejection of the defiled. It is the straightforward mind directed to us through the selected Vow. It is shinjin that actualizes Amida’s profound and vast benefiting of others. It is true mind that is diamondlike and indestructible…” There is no explanation identifying some substance called shinjin and saying, “This is what shinjin is.” This is the uniqueness of the “Chapter on Shinjin.”
If so, it would seem that shinjin has no independently identifiable substance of its own. What, then, does it mean to say that shinjin has no such substance? If we ask, “What is the concrete reality of shinjin?” nothing is presented as a separate entity corresponding to it. From this we can see that, although we speak of teaching, practice, shinjin, and realization together, the manner in which shinjin is expressed differs somewhat in character from the other three aspects of teaching, practice, and realization.
If we nevertheless speak of the “essence” of shinjin, there is the threefold identification of its essence: “This sincere mind takes as its essence the revered Name of supreme virtues”; “the essence of entrusting is the sincere mind of benefiting others and directing virtues”; and “true and real entrusting is the essence of aspiration for birth.” However, this threefold identification of its essence is not so much an attempt to identify shinjin as a separate concrete entity; rather, it seeks to disclose its underlying essence. Ultimately, then, the essence of shinjin is the Name—the revered Name of supreme virtue. In other words, the Name, Namo Amida Butsu, is the essence of shinjin.
Therefore, when we look closely at the way the virtues of shinjin are praised in the “Chapter on Shinjin,” what is actually being praised is the Dharma as it is present in the person. The Dharma is not being praised merely as Dharma in itself; it is being praised as the Dharma present in the person. When this is the case, the virtues of shinjin are being praised. If we look, for example, at the passage describing the four negations and fourteen exclusions (CWS, p. 107), it is clear that what is being praised there is the Dharma as it is present in the person.
Thus, when we say that “entrusting” means that no self-calculation is mixed in and no doubt is mixed in, we may ask: positively speaking, what is there? It refers to the state in which the Dharma has come to be present in the person—the state of having received the Dharma.
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