The New Year has come, but as a Buddhist, New Year doesn’t have significant meaning for us. After passing a month of January, we hardly think that this year is a New Year, and we think that next year will be a New Year. New Year is just another year that we are getting closer to Pure Land. Then you may think that Buddhism is such a pessimistic religion. If you think so, it is not true. Buddhism is a religion of awareness. Ken Tanaka, who is the author of Ocean, explains the meaning of the awareness that we become more human when we are fully aware. This means that we feel a deeper appreciation for that which sustains our lives. When we are fully aware, then we are able to fully rely on Amida’s salvation. Besides total reliance on Amida, Nembutsu, Namo Amida Butsu, naturally comes out from our mouth.
Rennyo explains the above quotation by following passages. First of all, you should entrust yourselves to Amida by carefully discerning the six-character Name, “Na-mo-a-mi-da-bu-tsu.”
The essence of “Namo Amida Butsu” is this: when sentient beings entrust themselves to Amida with the assurance of emancipation in the afterlife, Amida Tathagata fully recognizes this and endows them with the merit of unsurpassed, great benefit. This is what is meant by directing of virtue to sentient beings.
Because it is through Amida’s Dharma that the sentient beings who rely on the Buddha are liberated, we say that “Namo Amida Butsu” represents “the unity of beings and the Dharma.” You should bear in mind that this itself is the entrusting heart of Other Power (Tariki) that assures our birth.
Namo Amida Butsu
Tatsuya Aoki
