This Month’s Shoshinge – The Vow That Reaches Me
Hō zō bo satsu in ni ji
Zai se ji zai ō bus-sho
To ken sho bu-tsu jō do in
Koku do nin den shi zen maku
Kon ryu mu jō shu shō gan
Chō hotsu ke u dai gu zei
Go ko-u shi yu-i shi sho-u ju
Ju sei myō shō mon jip-pō
【English Translation】
Bodhisattva Dharmakara, in his causal stage,
Under the guidance of Lokesvararaja Buddha,
Searched into the origins of the Buddhas’ pure lands,
And the qualities of those lands and their men and devas;
He then established the supreme, incomparable Vow;
He made the great Vow rare and all-encompassing.
In five kalpas of profound thought, he embraced this Vow,
Then resolved again that his Name be heard throughout the ten quarters.
In Japan, April marks the beginning of a new chapter for many people. It is the season of school entrance ceremonies and company orientations, when new environments and new lives begin. Students put on new uniforms and start attending school, while adults take their first steps into new workplaces. Each person begins this new stage of life accompanied by new encounters and connections.
Time truly passes in the blink of an eye. This April marks my third year since coming to Toronto, and Rev. Sugiura’s second year. It feels as though we arrived only yesterday, but looking back, we realize that we have come this far supported by countless connections and relationships.
When starting a new life, many people set goals for themselves. “This year, I will study harder.” “I will try something new.” “I will take better care of my health.” In this way, each of us begins the year with our own wishes and resolutions. In the portion of the Shoshinge that we will be reading, we also encounter a great “wish” and “vow”—the profound aspiration of Amida Buddha.
In the Shoshinge, the 42 verses beginning from the section we are reading today—on Dharmakara Bodhisattva in his causal stage—are based on the Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life, one of the most important sutras cherished by Shinran Shonin. Through these verses, the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha is praised and revealed.
Before becoming Amida Buddha, he was known as Dharmakara Bodhisattva. The first half of the Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life explains how Dharmakara established his vows and attained Buddhahood.
Dharmakara Bodhisattva made his vow under the guidance of his teacher, Lokesvararaja Buddha. The chant we often recite in Jodo Shinshu, the Sanbutsuge (Hymn in Praise of the Buddha), is in fact a song in which Dharmakara praises his teacher. The “Buddha” referred to in this hymn is neither Amida Buddha nor Shakyamuni Buddha, but Lokesvararaja Buddha.
After being shown countless Buddha lands—their structures, and the qualities of the beings and devas who dwell within them—Dharmakara established his vow. Why was this necessary? Although each of these lands was an ideal realm carefully established by different Buddhas, it may be that they still had limitations in truly bringing all beings to liberation.
According to the traditional understanding of the Buddhist path, one becomes a Buddha by accumulating good acts and eliminating blind passions. The vows of many Buddhas were based on this principle—that those who cultivate good and eliminate ignorance become Buddhas. However, this path inevitably leaves behind those who are unable to fulfill such conditions.
Dharmakara Bodhisattva was different. Witnessing this reality, his vow was not self-centered. Rather, it arose from a profound question: “How can those who are suffering truly be liberated?” and “How can a world be realized in which all people can live in peace?” His vow was the most supreme and unprecedented aspiration—a great vow unlike any before.
He established a vow that even those who cannot abandon blind passions or accumulate good acts would be brought to Buddhahood just as they are. His aspiration to become a Buddha and his wish to bring all beings to Buddhahood were not separate—they were one and the same vow. These vows are expressed as the Forty-Eight Vows.
Dharmakara Bodhisattva contemplated deeply over an immeasurably long period—five kalpas—before selecting these vows.
In our daily lives, we often wish, “I want to live this way,” yet we repeatedly encounter the reality that we cannot live up to our own ideals. When we reflect on ourselves, we may feel discouraged, thinking, “I am not good enough,” or we may choose to look away from that reality.
If the Buddhist path is truly about performing good and eliminating blind passions, then we are precisely the ones who fall short of that path. And yet, it is for such beings as ourselves that Dharmakara Bodhisattva established his vow.
“As long as beings like this exist, there is meaning in my becoming a Buddha.”
“It is for the sake of such beings that I will attain Buddhahood.”
These were the thoughts that were selected over the course of five kalpas. And this vow did not remain merely a wish—it became a firm vow, fulfilled without fail, and now reaches us as the Name: Namo Amida Butsu.
Namo Amida Butsu is not a phrase we create through our own effort. It is the manifestation of Dharmakara’s fulfilled vow—the working of Amida Buddha that has reached us here and now.
In this season of new beginnings, we each set our own goals and aspirations. Yet, it is also true that these resolutions do not always last. That is our reality as human beings.
Precisely because of this, I would like us to listen once again, through the words of the Shoshinge, to the vow that never abandons us—a vow that has already been fulfilled and continues to work even now.
Even if we are unable to accomplish things through our own efforts, we are already embraced within a vow that has been established, fulfilled, and completed. When we come to realize this, our life may begin to shift—from a life in which we feel we must constantly strive, to a life in which we recognize that we are already being supported.
A life in which we believed we were the only ones who made wishes becomes a life in which we realize we are the ones who are being wished for. This is the teaching of Nembutsu.
Today as well, as we recite Namo Amida Butsu, may we listen together and awaken to the fact that we are beings already embraced within Amida Buddha’s Vow.
Namo Amida Butsu
Rev. Kensho Hashimoto
Resident Minister