Changing Truth

Truth is relative, a fact borne out by our individual perceptions of what we experience around us when compared against the same truths as experienced by others.

Tonight, in our Honen study group, conducted as usual in the social hall of the temple, we discussed the role of the Seven Patriarchs of the Jodo Shinshu tradition (Just for reference's sake, the seven patriarchs are Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, Tan Luan, Tao Cho, Shan Tao, Genshin, and Honen). Led by Jerry B., as usual, it was a good discussion but a particular point really stood out for me.

We began to talk about the role of dharma transmission - an important concept for Zen Buddhists, but less so for Jodo Shinshu Buddhists - and the role of karma in the teachings of the patriarchs. Karma, of course, is the collection of causes, circumstances, and conditions that shape and give form to how we live our lives and the decisions and actions we undertake. The teachings of the patriarchs, each influenced by those who came before him, are the results of karma, as well.

In other words, were the causes and conditions not right to bring about the circumstances necessary for Nagarjuna, or Shantao, or Shinran to come to their conclusions, we might be living very different lives today. Our understanding of the Dharma, our religious lives, would be very different. That's what I mean when I say that truth is relative.

For many people, the idea that truth is not a static thing is frightening. Truth, they will tell you, is true precisely because it never changes. Truth is a fixed point from which all else radiates, and anything that deviates from that is false. However, in our deluded viewpoints of the world around us, we are unable to see truth and are, therefore, unable to state what is profoundly true and what is not.

Shinran said "When I ponder on the compassionate Vow of Amida, established through five kalpas of profound thought, it was for myself, Shinran, alone. Because I am a being burdened so heavily with karma, I feel even more deeply grateful to the Primal Vow which is made to decisively save me."

For Shinran, for the patriarchs, for you, for me, our perceived truth is a different truth and because it merely perception, it is not true at all. When Shinran said the Vow of Amida was for him alone, he meant Amida cut through the delusion with which Shinran surrounded himself to show him that which is Truth. The Dharma is the only truth; everything else we understand to be true in our lives is false. Shinran understood this, and he understood that Amida reached out to him under circumstances which were peculiar to him, to circumstances which were of his own making.

"...it was for myself, Shinran, alone."

Our attainment of shinjin is a unique experience, and while we come to the same truth, our attainment is a truly individual experience. Our particular circumstances shape and filter our experience of shinjin, meaning, once again, that truth is relative. But the truth to which that experience leads us is the same truth for all beings.

True gratitude

Gratitude, even in a Jodo Shinshu context, is a tricky thing. As Jodo Shinshu Buddhists, we should feel gratitude as easily as we breathe but of course, it's not that easy.

It's tempting to regard gratitude for a thing given as the same as the gratitude we feel for Amida's all-embracing compassion. If a friend helps you with your car, or helps you land a job, you do feel grateful. To take that a step further, you probably feel grateful for the good friends in your life, and the fact that you are so well taken care of.

Gratitude in that context is important, and we should never hold back from thanking those who help us. Mom and Dad were right: 'please' and 'thank you' are just as important now as they were when we were kids.

But our gratitude toward Amida is an entirely different thing. It isn't a response we feel when we're particularly happy about how well things have been going, or when we pass through some particularly dangerous moment intact. The gratitude we are called upon to demonstrate is far more profound than that. It is a gratitude that extends beyond that moment of satisfaction.

In Tannisho, Yuienbo credits Shinran with saying "When I consider deeply the Vow of Amida, which arose from five kalpas of profound thought, I realize that it was entirely for the sake of myself alone! Then how I am filled with gratitude for the Primal Vow, in which Amida resolved to save me, though I am burdened with such heavy karma."

Shinran, despite whatever misgivings he had about himself, despite what anger he might have been feeling, or disappointment, or - indeed - gratitude toward another person for a kind favor, expressed a far more profound sense of gratitude for the one thing that exists and will continue to exist long after the anger and nice favors have been forgotten.

The gratitude Shinran spoke of transcends mere quotidian gratitude. It's gratitude of another level altogether, a gratitude realized only when we understand just how complete and enveloping Amida's compassion truly is. When I think about just how greedy or selfish I am, when I consider just how often I have hurt or harmed others by my own self-absorption, and then consider the fact that Amida has extended her compassion even to me, I feel and understand a true depth of gratitude that surpasses anything else.

In his essay "The Problem of the True and the False" Takamaro Shigaraki wrote:

To say that shinjin is the experience of awakening means, in a more concrete sense, that we awaken to the compassion of the Tathagata. Not only that, we also awaken to the depths and weight of our own karmic evil, which is illumined by that compassion.

To understand that fully is to realize true gratitude.