What Zendo Daishi intended to say was that regardless of how good we may present ourselves, that appearance is meaningless if it is not accompanied by an associated goodness within us. If we are filled with greed, anger, dishonesty and falsehood, regardless of how we may try to do good with our “three actions” (sango: deeds, words, thought), they are nothing more than “good mixed with the poison (of self-centered effort).” They are the “practices of an idiot” and absolutely cannot be referred to as “true.”

In other words, Zendo Daishi said that we must not perform “good mixed with poison” and perform the “practice of idiots”; that we should try to live as sincerely as we can.

The Venerable Master, however, read Zendo Daishi’s words and through his great introspection, understood them to mean that we should not try to appear outstanding because inside we are nothing but lies, and are filled with the “base passions” of greed, anger, dishonesty and falsehood. He felt that our base nature was like that of snakes and scorpions. Regardless of how we try to do good with our “three actions,” those actions are nothing more than “good mixed with poison” and therefore “false,” and that there is nothing even resembling “truth” about them.

Some say the Venerable Master interpreted Zendo Daishi’s words exactly the opposite of what Zendo Daishi intended. But the Venerable Master’s understanding of himself was that regardless of how much he tried to do “good,” what he did was no more than “good mixed with poison” and therefore “false,” and that there was absolutely no “truth” in anything that he did.

In highly individual readings of classical texts like this, the Venerable Master clearly expressed his feeling of absolute insincerity. He showed that truth can be found only in Amida Buddha, and that is what our sole reliance should be.

This understanding also deepened his awareness of the ineffectiveness of “self-centered effort.” He realized that regardless of how he tried, it was all “good mixed with poison” and therefore “false,” and that the only way open for him was leaving everything to “Buddha-centered power.”

This deep self-reflection and attitude of leaving everything to the working of Amida Buddha is expressed in the three poems from the Shozomatsu Wasan already quoted.