Being “Rightly Established” in the Present

In the Chapter on Attainment of his Kyogyoshinsho, the Venerable Master wrote:

When “ignorant beings filled with base passions” and multitudes who are defiled with the evils of birth-and-death receive the mind and practice of “merittransference” in the “phase of going (to the Pure Land),” they at that moment enter the “rightly-established group.”

In the Jodo Sankyo Ojo Monrui (Passages on Birth in the Pure Land through the Three Pure Land Sutras), the Venerable Master wrote:

Birth in the Pure Land as expressed in the Larger Sutra is based on the “marvelously mysterious” vow “selected” by Amida Buddha, which is beyond human comprehension. This is referred to as (being based on) “Buddha-centered power.” That is what “birth in the Pure Land through the Nembutsu” means, and why we are guaranteed absolute enlightenment. The result is that we are included in the “rightly-established group” in our present life and will be born in the true land of recompense (in the next).

Further, in the Jodo Wasan (Japanese Poems on the Pure Land), the Venerable Master wrote:

Those with shinjin are instantly
Included among the “rightly established.”
When they reach the “non-retrogressive stage,”
They will unfailingly be led to Nirvana.

As expressed in the above passages, when we receive shinjin, we are immediately placed in the “rightly established group” which means that we are already in the embrace of “salvation.” This clarification of the wording in sutras and commentaries by the Seven Masters was made by the Venerable Master Shinran; namely, that although we are born in the Pure Land after death, our true “salvation” is what we receive in this life (in the present).

In Ryuju Bosatsu’s (Indian name, Nagarjuna, latter half of 2nd century AD) Chapter on Easy Practice of Jaja Bibashu-ron (Commentary on the Ten Stages), he expressed the idea of “not falling back in this world” (gensho futai), which the Venerable Master inherited. But the Jaja Bibashu-ron is a commentary on part of the Kengon-gyo (Flower Wreath Sutra), and is a teaching that is a part of the Path of Sages. Accordingly, the thought of “not falling back in this life” in the Pure Land teaching, is still unique to the Venerable Master.

Regarding the term “rightly-established group” (shojo-ju), the Venerable Master explained it in the Ichinen Tanen Monrui (On the One Recitation and the Many Recitations) in two ways: “being assured of birth in the Pure Land,” and also as “guaranteed to become a Buddha.”