From the firm conviction of “being embraced, never to be forsaken” that comes from being in the “rightly-established group,” the Venerable Master emphasized that our birth in the Pure Land comes at the moment we receive shinjin, and neither from our mental attitude at the moment of death nor when Amida Buddha welcomes us to the Pure Land. He thus denied the necessity of Amida Buddha coming to welcome us to the Pure Land at the moment of death, and emphasized the importance of the shinjin that we receive in the present.

In connection with Amida Buddha welcoming us to his Pure Land at death, in Letter 6 of the Mattosho, the Venerable Master wrote:

How sad that so many people, young and old, male and female, have died this year. We should not, however, be distressed about this because Amida Buddha teaches us about transiency of life and death. I, Zenran (the Venerable Master Shinran) do not attach any significance to a person’s last moments, good or bad, because those whose shinjin is settled have no doubt and so are in the “rightlyestablished group.” The foolish and ignorant celebrate their birth in the Pure Land because that is what the Tathagata desires for them.

This letter is dated the 13th day of the 11th month during 1260 AD (1st year of Bun’o). Famine and plague haunted all the provinces of Japan then, and it is said that the number of those who died was very large. Many very likely died grotesquely after suffering a great deal. I believe this letter was written in response to a question regarding birth in the Pure Land by those who, because of their suffering, could not have had the “proper mental attitude” (shonen) at the moment of death.

The Venerable Master wrote, “... do not attach any significance to a person’s last moments, good or bad,” indicating that the way in which your last moments are passed do not have any connection with your birth in the Pure Land. As long as your shinjin is settled and you are in the “rightly-established group,” regardless of how agitated you are, no matter how much you suffer during your last moments,

there is absolutely no doubt that you will be born in the Pure Land because the cause of your birth there is completely due to the Amida Buddha’s Vow Power. The Venerable Master said that whether we will be born in the Pure Land or not is determined during our “everyday” (heizei) life as a result of shinjin, and
not at the moment of death when Amida Buddha does or does not come to welcome us there. That is how he stressed that our salvation is from the present.