The Unimpeded Single Path

Article Seven of the Tannisho contains the statement:

The Nembutsu is the Unimpeded Single Path.

The original Japanese of this passage is, “Nembutsu-shu wa muge no ichido nari.” The kanji character shu that follows the characters read “Nembutsu” in this passage means “person,” so a case can be made that this passage should be translated, “The doer of the Nembutsu walks the Unimpeded Single Path.” In Chinese, however, the character shu does not have a literal meaning except to show that the antecedent (Nembutsu) is the subject, and therefore the translation of this passage should be as given at the very beginning.

Following this passage, however, is the following:

The reason this is so is because the gods of heaven and earth bow in reverence to the “‘doers’ of shinjin” (shinjin no gyoja).

Accordingly, the translation, “The doer of the Nembutsu walks the Unimpeded Single Path,” is not incorrect. At any rate, what is important is that the Nembutsu follower is a person whose shinjin is determined. In other words, it refers to a person who is in the “rightly-established group.” That is, this passage refers to those who walk the path that cannot be obstructed. I believe this passage beautifully expresses the life style of a person who is blessed with the salvation in this world as a result of shinjin.

As already stated in the section titled “The Benefit of ‘Truth’” in this chapter, all human beings must shoulder the burden of suffering. This is something Shakyamuni Buddha experienced at a very young age, and also something we all experience.

A frequent saying of the feudal lord Tokugawa Iyeyasu was, “Life is like carrying a heavy load up a long steep road.” As most of you know, Tokugawa Iyeyasu brought all of Japan under his control, thus ending the “Period of Warring Provinces,” and laid the foundation for a government that lasted 250 years.

“Life is not all happiness and joy,” as Tokugawa Iyeyasu said. Rather, life it is just the opposite. It is like carrying a heavy load on your back over a long steep road. Many difficulties and trying conditions must be overcome during that journey.

It was the same with Emperor Shih, who unified all of China during the Ch’in Dynasty (221 - 206 BC), and whose secular power eclipsed even Iyeyasu’s.