As already related, the Venerable Master put the explanation, “birth in the Pure Land has been settled” clearly indicating that rather than being born in the Pure Land, we are in the group of those whose birth there is absolutely guaranteed next to the phrase, “rightly-established group of those assured of birth in the Pure Land.”

The comment on “immediately be born (in the Pure Land)” (sokutoku ojo) in Yuishin-sho Mon’i (Notes on the Essence of Faith Alone) expresses the same thing:

“Immediately attaining birth (in the Pure Land)” refers to the fact that we will be born in the Pure Land when we receive shinjin. In other words, “birth in the Pure Land” (ojo) means residing in the “state of non-retrogression” (futaiten). Residing in the “state of non-retrogression” means being in the “rightly established group,” which is also referred to as the “next step to becoming a Buddha” (joto shogaku).

As can be determined from the above, at the moment of receiving shinjin, we are already in the “state of non-retrogression,” and that is what “immediately be born (in the Pure Land)” means.

Essentially, the Venerable Master interpreted the “passage on completion of the Primal Vow” the benefit of birth in the Pure Land to mean the benefit in the present life of being included in the “rightly-established group” (shojoja) from which there is “no retrogression” (futaiten), which is what happens when we receive shinjin. In other words, he emphasized that we will be “saved” in this world, but not that we will be “born in the Pure Land” in this world. There have been many discussions regarding whether the Venerable Master considers “birth in the Pure Land” to take place in the present or in the future, but in Letter 13 of the Mattosho, he wrote:

Being in the state of “non-retrogression” until birth in the Pure Land is referred to as being included among the “rightly-established group.”

Here, rather than “birth in the Pure Land,” the Venerable Master clearly uses the term “rightly established group” in referring to our state while in this world.

Further, in Letter 12 of the Mattosho, he wrote:

My life has now reached the fullness of its years. I am certain that I will be “be born in the Pure Land” before you, so I will await you there without fail.

As can be determined from the above, the term “birth in the Pure Land” does not refer to something in the present but rather, is what will happen after his life in this world ends.