The Nembutsu With and Without Shinjin

I will now take up the second problem, namely, the Nembutsu with shinjin (the Nembutsu that is recited after receiving shinjin) and the Nembutsu without shinjin (the Nembutsu that is recited before receiving shinjin).

Master Rennyo frequently urged reciting the Nembutsu in “gratitude for our indebtedness (to the Buddha for creating the conditions that allow us to be born in the Pure Land)” (ho-on) after receiving shinjin. He expressed this in terms such as, “‘reciting the Nembutsu’ with shinjin” and “‘reciting the Nembutsu’ in ‘gratitude for our indebtedness.’” Some scholars criticize the position of “‘reciting the Nembutsu’ in ‘gratitude for our indebtedness’” (shomyo ho-on), and assert that the Venerable Master did not make a distinction between reciting the Nembutsu before receiving shinjin and after receiving it.

In the previous section, I made clear that for the Venerable Master, there was a difference in reciting the Nembutsu before receiving shinjin (reciting it with “self-centered effort”) and after receiving it (reciting it with “Buddha-centered power”).

The Venerable Master made a clear distinction between the 19th and 20th Vows, and the 18th Vow. He considered the 19th Vow to be the “Nembutsu of the ‘essential gate’” (yomon nembutsu), that is, the Nembutsu as one practice among many. He considered the 20th Vow to be the “Nembutsu of the ‘true gate’” (shinmon Nembutsu), that is, the Nembutsu that transcends the many practices. The Venerable Master considered both the 19th and the 20th Vows to be based on “self-centered effort.”

The Venerable Master considered the 18th Vow to be the “Nembutsu of the ‘broad vow’” (gugan Nembutsu), based on “Buddha-centered power” (tariki). He discerned the intent of the 20th Vow (the “Nembutsu of the ‘true gate’”) and saw that it is close to the intent of the 18th Vow (the “Nembutsu of the ‘broad vow’”). He then made a distinction between “true gate” and “broad vow,” and clearly indicted that the true Nembutsu is the “Nembutsu of the ‘broad vow’ based on ‘Buddha-centered power’” (the 18th Vow).

In his Chapter on Shinjin of the Kyogyoshinsho, the Venerable Master wrote,

The true shinjin is necessarily accompanied by (recitation of) the Name. (But recitation of) the Name is not always accompanied by the shinjin based on (Amida Buddha’s) vow power.

As indicated above, the Venerable Master made a shurp distinction between the “Nembutsu of the ‘true gate’” (20th Vow, before receiving shinjin) and the “Nembutsu of the ‘broad vow’” (18th Vow, after receiving shinjin).

Further, in Letter 12 of the Mattosho, the Venerable Master wrote:

... even though the Name is recited fervishly, if there is no shinjin, (birth in the Pure Land) will not take place. Only those with faith they will be born there through the Nembutsu, and recite the Name will be born in the true Buddha Land. Accordingly those who recite the Name without faith in “Buddha-centered power” based on the Primal Vow, will only be born in the borderland.

Here, too, the distinction between the “Nembutsu of the ‘broad vow’” that is recited with shinjinand the “Nembutsu of the ‘true gate’” that is recited with “self-centered effort” and without shinjin, is made clear. I will make this clearer a little later, but the Venerable Master made a clear distinction between reciting the Nembutsu before receiving shinjin (which is reciting it with “self-centered effort”) and reciting the Nembutsu after receiving shinjin (which is reciting it with “Buddha-centered power”).

To say the Venerable Master did not make a distinction between the Nembutsu that is recited before and after receiving shinjin, and criticizing the teaching of “reciting (the Name) in gratitude (for assurance of our birth in the Pure Land)” is a great mistake.