This is the essential point of the Venerable Master Shinran’s teaching. After our shinjin is settled and we are placed in the “group of those assured (of birth in the Pure Land),” our life changes to one of gratitude for the Nembutsu. And when we are born in the Pure Land, we attain the same Enlightenment as a Buddha. We must consider moral and ethical questions, and how we can actively participate in bettering society, but as expressed in Letter 2 of “Collection of (Shinran’s) Honorable Letters” (Goshosoku-shu), the first thing we must be concerned about with is resolving “the certainty of our own birth (in the Pure Land)” (waga mi noojo ichijo):

Mindful of the Buddha’s benevolence, those whose birth (in the Pure Land) is completely settled should hold the Nembutsu in their hearts and respond in gratitude to that benevolence with the wish, “May there be peace in the world and may the Buddha’s teaching spread!”

In other words, our primary concern should be settle-ment of our shinjin and being in the “group of those assured (of birth in the Pure Land).”

What is taught by the Venerable Master (Shinran) and in his school is that shinjin is fundamental. When we discard sundry practices and single-heartedly take refuge in Amida, our birth (in the Pure Land) is assured by the Buddha through the “marvelously mysterious” working of his Vow.

This clearly expresses the teaching in which our shinjin is determined and we enter the “group of those assured (of birth in the Pure Land)” while still in this world.

I seem to keep repeating myself but, while the problems of ethics and morality, and the betterment of society are very important, they come only after the determination of our shinjin. First, last, always, it is settlement of our individual shinjin and dwelling in the “group of those assured (of birth in the Pure Land)” that should be our primary concern. This is the essential point of the Venerable Master Shinran’s teaching which Master Rennyo correctly transmitted to us.

The above are my opinions about what I have recently heard regarding criticism of how Master Rennyo distorted the Venerable Master Shinran’s teaching.