Those who join the “group of those assured (of birth in the Pure Land)” as a result of “settled shinjin,” will become “equivalent to Tathagata (Amida Buddha)” and “the same as Miroku Bosatsu (Bodhisattva).” That does not mean, however, that our “ignorance and base passions” (bonno) will disappear and that we will become Enlightened here and now. Nor does becoming “the same as Miroku Bosatsu” mean that we lose our “ignorance and base passions” and reach the same 51st stage of bodhisattvahood that Miroku Bosatsu has reached. Rather, it means that we are guaranteed Enlightenment and become a Buddha with our “ignorance and base passions” intact.

As the Venerable Master wrote in “Hymn of True Faith”:

The one-thought-moment of joy arising,
Means attainment of nirvana without
Cutting off “ignorance and base passions.”

when the “one-thought-moment of joy” (shinjin) awakens in us, in other words, when our “shinjin is settled,” we are guaranteed to be born in the Pure Land and attain nirvana (become Enlightened) even while being burdened with “ignorance and base passions” in our present life. In other words, when our “shinjin is settled,” we are guaranteed to become a Buddha because we join the “group of those assured (of birth in the Pure Land)”

In his “Notes on the Single Recitation and the Many Recitations” (Ichinen Mon’i), the Venerable Master Shinran wrote:

The true and real benefit is Amida’s Primal Vow.

As indicated here, the “true and real benefit” (shinjitsu shiri) is Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow to bring about our Enlightenment. Further, the same “On the One Recitation and the Many Recitations” contains the phrase, “acquires the great benefit” (itoku dairi). This phrase has the comment, “Know that one receives the benefit of definitely attaining Buddhahood” associated with it.

The comment next to the phrase, “the great benefit acquired by the one thought is supreme (ichinen dairi mujo) in the Takeda copy of the “Hymns of the Pure Land” (Jodo Wasan) is, “Attaining nirvana (becoming Enlightened), is the greatest benefit, than which there is no greater.”

These are the ways in which the Venerable Master Shinran explained that the true and real benefit does not consist of an estate, position or fame. What it means to be included in the “group of those assured (of birth in the Pure Land)” in the “present life,” is that we are given the greatest of all benefits: absolute assurance of being Enlightened and becoming a Buddha.