Then what should we do to have “settled shinjin”?

At this point, there really shouldn’t be a need for me to say this, but Jodo-Shinshu is not a teaching in which we perform ascetic practices through “self-centered effort” (jiriki). Rather it is how we are saved by Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow through “Buddha-centered power” (tariki).

And as stated in the previous section, shinjin is what we receive from Amida Buddha, as expressed in phrases such as, “shinjin of ‘merit transference’ of the ‘power of the Primal Vow’” and “shinjin given to us by the Tathagata.”

That does not, however, mean that those who have not yet received “settled shinjin” do not have to do anything. In Article 193 of “Heard and Recorded During Master Rennyo’s Lifetime” is the passage:;

“There’s an old saying, ‘Stone is extremely hard and water is extremely soft, and yet that soft water can bore a hole in stone. If you reach down to the depths of the originally pure mind/heart, how can Enlightenment not be attained?’

“If even those without shinjin listen to the teaching of Buddha-dharma from the bottom of their mind/heart, they absolutely will receive shinjin because the power of the Buddha’s Great Compassion is added. All we need do is expend effort in listening to the honorable teaching.”

This is what Master Rennyo said.

Again, in Article 185 of that same work, is the passage: “... teach (the ignorant and illiterate) to just listen and accept shinjin. There is nothing in our Jodo-Shinshu teaching other than this.”

As can be determined from the above, Master Rennyo urges us to “just listen (to the Dharma)” for the purpose of “settled shinjin.”