At any rate, that is how, when the Venerable Master was 29 years of age, he became Master Honen’s disciple and entered the world of “Buddha-centered power.” He referred to this being “(in the group of) those guaranteed to be born (in the Pure Land) in this present life” (gensho ni shojoju no kurai ni ju suru). Dwelling in this group refers to being included among those who birth in the Pure Land and complete Enlightenment there is absolutely guaranteed.

Unfortunately, however, the base passions that result from our self-centeredness will never disappear as long as we live in this present world. That’s why, although we do not attain complete Enlightenment in this world, we are guaranteed to become a Buddha (nyorai, “thus come (from thusness)”). Being in this group is the benefit we receive while still in this world.

An example of how the Venerable Master expressed his great joy at constantly being within the warm embrace of the power of Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow is found in the Chapter on Transformed Land of his “Teaching, Practice, Shinjin, and Realization”:

How joyous I am, my heart and mind being rooted in the Buddha-ground of the Universal Vow, and my thoughts and feelings flowing within the Dharma-ocean which is beyond comprehension!

That is how the Venerable Master expressed the joy of being within the protective embrace of Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow. He referred to his feeling then as receiving the “mind of great joy and rejoicing.”

In contrast, a person who gained as much political and secular power as anyone in the history of Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598 CE), left the following “death poem”:

Falling like dew
And scattering like the mist,
My body, my life… all…
Are like a dream within a dream.

In other words, regardless of how much political and secular power Toyotomi Hideyoshi had accumulated in this world, a time came when he felt he had lost it all.

The joy of shinjin that we receive from the Buddha, however, never changes, nor will ever be lost, regardless of when or how, and even when death approaches.

The Venerable Master’s life from the time he was nine years of age until he was 29, was a life of seeking a way of salvation for himself. After that age, however, his life became one of transmitting the salvation that he experienced to others.

The Venerable Master quickly gained Master Honen’s trust. Only four years after becoming Master Honen’s disciple, during 1205 CE when he was 33 years of age, the Venerable Master was given permission to make a copy of Master H?nen’s “Collection of Selected Passages on the Nembutsu of the Primal Vow” (Senjaku Hongan Nembutsu-sh?). It is said that among Master Honen’s many disciples (over 380 persons), only a select few were granted this privilege.