Like the central character in Soseki’s novel “Kokoro,” however, when we become aware of our true nature, we cannot help but feel that awareness is an opportunity to hear about the origin of the Primal Vow. That is also when we experience the fulfillment of the Buddha’s practice which was suffered solely to save deeply evil people like myself.

What is important in coming to such an experience is “listening” (chomon) in our everyday life. Listening is not just passively hearing sounds, even if they are laudable sounds such as Dharma Talks. I believe it includes studying Buddhist materials. What is most important however, is that, as Master Rennyo said, we should not listen to the Dharma “only in the leisure after your worldly affairs are taken care of.”

We become aware of how to live only when we become aware of our true nature, That’s how we experience the Buddha’s mind and heart that seeks, above all else, to save deeply evil people such as we.

I began this booklet by saying that true religions confer true peace and tranquility, and a true way of living. I believe the Jodo-Shinshu teaching offers us both these benefits, and is an eminently suitable religion that will save the peoples of the 21st century.

Gassho.

The word “salvation” may make the J?do-Shinsh? teaching sound like Christianity, but the foundations on which these two religions rest are very different. Some have suggested using a phrase such as “awareness of always being in the embrace of the power of Amida Buddha’s Vow” in place of salvation, but such a phrase is not only very unwieldy, it implies the importance of the “I” who is aware. In Jodo-Shinshu, even the awareness is given to us by Amida. I hope to make the meaning of salvation in Jodo-Shinshu clear in this booklet.

The Venerable Master’s age is given in the traditional Japanese way of counting ages in which a person is considered to be a year old at birth, and everyone’s age is increased by one on New Year’s Day. According to this way of counting, a person born on December 31, would be two years old the next day.

Miroku: A being who is presently a Bodhisattva but is absolutely destined to become a Buddha.