Kosho Uchiyama on Pure Land Quote

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CedarTree
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Kosho Uchiyama on Pure Land Quote

Post by CedarTree »

I found this quote on Dharma Wheel that is supposedly from the Great Modern Zen Master Kosho Uchiyama. The student of the famous Kodo Sawaki and the teacher of the famous Dogen scholar Shōhaku Okumura Roshi. These are the fathers of the modern Gyobutsuji Zen Monastery in America and the famous Soto Zen Temple Antaiji in Japan.

There is someone on Dhammawheel wondering about Pureland and someone posted a Rinzai quote supposedly from Hakuin and I thought I would post a view from Soto legends.

Does anyone know the source of this quote or if it is credible?

this small I is embraced by the immeasurable and boundless Amitabha Buddha. This has nothing to do with my small limited thoughts of whether I think it is so or not. It does not depend on whether I believe it or not. I am, in fact, embraced and saved by the boundless Amitabha. Being thankful for this, I chant Namu Amida Butsu. When we say this with our mouths, we are expressing our deep sense of gratitude. When we perform it with our whole body, it is zazen as the activity of the reality of life...When people of the Pure Land School chant Namu Amida Butsu they are doing zazen with their mouths, and when we do zazen, we are performing Namu Amida Butsu with our whole body


~ Kosho Uchiyama

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shaunc
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Re: Kosho Uchiyama on Pure Land Quote

Post by shaunc »

If that's a credible quote it's great. If it's not a credible quote there's still a lot of truth in it.
Namu Amida Butsu.
Matylda
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Re: Kosho Uchiyama on Pure Land Quote

Post by Matylda »

CedarTree wrote:I found this quote on Dharma Wheel that is supposedly from the Great Modern Zen Master Kosho Uchiyama. The student of the famous Kodo Sawaki and the teacher of the famous Dogen scholar Shōhaku Okumura Roshi. These are the fathers of the modern Gyobutsuji Zen Monastery in America and the famous Soto Zen Temple Antaiji in Japan.

There is someone on Dhammawheel wondering about Pureland and someone posted a Rinzai quote supposedly from Hakuin and I thought I would post a view from Soto legends.

Does anyone know the source of this quote or if it is credible?

this small I is embraced by the immeasurable and boundless Amitabha Buddha. This has nothing to do with my small limited thoughts of whether I think it is so or not. It does not depend on whether I believe it or not. I am, in fact, embraced and saved by the boundless Amitabha. Being thankful for this, I chant Namu Amida Butsu. When we say this with our mouths, we are expressing our deep sense of gratitude. When we perform it with our whole body, it is zazen as the activity of the reality of life...When people of the Pure Land School chant Namu Amida Butsu they are doing zazen with their mouths, and when we do zazen, we are performing Namu Amida Butsu with our whole body


~ Kosho Uchiyama
Do you know the translator? Anyway it sounds very much Japanese, so I would say it was said by Japanese teacher. Wording is unique, so I guess it could be Uchiyama Roshi.. and it is also in line with general approach of Japanese zen teachers to Shinran teachings or Amida teachings.
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CedarTree
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Re: Kosho Uchiyama on Pure Land Quote

Post by CedarTree »

Matylda wrote:
CedarTree wrote:I found this quote on Dharma Wheel that is supposedly from the Great Modern Zen Master Kosho Uchiyama. The student of the famous Kodo Sawaki and the teacher of the famous Dogen scholar Shōhaku Okumura Roshi. These are the fathers of the modern Gyobutsuji Zen Monastery in America and the famous Soto Zen Temple Antaiji in Japan.

There is someone on Dhammawheel wondering about Pureland and someone posted a Rinzai quote supposedly from Hakuin and I thought I would post a view from Soto legends.

Does anyone know the source of this quote or if it is credible?

this small I is embraced by the immeasurable and boundless Amitabha Buddha. This has nothing to do with my small limited thoughts of whether I think it is so or not. It does not depend on whether I believe it or not. I am, in fact, embraced and saved by the boundless Amitabha. Being thankful for this, I chant Namu Amida Butsu. When we say this with our mouths, we are expressing our deep sense of gratitude. When we perform it with our whole body, it is zazen as the activity of the reality of life...When people of the Pure Land School chant Namu Amida Butsu they are doing zazen with their mouths, and when we do zazen, we are performing Namu Amida Butsu with our whole body


~ Kosho Uchiyama
Do you know the translator? Anyway it sounds very much Japanese, so I would say it was said by Japanese teacher. Wording is unique, so I guess it could be Uchiyama Roshi.. and it is also in line with general approach of Japanese zen teachers to Shinran teachings or Amida teachings.
I don't but I was thinking the same way about it's structure and "feel".

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Caoimhghín
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Re: Kosho Uchiyama on Pure Land Quote

Post by Caoimhghín »

I'm pretty sure the quote is from Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice

One of the Buddhist traditions is the Pure Land school. According to this teaching, in the immeasurably far distant past there was a monk called Dharmakara, who made a great vow and practiced under a buddha named Lokesvararaja. He vowed that on the dawn of completing his practice and attaining buddhahood, he would create a wonderful pure buddha land. Futhermore, if there were any sentient beings who wished from the bottom of their hearts to enter this pure land, he would save them all without exception and take them there. Dharmakara actually did complete his practice; he became Amitabha Buddha. He then created the magnificent pure-land paradise just as he had vowed. Therefore, anyone who is totally disillusioned with this corrupt world, believes in this vow of Amitabha Buddha, earnestly desires to be reborn in the pure land, and chants his name will at that very moment be saved and reborn in the pure land simply by virtue of that deep faith.

This teaching of the Pure Land school looks completely different from the Zen school, in which one realizes satori within one's own zazen practice. In fact, it seems to be a teaching of salvation similar to Christianity. However, ever Amitabha Buddha of the Pure Land school is just another name for universal self, here given as the name of a buddha. Of course, Amitabha, also known as Amitayus, isn't the name of a person who actually existed historically. In Sanskrit, amitabha and amitayus mean "infinite light" and "immeasurably life". In other words, Amitabha Buddha is that life which connects all things.

If we analyze this Pure Land teaching, it looks something like this: Usually we get completely lost in the thoughts of our small, individualistic selves, but in terms of fundamental life that pervades everything, we are already saved by the vow of Amitabha Buddha. Believing in this vow and becoming clear and pure in Amirabha Buddha, we chant the phrase "Namu amida butsu," "I put my faith in Amitabha Buddha." This is the phrase known as the nembutsu. This attitude is exactly the same as our attitude in doing zazen.

In Buddhism, whether we do zazen or chant nembutsu, our attitude toward these practices demonstrates the same attitude towards life. That is, Buddhism teaches us about this incomparable or absolute attitude toward life.

In other words, this small I is embraced by the immeasurable and boundless Amitabha Buddha. This has nothing to do with my small, limited thoughts of whether I think it is so or not. It does not depend on whether I believe it or not. I am, in fact, embraced and saved by the immeasurable and boundless Amitabha. Being thankful for this, I chant Namu amida butsu. When we say this with our mouths, we are expressing our deep sense of gratitude. When we perform it with our whole body, it is zazen as the activity of the reality of life, the zazen of believing and sitting. When people of the Pure Land school chant Namu amida butsu, they are doing zazen with their mouths, and when we do zazen, we are performing Namu amida butsu with our whole body.

In this sense, our zazen must always be the activity of just sitting, believing that life actualizes life though life, that buddha actualizes buddha through buddha, that self actualizes self through self. We don't gradually become enlightened and eventually attain buddhahood by means of zazen. This small individual I we talk of will always be deluded, but regardless of that, zazen is buddha. We take the Buddha's posture with the body of this deluded being and throw ourselves into it. In the Shōdōka, it is expressed like this: "With one leap we immediately enter buddhahood."
If that offers any context.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=okE6Aw ... hs&f=false
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:

These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?

The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
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CedarTree
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Re: Kosho Uchiyama on Pure Land Quote

Post by CedarTree »

Coëmgenu wrote:I'm pretty sure the quote is from Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice

One of the Buddhist traditions is the Pure Land school. According to this teaching, in the immeasurably far distant past there was a monk called Dharmakara, who made a great vow and practiced under a buddha named Lokesvararaja. He vowed that on the dawn of completing his practice and attaining buddhahood, he would create a wonderful pure buddha land. Futhermore, if there were any sentient beings who wished from the bottom of their hearts to enter this pure land, he would save them all without exception and take them there. Dharmakara actually did complete his practice; he became Amitabha Buddha. He then created the magnificent pure-land paradise just as he had vowed. Therefore, anyone who is totally disillusioned with this corrupt world, believes in this vow of Amitabha Buddha, earnestly desires to be reborn in the pure land, and chants his name will at that very moment be saved and reborn in the pure land simply by virtue of that deep faith.

This teaching of the Pure Land school looks completely different from the Zen school, in which one realizes satori within one's own zazen practice. In fact, it seems to be a teaching of salvation similar to Christianity. However, ever Amitabha Buddha of the Pure Land school is just another name for universal self, here given as the name of a buddha. Of course, Amitabha, also known as Amitayus, isn't the name of a person who actually existed historically. In Sanskrit, amitabha and amitayus mean "infinite light" and "immeasurably life". In other words, Amitabha Buddha is that life which connects all things.

If we analyze this Pure Land teaching, it looks something like this: Usually we get completely lost in the thoughts of our small, individualistic selves, but in terms of fundamental life that pervades everything, we are already saved by the vow of Amitabha Buddha. Believing in this vow and becoming clear and pure in Amirabha Buddha, we chant the phrase "Namu amida butsu," "I put my faith in Amitabha Buddha." This is the phrase known as the nembutsu. This attitude is exactly the same as our attitude in doing zazen.

In Buddhism, whether we do zazen or chant nembutsu, our attitude toward these practices demonstrates the same attitude towards life. That is, Buddhism teaches us about this incomparable or absolute attitude toward life.

In other words, this small I is embraced by the immeasurable and boundless Amitabha Buddha. This has nothing to do with my small, limited thoughts of whether I think it is so or not. It does not depend on whether I believe it or not. I am, in fact, embraced and saved by the immeasurable and boundless Amitabha. Being thankful for this, I chant Namu amida butsu. When we say this with our mouths, we are expressing our deep sense of gratitude. When we perform it with our whole body, it is zazen as the activity of the reality of life, the zazen of believing and sitting. When people of the Pure Land school chant Namu amida butsu, they are doing zazen with their mouths, and when we do zazen, we are performing Namu amida butsu with our whole body.

In this sense, our zazen must always be the activity of just sitting, believing that life actualizes life though life, that buddha actualizes buddha through buddha, that self actualizes self through self. We don't gradually become enlightened and eventually attain buddhahood by means of zazen. This small individual I we talk of will always be deluded, but regardless of that, zazen is buddha. We take the Buddha's posture with the body of this deluded being and throw ourselves into it. In the Shōdōka, it is expressed like this: "With one leap we immediately enter buddhahood."
If that offers any context.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=okE6Aw ... hs&f=false
You are just the best. :namaste:

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