Shoshinge (正信念仏偈)

[Admin_PC]

My question:
I'm wondering if anybody has a good copy of the Shoshinge in Kanbun format: ie. Kanji with the furigana on top.
The Shin Buddhist Service book only has it in Romaji (English alphabet) and it's sometimes distracting.

Background:
I've always experiemented with a bunch of different daily recitation practices, especially since I moved at the end of last year. Been trying to find something that feels right, that I don't just drop off at the first inconvenience. In the past I tried Tibetan, Chinese, and even Pali liturgies, but had trouble with pronunciation and in the end I abandoned them. Eventually, I opted for a daily recitation mostly in English, except for the Great Compassion Mantra in what I can only describe as a Vietnamese form of Sanskrit.

Since I moved in December and no longer practice with my old temple, I've struggled to really get a solid routine going. Recently, I tried the Jodo Shu (Otsutome) liturgy in kanbun for a while, but the long drawn out monotone that the Jodo Shu monks use is actually difficult (feels like trying to read a Noh play). I've tried a bunch of English versions of that liturgy, but nothing really feels right (kind of hard to explain).

I've been studying a lot of Jodo Shin Shu as well recently and read that Rennyo recommended a pretty simple daily recitation. The simplicity of reciting Shoshinge (正信偈), Nembutsu Wasan (念仏和讃), and Ekou (回向) straight through is appealing. With English sometimes, unless it's a direct translation of something that already exists, I never know what to put in there. Also, the Jodo Shin Shu chants have more rhythm than most Japanese chanting, which actually helps a lot. It's nice being able to pronounce what I'm chanting and be able to follow along with a rhythm. The Shin Buddhist Service book has actual notes so it's even easier to follow along with the rhythm, but it's easier for me to read Japanese syllabary (kana) when I'm trying to chant with Japanese pronunciation than using English letters. The problem is that I can't find a decent electronic copy of the kanbun for the Shoshinge anywhere (the other 2 are a little easier to find).

For those that don't know what I'm talking about, here are some videos...
The first has all 3 sections that I described (but it feels a wee bit slow):

phpBB [video]

This next one is just the Shoshinge, bit faster tempo than the first video so the rhythm really shows:

phpBB [video]

Here is the Nembutsu Wasan (quickly becoming a personal favorite):

phpBB [video]

Here is the Ekou, or dedication of merit:

phpBB [video]

I know there are some Shin lurkers here and any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Dodatsu]

The following websites have it:

http://www.e-sogi.com/arekore/kyo2.html

http://hongakuji.moo.jp/siyousinge.htm

The first link is from (of all places) a funeral parlour HP, whilst the second is from a Higashi Honganji website. There are some slight differences in the readings for Nishi and Higashi, such as Namo vs Namu, but more or less are the same. The second link also has the chanting style for Higashi, which varies differently from Nishi's. Hope the links help.

Gassho

[Admin_PC]

Dodatsu
Thanks so much!
That really helps a lot!
If you don't mind my asking, are the 3 I mentioned (Shoshinge + Jodo Wasan + Ekou) still common as daily practice?

[Dodatsu]

Dodatsu
Thanks so much!
That really helps a lot!
If you don't mind my asking, are the 3 I mentioned (Shoshinge + Jodo Wasan + Ekou) still common as daily practice?

At Honzan and temples in Japan, and maybe in more traditional homes it's still the daily practice. At Honzan and Betsuins the Jodo, Koso and Shozomatsu Wasans are chanted as well

[Admin_PC]

Dodatsu
Thanks so much!
That really helps a lot!
If you don't mind my asking, are the 3 I mentioned (Shoshinge + Jodo Wasan + Ekou) still common as daily practice?

At Honzan and temples in Japan, and maybe in more traditional homes it's still the daily practice. At Honzan and Betsuins the Jodo, Koso and Shozomatsu Wasans are chanted as well

Puts me in good company then.
I can honestly say that these chants are easily becoming my favorite chants in Japanese.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I may now and then switch up to Juseige, Junirai, or Sanbutsuge if I'm really pressed for time.
Thank you, you've really been a lot of help.

Just thought I'd post in the thread what I gathered up (the alignment's not going to be good unfortunately).

The Shoshinge in Kanbun:

きみょうむりょうじゅにょらいなもふかしぎこう
帰命無量寿如来南無不可思議光
ほうぞうぼさいんにんじざいせじざいおうぶっしょ
法蔵菩薩因位時在世自在王仏所
とけんしょぶつしょうどいんこくどにんでんしぜんまく
覩見諸仏浄土因 国土人典之善悪
こんりゅうむじょうしゅしょうがんちょうほっけうだいぐぜい
建立無上殊勝願 超発稀有大弘誓
ごこうしゆいししょうじゅじゅうせいみょうしょうもんじっぽう
五劫思惟之摂受 重誓名声聞十方
ふほうむりょうむへんこうむげむたいこうえんのう
普放無量無辺光 無碍無対光炎王
しょうじょうかんぎちえこうふだんなんしむしょうこう
清浄歓喜智慧光 不断難思無称光
ちょうにちがっこうしょうじんせついっさいぐんじょうむこうしょう
超日月光照塵刹 一切群生蒙光照
ほんがんみょうごうしょうじょうごう ししんしんぎょうがんにいん
本願名号正定業 至心信楽願為因
じょうとうがくしょうだいねはん ひっしめッどがんじょうじゅ
成等覚証大涅槃 必至滅度願成就
にょらいしょいこうしゅっせ ゆいせみだほんがんかい
如来所以興出世 唯説弥陀本願海
ごじょくあくじぐんじょうかい おうしんにょらいにょじッごん
五濁悪時群生海 応信如来如実言
のうほいちねんきあいしん ふだんぼんのうとくねはん
能発一念喜愛心 不断煩悩得涅槃
ぼんしょうぎゃくほうさいえにゅう にょしゅうしにゅうかいいちみ
凡聖逆謗斉回入 如衆水入海一味
せっしゅしんこうじょうしょうご いのうすいはむみょうあん
摂取心光常照護 已能雖破無明闇
とんないしんぞうしうんむ じょうふしんじしんじんてん
貪愛瞋憎之雲霧 常覆真実信心天
ひにょにっこうふうんむ うんむしげみょうむあん
譬如日光覆雲霧 雲霧之下明無闇
ぎゃくしんけんきょうだいきょうき そくおうちょうぜッごあくしゅ
獲信見敬大慶喜 即横超截五悪趣
いっさいぜんまくぼんぶにん もんしんにょらいぐぜいがん
一切善悪凡夫人 聞信如来弘誓願
ぶッごんこうだいしょうげしゃ ぜにんみょうふんだりけ
仏言広大勝解者 是人名分陀利華
みだぶほんがんねんぶ じゃけんきょうまんあくしゅじょう
弥陀仏本願念仏 邪見驕慢悪衆生
しんぎょうじゅじじんになん なんちゅうしなんむかし
信楽受持甚以難 難中之難無過斯
いんどさいてんしろんげ ちゅうかじちいきしこうそう
印度西天之論家 中夏日域之高僧
けんだいしょうこうせしょうい みょうにょらいほんぜいおうき
顕大聖興世正意 明如来本誓応機
しゃかにょらいりょうがせん いしゅうごうみょうなんてんじく
釈迦如来楞伽山 為衆告命南天竺
りゅうじゅだいじしゅっとせ しッのうざいはうむけん
龍樹大士出於世 悉能摧破有無見
せんぜだいじょうむじょうほう しょうかんぎじしょうあんらく
宣説大乗無上法 証歓喜地生安楽
けんじなんぎょうろくろく しんぎょういぎょうしどうらく
顕示難行陸路苦 信楽易行水道楽
おくねんみだぶほんがん じねんそくじにゅうひッじょう
憶念弥陀仏本願 自然即時入必定
ゆいのうじょうしょうにょらいごう おうほうだいひぐぜいおん
唯能常称如来号 応報大悲弘誓恩
てんじんぼさぞうろんせ きみょうむげこうにょうらい
天親菩薩造論説 帰命無碍光如来
えしゅたらけんしんじ こうせんおうちょうだいせいがん
依修多羅顕真実 光闡横超大誓願
こうゆほんがんりきえこう いどぐんじょうしょういっしん
広由本願力廻向 為度群生彰一心
きにゅうくどくだいほうかい ひッぎゃくにゅうだいえしゅしゅ
帰入功徳大宝海 必獲入大会衆数
とくしれんげぞうせかい そくしょうしんにょほっしょうしん
得至蓮華蔵世界 即証真如法性身
ゆぼんのうりんげんじんずう にゅうしょうじおんじおうげ
遊煩悩林現神通 入生死薗示応化
ほんじどんらんりょうてんし じょうこうらんしょぼさらい
本師曇鸞梁天子 常向鸞処菩薩礼
さんぞうるしじゅじょうきょう ぼんしょうせんぎょうきらくほう
三蔵流支授浄教 梵焼仙経帰楽邦
てんじんぼさろんちゅうげ ほうどいんがけんせいがん
天親菩薩論註解 報土因果顕誓願
おうげんえこうゆたりき しょうじょうしいんゆいしんじん
往還廻向由他力 正定之因唯信心
わくぜんぼんぶしんじんほ しょうちしょうじそくねはん
惑染凡夫信心発 証知生死即涅槃
ひっしむりょうこうみょうど しょうしゅじょうかいふけ
必至無量光明土 諸有衆生皆普化
どうしゃっけっしょうどうなんしょ ゆいみょうじょうどかつうにゅう
道綽決聖道難証 唯明浄土可通入
まんぜんじりきへんごんしゅ えんまんとくごうかんせんしょう
万善自力貶勤修 円満徳号勧専称
さんぷさんしんけおんごん ぞうまほうめどうひいん
三不三信誨慇懃 像末法滅同悲引
いっしょうぞうあくちぐぜい しあんにょうかいしょうみょうか
一生造悪値弘誓 至安養界証妙果
ぜんどうどくみょうぶっしょうい こうあいじょうさんよぎゃくあく
善導独明仏正意 矜哀定散与逆悪
こうみょうみょうごうけんいんねん かいにゅうほんがんだいちかい
光明名号顕因縁 開入本願大智海
ぎょうじゃしょうじゅこんごうしん きょうきいちねんそうおうご
行者正受金剛心 慶喜一念相応後
よいだいとうぎゃくさんにん そくしょうほっしょうしじょうらく
与韋提等獲三忍 即証法性之常楽
げんしんこうかいいちだいきょう へんきあんにょうかんいっさい
源信広開一代教 偏帰安養勧一切
せんぞうしゅうしんはんせんじん ほうけにどしょうべんりゅう
専雑執心判浅深 報化二土正弁立
ごくじゅうあくにんゆいしょうぶ がやくざいひせっしゅちゅう
極重悪人唯称仏 我亦在彼摂取中
ぼんのうしょうげんすいふけん だいひむけんじょうしょうが
煩悩障眼雖不見 大悲無倦常照我
ほんじげんくうみょうぶっきょう れんみんぜんまくぼんぶにん
本師源空明仏教 憐愍善悪凡夫人
しんしゅうきょうしょうこうへんしゅう せんじゃくほんがんぐあくせ
真宗教証興片州 選択本願弘悪世
げんらいしょうじりんでんげ けっちぎじょういしょし
還来生死輪転家 決以疑情為所止
そくにゅうじゃくじょうむいらく ひっちしんじんいのうにゅう
速入寂静無為楽 必以信心為能入
ぐきょうだいじしゅうしとう じょうさいむへんごくじょくあく
弘経大士宗師等 拯済無辺極濁悪
どうぞくじしゅうぐどうしん ゆいかしんしこうそうせ
道俗時衆共同心 唯可信斯高僧説

Translation of the Shoshin Nembutsu Ge:

I take refuge in the Tathagata of Immeasurable Life!
I entrust myself to the Buddha of Inconceivable Light!
Bodhisattva Dharmakara, in his causal stage,
Under the guidance of Lokeshvararaja Buddha,

Searched into the origins of the Buddhas' pure lands,
And the qualities of those lands and their men and devas;
He then established the supreme, incomparable Vow;
He made the Great Vow rare and all-encompassing.

In five kalpas of profound thought, he embraced this Vow,
Then resolved again that his Name be heard throughout the ten quarters.
Everywhere he casts light immeasurable, boundless,
Unhindered, unequaled, light-lord of all brilliance,

Pure light, joyful light, the light of wisdom,
Light constant, inconceivable, light beyond speaking,
Light exceeding the sun and moon he sends forth, illumining countless worlds;
The multitudes of beings all receive the radiance.

The Name embodying the Primal Vow is the act of true settlement,
The Vow of entrusting with sincere mind is the cause of birth;
We realize the equal enlightenment and supreme nirvana
Through the fulfillment of the Vow of attaining nirvana without fail.

Sakyamuni Tathagata appeared in this world
Solely to teach the ocean-like Primal Vow of Amida;
We, an ocean of beings in an evil age of five defilements,
Should entrust ourselves to the Tathagata's words of truth.

When the one thought-moment of joy arises,
Nirvana is attained without severing blind passions;
When ignorant and wise, even grave offenders and slanderers of the dharma, all alike turn and enter SHINJIN,
They are like waters that, on entering the ocean, become one in taste with it.

The light of compassion that grasps us illumines and protects us always;
The darkness of our ignorance is already broken through;
Still the clouds and mists of greed and desire, anger and hatred,
Cover as always the sky of true and real SHINJIN.

But though light of the sun is veiled by clouds and mists,
Beneath the clouds and mists there is brightness, not dark.
When one realizes SHINJIN, seeing and revering and attaining great joy,
One immediately leaps crosswise, closing off the five evil courses.

All foolish beings, whether good or evil,
When they hear and entrust themselves to Amida's Universal Vow,
Are praised by the Buddha as people of vast and excellent understanding;
Such a person is called a pure white lotus.

For evil sentient beings of wrong views and arrogance,
The nembutsu that embodies Amida's Primal Vow
Is hard to accept in SHINJIN;
This most difficult of difficulties, nothing surpasses it.

The masters of India in the west, who explained the teaching in treatises,
And the eminent monks of China and Japan,
Clarified the Great Sage's true intent in appearing in the world,
And revealed that Amida's Primal Vow accords with the nature of beings.

Sakyamuni Tathagata, on Mount Lanka,
Prophesied to the multitudes that in south India
The mahasattva Nagarjuna would appear in this world
To crush the views of being and non-being;

Proclaiming the unexcelled Mahayana teaching,
He would attain the stage of joy and be born in the land of happiness.
Nagarjuna clarifies the hardship on the overland path of difficult practice,
And leads us to entrust to the pleasure on the waterway of easy practice.

He teaches that the moment one thinks on Amida's Primal Vow,
One is naturally brought to enter the stage of the definitely settled;
Solely saying the Tathagata's Name constantly,
One should respond with gratitude to the universal Vow of great compassion.

Bodhisattva Vasubandhu, composing a treatise, declares
That he takes refuge in the Tathagata of Unhindered Light,
And that relying on the sutras, he will reveal the true and real virtues,
And make widely known the Great Vow by which we leap crosswise beyond birth-and-death.

He discloses the mind that is single so that all beings be saved
By Amida's directing of virtue through the power of the Primal Vow.
When a person turns and enters the great treasure ocean of virtue,
Necessarily he joins Amida's assembly;

And when that person reaches that lotus-held world,
He immediately realizes the body of suchness or dharma-nature.
Then sporting in the forests of blind passions, he manifests transcendent powers;
Entering the garden of birth-and-death, he assumes various forms to guide others.

Turning toward the dwelling of Master T'an-luan, the Emperor of Liang
Always paid homage to him as a bodhisattva.
Bodhiruci, master of the Tripitaka, gave T'an-luan the Pure Land teachings,
And T'an-luan, burning his Taoist scriptures, took refuge in the land of bliss.

In his commentary on the treatise of Bodhisattva Vasubandhu,
He shows that the cause and attainment of birth in the fulfilled land lie in the Vow.
Our going and returning, directed to us by Amida, come about through Other Power;
The truly decisive cause is SHINJIN.

When a foolish being of delusion and defilement awakens SHINJIN,
He realizes that birth-and-death is itself nirvana;
Without fail he reaches the land of immeasurable light
And universally guides sentient beings to enlightenment.

Tao-ch'o determined how difficult it is to fulfill the Path of Sages,
And reveals that only passage through the Pure Land gate is possible for us.
He criticizes self-power endeavor in the myriad good practices,
And encourages us solely to say the fulfilled Name embodying true virtue.

With kind concern he teaches the three characteristics of entrusting and non-entrusting,
Compassionately guiding all identically, whether they live when the dharma survives as but form, when in its last stage, or when it has become extinct.
Though a person has committed evil all his life, when he encounters the Primal Vow
He will reach the world of peace and realize the perfect fruit of enlightenment.

Shan-tao alone in his time clarified the Buddha's true intent;
Sorrowing at the plight of meditative and non-meditative practitioners and people of grave evil,
He reveals that Amida's light and Name are the causes of birth.
When the practitioner enters the great ocean of wisdom, the Primal Vow,

He receives the diamond-like mind
And accords with the one thought-moment of joy; whereupon,
Equally with Vaidehi, he acquires the threefold wisdom
And is immediately brought to attain the eternal bliss of dharma-nature.

Genshin, having broadly elucidated the teachings of Sakyamuni's lifetime,
Wholeheartedly took refuge in the land of peace and urges all to do so;
Ascertaining that minds devoted to single practice are profound, to sundry practice, shallow,
He sets forth truly the difference between the fulfilled land and the transformed land.

The person burdened with extreme evil should simply say the Name:
Although I too am within Amida's grasp,
Passions obstruct my eyes and I cannot see him;
Nevertheless, great compassion is untiring and illumines me always.

Master Genku, well-versed in the Buddha's teaching,
Turned compassionately to foolish people, both good and evil;
Establishing in this remote land the teaching and realization that are the true essence of the Pure Land way,
He transmits the selected Primal Vow to us of the defiled world:

Return to this house of transmigration, of birth-and death,
Is decidedly caused by doubt.
Swift entrance into the city of tranquillity, the uncreated,
Is necessarily brought about by SHINJIN.

The mahasattvas and masters who spread the sutras
Save the countless beings of utter defilement and evil.
With the same mind, all people of the present, whether monk or lay,
Should rely wholly on the teachings of these venerable masters.

Translation of the Jodo Wasan:

Namuamidabutsu.....
Amida has passed through ten kalpas now
Since realizing Buddhahood;
Dharma-body's wheel of light is without bound,
Shining on the blind and ignorant of the world.

Namuamidabutsu.....
The light of wisdom exceeds all measure,
And every finite living being
Receives this illumination that is like the dawn,
So take refuge in Amida, the true and real light.

Namuamidabutsu.....
The liberating wheel of light is without bound;
Each person it touches, it is taught,
Is freed from attachments to being and nonbeing,
So take refuge in Amida, the enlightenment of nondiscrimination.

Namuamidabutsu.....
The cloud of light is unhindered, like open sky;
There is nothing that impedes it.
Every being is nurtured by this light,
So take refuge in Amida, the one beyond conception.

Namuamidabutsu.....
The light of purity is without compare.
When a person encounters this light,
All bonds of karma fall away;
So take refuge in Amida, the ultimate shelter.

Namuamidabutsu.....
The Buddha's light is supreme in radiance;
Thus Amida is called "Buddha, Lord of Blazing Light."
His light dispels the darkness of the three courses of affliction,
So take refuge in Amida, the great one worthy of offerings.

Translation of Ekoku:

I vow that the merit-virtue of this truth
Be shared equally with all beings.
May we together awaken the Bodhi Mind,
And be born in the realm of Serenity and Joy.

[Admin_PC]

Found this link for a pdf of the Kanbun for Honganji's Shoshinge with sheet music. The same site also hosts this link with the Kanbun & sheet music for Nembutsu Wasan and Eko in pdf format.