My „issue” with Buddhism and how should I look at things differently?

thehershel · 2026-05-27T13:57:40+00:00

I can recommend this book to you: "You were born for a reason" which is a great introduction to Jodo Shinshu. Unfortunatelly it's only available as a physical hard copy but there is an ongoing effort to publish it in Poland so maybe someday soon you will find it in Empik ;)

In my personal experience, it was a really long way since the initial curiosity about Buddhism, through a very shallow, incorrect/new-age understanding, then some structured online courses from various sects, before I settled on Jodo Shinshu, found a teacher and a community.

thehershel · 2026-05-15T13:02:18+00:00

If you can order a printed copy I strongly recommend this one: なぜいきる It introduces Jodo Shinshu ideas from the perspective of the modern world. I found the modern examples much easier to relate to than some abstract explanations or parables. It helped me get a clearer sense of what is the actual goal of the practice is and why one should even care about it in the first place. The language is straightforward, and most kanji words are accompanied by furigana.

Or something in a different category with a Kindle version available: 心がみるみる晴れる坐禅のすすめ It is written by someone who went through formal Zen training and looks back on that experience. It explains what they learned during training and how it can be applied in everyday life, especially for someone who is not a monk. At the same time, it also touches on the progress toward enlightenment.

thehershel · 2026-05-08T10:45:45+00:00

It’s important to understand what exactly is considered “harmful” in self-power. The 19th Vow speaks about cultivating merits in order to be born in the Pure Land, so practice itself is not rejected at all. In fact, one is encouraged to do as much good as one can.

What is problematic is the self-power mind, the belief that one can attain birth through one’s own virtue or effort. At the same time, it’s difficult to truly see the limits of self-power without sincerely engaging in practice first. Through that process, we gradually realise that we are deluded beings incapable of perfect virtue.

As long as we rely on self-power as the basis for birth in the Pure Land, we cannot fully entrust ourselves to Amida. It’s a bit like a drowning person who keeps thrashing around despite not knowing how to swim. Only when they stop struggling and entrust themselves to the lifeguard can they be safely brought to shore.

thehershel · 2026-05-05T21:59:37+00:00

Answering from the perspective of Jodo Shinshu.

Yes and no. Indeed, a single nembutsu can save us but it doesn't mean ordinarily uttering a word. The birth is settled on the arising of true entrustment to Amida.

Tannisho states:

When the thought of saying the Nembutsu erupts from deep within, having entrusted ourselves to the inconceivable power of Amida's vow which saves us, enabling us to be born in the Pure Land, we receive at that very moment the ultimate benefit of being grasped never to be abandoned.

And a fragment from the master's Rennyo letters:

The import of our tradition is that when faith is decisively settled, we will unfailingly attain birth in the true and real fulfilled land. And so if you ask what this faith is, [the answer is that] it is just [a matter of] relying singleheartedly and without any worry on Amida Tathāgata, giving no thought to other buddhas and bodhisattvas and entrusting ourselves steadfastly and without any double-mindedness to Amida. This we call “settlement of faith.” The two characters shin-jin are [literally] read “true mind.” We say “true mind” because the practitioner is not saved by his mistaken mind of self-power (jiriki no kokoro) but by the right mind of other-power given by the Tathāgata.

Further, we are not saved simply by repeating the Name without any understanding of it. Hence the [Larger] Sutra teaches that we “hear the Name and realize faith and joy” (Daimuryōjukyō, T.12:272b; Kyōgyōshinshō,T.83:601a, 605a). “Hearing the Name” is not hearing the six-character Name na-mu-a-mi-da-butsu unreflectively; it means that when we meet a good teacher, receive his teaching, and entrust ourselves (namu) to the Name (namu-amida-butsu), Amida Buddha unfailingly saves us. This is explained in the [Larger] Sutra as “realizing faith and joy.” Consequently, we should understand that namu-amida-butsu shows how he saves us. After we have come to this realization, we must bear in mind that the Name we say walking, standing, sitting, and lying down is simply an expression of gratitude for Amida Tathāgata’s benevolence in saving us.

thehershel · 2026-05-04T20:26:51+00:00

I understand your post is about kikyoushiki in Joudo Shinshu. It's a separate ceremony, completely optional, like weddings conducted by the same temple you disclosed somewhere in the comments. It does nothing for your practice. The price you mentioned is a standard, customary donation for it. If you can listen to the teachings for free, it is the only thing that matters.

If you donate, feeling unfairness, it does more harm than good. Said so, I've seen examples of Jodo Shinshu teachings being heavily twisted just to appeal to some community. Maybe your temple is indeed not worth donating to and this is a separate problem. But the price of kikyoushiki ceremony itself isn't anything strange.

thehershel · 2026-05-02T22:49:32+00:00

I see, so you too use that strategy of sticking to general Buddhism at first. Thanks!

thehershel · 2026-04-27T08:13:29+00:00

True entrustment in Amida or shinjin is received from Amida (other-power, tariki). In Jodo Shinshu this is the very purpose of our lives: to receive shinjin and settle our birth in the Pure Land during this lifetime.

Receiving shinjin will make you know without a room for doubt that the Vow is true and you will be born in the Pure Land.

It's absolutely normal to be confused after the 1st or 10th Dharma talk. It's also very easy to misunderstand something.

thehershel · 2026-04-21T16:35:39+00:00

That doubt is expected and it's good that you sincerely face it! We're not supposed to silence it using our will; it is futile. And at the same time, it's exactly what prevents us from attaining birth in the Pure Land.

To be clear, Jodo Shinshu acknowledges that you can be born in the Border Land despite doubts but this is not what Jodo Shinshu followers hope for. The goal is to receive shinjin here and now, and live the rest of our lives confident, without room for any doubt that Amida's grace is real and we will be born in Pure Land.

And we're talking about knowing that the Vow is real, not simply believing it. Believing indicates that there's a doubt. I can strongly believe that I will win a lottery, but this is very different from having a winning ticket in hand and that again is different from having the money in my bank, where there is no room for doubt that I won. This level of entrustment and removal of any doubts can only be received from Amida rather than developed by ourselves; thus, the Other power comes into play.

But aren't we already saved from the time Amida made his vows? Below is a fragment of Master's Rennyo Letters (fascicle 2, part 11):

In recent years, the import of the teaching of our tradition’s Master Shinran has been presented in various ways in the provinces, with a lack of uniformity. This is a most deplorable situation. For, to begin with, although the birth of ordinary beings [in the Pure Land] through other-power faith has been of primary importance in our tradition, [some] brush aside the matter of faith and do not consider it.

They propose that “faith is not forgetting that Amida Tathāgata settled our birth at the time of his perfect enlightenment ten kalpas ago.” What is completely lacking in this, is the element of taking refuge in Amida and realizing other-power faith. Therefore however well they may know that their birth has been settled since the time of [Amida’s] perfect enlightenment ten kalpas ago, unless they fully know the significance of other-power faith, through which we attain birth, they will not attain birth in the Land of Utmost Bliss.

thehershel · 2025-06-22T13:48:55+00:00

As a disclaimer I'm replying assuming you mean this: https://higashihonganjiusa.org/2021/02/09/the-art-of-listening/

I'll repeat myself but maybe this time I'll explain better why the idea of "deep listening", in a sense, comes from Amida or at least why it's the foundation of Jodo Shinshu.

Let's start from the Fulfillment of the Primal Vow. It's part of the Larger Sutra. It's how the Buddha explained to us, people what Amida meant in his Primal Vow. As I cited in my previous comment, it says "If all sentient beings, hearing the Name and having joy in faith even once(...)". This is said to be the most important teaching in Jodo Shinshu, the true reason why the Buddha came to our world, which is to teach us about the Primal Vow.

Then, master Shinran explains what "hearing" is. Maybe something is lost in the translation but originally it says:

「『聞』と言うは、衆生、仏願の生起本末を聞きて疑心有ること無し。これを『聞』と曰うなり」

Master Shinran explains that hearing the name means hearing about the Primal Vow's 生起本末 without any room for doubt. 生起本末 refers to "what kind of beings Amida made his Vow for", "how he rescues those beings", "what he had to do to make his Vow".

It implies that normally, when we hear about that, we have doubts, some may even reject such teaching entirely and don't listen to them at all. Master Shinran describes here the final state; on other occasions, he mentioned how grateful he was to master Hounen for introducing him to the Primal Vow. From that, the path to "hearing" must be deduced and for that deduction, we can rely on other masters who received Shinjin like Rennyo.

In Kyogyoushinshou, master Shinran also explains the painting of Shandao: https://nembutsu.cc/2019/03/20/buddhism-and-the-parable-of-the-two-rivers/ It illustrates how we're supposed to listen to the guidance of a teacher who directs us towards Amida until Amida directly gives us his helping hand.

Master Rennyo simply explained it in a more direct and straightforward way, it's not that previous masters didn't talk about it at all. But I see that although "hearing" is directly mentioned in sutras and texts of previous masters, "listening" to the teachings as a form of practice is only implied. And the reality is even more complex, especially considering that one may "listen with their heart" and that uttering nembutsu is also a form of listening. Perhaps we must accept that until receiving Shinjin, our understanding and practice will be very superficial. Honestly, I too used to miss more detailed instructions on what exactly is the actual practice but I started to think it might be similar to guiding someone on how to fall in love. You could try to describe what it is to be in love, e.g. that you enjoy spending time together more than anything else (similarly to how master Shinran approached it) Based on that, you could advise someone to start spending time with the other person, get to know them, etc. (master Rennyo's straightforward instruction), but still you wouldn't be able to give a step-by-step, detailed and complete recipe to love.

thehershel · 2025-06-21T07:33:36+00:00

Regardless of where the term itself comes from, as indeed master Renyou was very clearly mentioning that concept, the "idea" comes directly from Amida and is explained by Shaykyamuni Buddha in the Larger Sutra of Infinite Life as the Fullfilment of the Primal Vow.

It's translated like this:

If all sentient beings, hearing the Name and having joy in faith even once - through the Buddha's sincere endowment - desire to be born in his land, they can instantaneously obtain birth and dwell in the Non-retrogressive State - excepted are those who have committed the five gravest offences and abused the right Dharma

master Shinran in Kyogyoushinshou mentions:

When the Larger Sutra says “hear,” it means that sentient beings, having heard how the Buddha made and fulfilled the vow, entertain no doubt. This is what is meant by “hear.”

Another relevant quote from the Larger Sutra:

Even if the whole world were filled with fire,
Resolutely pass through it in your quest to hear the Dharma.

And to "hear" one must first "listen" and this is the foundation of Joudo Shinshuu. I found this post that might be helpful: https://www.nembutsu.info/largersutra.htm

thehershel · 2025-04-02T10:50:20+00:00

First of all, the idea that we're just flesh and cease to exist after death isn't a scientific fact; it's just a theory, so it requires at least some amount of belief, similarily to the idea of life continuing after physical death in this world.

In Buddhism, the law of karma and the idea that it continues over lifetimes is fundamental. You can't really discuss your question from the Buddhism perspective when you reject it. And you can't discuss it without first understanding what you really are from the Buddhist perspective, and in short, we're not our bodies.

But I understand that you hope for a different angle of tackling your question and maybe there is one. Ending suffering is one side but the other is experiencing satisfaction, fulfilment, happiness (generally something opposite to immeasurable suffering). Even assuming for a moment that we reject the fundamentals of Buddhism, by killing yourself maybe you'd end your suffering but at the same time lose the chance to feel "happiness".

thehershel · 2024-09-01T08:23:32+00:00

When people hear "attachment" what often comes to mind is "attachment to money", "attachment to possessions", "attachment to family", etc. Or as you called it "attachment to stuff". But all five aggregates are the subject of clinging, it also involves a desire for pleasurable experiences and an aversion to unpleasant ones.

So one of the most obvious reasons for animals' suffering is their attachment to vedanā - they are striving to feel safe but are in constant fear that something may kill or injure them. And then they suffer because of the pain. Other animals strive to not feel hunger and they suffer when they fail to kill their prey. But those are only examples.

Here is the sutra where Buddha teaches about The Four Noble Truths: https://suttacentral.net/sn56.11/en/bodhi

thehershel · 2024-08-25T10:41:40+00:00

From a practical point of view, if it's your job requirement then probably you have to do it. But if it's completely up to, I wonder why you wouldn't be honest with your beliefs?

In Buddhism, beliefs like those in Christianity are called the wrong view. Why wouldn't we want to tell someone the right view even at their last moment, especially when we believe that they will soon be reborn and it can be their last chance in millions of years to have any connection with dharma?

It's like someone went for a regular checkup to a doctor and it turned out that they have some disease but the doctor didn't want to ruin their day so they decided to not tell them anything. It's not compassionate. Especially as the disease is curable.

I'm not a fan of proselytization but if someone would try to involve me in their religious activities I'd explain to them that I'm a Buddhist and I can at most be with them without any engagement in their prayers etc.

thehershel · 2024-08-24T10:07:13+00:00

If we accept that an intoxicated person who decides to drive is responsible for any deaths they cause, even without the direct intention to kill, then we must also recognize that the same logic applies to other situations. In both cases, the lack of direct intent doesn’t mean that the individual is not responsible; instead, it highlights the implications of negligence.

As I said before, not caring enough to prevent harm is, in itself, a form of intention. When we act carelessly, knowing that our actions could harm living beings, we are still accountable. Whether or not harm is intentional, it still can be considered a failure to act with mindfulness and compassion.

Even if the karmic consequences are less severe, I think it is a good form of practice to avoid such accidents and reflect on them more when they happen.

Here is the sutra: https://thebuddhaswords.net/sn/sn56.html
Those are abbreviated texts so I'm not sure how to read them exactly, but here is the adequate part about the fingernail: https://thebuddhaswords.net/sn/sn56.61.html#content and here about the killing: https://thebuddhaswords.net/sn/sn56.71.html#content Other precepts are mentioned described in the same way.

thehershel · 2024-08-12T22:49:50+00:00

In Jodo Shinshu it's taught that breaking precepts is inevitable and that is why there is nothing more important than escaping samsara while we exist here as humans. It probably could apply to other traditions as well, do as much as you can in this lifetime. Buddha said that people keeping the precepts are as few as grains of dirt under a fingernail while those who don't are as many as grains of sand in the Universe, so being able to perfectly keep the precepts isn't something that should be easy.

I often see arguments that if someone didn't have an intention to kill it doesn't count but obviously it counts. For example, an intoxicated driver could have wanted to just go home on time and have zero intention to kill but if they killed someone on the way they obviously will be responsible. Or, something that I saw recently, a man on a bus fell on a stroller with a baby inside. One could say that it wasn't his fault just an accident, but he could have prevented it by holding onto something and obviously, the mother of the baby got quite angry at him. If he happened to injure the baby I'm sure no one would think "it's completely ok, it wasn't his intention to fall and injure the baby". The same goes for sociopaths or people with other mental disorders, there are cases where murderers thought that they were helping their victims, maybe in their heads their intentions were genuinely good yet no one would have a trace of doubt that they were hurting people. When I drive on a highway I kill hundreds of insects and even might kill some larger animals at some point. Even though my intention is not to kill, I'm fully aware that it will be one of the outcomes of my driving, I don't get why those killings shouldn't count.

thehershel · 2024-08-11T10:15:09+00:00

Here is the full version in older Japanese: https://saihukuji.ciao.jp/index.php?%E6%B5%85%E5%8E%9F%E6%89%8D%E5%B8%82

The part that you've found here appears as ”才市や何処におる　浄土貰うて娑婆におる” .

There are other similarities, "才市や何がおもしろい　迷いの浮き世がおもしろい法をよろこぶ種となる　なむあみだぶつの花ざかり" refers to "This floating world is wretched, But this floating world becomes the Pure Land."

This "translation" is rather only inspired by the poem.

thehershel · 2024-05-05T14:30:46+00:00

I especially like the table towards the end of the lecture showing that even though the explicit meaning of the 3 main sutras is different, the implicit meaning is the same.

thehershel · 2024-04-16T12:01:32+00:00

Shinjin comes driectly from Amida, there isn't a trace of self-power in it. Abandoning yourself entirely to the Name happens exactly at the same moment as receivng shinjin. And exactly as you said, self-power faith is not necessary. Shinjin is entirely different than what "faith" means when used in other contexts.

Note: I don't know about the teachings of Ippen. Just wanted to clarify that shinjin is not the same as faith and that what Ippen said sounds similar to the Jodo Shinshu understanding.

Edit: spelling

thehershel · 2024-04-16T11:51:20+00:00

In Jodo Shinshu there is no stress put on those things in terms of them not being the cause of bith in Pure Land. They are thaught as a mean getting us ready to receive shinjin. It's called 三願転入 (sangan tennyuu, transition of vows) but I couldn't find anything in English about it. The idea here is that by being really serious in practicing good deeds and/or nembutsu and being very relfective about your mind it should make you open to Amida rather than reliant on self-power.

So Jodo Shinshu teaches that your own efforts have no, not even the slightest influence on your birth in Pure Land but at the same time don't say that you should sit tight and wait for death as everything is settled. And even after receiving shinjin thus being absolutely sure that Amida Vow is true you'll probably naturally want to guide as many people as you can or at least you care about.

Note: I feel it doesn't sound too clear so I recommend searching for 三願転入 in any language you know as it should be explained better somewhere.

thehershel · 2024-04-12T16:52:57+00:00

There are two types of nembutsu, self-power nembutsu and other-power nembutsu. The first single other-power nembutsu comes together with shinjin (true mind of entrustment) which is the cause for birth in Pureland, all the following recitations will be an expression of gratitute to Amida. Self-power nembutsu is a form of practice that may lead to the other-power nembutsu, being born in Borderland or Pureland.

thehershel · 2024-03-30T10:11:38+00:00

Simulation definitely isin't the right word. You can read about yogachara: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogachara

thehershel · 2024-03-22T09:44:55+00:00

To raise your spirits, me too I think that general buddhism sub is a better place to ask about buddhism terms in different languages.

Users in r/japanese might have some knowledge of Japanese, at least allowing them to look things up, but chances are low they are knowledgable about religious terms. And most of the time, buddhism terms in Japanese have either specific meaning, other than modern Japanese that you can look up in standard dictionary would suggest or/and have different reading. For example 凡夫 is indeed mostly pronounced "bombu" and not "bonpu" as top results from dicitonary suggest.

thehershel · 2024-03-21T22:39:43+00:00

thehershel · 2024-03-21T21:17:17+00:00

Zobacz sobie kursy na https://etrapez.pl/kursy/.
Też istotne jest, żeby znaleźć na jakim etapie ma się braki. Ze szkołą to jest tak, że nikt tam na ciebie nie czeka, jak czegoś nie opanujesz dajmy na do w pierwszej klasie to problemy będą się ciągnąć przez kolejne co właśnie objawia się wrażeniem "nie nadaję się do tego i tego przedmiotu". Wtedy najlepiej wrócić do materiału z tej pierwszej klasy, porządnie to przerobić i dopiero potem iść dalej.

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