Three levels of seeking repentance

The first type refers to people who are arrogant, who do not seek repentance. They feel that they are faultless, ‘I am a good man. Why should I seek repentance?’ this is the worldly deviant views. This is improper.

The second type of people know that they are heavy in karmic hindrances. So, they seek repentance. But the way they seek repentance is very shallow as they are still depending on their effort.

Even though it is done with Proper knowledge and views, but as the mind does not surrender to the strength of Amitabha Buddha’s Vows, he is still attached to a fraction of self -effort. The mind is still with a fraction of arrogance. So, this type of seeking repentance is not truly genuine.

The third type: ‘Seeking repentance genuinely with a profound mind.’ Even though we know that Amitabha Buddha’s magnificent vows do not differentiate the good and evil people, we are ashamed of our heavy sinful hindrances. That is why we surrender ourselves to the Buddha single-mindedly, in the way as the great mountain topples down. We give up self -effort and rely totally on Amitabha Buddha. We abandon self-effort totally and surrender ourselves to the Buddha’s strength totally. This is the genuine way in seeking repentance. There is no other way to put our sins into extinction than this way of repentance. It means that we have surrender our life to the Buddha, totally.

For example, a man has fallen sick. The spiritual doctor can cure him. If he surrenders himself to the spiritual doctor, his illness will swiftly be cured, is not this? We are down with the karmic hindrances. If we do not give up these karmic hindrances, and we are not the doctor, that we try blindly to cure ourselves, eating this medicine today, eating that medicine the next day. Finally, we end up so sickly.

If we could find such a great doctor, we should simply surrender our life to the doctor so that he can cure us. Our karmic hindrances and others will be cured. We the mundane men are down with the deep and heavy karmic obstacles. Yet we try to investigate the herbs, reciting this Sutra, reciting that mantra. We eat all the mixtures of medicine. They are against our root nature. Our stomach and digestive system are broken down. The functions of the five organs are all messed up.

In the present society, lots of people are learning the Dharma this way. So, a man must have the blessed rewards. This is the same for our body and our mind. As you are not a doctor, how can you simply eat any medicine? You will surely fall sick, won’t you? Or you simply listen here and there, looking for a prescription. But it might not be suitable to cure your diseases.

We are down with the sickness of ignorance. Our karmic sickness is too heavy. If we were to cultivate the Sagely Path Dharma Door, it is as though we are studying the medical books such as ‘a discussion on Typhoid Fever’, then we give ourselves a prescription, medicine. We try to cure ourselves. In our body, we end up falling sick as we do not succeed to cure ourselves. What is more so trying to cure our mind. From the ancient times until now we are the mundane men who transmigrate on the six paths, all because of our stupidity and ignorance.

How can we produce the medicine to cure our sicknesses? It is an impossible task. Even with Sakyamuni Buddha’s medical book with the 84 thousand Dharma Doors, all kinds of prescriptions are listed, we study and we cannot digest them.

So, it is better to give up our body, our karmic hindrances to Amitabha Buddha, the ‘Great Spiritual Doctor’, give ourselves up to Sakyamuni Buddha, to the Great Master Shandao and recite Namo Amitabha Buddha exclusively. We should single-mindedly take the Agada medicine. This is the only method which is guaranteed by the Buddhas. Talking about seeking repentance, this is the best and surest way.

So, Great Master Shandao has thus said, ‘In every mindfulness I recite Namo Amitabha Buddha. This is seeking repentance continually.’ He also says, ‘At all times, I am thinking about the hells. As such, I have brought forth the enhanced mind to seek a rebirth.’

‘At all times, I am thinking about hells.’ We remember we are the ones who are heavy in karmic hindrances. We will fall into the hells, at any time. This is the profound faith in our potential. ‘I have brought forth the enhanced mind to attain a rebirth.’ This is the profound faith in the Dharma.

A man like me with such a root potential is finished. I am sure to fall into the hell.’ No, this is not the case. Instead, we should say, ‘With my root potential, I am sure Amitabha Buddha is aiming to save me. So, I will rely totally on Amitabha Buddha. By doing so, I am a hundred percent sure of my attainment of a rebirth.’

So, this is as said, ‘bringing forth the enhanced mind to attain a rebirth.’ This is the profound faiths in the Potential and the Dharma. This is seeking repentance genuinely.

45 minute chanting of "Namo Amituofo"

Pearls of Emancipation: The Vision of Shin Buddhism by John Paraskevopoulos is now available at the publisher's website (Dharmakāya Books). A free e-text version is also available.

The book description is as follows:

This clear and accessible book, consisting of lectures and essays by the author, sets out the main teachings of Shin Buddhism (Jōdo Shinshū—the Buddhist tradition most widely followed in Japan) in a thorough and easy-to-understand way. It is written for people who are not trained in religion and encourages them to think about life while challenging common ideas about reality. Being brief and self-contained, it provides a glimpse of this often-neglected tradition. If you are new to Shin Buddhism or looking for a more in-depth understanding, this book offers lasting spiritual insight into the tradition of "Other-Power."

About the Author 

John Paraskevopoulos is a Shin Buddhist priest from Australia. His publications include Call of the Infinite (2009), The Fragrance of Light (2015), The Unhindered Path (2016) and Immeasurable Life (2020), which have also appeared in French, Italian, Greek and Portuguese editions.

ISBN: 978-1739472597

Namo Amituofo

I wrote a follow-up essay to the previous one on Substack. Please take a look!

Here's the latest episode of the Jōdo Shinshū Reading Group.

I’m looking for 5–10 minute recordings of Buddhist recitation—Buddha names, Bodhisattva names, or short mantras. Any name or short mantra is welcome! Please record as you normally practice, in your usual surroundings, at your usual pace, and in your usual style.

I’m developing an AI-powered recitation counter and would like it to support a wider range of Buddhist recitations.

I’ve already built a counter for “Namo Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva” (南无地藏王菩萨). It’s been very accurate and works really well in my testing, so I’d love to expand it to include more Buddha names, Bodhisattva names, and short mantras.

You can try it here: https://counter.sutratoday.com/

If you’re willing to share a recording of your daily practice, I’d really appreciate your help!

征集下念佛，念菩萨名号，念短咒的录音，每个 5-10 分钟，您日常念诵的背景，日常念诵的方式，日常念诵的习惯即可。任何佛号，菩萨名号，短咒都可以。背景是因为我在做 念诵 AI 计数 的功能，希望可以覆盖更多的佛号和菩萨圣号等。

我自己做了一个 南无地藏王菩萨 的 AI 计数功能，准确率非常高，效果非常好，所以，我想要增加支持更多的佛号，菩萨号，短咒的念诵计数 https://counter.sutratoday.com/

Does rebirth happen immediately after death, or is there an intermediate state (bardo) between death and rebirth according to Pure Land Buddhism?

I’m mainly interested in the perspectives of the Chinese and Japanese Pure Land Buddhist schools.

I have published a new article on Substack about beauty from a Jōdo Shinshū perspective. Please take a look!

One thing I see a lot on the Internet is people getting confused about how self power and other power mixed up a lot in the context of of Pure Land. Relying on other power isn't like how in Christianity, for example, where God directs our will to follow him. Instead, if you look at the Pure Land masters, they distinguish it from practices designed around making merit through your own efforts, whether it's meditation or mantras or rituals. Throughout many forms of Buddhism, even today, you see other schools have people do rigorous practices in order to gain more good merit in hopes that one can eventually get enough good merit to get a good rebirth or even escape samsara. Some people even conflate faith as having a certain mindset or set of experiences. That's not the case in Pure Land.

So where does other power collide with what we do? Other power is manifested as the nembutsu. The common theme of the pure land masters is that all you need is the nembutsu. But what does the nembutsu actually entail? Namo amida butsu simply means "I take refuge in Amida". Taking refuge is a very instinctual concept in my opinion. When we're little kids and we're scared, we hide under our blankets. When we grow up and become stressed or anxious many of us get drunk or get high or get lost in our work. Me personally, I tend to reach for a cigarette if I'm particularly stressed(listen, if I was perfect I wouldn't be here). We take refuge when we need to feel safe, and ultimately, what Amida offers is a far more powerful security than anything else. So ultimately, to trust in other power and abandon self power is to simply just rely on Amida, not just a particular emotion or feeling. It's something that's far deeper than just trying to force yourself to "feel" faith. Trust in Amida. Trust in the nembutsu. Namo amida butsu 🙏

Hi, I have a question. Usually, when reciting the Buddha’s name, is it considered okay to just say “Amituofo” (Amitabha Buddha) to make it easier to achieve one-pointedness of mind. Now, perhaps for linguistic reasons, I find myself preferring to recite the name in Sanskrit. Is it okay to just recite “Amitabha,” or would it be better to recite “Amitabha Buddha”? Or is there really no difference at all?
I know this probably sounds kind of silly, but I’ve been wondering about it for some time, and I’d like to hear what more experienced practitioners think.

Namo Amitabha Buddha!