Weekly Wasan - Episode 66 - Shōzōmatsu Wasan (Hymns of the Dharma-Ages) 110-114

09/17/22 • 8 min

Hi Dharma-friends,

In this episode we continue with 5 more verses of the Shōzōmatsu Wasan known as "Additional Hymns of Lament on the Term Hotoke." Hotoke commonly means "Buddha." According to the commentary found in The Collected Works of Shinran (CWS), "Probing into the origins of the term, Shinran traces it back to an early critic of Buddhism, Mononobe no Moriya (d. 587), who opposed its introduction into Japan. According to Shinran, Moriya applied the term, with the meaning "sick with fever," to a statue of Amida that was discovered in Naniwa Bay (present Osaka) and later enshrined in a temple known as Zenkō-ji. In using the term, Moriya implied that the foreign image was the cause of an epidemic. Although Shinran's etymology is not currently accepted by scholars of Japanese, his concern is that the use of the term leads to widespread disparagement of the teaching, and in his own writings, he avoids it." CWS, II, 101.

We're in the home stretch of our traversal of the Shōzōmatsu Wasan. Next time, we'll cover a prose section in this collection, "On Jinen Hōni." After that, our final episode will feature Shinran Shōnin's two powerful concluding verses.

Please be well! Check out more good Dharma content on the American Buddhist Study Centers home page, ambuddhist.org

Palms together, Gary

Hi Dharma-friends,

Please be well! Check out more good Dharma content on the American Buddhist Study Centers home page, ambuddhist.org

Palms together, Gary

Previous Episode

Weekly Wasan - Episode 65 - Shōzōmatsu Wasan (Hymns of the Dharma-Ages) 105-109

Hi Dharma-friends!

Today let's conclude the section entitled "Gutoku's Hymns of Lament and Reflection" by listening to the last five verses. These are poems of a very personal nature by Shinran, reflecting his awareness of himself as someone sharing the deepest weaknesses of his age. This is the Last Dharma-Age, and we are in the same boat. Shinran calls out high-ranking monks and dharma teachers of his time who are said to be so in-name-only. Showing no self reflection, they often give themselves over to worldliness and seek honors and status, all the while paying lip-service to the Buddhist teachings. Shinran is that rare religious master who does not exclude himself from his diagnosis. Shinran's universal remedy: rely on Amida Buddha's directing of virtue exclusively in Namo-Amida-Butsu.

Next time, we'll continue the Shōzōmatsu Wasan with the next section, "Additional Hymns of Lament on the Term Hotoke." For more good Dharma content, please visit the homepage of the American Buddhist Study Center ambuddhist.org

Palms together, Gary

Next Episode

Weekly Wasan - Episode 67 - Shōzōmatsu Wasan (Hymns of the Dharma-Ages) On Jinen Hōni

Hi Dharma-friends,

This episode is a little different than others in the series because it is a prose passage inserted into the collection instead of verses. It is like a little Dharma talk or message from Shinran himself. It is known as "On Jinen Hōni" Jinen Hōni is often rendered into English as "naturalness." By way of introduction to this very basic Shin Buddhist concept of "naturalness," a definition by Rev. Mark Unno found online is very helpful: "The foolish being is always contriving or calculating to reach a goal dualistically, whether that goal is material, such as worldly success or health, or is spiritual such as enlightenment or birth. The one who becomes aware of this foolishness and is receptive to the compassion of Amida is led beyond this contrivance to a realm of spontaneous freedom. This spontaneity, in contrast to the contrivance of the foolish being, is called jinen hōni, the suchness of spontaneity, or more simply, naturalness." Let's enjoy listening to Shinran's take on Jinen Hōni in his own words, even if only in translation.

Next time we'll wind up our journey through the Shōzōmatsu Wasan with Shinran's concluding verses. Until then, please be well! For more Dharma content, be sure to check out the home page of the American Buddhist Study Center, ambuddhist.org

Palms together, Gary